Category: To be used for Evil

The Coaster Toaster

CD Killer

Looks like this will do a pretty good job of dealing with a few CDs that you don’t want to ‘fall into enemy’ hands. I have about 150 that I need to destroy, my first thought was a microwave oven with an auto feed attachment to just make it a ‘load and go’ way of dealing with them. Another thought was to glue a stack of them together and then chuck it on a lathe and turn it into something useful. Good concept except that I’ll be gluing the base of one to the thin top cover of the next, I doubt that it would be all that strong. Plus flowing the glue would be a pain.

CDR’s are great things, but what to do about old backups? You can’t just throw them away, lest someone fishes one out of the trash. Breaking them isn’t very satisfying, and they jam paper shredders. Sticking one in the microwave oven is good fun, but the fumes are probably toxic and I don’t have a microwave. I do have this broken 52x CDROM drive though.

The Coaster Toaster

The Raw Power of 1.5 Tesla

Tesla Damage

Magnets are fantastically wonderful things! Not just because they give us TV, electricity, and cool ways to hold papers to our refrigerators, but when they are built for medical imaging they become downright scary. Magnetic flux is measured in Teslas, the normal rating for a medical device is 1.5 to 4 T. For comparison, the Earth has a flux density of just 20-30 microteslas. A common rare Earth magnet might have a density of 1 Tesla but are quite small so they won’t pull a chair across the room (well, if you get a few hundred of them and then you’ll have something to write about!)
In the picture you can see that a cart of some sort has become wedged in the opening of some imaging device. Imagine what would have happened if there was someone in it… Well that happens sometimes. I remember a few years ago a story of a child that was killed because his oxygen tank became a deadly missile when he was being scanned by a MRI.

[via MedGadget]

Flying Objects!

Hands free photography

Shoulder mounted camera

Now this looks cool. Voice activated (“take shot”) and easy to wear this could be very handy for all sorts or … things.
It uses an iSight and an Apple Powerbook housed in a backpack to do all the work. Funny, I don’t see anyone doing the same thing with a Dell or an IBM laptop…

[via The Red Ferret Journal]
Hands free photography

Circuit Bending Games

circuit bending

If your into making weird noises and also like to mess with a soldering iron maybe you should give circuit bending a try. That’s where you poke and prod around the electronics of a device (like a Speak-n-spell) and cause the output sounds to be changed in weird ways.
I think I did this by accident when I was a very small child, my father had and electronic piano that would pick up radio stations if you touched some components on the back. Me and my friends thought that is was pretty cool at the time, but then again we were about six.

…examples of game cartridges and portable systems that have been circuit bent to create a nice glitch aesthetic & sound…Jumpstart has been bending the Gauntlet game on Sega Master System II here.

MAKE: Blog: Circuit Bending Games

Micro Butterfly

Butterfly

It’s small, it’s expencive, it’s so cool it burns. It’s a micro sized R/C airplane so small it’s safe to fly indoors. It might be the smallest in the world but i kind of doubt it. However I’m sure that it’s the smallest you can buy. Exerybody donate to the site so I can get one to review it. 🙂

Here are the specs for the true geeks out there:

Butterfly Airframe w/Installed:

  • 0.4g micro900 receiver
  • GB05 4mm 5:1 Gearbox
  • Carbon Fiber Propeller!
  • 0.22g HingeAct Actuator
  • Audible Tones and LED indicators
  • Built-In Low Voltage Cutoff

HFX900 Transmitter

  • 4 CH transmitter – Full Proportional
  • 3 User Selectable frequencies
  • Built-In lipoly Bahoma charger
  • Connects to FMS Flight Simulator!
  • 900Mhz ISM band USA, 868Mhz EU
  • FCC and CE Approved!
  • Requires 4 AA cells

ALSO:

  • 30mAh 0.9g LiPoly Bahoma Battery
  • FMS computer interface cable
  • CDROM w/Freeware FMS flight-Sim
  • nstructional Videos, and manual

The whole works, packed in a custom
fitted aluminum carrying case!

You know, the aluminum case is the real seller. Just think, you take the kids to the Pizza Gorp Playland so they can tear up the place and instead of gawking at the soccer moms you can nerd out to the tenth power once you open your case of R/C fun. You can even tell the waitress that if she sees the wings waggle to bring you another pitcher of beer.
Now if it could only carry a little camera and transmitter…

Plantraco’s RTF Butterfly – Fly in your Livingroom!

(Thanks to Keven for spotting this one.)

Take the Doctors Advice

Tiki Bar TV

Take the advice of good Doctor Tiki and administer a London Fogcutter as soon as you can.
This has GOT to be the absolute best video podcast on the ‘net. Beats Rocketboom hands down for production value. While Lala is no Amanda, Lala looks a date you would have more fun with. 🙂
With it’s pleasantly retro atmosphere, Tiki Bar TV lives up to its tag, “Forbidden cocktails & swingin babes in swank bachelor pad”. The past episodes give a handy and humorous tutorial on how to mix various drinks like a Trader Woody and the Hulla Balloo. Go sign up for the podcast and get the older episodes and take a trip to the Tiki Bar.

TikiBar TV [ Subscribe to Podcast ]