Eclectic junk from the four corners of the ‘Net. And pictures too!
As the season of giving is fast approaching you might want to start thinking about gifts. For the young/old kid that is curious about that ‘other’ kind of photography – you know the kind that doesn’t use memory cards and batteries – this might be just the thing to satisfy their creative urges. This is a paper kit that, when finished, produces a very serviceable pinhole camera.
Aluminium insect kits! How cool is that I ask you! These are a big step up from the wooden ones you find in hobby shops, the metal is soft (aluminium) so it can be shaped to look more natural and it has some sort of spring clip deal that might let you pose them slightly. The page says that they are made in Taiwan and as I have a friend that has family there I just might be able to get a hold on one of these sets. The metal mantis would be perfect on my desk at work.
Metal Insect Kits [ translated ]- Photo Gallery [translated]
Fire up the soldering irons and grab your Nixie tubes! Time to heat up the cathode and bask in that cheerful glow of warm electronics. Before you ask what the heck a Nixe tube is let me tell you. Long ago back when ‘solid state’ meant frozen, if you wanted to have an indicator lamp you used a neon bulb. You pass electricity through a glass tube that has neon in it and you get light. Very nifty. Even more nifty is that the light tended to cling to one of the electrodes and some brilliant guy thought to make useful shapes with them and thus the neon multi display was born.
Some of the voltages here are a bit high, so if your not sure about your 733t electronics skillz you might want to get some help with this. Once you have the hang of getting these old gems to light up you can interface them to things other than clock circuits and add a bit of warmth to your projects. After all, it’s not a real electronics project unless something glows.
Another Doraemon story for everyone.
"The Doraemon Shop in ShimoKitaZawa is one of those places, designers would die for to visit if they only knew it existed!
If you ever tried to find something in ShimoKita, you know how hard it is to find your way through this labyrinth of tiny back streets, which probably creates the strongest attributes of this area: adventure, discovery and surprise. In one of windy roads, slightly far from ShimoKita West Exit one can find this funky little shop all stuffed with Japanese dolls, characters, old style Japanese sweets, stickers, batches…. hundrets of boxes that are just waiting to be opened and rummaged out. This is where the Doraemon Uncle lives and he opens his little magic shop every night: from 6PM until 3AM!"
So, when in Japan make sure you take a trian to the north and visit ShimoKita. When your there make sure you see the Doraemon train too, it’s in the neighborhood.
[via core 77]
My wife Tum told me about this very cool train in Japan. Situated in the north of Japan on the island of Hokkaido, the Doraemon Undersea World museum is actualy in the Yoshioka-kaitei undersea train station. The station and museum are actualy located under the ocean in a tunnel. How cool is that?
Doraemon – Ding Dong Info on the JR Doraemon Undersea World
***UPDATE***
It looks as if the Doreamon Undersea World trours have ended:
I’m afraid you are too late. The train made its last run last month. The undersea station tours have also been discontinued as engineering work will be starting connected with upgrading of the tunnel for shinkansen trains.
I didn’t see any on my last visit to Costco, but I don’t doubt that they have them. I think it would be a much better deal if they sold a MAME cabinet kit. Now that, gentle readers, would be the best Christmas gift of them all. 🙂