How-To: Get Started with Make: Projects

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• How-To: Get Started with Make: Projects
• Tom's Hardware Benchmarks Inkjet Printer Paper
• Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least
• The Best Music Player Application for Android [App Directory]
• Return to the world of gamer nerd rage with book two of "King of RPGs" [Video]
• Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart
• David O. Russell Drops Out of Controversial Uncharted Movie [Creative Differences]
• Google Wallet: the End of Anonymous Shopping
• Maker Teen Inspired by Faire to Build Robot Minions
• One Year Later, Did Nintendo Keep Their E3 2010 Promises? [Keeping Them Honest]

How-To: Get Started with Make: Projects Posted: 26 May 2011 03:00 PM PDT For those of you eager to boast about your maker prowess, but haven’t yet tried Make: Projects, I encourage you to take a look at this video to introduce you to what the site is all about and how it works. Make: Projects is a constantly growing cookbook for makers, so even if you’re only looking for inspiration for your next project, there’s a trove of ideas there. Some of my favorites include the wildly popular Doorstop Stash and the Mini Fume Extractor. Don’t let your creations just sit in your workshop or basement, share them with your fellow makers on Make: Projects! Subscribe to the MAKE Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube and Vimeo. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tom's Hardware Benchmarks Inkjet Printer Paper Posted: 26 May 2011 02:42 PM PDT An anonymous reader writes "We all know that the specs of your inkjet printer, driver settings, and ink cartridges can make a big difference in the quality of your prints. But the cheapest and simplest aspect of printing can also have a big impact on the final quality: the paper. This short article is an interesting read, the author actually found ways to 'benchmark' inkjet printer paper." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least Posted: 26 May 2011 02:41 PM PDT How much does it take to convince Symbian users their OS is doomed? Just the one slide you see above. Now it seems Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is attempting damage control. In an interview with Nokia Conversations, Elop attempted to placate his shareholders and customers by stating that the OS's last update will take place somewhere around 2016 at the earliest. He isn't switching the focus away from Windows Phone as his company's bright new future, but he does want to assuage folks who sunk money into Symbian that their investment isn't just going down the drain. Stating there is "a long history still to be paved for Symbian in the future," Elop didn't volunteer any additional details on update strategy or how much longer new Symbian phones will be sold. We're a bit surprised at the length of this extension of relevancy; we can't help but feel as though it's all because Nokia's breakup with Symbian was too emotional and they're both trying to stay friends. Or perhaps four years is just how long the company thinks it will take to sell all of the remaining 150 million units it originally planned to push. Either way, check out the full video after the break and let us know what you think below. [Thanks, Chris] Continue reading Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink All About Symbian  |  Nokia Conversations China  | Email this | Comments

The Best Music Player Application for Android [App Directory] Posted: 26 May 2011 02:40 PM PDT Android has no shortage of great music apps, but if you're looking for something that'll play nearly any local file, has a powerful equalizer, a handy tag editor, and tons of customization options, look no further than PowerAMP. More »

Return to the world of gamer nerd rage with book two of "King of RPGs" [Video] Posted: 26 May 2011 02:30 PM PDT We loved the first book of io9 columnist Jason Thompson's graphic novel series King of RPGs, and now book two is finally out! Return to the crazed world of Theo, the greatest DM in the world, and the game-addicted Shesh, as they rampage through World of Warfare. We've got the first few pages of the book to get you started. If you've ever found yourself sucked way too far into a tabletop game, or gotten into a fistfight over an MMO, this book is definitely for you. More »

Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart Posted: 26 May 2011 02:17 PM PDT The e-reader market just got a lot more crowded this week with the launch of the touch-enabled Nook and Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Will either device be able to take down the Amazon's industry defining Kindle? We've broken down the specs on the two new readers, the Kindle, and Sony's comparable Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) to find out which device will come out on top. There's a lot of overlap features between the different readers, like infrared touchscreens and Pearl E Ink displays. All of those important details and more in the chart after the break. Check it out, because you obviously like reading things. Continue reading Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

David O. Russell Drops Out of Controversial Uncharted Movie [Creative Differences] Posted: 26 May 2011 02:08 PM PDT David O. Russell, the acclaimed director of The Fighter and Three Kings whose visions of the Uncharted video game series riled up fans of the PlayStation 3 franchise, is no longer attached to an Uncharted movie, Variety reports. More »

Google Wallet: the End of Anonymous Shopping Posted: 26 May 2011 02:03 PM PDT jfruhlinger writes "Google today announced Google Wallet, an NFC-base payment system that will allow people to pay for purchases just by waving their phone across a reader. It's the beginning of a future where commercial transactions are 'frictionless' and convenient — but it's a future where every transaction can be tracked and data-mined, as Dan Tynan points out. Stores can user information about your Doritos purchases to rearrange their wares; Google could push coupons via its new Google Offers service; your health insurance company might be interested in your sodium intake." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Maker Teen Inspired by Faire to Build Robot Minions Posted: 26 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT Ben (left) and his friend Vincent, learning how to solder at Maker Faire New York 2010 The trashcan telepresence bot (named MAYA) Ben built after the Faire MAYA making friends at a local nursing home Right before this past weekend’s Maker Faire, I got an email message from Ben, a 13 year old from South East Pennsylvania. He told me an amazing story about him going to last year’s Maker Faire New York, learning how to solder, and then planning and building a telepresence robot for a science fair project afterwards. I told him I wanted to publish his story and asked to have a parent email me permission. The letter I got from his mom was amazingly moving. Not only had Ben learned soldering at the Faire and parleyed that into an amazing robot science project, he’d had a very serious illness leading up to the NY Faire and had set his sights on the Faire as a get-well goal for himself. His mom writes: It was honestly touch and go for him for several days in the hospital… And as he was lying there, speaking to him on and off, I was trying to think of things to give him hope, encouragement… I had never heard of the Maker’s Fair, but Ben surely had — and at one point, he looked at me and said, “Mom, do you know what I’d really like when I get better? To go to the Maker Faire in New York.” At that point, I had NO idea what the fair was… but I went online and purchased tickets for the two of us and one of his friends and just thought to myself that there was nothing in the world that I wanted to do more than to make it to that fair! Ben did make it through, got better, and got his dream of going to Maker Faire. And now he’s an inspired robot builder. Here, he describes his MAYA Robot: For the local science fair this year, I built a telepresence robot, MAYA, standing for “Me And You Anywhere.” It was built to help the elderly. Since the base is a Roomba, it can even vacuum while you’re visiting! It has other features, like a full-size robotic arm and object recognition for identifying various pills. I made the whole thing for under $500, and it has capabilities exceeding some of the pricier robots such as the VGo. AND, the body is made out of a trashcan! Granted, a lot of modifications were made to it, but it works. And to think, I learned how to solder at the SparkFun booth last year! (I now have an Aoyue Soldering Station for SMD Rework in addition to through-hole. And a fume extractor, too!) Next year, I’m building a robot with Artificial Intelligence off of wheel chair motors. Most of the coding’s done, just have to get all the parts. [Ben has more details on the build after the jump] The Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner has a little port on the side that was originally put there for Diagnostics. iRobot released an OSMO a while back, the OSMO Hacker, which basically allows you to turn your Roomba into an iRobot Create. The Roomba is only 50 bucks on eBay and comes with a rechargeable battery, unlike the Create. I have an Instructables, and a blog. That lists most of the parts. There’s a program, RoboRealm, that basically is an open program that allows you to control a bunch of different robotic things. Its only available for Windows, so I had to make the robot Window- based… I’m more of a Mac person, so naturally I tried to run it in Wine, but the serial converter was giving me problems. I had a Netbook which I did NOT wipe and install Snow Leopard on, so I just added a partition for XP. After a little debugging on the Windows side, I had a working Roomba Module with an HTML Webserver. The body was difficult. A family friend has a workshop, and is responsible for most of the design. In addition, he taught me how to use most of the machinery. (I’m in the process of buying a mini-mill and plan to add CNC!) The body, like I said, is a trashcan from Big Lots. It was his idea to make the body, so there’s no modification to the Roomba itself. (No holes, etc.) It uses existing screw holes. The process is covered on the instructables. A lot also went into the charging process. It required hacking the stock dock/power supply, and adding some voltage converters. The capabilities are really determined on the computer inside. The cheap Netbook I’m using can stream decent video, but not HD, like the webcam. If you were to stick a Macbook or something like that in there, you’d have full H.264. The other great thing about RoboRealm is that modules like Object Recognition are built in. You can have it track things like lasers or even people. I added Object Recognition because if a doctor were to be using it, he could identify certain pills or perhaps dangerous things. Besides the software problems, there was definitely a weight issue. A Roomba isn’t exactly meant to be carrying 20 pounds. The original LCD weighed 15 pounds, but I was able to find a $80 display on Amazon that weighed 3lbs. The whole setup weighs 20 pounds. It works great on anything flat, but it won’t move on carpet. (Even if its really short) The Roomba crawls on some carpets, without any weight. I entered the Robot in the Local Science Fair. I got Best In Show for the County and Regional Fairs. I’m in the National Broadcom Fair now, and you submit an online as an entry. In addition, I got money from the Airforce, IEEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers), Military, and a couple others. Quite frankly, no one is going to buy a $20,000 robot to remotely visit their mom. A $500 robot, however, is reasonable. I did research and nearby nursing homes, and on a scale of 1-10, 1 being a phone call and 10 being an actual visit, MAYA ranked an 8.3. This summer, I’m planning to start releasing kits for the body and the charging system so you just pop in your own laptop. What a great way to spend a summer!

One Year Later, Did Nintendo Keep Their E3 2010 Promises? [Keeping Them Honest] Posted: 26 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT E3 is the biggest event the video game business. Every company lays their cards on the table, and every AAA game for the next year is on display. Failure is not an option. More »

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