ineedcaffeine.com | brian r stuckey

They got a pepper bar.  ‘Nuff said

http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/videos/quiznos.flv

A murder of crows in downtown Minneapolis.  In my neighborhood, twice per year, there are thousands of crows.  Last night, a sizable portion of them were hanging around the church behind my building.

The author of the linked blog made a 144×144 led matrix and then connected it to a Game Boy color.  Just watch the YouTube video in awe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n-iORmV3Qk

kevtris.org via Hack A Day

Here is a great old commercial for one of the first electronic pocket calculators.  It was released in the 70s for around $350 which would be closer to about $1200 adjusted to 2008 currency.  I think I’ll stick with my TI-89.

I’ve recoded this from the source to provide a better version than you can find on YouTube or other sites.  Check it out!

Learn more about this gadget here: http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/sharpel-8.html

Here for internal photos: http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/facit.html

An awkward PSA letting people know that “VD Is For Everybody!” If you didn’t know what venereal disease was, you could almost be tricked in to thinking that it makes you successful and look good at the same time.

This has to be one of the best anti piracy films of all time.  It features Oregon Trail and Carmen San Diego.  Sorry for the crappy start of the video.  When I transcoded it to a modern video format the beginning became a little distorted.

Just jump to about 2:00

The Hardware

I wanted to write a basic tutorial on how to create some simple but impressive laser effects for beginners (like me!) All this setup takes is a computer, an old Laser Disc player and some wire cutters.

I found these parts in an old laserdisc player from Pioneer circa 1980. These were used to align the beam from the HeNe laser on the disc itself (as best as I can determine.) They are essentially two little mirrors which rotate proportionate to the input voltage. Essentially, they act like little speakers! While speaker level output will likely fry these things, line-level out will work perfectly.

Simply splice some RCA connectors on the back and connect it to your sound card. For ease, you may also want to buy an RCA to 1/8 inch mini plug connector. This will allow you to connect it to your computer, ipod, etc. without hassle.

As far as performance goes, don’t expect too much. This is a low-end open-loop setup that probably only responds to frequencies below 150Hz. But - it is great to visualize music and for beam effects. You can still make the beam bounce around and you do have more control with this method than simply shining the beam at a speaker+mirror.

For those less inclined to find the Pioneer LD-660 (I think…) or another , you can buy the part itself from eBay. This seller seems to have lots of them but charges way too much and pretends not to know where they are from.

Here is an EXCELLENT photo showing what you’re looking for:
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/ldop1.jpg

and reference article

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/odfaq.htm#odpihldp

Lastly, as a side note - unless you will be sticking with red lasers, you will need to purchase broadband mirrors for this contraption. I ordered two thin circular first surface mirrors from Anchor Optics for ~$15. Glue them on top of the IR mirrors and you should be good to go!

The Software

I use a program called LaserLine to generate the patterns.  The left audio channel deflects the beam on the X-Axis and the Right channel deflects the beam on the Y-Axis.  LaserLine generates different waveforms for each channel and the difference, created the spiral patterns the user sees.

To visualize the patterns without a scanner, an audio scope that plots Left vs Right channels in 2D space will generate the same effect.  For this, I use a program (in demo mode…) called ProPhase.

The Results

This Starbucks coffee commercial pretty much sums up the feeling you get when your alarm goes off at the start of a week.  I feel a kinship with the creative director. 

Here is a good US propoganda film featuring Donald Duck!

From Wikipedia:

The Spirit of ‘43 is a World War II propaganda cartoon created by Walt Disney Studios in 1943 and starring Donald Duck. It is a sequel to The New Spirit. Arguably, it contains the first appearance of the character of Scrooge McDuck, although Scrooge is not named in the film.

In the cartoon, Donald Duck is portrayed as an ordinary American who gets his pay at the factory each week, and is reminded that in order to support the war effort against the Axis powers, he needs to remember to pay his voluntary income tax every quarter (in the 1940s, income taxes were paid directly by workers every three months, and not directly removed from employee paychecks as is done today). The purpose of the film was to encourage patriotic Americans to file and pay their income taxes faithfully every 3 months, in order to help the war effort. At one point, Donald Duck is faced with the classic “good angel on one shoulder, bad devil on the other shoulder” dilemma that was so common in cartoons of that era. The bad side is a zoot suit wearing hipster duck who urges Donald to spend his money at a tavern. The good side is represented by the “thrifty saver,” who appears as a slightly elderly duck with a Scottish accent and wearing a kilt and Scottish cap and urging him to be thrifty and save so he can make sure to pay his taxes. When Donald shakes hands with the “bad” duck, the hipster changes into a duck version of Adolf Hitler, complete with mustache. Donald then kicks him out. A montage shows the taxes are being used to make planes, bombs, ships, and other war materials. It then shows them being used against Axis forces, along with the repeated slogan “Taxes…to (bury, sink, etc.) the Axis”.