DIY Ambilight: Because your TV isn’t big enough already

You’d think that a 55-inch, full-HD LCD television with surround sound system connected to an enormous media pc, XBox 360 and a PS3 would be enough for a man who actually mostly plays PC games in a different room and watches TV on his phone on the train trip to work. But you’d be wrong.

Dave of DaveNewson.com is the latest of major nerdy tinkerers to take on the DIY challenge of Ambilight – a TV enhancement where the colours from your TV are projected onto the wall behind it. There are some sane reasons for doing this – improved immersion and less eye-strain when watching in the dark being the main ones. But mostly, Dave did it because it looks “cool as hell”. Click here to see it in action.

Want your own Ambilight system? There are a few different ways of setting this up apparently, but essentially you will need a strip of colour-changing LEDs, a micro controller, a PC to play media from, a 5 volt power supply, a TV, and a way better understanding of electronics than me. Click here to read the really quite detailed How-To on DaveNewson.com.

Category: Computers, Craft, Gadgets, Games, Tutorial, TV | Comments Off

August 28

DIY Lego Shelves.

This reader submission blew me away. Look how amazing these shelves are!

This tutorial really breaks it down into simple to follow instructions. It starts with an IKEA bookshelf and ends with the coolest hutch I have ever seen! If any of you make this, be sure to show us pictures!

Check it out!

Category: Craft, Geek, Toys, Tutorial | Comments Off

August 13

Piranha Plant Cake Pops

Nothing is better than a good cake except good cake pops. And what could be better than GEEKY cake pops?! Check out these mouthwateringly amazing Piranha Plant Pops over at baking blog, Cakecrumbs.me.

And the best part is that Rhiannon has posted detailed step-by-step instructions on how to recreate these geek pops, complete with cake recipes. How do you like the sound of Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes? Well that’s apparently what a Piranha Plant tastes like. Yum!

Category: Craft, Games, Tutorial, Video Games | 1 Comment

August 6

Tutorial: Pin Cushion for a Zombie

Do you know a zombie who is into sewing? Do any of your undead friends keep losing all their needles? Well, you can make a Brain Shaped Pin Cushion for your crafty cadaver, armed only with some thick cord, scrap material, and basic sewing skills!

This tutorial over at Tiny Little Life actually makes use of a Hilbert Curve to make the general brain pattern, which is great because this make is not only nerdy in a WE LOVE ZOMBIES kind of way, but also in a smart WE LOVE MATHS kind of way too. I’m sure if David Hilbert were among the walking dead today he would be most pleased with this use of his design.

Category: Craft, Geek, Horror & Gore, Tutorial | Comments Off

July 30

PixelBrite: Programmable Pixel Light Panels

I’m getting used to being in total awe of some of the creativity, innovation, and pure genius displayed by people all over the Internet. The Geek collective especially seems to be amply blessed in all three departments, and this Instructable inspired by the wonderful Close Encounters of the Third Kind, posted by LeoneLabs, is no exception.

Admittedly, this isn’t your easy-to-recreate kind of geekcraft. You’ll need to get your head around electronics, microcontrollers, a bit of code, and it looks like you’d need a fair bit of patience to do all of the optimising and stuff that LeoneLabs goes into in the later steps. The components and materials also cost in the region of $550, but when you look at the results (and there are more awesome images to drool over if you follow the link), it looks like $550 well spent!

Personally, I have nothing further than GCSE (10th grade) electronics knowledge, and probably even less experience wth microcontrollers. So I will just sit back and marvel at the greatness that is PixelBrite, and wish I had one. Or four.

Category: Computers, Craft, Gadgets, Geek, Toys, Tutorial | 3 Comments

July 27

Everyone Needs Minions

My husband and I saw “Despicable Me 2” last weekend (it was his idea…he hasn’t watched an animated movie or a cartoon with me since “Toy Story” came out!), and as before, those little minions are just wildly funny. And according to the great vast internet, they remain pretty popular.
Brain from Kansas posted a tutorial on how he turned his son into a minion for Halloween, with the bulk of the costume coming from a garbage can. “As soon as my son saw Dispicable Me, my son immediately knew he wanted to be a minion. I had made his costumes for the past several years…, so I started working on this new challenge. He can be pretty shy, but once he was in this costume, his personality lit up.” Brian has some really great photos in his tute, which would be easy to recreate, or turn into a static display for a porch for a Halloween decoration.

Up next, an unknown family goes total “Despicable Me” cosplay! I really wish there was some way to ID them here. This is an awesome group costume!

And someone, please, tell me if I’m seeing this right…Check out Vector there in the photo. Does anyone else think that looks like Kristin Wiig, or is it just me?

BTW, if you go see “Despicable Me 2,” stay through the credits. There’s some funny minion stuff during the credits, but nothing afterwards.

Category: Craft, Geek, Movies, Tutorial | Comments Off

Geek Crafts

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