Projects

Free TiVo: Build a Better DVR out of an Old PC. By Ken Sharp April 25, 2005 Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) have become a necessary luxury over the last several years. Millions of people rely on these devices to pause and rewind live television, and to keep track of broadcast schedules and record programs for them. Many consider them just as essential to their daily lives as their cell phones. Several months ago, I finally became sufficiently jealous of the millions of DVR owners to motivate me to put a DVR in my own living room. But I wanted something more versatile than a normal TiVo, ReplayTV, or Ultimate TV system. I earn a living as a computer engineer, so I understand how long it can take to write custom software.

Here's how I did it. You'll need: with at least 256MB of RAM (512MB is better), plenty of hard drive space, and a good video card. presumably from your existing home theater system). I used a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 card, $149 at hauppauge.com . The standard Windows MP3 player, free at winamp.com . Build the PC 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. How Google Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future of Everything - Alexis C. Madrigal. An exclusive look inside Ground Truth, the secretive program to build the world's best accurate maps. Behind every Google Map, there is a much more complex map that's the key to your queries but hidden from your view. The deep map contains the logic of places: their no-left-turns and freeway on-ramps, speed limits and traffic conditions. This is the data that you're drawing from when you ask Google to navigate you from point A to point B -- and last week, Google showed me the internal map and demonstrated how it was built.

It's the first time the company has let anyone watch how the project it calls GT, or "Ground Truth," actually works. Google opened up at a key moment in its evolution. And for good reason. "If you look at the offline world, the real world in which we live, that information is not entirely online," Manik Gupta, the senior product manager for Google Maps, told me. This is not just a theoretical concern. But that would entail actually building a better map. What Can I Do With an Old Smartphone (Besides Sell It)?

Downwind Faster Than The Wind Cart. This instructable will take you through the construction of a working model of the wind powered cart that answers the question that sparked so much controversy across dozens of internet forums. It resulted in tens of thousands of posts of heated debates, on-line and print articles in Make, Popular Science, Wired, Der Spiegel, and many other magazines and blogs around the world, and has appeared on the Discovery Channel's "The Daily Planet". My buddy and I built a full-sized manned version of the vehicle (see the video of the "Blackbird" above) and established a world record for direct downwind speed of a wind powered vehicle. We've spoken at NASA, AIAA, Stanford, SJSU, and a number of other venues on this controversial topic, and won the Editor’s Choice award at the 2011 Maker Faire.

The question: Is it possible to make a wind powered vehicle that goes directly downwind, faster than the wind, steady-state? Learning objective: Critical thinking! A Step-by-Step MySQL Tutorial For Self-Hosted Wordpress Bloggers. If you’re a blogger, the chances are that you use WordPress, a powerful solution that is the engine behind many popular websites. There are two ways in which you can use WordPress, ideal for those with some technical know-how and those without. The first is to use the hosted blog service at WordPress.com, which is similar to Blogger in that you don’t pay any fees and all of the background maintenance is automatic.

The downside to this is that you are restricted in which plugins you can add. For those who prefer more control over their blogs and have some technical ability (although not much is required) then the self-hosted option available from WordPress.org is probably preferred. Choosing this option may require you to have some knowledge of setting up a MySQL database, importing and exporting data, creating backups and understanding how to perform checks and repair the database.

Setting Up The Database Adding A Database User Exporting & Importing Data In phpMyAdmin File Too Big? 7 Surprising Kick-Ass Things You Can Do with Google Sketchup. As a part of Google's quest to be the undisputed overlords of the Internet, they've made a lot of quality services available for free. Gmail, Google maps and Google Docs are all famous examples, but one of the search giant's coolest free offerings, Sketchup, flies under a lot of peoples' radars. Sketchup is a free 3D modelling tool developed based on the philosophy that by giving people a small set of powerful, intuitive tools, you can lower the barrier of entry to 3D modelling, so that almost anyone can make quality 3D models with just a couple of sessions of practice. Still not conviced to give Sketchup a try? We've compiled a list of 7 awesome things you can do with Sketchup that you probably didn't know were possible.

There’s something oddly rewarding about seeing a tiny version of your house. 1) Obtain a floorplan of the building. 2) Make a 2D replica of the floorplan in Sketchup. 3) Finally, use the “Push/Pull” tool to extrude the walls you’ve drawn up. And that’s it! School of Engineering - Stanford Engineering Everywhere. Python search results. English | ISBN: 1937785459 | 2013 | 350 pages | PDF, EPUB | 18 MB This book is for anyone who wants to understand computer programming.

Einfuhrung in Python 3: In einer Woche programmieren lernen Besonders geeignet fur Programmieranfanger, aber auch fur Umsteiger von anderen Sprachen wie C, C++ oder Perl Systematische und praxisnahe E... English | 2001 | ISBN: 0596001282 | PDF | 349 pages | 3,5 mb If you are a Python programmer who wants to incorporate XML into your skill set, this is the book for you. Welcome to pySerial’s documentation — pySerial v2.6 documentation. How to make a bluetooth handset. TightProjector: Broadcast Screen Over the Network. What is TightProjector? TightProjector is a program that can transmit the screen of a particular Windows computer to other computers in the same local-area network. The data is transmitted continuously, in real time.

In other words, you “project” a screen to other networked computers. See more documentation here. Download now! Register TightProjector! TightProjectorSDK! This is a small library that provides the same functionality as TightProjector. Download TightProjectorSDK! Register TightProjectorSDK! Contact us. If you have problems with the TightProjector software, or wish to share your thoughts or suggestions, please use this e-mail address: info@tightprojector.com Thank you for choosing TightProjector software!

Latest news... April 06, 2014 New version 2.0.3 brings bugfixes for TightProjector and TightReceiver. October 26, 2013 TightProjectorSDK 1.0 available now. July 27, 2013TightProjector version 2.0.1 is successfully released with a heap of new features and bug fixes. Information Security Blog » [Tip] Install Backtrack 5 on USB flash memory stick. 4 Sites To Find Interesting New Startups & Betas To Join. Through the caverns of the Internet, I’ve managed to get put on rather quickly to some of today’s hottest Internet startups such as ifttt, Instagram, and turntable.fm.

Startups and betas are as popular as they’ve ever been, and I can promise you that every single day a brand new startup is launched that will garner attention and is probably worth joining. Until recently, it’s been pretty tough finding these little guys in the wide space of the Internet. Luckily, we’ve got a few sites that aggregate the best of them and show them to you, so you can be the first of all of your friends to get invited.

Maybe you’ll even get a vanity username. Where in one of my last posts I only dangled the meat in front of you, you’re getting it all this time. Beta Li.st Beta List was really the one to start it all off and really popularize beta indexing. Arguably the biggest perk about Beta List is that they often have very exclusive, sometimes very limited, invites that are special to their users only. A Framework For Making Affordable & Stylish Modular Controllers. I have designed a framework for making affordable and stylish modular controllers. You can use the content of this Instructable to make a wide range of controllers for a wide range of applications relevant to artists, DJs, VJs, gamers, producers, and the like.

The DJ controllers I showcase in this document serve only as examples of (more conventional) interfaces you can create within the framework. I focused on making this project affordable, stylish, and most important, builder friendly. The controllers can be re-programmed to send serial, MIDI, or HID messages. More info here. Some hype at engadget. **Remember to read this entire Instructable before beginning any of the constituent steps** Turn Your Old Router into a Range-Boosting Wi-Fi Repeater. How To Turn An Old Router Into A Wireless Bridge. Advertisement You may some day encounter a situation in which you will require a wireless internet connection for a desktop computer. Perhaps you have decided to move your office from one room to another in your home. However, the new room does not have the cable or telephone connection you need to bring that computer online. Before you go out and buy a wireless network card or attempt to run wire through your attic, you might be able to save yourself time and money if you have an old wireless router lying around.

You may be able to upgrade your old router with a different firmware that will allow it to act as a wireless bridge. That is, turn your old router into wireless bridge. The free firmware that makes this possible is called DD-WRT. Requirements Broadband internet connection.Two wireless routers: One connected to your broadband internet connection to serve as the access point.One connected to other machine(s) that need to connect to web. The Initial Setup Download DD-WRT Click Apply. StyloBuzz - Synthesizer.

8 MS Word Templates That Help You Brainstorm & Mind Map Your Ideas Quickly. Advertisement A good resume template for Microsoft Word can help you get a job. But did you know that there are several other types of templates for Microsoft Word that can help you get any job done? For instance, let’s take a pressing problem that has you stumped right now. Microsoft Word can help you attack the dilemma with a good old-fashioned brainstorming session. Yes, whether you are alone or with a discussion group, use the hairsplitting power of mind maps and brainstorms to break any mental impasse. 8 Tips To Come Up With Winning Ideas When You Are Brainstorming Alone 8 Tips To Come Up With Winning Ideas When You Are Brainstorming Alone Two heads think better than one, but brainstorming is as much about individual problem solving as it is about the group.

Here are some methods to build up a “storm” of ideas. Read More Allow us to scrounge the Microsoft Gallery for the best templates that will help you put your heads (or just a lone head) together to unravel a problem or an idea. 1. How to Connect Two Computers. Steps Ethernet <img alt="Image titled 45362 1" src=" width="728" height="546" class="whcdn" onload="WH.performance.clearMarks('image1_rendered'); WH.performance.mark('image1_rendered');">1Plug in an ethernet cable.

To connect two computers that don't have access to a shared network, you can use an Ethernet cable to make a direct connection between the two computer's Ethernet ports. Some computers require a special cable called "crossover cable. " This is a specialized cable that is wired in reverse. Windows Vista, 7, or 8 <img alt="Image titled 45362 2" src=" width="728" height="546" class="whcdn">1Connect the two computers using a crossover cable. Windows XP Macintosh OS X Using a Macintosh Computer as a Server 1Share computers as servers. Community Q&A Unanswered Questions How can I connect a standard VCR to a dish network DVR? How to Connect Two Computers Over the Internet. Turn Your Hoodie Into A Laptop Bag | MakeUseOf Geeky Fun.

How to make a projector for your iPod/iPhone for about a $1. How to make a tablet pc from an old laptop. Check out my other projects:Xbox Hackintosh casemod AndDIY Spy phone In this project i used an old Fujitsu Siemens life book S series laptop. It has got a 1 Ghz processor and 256 Mb ram, (not sure about the graphic card but i know its between 8-32 Mb). In this instructable i will show how to do tablet pc the easy way(and the cheapest) , and how to do it hard way (including "touch" screen etc). I personaly did it the hard way about half way and run out of materials and i decided to finish it the easy way.

In this project you will need: 1.Old laptop 2. And if you are doing the hard way you will also need: 6.Lots of straight plastic 7.Something to melt down the plastic 8. The skils you will need to make this are: 1. And of course for the hard way you will also need: 5.Problem solving skills 6.Serious knowledge how things work 7.Way to know how to make "special" tools 8. And sorry for my English its not my main language but i will try to make it readable :D. Mode Conversion. Material Properties: Material strain is proportional to material stress. Elastic Modulus : The ratio of the stress applied to a body to the strain produced. Mode Conversion When sound travels in a solid material, one form of wave energy can be transformed into another form.

For example, when a longitudinal waves hits an interface at an angle, some of the energy can cause particle movement in the transverse direction to start a shear (transverse) wave. Mode conversion occurs when a wave encounters an interface between materials of different acoustic impedances and the incident angle is not normal to the interface. From the ray tracing movie below, it can be seen that since mode conversion occurs every time a wave encounters an interface at an angle, ultrasonic signals can become confusing at times. In the previous section, it was pointed out that when sound waves pass through an interface between materials having different acoustic velocities, refraction takes place at the interface.

The Top 6 Popular Free Email Providers Online Other Than Gmail & Yahoo. Personally, I am happy to give my entire online existence over to Google. They have my email, my Analytics data, my search history, my mobile device, my credit card information, and the list goes on. Some people may not feel that this is the smartest thing to do, and I don’t blame them. Those same people may still want to reap the benefits of web mail (in contrast to plain old desktop email, powered by Thunderbird and its ilk). So I’ve gathered up a list of several popular free email providers that you might want to take for a spin if Gmail or Yahoo are not your thing. Outlook.com Microsoft’s webmail offering underwent a somewhat similar cycle to its Web browser: Like Internet Explorer, Hotmail used to be a dominant force in webmail.

This thoroughly modern webmail service gives Gmail a serious fight in terms of polish and features. Even if you’re perfectly happy with your current webmail provider, Outlook.com is well worth a look. Mail.com Yandex Mail Hushmail Zoho Mail Final Thought. Improve Your Google Search Skills [Infographic] - How-To Geek - StumbleUpon. The Anderson Institute.