Helmet prototype

On our helmet project, we tried to prototype a shooting game but the aim is not to shoot.. It's to escape from being shot! here is the little video

shooter

this is arduino decided to be a shooter. Rather than using a box, we've got two wood stuck together shaped like a gun. The trigger is a little cute push button and the vibrating motors are giving a feeling of a machine gun.. and yea.. it's cool...

heartbeat

First we tried to get the heart beat on going. Later on, we decided to put it in a dead mouse (don't ask why), so it will give a nice feeling. When we stuck the vibrating motors under some stuffing, the feeling became a lot more realistic.

Das ist eine video of it:

R2D2

Who doesn't love Artoo?
As I get more and more into physical computing and smart toys, I started thinking about the robots I like. Nowadays I'm in my Star Wars Diet; which means I'm watching Star Wars anytime I can!
This is for y'all fans out there..
http://www.astromech.net/Lists/Part%20Listings/currentitems.htm

william meyers

http://www.telehaptics.com/pages/projects/

wii guts

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=Wii-Internals

Recipe for a vibrating motor

- An arduino board
- A vibrating motor (can be found in allelectronics, in your phone, maybe the lab :) )
- wires (d'uh)


A possible code with a photosensor:



int motorPin = 9; // this is the analog output pin for the motor
int sensorPin = 3; // this is the digital input pin for the photo sensor
int photoSensor = 0; // this is a variable to hold the state of the photo sensor

void setup() {
pinMode(motorPin, OUTPUT); // set the motor pin as a analog output
pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT); // set the photo sensor pin as a digital input
}

void loop() {
photoSensor = digitalRead(sensorPin); // read the photo sensor
if (photoSensor == HIGH) { // if the photo sensor is sending 5 volts
digitalWrite(motorPin, HIGH); // turn on the motor
}
else {
digitalWrite(motorPin, LOW); // turn off the motor
}
}



hooking up the vibrating motor:
http://a.parsons.edu/~tina/wireless/archives/000087.html

how to make a vibrating motor:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ELD4XXZPWDEUK7R4W5/

guess who's coming to class tomorrow

one of my favorite toys. It can be quite annoying when you are not expecting a screaming monkey flying towards you. It's a nice way to explore haptics.. not totally, but a little.. i hope..
http://www.stupid.com/stat/SLNG.html

Haptic links

Long story short, haptics refer to any interface that can create a touchable communication between the user and the computer. This can be achieved by vibration, sound, force and maybe even electroshock. (??)
Here is a bunch of links for haptics, toys and vibrating motors..

Haptics in wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic

Cyberglove:
http://www.immersion.com/3d/products/cyber_glove.php

A great site for DIY:
http://www.instructables.com/

Haptics on youtube:
If only:

Billards:


I'm a quite pervert of myself, so here are some links to dildonics:
Slashdong (very creative name)
http://www.slashdong.org/

wiki for dildonics:
http://opendildonics.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

finest toys:
http://www.hamleys.com/

adding on knight rider

So this is a little setup with knight rider; when the photocell emits less light, the knightrider slows down. More light gets the lights blink faster..

Gutting an owl

This the Hip hop Pet.. and I'm not kidding. Seriously they named it Hip Hop Pet.
Rather than bulking up the blog with images, here is a little flash slideshow thingy. It's a little big, so bear with me :)

Man on the moon

Seriously high-resolution images brought together.
They are shot on the moon. I loved how Jay comment is as:
"There is no Apollo 13 because they couldn't make it."
I'm not sure why that sounds funny..
click this or this

arduino, the basic stamp killer

Interesting little blog entry.. click me

Pingu, my hero

It has nothing to do with class, but I love this character :)

A computer makes mistakes, but it makes mistakes so rare, people can't notice.

This is my dad!.. not really.. Bruce Schneier is the security guru who wrote Beyond Fear, an informative and funny book about security. Beyond Fear is also the name of the podcast.

Seriously entertaining! The way he interprets about security is so cool, I think this is a pretty good podcast about how "fuck-ups" happen in security and how it is possible for people to blow up the twin towers.

The general atmosphere of the podcast is about cryptography and secret code and security. People love finding out secrets, people love gossip. I don't believe there is one person who doesn't like it. I think the best sign of this idea is how Da Vinci Code got so famous and sold like crazy. Even though people didn't know that much of about art, they bought the book because of one of many reasons; revealing a secret code is one of the greatest reasons.

The feedback loop between defender and attacker is the most astonishing thing I heard about. As things get safer, the attackers actually work on more harmful solutions. When car alarms kicked in, thieves started carjacking. So there is a crazy game going on here. As a solution he suggests going after the terrorists rather than securing the airlines. It's so interesting how he approaches to the question. Actually it reminds me of an "arabic" way of solving things. I know I'm going to sound stereotypic, but don't take it personal. In old Arabian tradition, they try to find the "bad guy" and hang him, rather than putting up signals or keeping a guard. It's so interesting how the old Arabian tradition comes as a solution for a up-to-date problem.

I'm gonna buy his book... It sounds very genius!

Why would you use a computer if it's not connected to the internet?

The other digital divide is a podcast by Jon Udell and his guest Scott C. Lemon.

Personally I take the digital divide as people who "think" they know a design program (like photoshop) and some who seriously do know and rock our world.

The problems they start talking about is upgrading hardware. When I was getting into this whole upgrading computer stuff, I thought every brand would go with another apparently it didn't. I met one of my best friends who is now holding the whole power of adsl in Turkey (I know he visited my computer in Tr a couple of times!). When he opened up my computer to check what is happening, he couldn't get over it for two weeks and it took him to fix my mess a month.

Scott also points out that there should be a bridge between the geek world and "outside". Well, yea I do agree. I can't really consider myself as a geek but I am aware of what's going on with the whole computer power and I like Star Wars, so if not a total geek, I am a small one.

I'm working with a starving artist who just opened up an ad agency to earn some money. She has no experience with programs except microsoft word and she's been using it for designing logos. now.. wait a minute.. you are worling with Word to design logos and you think it's the greatest program ever??? When I showed her what photoshop can do (gradient in one click), she called it to complicated and still thinks Word is the coolest program ever. When Scott talks about his wife and exchanging photos, I can totally understand him. Most artists are not really aware of the power of a computer. The worst part is, these people think they are right and refuse cute little girls like me to help.

There's another side of the medallion; the upcoming generation is growing up in this internet power and can hardly recognize the use of a computer without internet connection.

I love what they said about owning something just because cool kids have it. One of them is talking about how he bought an iPod but ended up using his MuVo. It got me thinking: Are we getting atypical? I know I am, but there is a general sense that people are not doing what others are trying to do. Or maybe I feel like that now 'cuz I got out of my "wanna-be environment" and grew up.

Also there's another point I can't stop agreeing: I don't want something expensive that will give me a heart-attack every time I drop it. Personally I own a acer 5100 laptop (700$), a ipod nano (100), a mac mini (cant remember) and a LG whatever phone came free with the plan I chose. I can't work with something that can easily be damaged because I'm trying to learn stuff and my head is always busy. So I can forget something behind or it may fall of my pocket or something. I don't want to cry after it. Of course I'd love to have the coolest laptop or the greatest mp3 player, but I just can't take the responsibility.

What this podcast made me realize is that: I'm a lot more geeker that I though I was. If you wanna chill out, take a look at it but it can be quite boring as well..


wow.. long entry..