28 Oct 08 Arduino-based pumpkin promises to scare off trick-or-treaters

Pumpkins outfitted with LEDs are certainly all well and good, but the ever-versatile Arduino platform has now upped the Jack O' Lantern modding possibilities considerably, and MAKE's Marc de Vinck looks to have made a decent stab at things with this immodestly dubbed "scariest pumpkin ever." To help it snag that title, de Vinck did away with the usual spooky halloween sound effects and instead opted for a car horn, which lets out a blast whenever someone presses the impossible to resist red button. That, obviously, presents a number of problems, and MAKE warns not to leave the pumpkin unattended, or let someone press their ear up against it. Or, if you're not quite ready to tackle the project yourself, you can simply get a taste of it at a slightly more tolerable level by checking out the video after the break.

Continue reading Arduino-based pumpkin promises to scare off trick-or-treaters

Arduino-based pumpkin promises to scare off trick-or-treaters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Tagi: halloween sound effects, red butt, car horn, jack o lantern, pumpkin, stab, gadgets, possibilities, nbsp, halloween

Filed in halloween sound effects, red butt, car horn, jack o lantern, pumpkin, stab, gadgets, possibilities, nbsp, halloween with

28 Oct 08 Google Adds Gadgets to Gmail

Google on Monday announced the release of a number of "experiments" for Gmail. Users can now add gadgets to the left-nav of their Gmail account, beside Labels and Gchat.

Tagi: left nav, mday, google, gmail account, gadgets, labels

Filed in left nav, mday, google, gmail account, gadgets, labels with

22 Oct 09 Amazon's international Kindle surprises owners with $20 refund, limited web browsing

The only thing better than unannounced functionality is an automatic, surprise refund on your purchase. With the international version of Amazon's 6-inch Kindle you get both. Several readers who ordered the $279 international Kindle have received the following email:

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6" Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don't need to do anything to get the lower price--we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

By "strong customer demand" we assume that Amazon means "we're trying to stay competitive with the $259 Barnes and Noble Nook," but that's just a hunch. A hands-on at the Gadget Lab also reveals the inclusion of web browsing thought to have been disabled. For the most part it is disabled but Amazon does let you browse to the English version of Wikipedia and nowhere else. The hands-on also notes "dead slow" 3G performance and Amazon's decision to ship the international Kindle with a US power plug regardless of destination. Weird.

[Thanks, Simon]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

Amazon's international Kindle surprises owners with $20 refund, limited web browsing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Tagi: barnes and noble, amaz, billing statement, customer demand, amazon, web browsing, hunch, nook, wikipedia, gadget, 3g, surprises, gadgets, sim, few days, nbsp

Filed in barnes and noble, amaz, billing statement, customer demand, amazon, web browsing, hunch, nook, wikipedia, gadget, 3g, surprises, gadgets, sim, few days, nbsp with

29 Oct 09 AlterG's M300 treadmill: same 'anti-gravity' vibe, now 'only' $24,500

We've always heard that holiday calories "don't count," but disregarding urban legend for a minute, we'd say AlterG's timing here is nothing short of impeccable. Nearly 1.5 years after the outfit's P200 series was a-okay'd by the FCC, an all new walking machine has entered the fray. The M300 treadmill brings along the same "anti-gravity" feel (useful for rehabilitation and athletic training), but in a machine that's a third of the price and way, way sleeker. The idea here is to reduce the strain on joints and muscles as one exercises, and while that's certainly commendable, we're still thinking it'll take one or two more iterations to get one priced for the everyman. You know, unless you consider $24,500+ (or $499+ per month for the rest of your Earthly life) "affordable."

[Via MedGadget]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

AlterG's M300 treadmill: same 'anti-gravity' vibe, now 'only' $24,500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Tagi: walking machine, anti gravity, athletic training, everyman, p200, urban legend, mth, treadmill, fcc, nbsp, joints, calories, muscles, gadgets, household, alterg

Filed in walking machine, anti gravity, athletic training, everyman, p200, urban legend, mth, treadmill, fcc, nbsp, joints, calories, muscles, gadgets, household, alterg with

05 Nov 09 'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

The Arduino board has been the engine of many wild and wacky projects over the years, from bakery tweeting to various musical instruments. For its next trick, our man Steve Hoefer has taken his microcontroller and, along with a piezoelectric speaker, a gear reduction motor, and some PVC pipe, programmed it to listen for a preset sequence of knocks -- a secret knock, if you will -- and unlock the deadbolt upon hearing the right combination. Although this might not be the security system you want to put in place for your home, this definitely looks like a fun weekend project. Check out the read link for instructions and schematics, but not before you see the video of the thing in action. It's after the break.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading 'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Tagi: piezoelectric speaker, pvc pipe, man steve, deadbolt, hoefer, schematics, security system, bakery, gadgets, alg, ace, nbsp

Filed in piezoelectric speaker, pvc pipe, man steve, deadbolt, hoefer, schematics, security system, bakery, gadgets, alg, ace, nbsp with

28 Oct 08 Arduino-based pumpkin promises to scare off trick-or-treaters

28 Oct 08 Google Adds Gadgets to Gmail

22 Oct 09 Amazon's international Kindle surprises owners with $20 refund, limited web browsing

29 Oct 09 AlterG's M300 treadmill: same 'anti-gravity' vibe, now 'only' $24,500

05 Nov 09 'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

Categories

Tag Cloud