Author: John
Tiny Camcorder Just For Fun
Kind of takes the fun out of hacking one from CVS but if your looking for a pocket sized camcorder that is easy to use this would be a good choice. The pre-hacked version has one big advantage over the one you can get for a song, ok two big advantages other than the price. The ‘real’ version hold three times more video due to the 1 GB of memory inside and it comes with a built in USB connector.
Now, speaking as a guy that owns two of the DIY versions I can safely say that it can be a pain in the ass to futz with a homemade cable when I want to unload the movies. It’s also an equal pain using the software that you can find on the ‘Net that ‘fixes‘ the cheap cameras.
You might wonder why I own two of these cameras, well it’s so I can take 3D video with them. It’s fun and I’ll blog my exploits here pretty soon. I’ve also taken one of these cameras to Hawaii with me and got fairly good results. The 20 minute time restrictions keeps the shots short and trust me that’s a good thing. I normally keep one of these cameras with me just in case I spot something cool, you can’t beat it for size. I’d say that the Pure Digital camcorder would make a dandy gift for anyone looking for a take it where ever you go camera.
Did the Whole WordPress Update Thing
Well today after much fretting and taking of antacids I took the plunge and upgraded the site to the latest version (v 2.0.5) of WordPress. I can’t see anything that’s broken right now, if anyone does leave me a comment and I’ll fix it. At least I’ll try to fix it.
True Combat Elite
You know, sometimes you just want to kick ass and take names for free. These days finding that all joyful free method to do this is tough. That’s where True Combat Elite enters the pretty picture. It’s a gun toting kick ass first person shooter (FPS) that’s free. Yeah, ya heard me right, free (no, not like beer). It’s built on the popular steel belted free Wolfenstein 3D game engine and features some impressive graphics. Games by gamers, what a concept.
BTW, before the whiny Mac and Linux users start going on about how they get left out of the ultra violence all the time you should know that the game can be downloaded for all the platforms out there (ok, PC, Linux and Macs)
Truth be told I’m a bit of a PC video game virgin so I’m not up on all the latest and greatest in the world of game design (although I hear that F.E.A.R.
DIY Nitrogen Laser
Everyone is talking about this today. I remember first read about a free nitrogen laser in the Scientific American Experimenters Handbook when I was a teenager. I was more into building a Van de Graff machine but I could still appreciate a laser that didn’t need any complex lasing fluids or expensive tubes or one of those ultra cool multi Joule flash lamps. Ahh.. Such day dreams those made up… Oh yeah, about the laser. Pretty much is uses a great whopping spark to excite the nitrogen atoms in the air to a higher state and in turn that liberates ultraviolet radiation. Cool, eh? Hubert’s page has all sorts of cracking info on how that darn thing works, the kid did his homework Looks like you could build one for less than $50 easy. The 10KV power supply could be obtained from a TV or you might even be able to get away with using one of those cheesy air ionizers you find in second hand shops. Or you could buy one from Information Unlimited. (Weird, I Googled ‘high voltage power supply’ and saw the link, I had no idea those guys were still around! Very cool!)
Hubert’s laser page: Air laser
And if that don’t do it for ya, check this one out you laser pervs! Home built nitrogen (N2) laser
LockLite
With this simple gadget you can turn any key into a flashlight. Minimize fumbling around in the dark for the keyhole. It’s a simple enough concept that I don’t think I need to explain it any beter than that.
[via Red Ferret]