This POV Fan Display Hack by Hacking with Gum required a bit of reverse engineering to determine how the device worked in the first place, then a way to re-program the operation of the device to display a new message.

 Thanks Craig.

"It turns out that Cenzic made it very easy to access the fan’s EEPROM chip, and with a simple RS232-to-I2C interface you can re-write the EEPROM on this device to make it display whatever you like. "

Wow if I run into someone this Halloween with effect makeup that looks as realistic as the video above it will certainly send shivers up my spine. It demonstrates that you can really step it up from the production rubber mask that most people pick up at the corner drugstore. Have a look at the tutorials listed for more Halloween scar techniques.

• How to make a fake wound
• Create a fake wound that is stitched up
• Fake Blood Recipe
• Halloween Hair Tips

On a related note there is a frightening trend in body art. It is called Scar Tattoos. Don’t look at the images below if you have a queasy stomach. We all have a few scars here and there from the inevitable misfortunes of living life but a scar tattoo is the deliberate mutilation of the skin to form a raised tattoo from the resulting scar tissue! You wouldn’t catch me even considering doing something like this for a second but I guess it appeals to many people.

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This is a cool scale mod. The Weight Logging Bathroom Scale saves the the time stamped weight for each use to an SD card. This allows the data to be plotted and analyzed. The method that the weight was taken from the existing digital scale platform is real interesting. The original LCD data lines were snooped on to determine what value is being displayed!

Thanks Jorge.

"First I thought that I could read the sensors and got an analog voltage relative to weight but I couldn’t find a way to do it. Next a friend at work give me the idea to try read the signals that went to original LCD, and it was a simple and easy way to have what I need The original LCD have 15 pins, 3 backplanes and 12 segments. I did understand how the LCD signals works reading this application note. The segments signals have voltage that can be read directly by the LPC2103. The backplanes signals can’t be ready directly by the LPC2103 (I think) and then I made a very simple voltage detector using a LM258 opamp so I get a "trigger" signal every time the backplane signal get near is maximum value."

Dan Bricklin is one of the developers behind VisiCalc back in 1979. Dan hasn’t slowed down since VisiCalc, in Bricklin On Technology he shares his visionary thoughts with all of us. It is written in an interesting way, many sections are filled with blog posts and views on how technology will influence our lives. As a true Engineer he is always attempting to solve the needs of his fellow man with elegant technical solutions. Have a look at the two videos below where Dan reads a few excerpts from his book. Thanks for an interesting read Dan!

Norris Labs has created an interesting Robot called the ChessBot. It doesn’t actually play the game but rather has the ability to move the chess pieces around the board. Just imagine playing a game of chess on this system via webcam instead of playing virtual chess on the net.

"ChessBot takes a hybrid approach that produces a more visually interesting way to move a chess pieces. It uses a Lynxmotion AL5D robotic arm to pick up and place pieces but does not rely totally on the arm to provide placement. The arm itself is mounted on a mobile platform (called the Cart) that can align the arm precisely with any row or column (called Rank and File in the chess world) on the chessboard."

The Halloween Hanging Mobile Project was lots of fun. Hand drawn images were cut out using a Fireball V90 CNC machine as pieces of the spooky mobile. You can see more details of the V90 CNC machine here.

Here are the basic steps of what was done:

• Drawings were made on sheets of paper
• The drawings were scanned into the computer and touched up using MS Paint
• Artcam was used to convert the bitmap images into vectors
• The vectors were used to create tool-paths so that the images could eventually be cut out
• The tool-paths were exported to G code for the CNC computer
• The CNC computer controlled the CNC machine to allow the parts to be cut out in exact proportion
• Paint all the pieces
• Tie them together with fishing line
• Hang and enjoy!

 You will notice below that the CNC machine has a Bosch Colt router installed, this router has a 1/4 inch collet. The issue here is small bits such as the 3mm single flute bit that needs to be used here would not fit directly into the router. MCPi has developed a Dremel Chuck Adapter for a 1/4 inch collet. With this installed tiny bits are no longer an issue.

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The goal of Gyrowheel might be to enable our children to learn how to ride a bike as well as MURATA BOY. The Gyrowheel will probably not spell the end to normal training wheels because of the increased complexity and therefore cost. But it certainly has many advantages over conventional training wheels so I would not be surprised to see it come as standard equipment on small bikes in the near future.
Via: Dvice

"Gyrowheel, revolutionizes how children can learn to ride a bike and renders training wheels obsolete. Gyrowheel senses unbalanced biking and re-centers the bike underneath the rider’s weight at the point when tipping starts to occur. With Gyrowheel, riders experience a faster, safer, easier and more fun way to learn to ride a bike."