Turn Your Computer Into A Beaver

Posted by Jill Harness in Animal, Arts & Crafts, Science & Tech on July 19, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Instructables has a detailed set of how to’s to let you convert your computer case into a taxidermy beaver. Nothing says quality technology like dead animals. It’s pretty easy, just look at step one:

Purchase a beaver of your very own
There are lots of old taxidermy mounts out there – garage sales, antique stores, ebay are all good sources for older pieces. You’ll probably want a high quality mount since you’ll be removing the bulk of the internal structure, so better quality (ie not falling apart) probably means stronger.

Link

 
Comment (10)    Permalink   Please share:  email this         

Neatorama Shop » Toy & Games » Giant Microbes
See more Giant Microbes »

i.Saw, For Sawing At Work

Posted by Jill Harness in Gadget, Home & Garden, Science & Tech on July 8, 2009 at 12:55 am

Are you the type of person who needs a USB-charged chainsaw? Well then you need therapy…but if you must go through with your psychotic plans, there’s always the i.Saw for home and office needs.

Methinks this may be a gag listing, but if not, I’m sincerely disturbed by the distance we have gone with these USB toys.

Link

 
Comment (9)    Permalink   Please share:  email this         


Geek Rug Mimics Circuit Board

Posted by Jill Harness in Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden, Science & Tech on July 2, 2009 at 12:04 am

This latch hook rug was obviously made by a computer nerd. On the page is an image of the circuit board it is based on -it’s amazingly well-replicated.

Link Via CraftZine

 
Comment (6)    Permalink   Please share:  email this         


Password Security Insights

Posted by Queuebot in Everything Else on February 9, 2009 at 6:41 pm

Analyst Robert Graham of Dark Reading, a website dealing with computer security issues, authored a fascinating report on the recent hacking of the popular website phpbb.com. The hacker published approximately 20,000 passwords from the site. A few of the interesting insights about the passwords:

16% of passwords matched a person’s first name. This includes people choosing their own first names or those of their spouses or children. The most popular first names were Joshua, Thomas, Michael, and Charlie. But I wonder if there is something else going on. Joshua, for example, was also the password to the computer in "Wargames," which almost certainly accounts for it being at top. Variations of the name "Jordan" are popular, which almost certainly refers to "Michael Jordan," a prominent basketball start (such as "jordan23," referring to his jersey number). This makes me wonder how many people use "Michael" as a password to refer to their children compared to sports stars.

14% of passwords were patterns on the keyboard, like "1234," "qwerty," or "asdf." There are a lot of different patterns people choose, like "1qaz2wsx" or "1q2w3e." I spent a while googling "159357," trying to figure out how to categorize it, then realized it was a pattern on the numeric keypad. I suppose whereas "1234" is popular among righthanded people, "159357" will be popular among lefties.

4% are variations of the word "password," such as "passw0rd," "password1," or "passwd." I googled "drowssap," trying to figure out how to categorize it, until I realized it was "password" spelled backward.

For the complete list and analysis, visit link.

Link – via tech

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.

 
Comment (11)    Permalink   Please share:  email this         


DIY "Eye Mouse" for Disabled People

Posted by Queuebot in Gadget, Science & Tech on February 5, 2009 at 11:01 am

Two students from a technical high school in Argentina built a mouse that can be controlled by eye movements, thus allowing people with total paralysis to use the computer.

The invention is named the "Eye Mouse." This idea is not new but what makes it different is that it is a DIY mouse that almost anyone can build with cheap and easy-to-find components.

How does it work? The free software that they provide, divides the monitor surface in squares and asks the user what he wants to do – focus on an area, right click, left click, etc – with yes and no answers. If the eye looks at the camera, that is translated as a "yes".

With just a webcam,  an infrared LED, a small, flexible metal tube and the headband of a welding helmet, anyone can build the mouse at a fraction of the cost of similar devices.

The students wanted to make the Eye Mouse available to everyone, so the software is free. They have published step-by-step instructions on how to build the mouse, originally in Spanish but they have already been translated to English.

Link – via ticbelgrano

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by scbr.

 
Comment (1)    Permalink   Please share:  email this         

Neatorama Shop » Home & Garden » Ice Trays

Push Pin Mario Wall Art

Posted by Jill Harness in Arts & Crafts, Everything Else, Toy & Video Games on January 13, 2009 at 7:15 pm

You know someone’s a hardcore Mario fan when they actually design a whole mosaic of Mario art on their wall using push pins. This must have killed their thumbs. I love how the art looks like it’s in pixels. This wonderful display can be found at the Student Computing Center at the University of Fraser Valley…good to know they spend their time studying over there.

Link Via YesButNoButYes

 
Comment (10)    Permalink   Please share:  email this