Some jobs have great perks, it may be a company car, a great benefits package, free food, etc. If you were to work for Taser you could add taser guinea pig to the list of perks. The X3 Taser can shoot 3 times in a row and keep all 3 shots energized at the same time!

Via: Popular Science

This is an interesting Laser Cat Toy project that uses a Parallax Microcontroller to move a servo controlled laser pointer. It uses a remote control to move around and fire the laser.

"Parts used:
One bi-color LED with common cathode.
One bi-color LED (the one from the What’s a Microcontroller kit)
Two Continuous Rotation Servos (BOE BOT kit)
One "Standard" 180 degree servo (WAM kit)
IR detector (from BOE-BOT kit)
Piezo speaker (from BOE-BOT kit)
Tiewraps
40 cents (What? I needed a spacer and 4 dimes fit the bill just right.)
Some jumper wire
2 4.7K resistors
1 22 ohm resistor"

Here is an example of cool electrical art. As crazy as this outlet wall is there were many times that I wish that is exactly what I had behind my workbench. There is usually always just one device that can’t be plugged in because of a large wall wart or the cable just doesn’t quite reach.

Via: Tugatronica

"Instead of hiding your outlets behind furniture and worrying about the mess of wires tangled behind your entertainment center, consider making an entire wall that’s nothing but outlets."

We have seen lots of interesting thumb drives such as the Hard Drive thumb drive array, and the VHS Thumb Drive. Now thanks to CF14 Industries we have a Vacuum Tube Thumb Drive. It takes a bit of trial and error to build one so I would have a few tubes on hand before you try to build your own.

If you are looking for a new microcontroller project and like to play with LEDs this 4 RGB LED PWM Controller project might be for you. There is full documentation provided.

"The advantages include the built-in 4MHz oscillator, hardware USART, and ease of reprogramming.  A couple of features I had in mind during the design:

1. Multiple intensities for each color (using PWM)
2. Multiple individually controllable RGB LEDs
3. High-speed update rate
4. Daisy-chainable and addressable
5. Simple serial control"

The Honda Asimo robot has recently got a HMI upgrade. Instead of using joysticks and buttons the Asimo can now be controlled using mind control! We have seen this mind control technology in the past but not controlling a physical robot.

"Japan scientists at the Honda Research Institute have unveiled the world’s first brain to machine interface. Dubbed BMI short for Brain Machine Interface this new technology system will enable people to control robots using their mind."

David Jones explains CMOS SCR Latchup in his latest Electronics Engineering Video Blog post.