Hasta La Gadget!

When writing about Ryan’s beer-firing robot, it’s hard not to agree with YouTube commenter pyookface’s opinion: “Greatest. Invention. Ever.”

The kegerator is controlled by an iPhone via the ioBridge IO-204, a physical I/O board which connects web services, and can therefore be controlled by a mobile device. The first screen gives you a choice of four types of beer and lets you control the temperature. Hit the switch and a can drops into the torpedo bay.

Once your Bud Light is locked and loaded, the real fun starts. The robot switches to webcam-view, which you can see live on the iPhone’s screen. Buttons let you swivel the whole kegerator left and right. Press fire and a 50psi hydraulic canon launches the can at the lazy frat-boy who ordered it.

Amazing. It even auto-tweets video captured from its web cam.

As befits such a dorm-room project, Ryan worked with friends to build it. Graham Phero built the air-cannon, and Josh Lilly took care of “web and graphic development.” Whatevs. This is a robot, that launches beer!

V2 is in alcohol-inhibited progress. There will be cross hairs on the remote-cam images to help aiming, as well as a timer after Ryan smashed a lamp with a PBR last night.

And as if this wasn’t enough of a Christmas miracle, there’s actually a smart comment on the YouTube page. Here it is, from Nicholson7777 (who also suggested the timer and cross-hairs):

Your invention justifies all the money ever spent on advancing technology to this point. I’m am writing you in as a Nobel candidate.

Agreed. I think Wired.com’s own Beer Robot has just fallen in love.

Network and iPhone Controlled Mini Fridge, Drink Cannon [ioBridge News and Projects]

Mini fridge beer cannon [YouTube. Thanks, Ryan!]

See Also:

• How Wired.com Built Beer Robot, Our DIY Kegerator
• Beer Robot Gets Sloshed – Video – Wired
• Open-Source Arduino Robot Beer Brewery
• Help Wired Pimp Our Kegerator, Win Free Beer

James Whelton won a pink 8-GB iPod Nano and on the plane on his way back home, he hacked it. While he hasn’t jailbroken the Nano, he did get the better of the little device and dug out some interesting details of what may be possible.

James got control of the Nano’s SpringBoard, the iPod equivalent of a desktop, where all app icons appear. Normally, the Nano’s OS checks to make sure that it isn’t trying to load a modified version. James bypassed this check and proved it by removing an app icon, leaving a blank space (see video below).

That’s cool and all, but the SpringBoard plist (a plist is a file that Apple’s devices use to store preferences) shows that it could be simple matter to switch on support for movies, TV shows, games, an address book, a calendar and even a passcode lock. Here’s a picture of the extracted file:

Watching video on the tiny, square Nano screen seems kind of pointless, but so what? And unlike iOS devices which receive updates regularly, the normal iPods get one or two updates in their lifetimes, if ever, so there wouldn’t really be any reason not to hack one.

To be clear, the Nano hasn’t been jailbroken yet, and James hasn’t been able to do anything more interesting than make an app icon disappear. Still, it’s a start. We’re looking forward to seeing if hackers are able to come up with a full jailbreak for the best wristwatch of 2010.

Hello Nano [NanoHack.me]

See Also:

• Hands-On With New Apple iPods
• The One-Dollar iPod Keychain Hack
• Hack Turns 5G iPods into iPhones. Almost

This gorgeous old-style radio is actually a DIY kit, made from cardboard. The faux-wood case hides a hybrid of the modern and the ancient. The radio stage uses vacuum tubes to receive and produce the sound, whereupon it is sent to an IC, or Integrated Circuit.

The Franzis Tube Radio kit comes with all the parts, knobs and dials you’ll need to build it (although the PDF instructions are only in Dutch or German), and the product page says that this is a world tuner, suitable for cruising the long-bouncing airwaves at night, ham-radio-style.

Even if you don’t want it, take a look at the instructions (the PDFs can be had from the product page). You’ll be treated to an incredibly in-depth manual full of black and white photos and even circuit diagrams. If nothing else, it would make a great gift for any tinkering nerd in your life.

The Franzis Tube Radio kit costs €50, or $66, plus shipping from Germany. I like it so much I just ordered one. Happy Christmas to me!

Franzis Tube Radio kit [Conrad Electronics via Retro Thing]

See Also:

• The 'Sickest Tube Amp You've Ever Seen'
• Vacuum Tube Chess Set Flickers and Glows
• Build a Vacuum Tube iPod Amplifier

This amazing hack-job is the NES Guitar, fashioned almost entirely from recycled parts by the appropriately-named Circuitmaster.

The body is, of course, an old SNES console, combined with a reused guitar neck, a new bridge, a single-coil, height-adjustable pickup, a pair of strap buttons, a volume knob and of course a jack for your cable. Inside you won’t find anything much but empty space – Circuitmaster removed the guts of the console so that you, the buyer, can add in your own custom electronics. And if you’re wondering how the thin plastic case of a SNES can possibly be strong enough to keep the strings in tension, then don’t: it doesn’t. The neck and bridge are mounted on a piece of solid oak inside.

The video below shows you how it sounds, which is – honestly – not so good, likely thanks to the lack of sustain given by the flimsy plastic box. That doesn’t make this any less awesome, though.

Circuitmaster has made precisely one of these so far, and availability is currently marked as “sold out”. No surprise, really, when you look at the price tag: a ridiculously low $150 (especially considering that the neck is from Ibanez).

NES Guitar [GetLoFi via Geekologie]

See Also:

• NES Emulator Sneaks Into App Store, Already Pulled
• Salaryman Watch: NES Controller Business Card Holder
• Nintendo NES Handheld: Messy But Effective Console Mod
• Engine Block Customized To Resemble NES Joypad
• Retro Recursion: NES Mario Runs On NES Mario Cart

I’m not a big fan of motor vehicles, but I love this eye-burning guerilla ad from BMW, a kind of a cross between Julius von Bismarck’s Fulgurator and Max Headroom’s blipverts.

The stunt was pulled in a German movie theater. A giant Profoto Pro-7B was hidden behind the screen, a studio flash unit that pumps out enough light to… well, you’ll see. In front of the light was a card, with the letters “BMW” cut into it.

During the ad, and its usual guff about living your dreams by wasting fossil fuels, the flash fired and burned the letters into the unsuspecting viewers’ retinas. Then the motorbike pilot-man (that’s what they’re called, right?) on-screen tells everyone to close their eyes. They do, and see the letters projected onto the backs of their eyelids.

As you can see from the cinema-goers’ reactions, the smoke-and-mirrors gimmick went down well. I can’t imagine this working in the U.S, though. None of the teenagers would see it, as they’re all texting and chatting on their phones, and somebody, somewhere, would decide to sue the theater for triggering an epileptic fit. Sigh.

BMW – Flash Projection [YouTube]

Profoto: The Light Shaping Retina Searing Company [Strobist]

See Also:

• The Brains Behind the Image Fulgurator
• Gun Camera Adds Graffiti to Other People's Photos
• Gadget Lab Podcast#35: 3D Holograms, The Image Fulgurator, and New …