Few objects have the same level of rebellious punk cred as a pair of black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars (see: Ramones), so it’s no surprise that the brand has always tried to appeal to music fans over the years with various limited editions and marketing campaigns. For their latest––and perhaps silliest––Converse Chuck Taylor yet,…
For independent designers and engineers wanting to tap into wearables, the headache of both incorporating and managing sensor data can stop an otherwise brilliant idea dead in its tracks. But what if figuring out how to track and measure data through health and motion sensors were, in fact, the last things worth worrying about? More…
Designed to withstand the harsh demands of the world’s elite sports and wildlife photographers, Canon’s $11,000 EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X high-performance super telephoto zoom lens is a beast of a piece of glass. While the specs – which includes a switch for increasing the zoom range from 200-400mm to 280-560mm at the flick…
Nearly a year ago, the BBC revealed a pocket-sized computer called the BBC Micro:bit that they planned to give to one million UK-based Year 7 school children as a part of their mission to “inform, educate and entertain” as more schools adopt more STEM-friendly curriculums. At 70 times smaller and 18 times faster than the…
Responsible for everything from R/C lawnmowers to auto-lacing sneakers, the Arduino is the backbone for some of the most wild and crazy – but also sorta genius – projects within the past few years. Now, there’s a new kid on the block. Launching at Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend, the Arduino Primo is the latest and…
From arcade tables and streaming weather stations to a DIY Amazon Echo and even cat exercise wheels, the amount of possibilities one can cook up with the Raspberry Pi is near-limitless. For audiophiles looking to jam out to their Pink Floyd discography on the $25 computer, there’s now a solution for that, too. Designed by…
While Ready-to-Assemble or “flat pack” product designs have been in existence for over a half-century, the majority of these designs – more often than not from IKEA – have existed in some form or another as a piece of simplified furniture. With the more recent introduction of low-cost DIY electronics and methods of digital fabrication,…
Although you may not have heard it by name, there’s a strong chance that you’ve heard it in song. Analog Moog Synthesizers have been used by nearly every well-known pop musician over the past 50 years from Damon Albarn to Frank Zappa. Now, you can build your own Moog with a little DIY ingenuity and…
Unless you have the same songwriting chops as Bob Dylan, it’s probably best to stick with putting bananas on your breakfast cereal rather than pursuing them as a musical instrument. In any case, that may soon change. Ableton, makers of the hit professional music production software Live, wants users to set up new and experimental…
As the world of IoT continues to reveal new ways of doing the same things better, certain applications have clearly been better than others. The BRIXO blocks from “lifelong restless tinkerer” and Quantum Physicist Boaz Almog is one of those few applications. Almog, who also gave a 2012 TED talk about quantum levitation, has been…
It was nearly a decade ago when the idea of producing physical objects on a desktop started to pick up steam – both for the object creators themselves and the consumers who use them. Today, it’s hit the mainstream and anybody with a fistful of cash can walk into anywhere from Best Buy to Barnes…
Although they only just introduced their first official housing for their popular microcomputer in late June, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been keeping their momentum moving towards creating usable miniature computers. This time around, however, the Foundation took their focus off of the board and the housing in favor of something that’s become near impossible…
After Amazon introduced their $5 Dash Buttons on March 31st, 2015, the public didn’t really know whether to think this was a logical step in advancing human-computer interactions or if it was mocking consumerism as an April Fool’s Day joke – which just so happened to be the very next day. As it turned out,…
Considered by many to be the first consumer robot, iRobot’s Roomba Vacuum Cleaning Robot has sold over 10 million units since it was introduced in 2002. Yesterday, iRobot announced that those who have come to rely on automated vacuum cleaning will now be able to rely on automated robotic lawn mowing af ter they were…
Back in February of this year, we reported that the new $35 Raspberry Pi 2 would include a copy of Windows 10 for free – we just didn’t know when. Well, today is that day. In a new post on the Windows Blog, Steve Teixeira, Microsoft’s Director of Management for Microsoft’s IoT Team, announced that…
Back in March of this year, the BBC announced that in an effort to help inspire more students to learn how to code they would be giving away one million programmable microcomputers called the BBC Micro Bit. According to the BBC, the project is not only about teaching the students how to code but also…
Although they’ve been putting a lot of focus and attention towards touting their new HoloLens and Windows 10, Microsoft has also been busy developing their gigantic touchscreen Surface Hub – which was first announced back in January. The device – which can best be described as a gigantic Microsoft Surface (literally) – was designed with…
Of all of the Apple Watch orders that were received or picked up last Friday, only a few were likely to have been the gold Apple Watch Edition model, which ranges in price from $10,000 to $17,000. Depending on how well the gold model sells (which many analysts think it will), it has been rumored…
The Sugr Cube portable WiFi Speaker from Sugr can be a classic case for the scenario where a product becomes an extension of one’s reality. Devoid of inanimate and mechanical switches and dials, this portable speaker lets you interact with it in a very humanized way: it understands your touch, strokes and gentle nudges to…
Jupiter Ascending by the Wachowski siblings opened this weekend. After seeing the original trailer, I was struck by the hovering, glowing cool factor of the boots for “Caine” (played by Channing Tatum). Hmmm, LEDs on the bottom of the sole. And there lying in the corner of my shop, an old pair of my boots. It…
Regardless if you call it a meditation on soldering or perhaps an act of craziness, Gislain Benoit’s “The Clock” deserves at least some sort of recognition for its OCD-like organizational neatness. The self-described “Techno-Logic-Artist” has been working with electronics for as long as he can remember due to a lifelong fascination with the way electronic…
Since hitting the market in 2012, the Raspberry Pi has been nothing short of a game-changing educational device for hackers, makers, educators, students, engineers and curious designers. The tiny computer – which is priced at just $35 – has helped spawn legions of open source product designs ranging from streaming internet radios and video game…
While putting 3D printers and other localized manufacturing platforms in gravity-bound homes has presented its own challenges, ongoing efforts to put a full-fledged fabrication lab on the International Space Station has come a lot sooner than most would probably expect. Most recently, the Zero-G 3D printer launched in late September of 2014 and it was…
While we wait for our robot dogs and cats, the Germans from Zoobotics are working on bringing us modular spider robots called ZURI. The insect like robot-kit gives you the chance to finally start working on your personal pet army. Seemingly inspired by IKEA and Origami with a healthy dose of Sci-Fi styling, ZURI starts…
While Maker, coding and general DIY culture has exploded in popularity over the past 10 years, there was once a time where the only regular industry updates and project builds didn’t come from a quick Google search…they came from your monthly Popular Electronics magazine. The popular hobbyist magazine, which was founded over 60 years ago…
While original Apple 1 computers have been fetching over a half-million USD at auction over the past few years, even Apple 1 replicas have been going for more than a current-day Macbook Air…to the tune of around $1,200 on eBay. The Steve Wozniak-designed machine that started it all has a storied history that even Woz…
Known as the go-to dev board for those looking to prototype with electronics, the Raspberry Pi’s stripped-down Linux PC circuit board is the perfect starting point for those looking to create wearables and other small computer projects. Aiming to bring that power to even smaller devices, Raspberry Pi today announced the Model A+, an even…
One day while I was working in my shop I simply thought, “what if I packed an LED Throwie into a paintball?” LED Throwies (LT) have always fascinated me. Little complete systems with high-visibility and interactivity; just a little light with a big impact, visually, even artistically. LTs are typically thrown at ferrous metal walls or…