Sparkfun received a Cease and Desist letter from SPARC International. It’s a sad day when a good organization like SPARC have a bunch of lawyers that do nothing but send out this type of garbage. This just causes unnecessary havoc for a great company like Sparkfun who has a name that has a section which sounds similar. What’s next SparkPlug International will no longer be able to sell their electronic spark plug tester?

This reminds me of the careless actions of Monster Cable!

Click here to send an email to sparcinfo@sparc.org to let them know how you feel.

Thanks CY Brown and IraqiGeek for the info.

You may remember the Paintball Sentry Gun that we featured last year. Well the team over at The Sentry Project has not been resting, the new version of the gun software is now available on Ebay and it looks very impressive. It was very sensitive and precise before but have a look at the videos, it has been tweaked to improve the results! I wish I owned a junkyard, I would get rid of the dog and purchase a few of these.

"The software kit is an inexpensive solution for building your own Automated Sentry. It is ideal for those of you who are mechanically inclined or have custom applications in mind.   

The Software Kit will consist of the software and the servo controller. They cannot be separated because the software only works with the that specific servo controller. They will be auctioned off on eBay to eliminate the possibility of me charging too much or too little.

The kit can be used for anything from a harmless video surveillance system that tracks and zooms in on moving objects, to a full fledged, heavy duty, gun platform (for area denial or force multiplication) or anything in between."

Ever wonder how that Canadian Maple Syrup gets into the bottle that is sitting beside your stack of pancakes? Our friends over at The Workshop have made a short video that demonstrates the Maple Syrup making process from tree to bottle. Unlike other syrups it doesn’t start by crushing fruit or melting sugar, Maple Syrup is simply the boiled tree sap!

"Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees. In Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States it is most often eaten with waffles, pancakes, and French Toast. It is sometimes used as an ingredient in baking, the making of candy, preparing desserts, or as a sugar source and flavoring agent in making beer. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup."

A new type of phone directory that provides access to reverse phone number lookups offers users the ability to lookup the name associated with an unrecognized phone number.
For quite some time now, computer users have been able to use online versions of the Yellow and White Pages to look up personal and business listings, but what sets reverse cell phone searches apart from these traditional directories is the fact that they can be used to lookup phone numbers when a person does not have a mysterious caller’s name available.
These very specialized searches are not much different form a normal query performed on an internet search engine. To perform a search, a user must enter a 10-digit phone number into a reverse phone directory’s search field and press enter to retrieve a report containing the phone owner’s name and any extra available information.
The reason why reverse phone search directories are such an effective tool in the battle against unwanted and unsolicited phone calls is that they lift the veil of protection from anonymous callers so that real name and alternate contact information can be gathered immediately.
If you’ve ever tried to call back a telemarketer by dialing the phone number that appeared on your caller identification box, you have probably gotten a recording, or in some cases, the call probably didn’t even go through. By performing a reverse cell phone search on that number, users can find out who the number belongs to before answering the call.
If you have tried to contact a telemarketing firm without the necessary information before, you know how frustrating it can be to remove yourself from call lists. They always claim they will remove your information in a few days, but the calls never seem to stop coming, often times even more frequently than before. However, when you know the name of the company responsible and you have their direct line, you will likely notice a quick end to unsolicited phone calls.
If you are already listed on a Do Not Call list, the unsolicited calls you receive are considered illegal and the company responsible could be subject to large fines. In these cases, a reverse cell phone directory can play a major role in helping to screen your calls effectively.

Our friends over at WonderHowTo.com just launched the 2008 Video Awards! For those of you who have never been to the site, they are the one-stop shop for all how-to videos on the internet. With a library of over 225,000 videos they provide the largest, most contemporary, and most diverse resource in this increasingly growing space.

The WonderHowTo 2008 Video Awards! is their first annual competition that celebrates excellent instructional videos…on any topic under the sun. Since they source and index videos from more than 1900 specialty sites around the world, they truly get front row seats to every insanely wonderful tutorial that is produced. WonderHowTo picked the nominees based on numerous factors including; intent to instruct, originality of concept, and story telling. Categories include Hacks, Sex, Pranks, Weird Science and many more. These finalists’ videos are extremely interesting and I have a feeling that the voting will come down to the wire

Voting will be open for one month, from October 13th through midnight PST November 13, so get over to WonderHowTo right now and vote on the 2008 Best How To Videos In The Universe.

Also, don’t forget to snag a free t-shirt courtesy of Stephen Chao and Johnny Knoxville!

A clever way to use a bicycle computer as a poor-man’s tachometer.  While I’m not sure about installing it in my car, I’m sure it’ll come in handy down the road for another project. 

"Sometimes you just have to know how fast a wheel or shaft or motor is turning.  The measuring device for rotational speed is a tachometer. But they are expensive and not easy to find.  Its cheap and easy to make one using a bicycle speedometer (cyclocomputer). In fact, the only thing you need is a functional cyclocomputer that reads speed in miles per hour. You won’t damage it, so you can even ‘borrow’ one from your bike, or add it to your bike once your done!"

OK, NYC has it’s reasons to be a little careful but Richard Falkenrath, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for counterterrorism may be just a little bit too careful. As the Village Voice reports that the city is just a little worried that the good citizens might just report too many false alarms. If you read through the comments, a couple of people had the same thought I had. Smoke alarms give false alarms very, very often, and if you have an alarm system the firetrucks are coming just in case. Don’t some smoke detectors measure radiation increases?  Plus in the greater New York area you can’t sell a house without a Radon Test and in some houses there is a powered radon detector so you get a warning if the abatment system fails. So if I can’t have one of these.

Can I use this?

(I had one of these as a kid. Of course back then we thought nuclear energy would save the world. )

It’s not a ""Geiger" counter but detecting alpha particles is better then nothing,

I wonder what Mr. Falkenrath’s reaction be if he knew I could get this -   

Nuclear Isotope Generator  

for $250.00 (plus shipping) from United Nuclear who clearly state.

You might also want to include some decontamination spray in your order for $22.00

So get yours now!

All the products mentioned above are available from United Nuclear