Category Archives: BLOGGING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Free pyMCU Contest Winner!

Posted by on May 13, 2013 1 comment
pymcu-led-pov-writing

Hello pyMCU - How I did this.

Congratulations to Patrick Gibson on winning the “free pyMCU” contest!*

Richard will be sending the winner one shortly, and if you come up with any cool projects with it, I would love to see it!

In case you’re wondering how I selected the winners, I used a simple Python script (naturally) putting everyone in a list then randomizing it.  Sure, it’s only pseudo-random, but hopefully it’s good enough for readers of this blog.  If I was really good, I’d figure out a way to scrape the comments, but handling the “subscription bonus” would have made it even tougher.

Contest Python Script: Read more »

JCoPro.net CNC “Art” Giveaway

Posted by on April 7, 2013 5 comments

atst-on-wallIf you saw my first post about making an ATST stencil and thought you might want one, I don’t have the first painting anymore.  Fortunately, I made the stencil out of what I now think is blue polycarbonate, (not carbonite!) so it should last for quite a while.  I had a spare canvas and got bored, so there is now another.

Additionally, I’ve been experimenting with using a modified version of my “Pixel Machining,” AKA halftone process to engrave floor tiles.  I’ve got at least two of these around as well that were experiments.  Finally, I’ve got two wooden “ninja stars” that I’m not doing anything with anymore.  They probably need a good home.

err-tile-engravedIf you would like your own Star Wars Chicken Walker painting, “Err” engraved tile, or CNC ninja star, just sign up to receive JcoPro.net updates via email (right side of the page), Twitter, or Youtube, and leave a comment here to let me know you’re interested.  If you already subscribe, just leave a comment.

I’ll randomly select one person, and ask which “prize” is desired.  From there, I’ll select Read more »

Old School Update May 2011

Posted by on February 7, 2013 No comments

Boxie the creepster robotic box with LED ping-pong ball eyesIt seems that May was a busy month for JcoPro.net.  The biggest story was the introduction of “Boxie the Creepster,” a remote control box.  Although that probably doesn’t explain much, Boxie is basically the controls from a RC helicopter thrown into a box with some new servos and linkages.  Instead of controlling the main and tail rotor motor, these lines are used to make the ping-pong ball eyes turn different colors.

The video in the post should serve as a good introduction, and has a nice little surprise at the end.  If you’d like to see more info on how the eyes work, check this post out, or if for some reason you’d like to know how it interacts with dogs, that should let you know the answer.

The other big story, and one of my most popular, was the double-barrel pneumatic air cannon.  This thing was constructed nearly 10 years ago, so it doesn’t hold air as well as it used to, but it’s still pretty cool.  Although capable of launching potatoes, Read more »

Top Really Cheap Projects to Make from JcoPro.net

Posted by on January 16, 2013 2 comments

It occurred to me recently that a lot of people don’t have the kind of tools that I now have at my disposal (CNC router, lathe, etc).  Some people hopefully like to check this site out just because it’s interesting, but for those that would like to participate with a low capital investment, here’s some really cheap projects featured here in no particular order.

Evie checking things out on pallet

Apparently our dog thought this was a good idea.

Hack an Automatic Air Freshener: Not only are these devices chock full of useful mechanical and electrical components that can be harvested, they are available in both the timed and passive infrared version for under $10.  Why not use one to trigger your camera, or even make an extremely crude walking device by adding controls from a cheap RC SUV?

Need a work table?  Why not one made from a shipping Pallet? Building this was extremely cheap, however one has to factor in that the mill (Available from Amazon) that it came on was well over $1000.

No Drill?  Build one from a pencil sharpener!  Again, extremely cheap to make, but you have to find an old-school (literally) pencil sharpener to use.  This shouldn’t be Read more »

JcoPro.net Site Goals for 2013

Posted by on January 1, 2013 5 comments

jcopro.net logoAs this site rolls past its second year in existence, I suppose it’s a good idea to set some goals.  First off, we’ll see if I met any of my website goals for 2012:

So here are my 2012 results:

  • Traffic: Goal: 350,000 pageviews – failed @ 298,000 views
  • Daily Traffic: Goal: 1500 pageviews/day – failed @ around 800/day (normal)
  • Search Traffic:Goal: 350 visits per day – success! @ sometimes more than 350, sometimes less.  We’ll call this good.
  • Adsense payments: Goal: 7 in year – failed @ not sure – probably four or five
  • Pay-per-month sponsors: Goal: some – failed @ none

Wow, so 1 out of 5 goals met.  Kind of poor.  On the other hand, I have had some success and payments from Amazon, so that makes up in a small part for the lack of Adsense payments.  Also, roughly pageviews in a year really isn’t too bad.  At 298,000 views, it more than doubles last year’s total.  Based on these stats, I’ll go ahead and set some goals for 2013: