Hasta La Gadget!

When the Raspberry Pi was released earlier this year, the credit-card-sized Linux machine became an instant hit. The night it became available to order, both Premier Farnell/element14 and RS Components, the official distributors of the Pi project, exhibited the signs of a late ’90s Slashdot effect: you could barely even get the two sites to load. Fast forward to today, and you can finally get your hands on one within three weeks. The Raspberry Pi is truly the Linux device of the year, if not the past decade. Follow past the break and we’ll show you how to set yours up now that you’ve actually succeeded in snagging one.

Continue reading So you got a Raspberry Pi: now what?

Filed under: Desktops

So you got a Raspberry Pi: now what? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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See those silver stripes around the circumference of this Parrot AR drone? They’re not there for decoration or style. They’re actually strips of aluminum tape that’s wired into a capacitor from a disposable camera’s flash. Which means that when—not if—this drone bumps into someone, they’re going to get a particularly unpleasant shock as you can see what happened to its creator’s arm. More »

I’ve probably seen thousands of iPhone cases, but only a couple interested me enough that I ended up buying them. While I’m not a snob, I’m well aware that a case that doesn’t feature a nice design ethos won’t please me for long. These cases from Korea’s Leese Design incorporate a bit of DIY style to make each one unique.

The DIY Stipin case from Leese Design has an embroidered design on its back. The case comes in a variety of complete pre-stitched designs, but what’s really fun is that buyers can cross-stitch their own designs if they want to. There are pattern guides available for those of us not that nimble with a needle, which should allow everyone to complete a case like this. Oh, and those cute little pins are designed to plug into your headphone jack when not in use.

The cases sell from Leese Design for ₩48,000 (~$48 USD) but the DIY version sells for just ₩30,000 (~$30 USD).

[via Ubergizmo]

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Spectrometers are a pretty invaluable piece of lab equipment. They make it rather simple to identify substances by analyzing the light that they absorb. Problem is, for the hobby scientist, they typically cost thousands of dollars. Jeffrey Yoo Warren’s latest Kickstarter project aims to put these powerful tools in the hands of your average Joe, with an open-source DYI model, where the key ingredient is a shard of DVD-R. Using that piece of plastic in conjunction with black paper and a webcam, his $35 kit allows anyone to quickly and easily reveal the spectral fingerprint of any substance. There’s even a $5 model that works in conjunction with a free Android app, turning your smartphone into a legit lab tool. The goal, ultimately, is to build up a library of substances that can easily be matched with samples caught in the wild — in essence, to build a “Shazam for materials.” The original inspiration was an effort to identify contaminants left behind by the BP oil spill, but Warren also touts its ability to reveal hidden dyes in laundry detergents and to differentiate wines or olive oils. For those with grander ambitions, a $300 pledge will score you a pre-built and calibrated desktop spectrometer, complete with pyrex dishes and a full spectrum lamp. To help fund this backyard (or back pocket) science revolution, hit up the source link.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Public Lab DIY Spectrometer wants to be the ‘Shazam of materials’

Insert Coin: Public Lab DIY Spectrometer wants to be the ‘Shazam of materials’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It takes a serious Batman fan to build a replica of any of the Dark Knight’s vehicles. It is even more impressive when they build them from junk as is the case with this Batpod motorcycle.

It not only looks amazing, but this is a fully functional hand-built Dark Knight BatPod. It was made from scrap metal parts by Vietnam’s Tùng Lâm. It looks like it cost him a fortune to build, but believe it or not, it cost just $480(USD). That’s a lot less than Bruce Wayne paid for his (or the $100,000 for this replica.)

The video shows Tùng tearing up the streets on this cool vehicle and just generally feeling good and being his own superhero. You can see more pics from the build at the link below.

[via Obvious Winner]