Once upon a time, in the early days of smartphones (y’know, a few years ago), a company would do everything possible to make its app look as similar to its website as possible. Now everything is topsy-turvy. Today YouTube revealed that some of the website’s new look is going to be borrowed from its mobile app. Brave new world.
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This awesome OpenKnit machine can weave a sweater from a digital pattern in about an hour—that’s cool. I mean, look at it go! Even cooler is that you can actually construct this awesome OpenKnit machine yourself. Welcome to a brave new world of textile design.
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I’m just a simple guy. I can’t decipher scientific jargon. I can’t recite more than like four digits of Pi, etc. And I’m okay with that. But if you do know an egghead or are one yourself, check out these neat brainy cutting boards for science types.
These lovely works of art on wood come from Gerald and Summer at Elysium Woodworks, a woodworking studio in Santa Rosa, California. They make custom cutting boards that have scientific themes, and they’re quite reasonably priced – $35 for an 8″ x 12″ board, and $45 for a 10″ x 15″.
Minds brighter than mine will certainly appreciate the math, astronomy and chemistry designs on these while they are cooking up dinner.
I do agree that Pluto is a planet.
[via Neatorama]
Expedit, we hardly knew ye. Ikea recently announced that the popular shelving system is not long for this world, and the internet responded with rage. But there’s a really good reason for Ikea to get rid of Expedit. And in fact, it’s not really going away at all.
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The burgeoning small scale 3D printing industry is focused on producing plastic or metal objects. A small team of makers led by Gerard Rubio hopes to turn the spotlight on a more practical material: fabric. The OpenKnit is a work-in-progress open source printer that automatically knits thread to create clothing based on digital templates.
The printer is powered by an Arduino Leonardo and can control three needles at the same time. Like the pioneering RepRap, the OpenKnit printer itself will have parts that can be 3D printed to further save on costs. Gerard says the printer should cost around $750 (USD) to build.
Aside from the printer itself, OpenKnit also has a companion program called Knitic that can be used to design clothes. Knitic was developed by Mar Canet and Varvara Guljajeva, who used their experience from hacking old electronic knitting machines to create a user-friendly program for designing clothes. Finally, there’s Do-Knit-Yourself, a “virtual wardrobe” where people can share their designs. Think of the site as the Thingiverse of clothing.
Obviously, all three parts of the OpenKnit project are still in their infancy, and the clothes that have come out of it are not much to look at. But I hope the project takes off and democratizes fashion, because that industry badly needs a wake up call. Check out the OpenKnit website to learn more about the printer. Makers should head to Gerard’s Github page to find out how they can replicate the device.
[via Gadgetify]
The design and fabrication of artificial ice-climbing structures is an incredibly creative yet widely overlooked form of experimental architecture. The resulting constructions are often astonishing: ice-covered loops, ledges, branches, and towers reminiscent of the playful 1960s experiments of Archigram, yet serving as some of the most spatially interesting athletic venues in all of today’s professional sports.
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I’ve always thought it was creepy to hang the heads of dead animals on your wall. They always look like they are watching you as you move around the room. If you are a big fan of The Empire Strikes Back, you might not mind hanging this animal head on your wall.
What we have here is a DIY Wampa head made out of cardboard boxes, newspaper, tape, glue, faux fur, and a few other household items. It looks a lot like paper mache, but it’s not. It was made by the fine folks at OurNerdHome, and its builders say they spent only about $20 on the project.
While there aren’t step-by-step instructions, the images do give you an idea of what you need to do to make your own. I wonder what kind of fur was used. It looks sort of like the fur on that Wampa rug we talked about a while back.
This is certainly one of the coolest DIY Star Wars projects I have seen.
Libraries used to be places for doing bookish. It’s not that simple anymore. Washington DC just announced the winning proposal for renovating its historic central library. The winner? An ambitious plan to turn the building into a place where ideas are born—and things actually made.
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As I’ve mentioned before, Xenogears is one of my favorite games. So I was so excited when I heard that someone had proposed LEGO versions of the PlayStation classic’s mecha. Sadly, Diego Cabrera submitted his proposal on LEGO Cuusoo back in 2012 and it still doesn’t have the minimum 10,000 votes.
I don’t know if Diego edited his proposal since he first created it, but as of this writing all you can see on Cuusoo is the image of Xenogears, the final form of Fei’s Weltall. But Video Game Stuffs was able to save Diego’s LEGO models of the other Gears. I’m not sure if these are all he made – the other heroes’ Gears are missing, such as the awesomely bulky Siebzehn – but right now these images are all we have.
I don’t know if Cuusoo places an expiration date on proposals, although I was still able to place my vote for Diego’s proposal. I do know that Xenogears is no Back to the Future, Ghostbusters or Minecraft. But if you’re a fellow fan of the game it wouldn’t hurt to show your support for this awesome concept. I hope Diego updates or resubmits his proposal now that it’s getting a new wave of attention.
[via Video Game Stuffs via Destructoid]
A lot of phone cases incorporate features that give users added convenience. This particular case, however, takes a couple of steps backward.
Dubbed by artist/hacker Dennis DeBel as the S.M.S. or “smoke messaging service” case, the bulky case can be used to send smoke signals at the push of a button. It has a chamber where lamp oil is stored, which is heated when the button is pressed. This, in turn, produces the wisps of smoke when you’re ready to send a message of the smoky kind.
The SMS Case is just a concept design for now, considering the fact that, well, they’re incredibly bulky and you can’t really translate smoke into actual messages. But it’s still pretty neat, though.
[via LikeCool]
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