Off topic fun

555 AM radio

I have earlier written about 555 timer design contest. The contest is over and winning circuits have been found. Here is one very interesting contest entry (got second place in Minimalist category): AM radio receiver built around 555 timer IC. Look at the following video that presents the circuit.

Fractals without a Computer!

A fractal is a figure with a self-similar pattern. Usually the fractals are calculated with a computer, but is is possible to produce Fractals without a Computer! It’s very cool – partly because it looks neat, but also partly because it shows you something important about fractals. Optical video feedback is a well-known phenomenon. If

It Works on My Machine

I getting certification for your software far too challenging? This is a brilliant idea for a new application certification program The “Works on My Machine” Certification Program. Participating in this innovative new application certification program is as simple as pressing the F5 key on your keyboard. Just few easy steps… Brand your app with your

URL Hunter

URL Hunter is an experimental keyboard-character based game played entirely in your browser’s URL bar. Go to URL hunter web page at http://probablyinteractive.com/url-hunter to see yourself. Is it a good game? Not really. The gameplay is pretty awful, and the concept is naturally pretty limited. But it’s clever and unusual. Great misuse of technology. Another

Robot videos

Here are two interesting to look at robotics articles with video for this Friday: Basketball-Playing Robot Seals Will Rule Us All One Day shows a basketball-playing robot sea. This is a robot seal that can sink baskets at a 99 percent clip to a moving target basket. Google’s self-driving cars take TED attendees for a

Holiday project ideas

Lego Holiday Ornament page shows how to build a set of fun holiday items with Lego. The first object you will tackle is an ornament for your tree. The project web page contains model file for free Lego Digital Designer 4.0 software. Geek Christmas Ornaments: Part 9 web page shows how to make keyboard circuitry