Hasta La Gadget!

SparkFun is looking to further its educational push this summer, announcing its 2013 National Education Tour. The intiative, set to kick off in June, will bring the hacker supplier to schools in all 50 states, teaching six to eight hour courses aimed at getting students started in the world of DIY. The courses will focus on topics like the PicoBoard Scratch sensor, SparkFun Inventor Kit and e-textiles, teaching kids programming and hardware concepts. SparkFun will be footing a portion of the bills, to the tune of $1,000 per location and leaving hardware behind so education doesn’t have to stop when the company’s RV pulls away. SparkFun is also looking toward libraries as resources for its educational initiative, with programs aimed at educating librarians in the ways of Arduinos and the like. More information on the program can be found after the break.

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Adafruit’s just outed a new Internet of Things Printer kit that’s traded in its ethernet connection for WiFi. Instead of using an Arduino Uno like its wired sibling, the new DIY hardware is built with a Raspberry Pi Model B running Raspbian Linux. Programmed in Python, the software on the box wields the Python Imaging Library, which gives folks flexibility when it comes to typography and graphics, and can leverage the language’s raft of libraries. If you’re not in the mood for coding, however, the contraption brings a few sample applications that’ll print out daily weather reports, sudoku puzzles, tweets and images on 2.25-inch wide receipt paper. The project rings up at $189 — $100 above its predecessor — but it isn’t up for sale quite yet.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

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Source: Adafruit Blog, Adafruit

Warranties have their place, but there’s no shortage of techies who prefer to do their own device repair when something goes awry. Unfortunately, no matter how technically inclined you are, some devices seem built specifically to make the task as difficult as possible. The folks over at iFixit have released their Repairability Guide, which shows Dell’s XPS 10 as the easiest to repair, and Microsoft’s Surface Pro as the worst of the bunch.

According to the Tablet Repairability Guide, the Dell XPS 10 is the best option for those who plan to crack their tablet open and do some tinkering, with it being rated as easy to open, with labeled cables, color-coded screw, and an easy-to-remove battery. The only complaint listed was the fact that the LCD is fused to the display glass.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire comes in second, also being easy to open with standard Philips-head screws and no proprietary fasteners to deal with. Dell makes the upper list again at number three with its Dell Streak tablet, which is simply listed as being easy to open with an easy-to-replace battery, but marred by the same LCD-fused-to-glass issue. The Kindle Fire’s negative mark is that its glass is fused to the device’s frame.

Dropping to the bottom of the list, we find a lot of Apple and Microsoft products, with the Surface Pro coming in dead last. While the battery is not soldered to the motherboard, that is the only positive aspect that is listed, with it’s negative marks being comprised of “tons” of adhesive to keep the components in place, as well as DIYers risking severing the wires when opening the device. Next up, in order, is Apple’s iPad Mini, iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, and then Microsoft’s Surface RT tablet. A consistent problem with the iPads is the risk of cracking the glass while taking it apart, as well as too much adhesive. The Surface RT is said to be hard to open with a fused LCD.

[via iFixit]

Dell XPS 10 and Kindle Fire are the most repairable tablets, Surface Pro and iPads come in last is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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I don’t know about you, but I am an absolute sucker for Oreos. After all, I find it really difficult to resist the cream filling of each Oreo cookie, and all willpower just wilts when faced with a roll of Oreos and a glass of cold milk, as the twist and dunk combo is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods. Well, artist and inventor David Neevel must be one of the very few people in the world who hate the cream that lines each Oreo cookie, and the inventor side of him decided to do something quirky – be developing a machine that allows him to remove the creamy part of the Oreo cookie.

Neevel’s Oreo Separator Machine, as he calls it, is a creation that defies logic – who in their right mind would resist the creamy bit of an Oreo cookie? Well, the invention will comprise of a mish mash of items, including aluminum, wood, a hatchet and floss, all put together in his garage in Portland, Oregon. Of course, Neevel did have to pay a price to build the Oreo Separator Machine, taking approximately two weeks of his time to do so. Neevel said, “It was a big time commitment. I had to work some long hours. I didn’t see my girlfriend or my dog for hours at a time.”

I don’t think he’d find a decent market who would be willing to pay him money for his invention, as scraping off the cream using the blunt edge of a butter knife is a whole lot cheaper.

Source
[ Man builds own Oreo Separator copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

In today’s digital word going retro is definitely in. An increasing number of photographers are taking a break from their digital cameras and going back to basics. Pinhole cameras are just one example of the analog hardware that’s out there and can be had for next to nothing. Find out how to build your own plastic or cardboard pinhole camera for under $20.