Monthly Archives: March 2012

Announcing an “aStore,” (A Store?) on Jcopro.net!

Posted by on March 30, 2012 No comments
Amazon package smashed

Hopefully your stuff won’t be smashed, but Amazon supposedly has great customer service for returns!

Since this site is paid for by various advertisements, including items purchased through Amazon.com, I thought it would be nice to have a place where you could purchase things used on this site.  To this end, I’ve set up a “store” page where you can get some of the stuff used here, or maybe even get some new ideas on things that would be interesting to buy for your own project.

I certainly love when people buy any Amazon items off of jcopro.net, but I’ve only included things on my aStore that I’ve personally used, have been pleased with, and are related to stuff I write about here.  As of now there are categories for electronics, tools and mechanical components, and books.  The books aren’t necessarily directly related to projects here, but I’ve tried to only list the ones that have to do with hacking or making stuff.  This could be something “inspirational,” like “My Tank is Fight” or “Neuromancer,” to something more practical like “The Machinery’s Handbook.”

So be sure to check the store out.  If you’re shopping for anything else on Amazon, just click on any of the links to Amazon (like this one) listed on Jcopro to shop through this site and support me in my quest to build random awesome stuff for my and your entertainment!

A Motorized Geneva Drive

Posted by on March 27, 2012 5 comments

Recently I built a Geneva drive model that could be hand cranked.  Obviously this would be better with a motor, so one was added.  I had a gear reduced motor that was originally slated for what became a “radial engine model”, which worked well to drive the assembly.  I also remade the Maltese cross and the plate that everything sat on with my CNC router.  Things worked a bit better this time, but the drive is by no means a refined product.

The following is a video of the drive’s development so far.  You may recognize the ending segment from my EL lights review.  Not sure where I got the idea for the flashing EL lights, but it seemed as good a way as any to try them out.

One thing that is a challenge with motorizing something like this that is made out of MDF (medium density fiberboard – think a more ground-up and uniform particle board), is that using a set screw isn’t as easy as with more robust materials.

The solution came during a rare visit to Walmart, where I Read more »

Use Multiple Workspaces in Ubuntu Linux

Posted by on March 25, 2012 No comments

Ubuntu logoAs of the publishing of this article, I’ve been using Ubuntu Linux for over 3 months.  Although I certainly don’t know everything, the OS now seems natural to use, and I really don’t miss Windows anymore.  I find myself looking for things in the wrong place on my Windows XP machine at work, but not too much.  Probably an unavoidable side effect of using multiple OS’s.

One function that seemed strange and possibly a bit useless was the fact that you can use multiple workspaces with Ubuntu.  This is similar to having a dual-screen setup in Windows XP, except the taskbar and everything else is totally separate.  In a way it’s more like having two computers.

After ignoring it for a while, and asking the question “what is this good for?” on Reddit, it finally clicked that I could use multiple windows instead of maximizing and minimizing windows all of the time.  This is especially useful when trying to work on something that’s dependent on another window, like a website review, or using a template to type something up.  It’s also great if you’re downloading something in one window, and want to, say, play Hedgewars in the other.  After getting used to it recently, I’m really starting to like this feature, and I see it as an advantage over Windows XP.  I didn’t make it, but here’s a video Read more »

Take Apart a Broken Bose Waveradio

Posted by on March 23, 2012 3 comments

After receiving a broken Bose Waveradio in the hope that I could possibly fix it, it was eventually evident that I had no idea what I was doing and wasn’t going to fix it.  I have some thoughts on how it was constructed as well as the components that one could “harvest” from it, but for now, here’s a video of the components.

So here’s my opinion for what it’s worth on these machines component and construction-wise.

start of Bose Waveradio disassemblyConstruction – You pay top dollar when buying one of these little radios, but as with most things you get what you pay for.  They’ve put soft pads on a lot of the components, presumably to dampen extra vibration, which is a nice touch.  It’s cool to see the insides of the speakers, which are dominated by a large chamber which supposedly gives the Waveradio it’s distinct sound.

As for being hacker-friendly, I was really surprised Read more »

“Birth of a PVC Man” Full Video and How this Stop Motion Animation was Made

Posted by on March 20, 2012 5 comments

As briefly previewed with my other Stop Motion Projects, here’s a full Youtube format video of PVC Man coming to life:

This took a bit longer than I wanted to get processed because apparently Ubuntu Linux doesn’t handle this conversion from an animated GIF file to actual video quite as seamlessly as Windows XP does (I’m sure there is a way, but I haven’t found it yet).  Apparently Windows 7 doesn’t natively support this either, so I’m glad I still have an XP machine running my CNC router.

As for how the video was made, it’s similar to my other Stop Motion projects.  Things have been gradually upgraded along the way.  The first few were made with my Env2 dumb-phone (see the mount I made for it), and soon thereafter I upgraded to my 7 year old Casio Exilim camera.  With this though, I’ve finally come into the modern age using a Canon T2i with an infrared remote trigger that allows me Read more »