Photographer Robbie Cooper shows just how focused young video-game players can be... NYTimes video.

It's a little too late to join in on the fun of this online drum circle, but the video is really interesting. Hopefully they will have another session in the near future. I'll keep you all updated.

Telematic Drum Circle is an interdisciplinary art project which combines Tele-Robotics, Computer Science, Pneumatics and Music. The project explores the rupture of deeper communication in the technology meditated world, and addresses the issue of global harmony by sharing participants' rhythmical spirit produced through the telematic live drum ensemble. It consists of two main components: a set of sixteen robotic drums arranged in an installation space and an interactive website networked with these drums. Each drum is representative of a geo-cultural region.

More about the Telematic Drum Circle [Drum Instruments]

Bruce Sterling, sci-fi author / futurist / design critic extraordinaire, has posted his final Viridian note. He has lots of advice relevant for Makers. Some of my favorite:

Get excellent tools and appliances. Not a hundred bad, cheap, easy ones. Get the genuinely good ones. Work at it. Pay some attention here, do not neglect the issue by imagining yourself to be serenely "non-materialistic." There is nothing more "materialistic" than doing the same household job five times because your tools suck. Do not allow yourself to be trapped in time-sucking black holes of mechanical dysfunction. That is not civilized.

Now for a brief homily on tools and appliances of especial Viridian interest: the experimental ones. The world is full of complicated, time-sucking, partially-functional beta-rollout gizmos. Some are fun to mess with; fun in life is important. Others are whimsical; whimsy is okay. Eagerly collecting semifunctional gadgets because they are shiny-shiny, this activity is not the worst thing in the world. However, it can become a vice. If you are going to wrangle with unstable, poorly-defined, avant-garde tech objects, then you really need to wrangle them. Get good at doing it.

Good experiments are well-designed experiments. Real experiments need a theory. They need something to prove or disprove. Experiments need to be slotted into some larger context of research, and their results need to be communicated to other practitioners. That's what makes them true "experiments" instead of private fetishes.

If you're buying weird tech gizmos, you need to know what you are trying to prove by that. You also need to tell other people useful things about it. If you are truly experimenting, then you are doing something praiseworthy. You may be wasting some space and time, but you'll be saving space and time for others less adventurous. Good.

And, an exciting new project on which he can use your help:

This new effort of mine is a scholarly work exploring material culture, use-value, ethics, and the relationship between materiality and the imagination. However, since nobody's easily interested in that huge, grandiose topic, I'm disguising it as a nifty and attractive gadget book. I plan to call it "The User's Guide to Imaginary Gadgets."

Never burn your mouth on a hot drink again...

No matter your poison -- coffee, tea, hot chocolate, sake -- take a gulp too soon out of the pot and chances are good that you'll burn your mouth. But build this Smart Coaster and you'll always know when it's safe to sip.

According to my thermometer, common coffee brewers produce a cup of perfect coffee that is positively molten to the tongue, at 71ºC. Even as this marvelous beverage fills your room-temperature cup, temps can still reach a blistering 58ºC. Finally, after a couple of minutes cooling, your coffee is safe to drink, at a lukewarm 47ºC.

A simple circuit consisting of a thermistor, a special low-power operational amplifier (op amp) IC, an LED, and a couple of passive components will enable us to safely monitor the temperature of our coffee cup. Bundle this circuit inside a round metal container (metal helps conduct the cup's heat to the circuit) and you have a Smart Coaster.

Download the MP4 Video or HD Version | Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes | mov | 3g2

I caught up with craftzine blogger and Austin local Rachel Hobson at Maker Faire Austin 2008, where she gave a demo on making the Mini Monsters from CRAFT:06. These fun little creatures, invented by Moxie, are unique and full of the personality you give them. This is a very kid-friendly project, and you can buy the Mini Monster Kit in the Maker Shed. Don't forget that all craft kits are 10% off until the end of November using promo code CRAFTER.

Perspectives, interviews with all the dialog removed via Waxy.

Ian Lesnet sent in a link to his Bus Pirate project, a universal bus adapter that lets you interface with most standard integrated circuit serial protocols at different voltages - all from you PC's serial port. The idea is that you can debug, test, and prototype ideas a lot faster if you don't have to breadboard an interface circuit every time you work with a new chip.

the bus pirate is a serial terminal bridge to multiple ic interface protocols. we type commands into a serial terminal on the computer. the commands go to the bus pirate through the pc serial port. the bus pirate talks to a microchip in the proper protocol, and returns the results to the pc.

all pins output 3.3volts, but are 5volt tolerant. on-board 3.3volt and 5volt power supplies are available to power the connected chip. software configurable i2c pull-up resistors complete the package.

the serial terminal interface works with any system: pc, mac, linux, palm pilots, wince devices, etc; no crapware required. we considered a usb device, but usb isn't compatible with the huge number of hand-held devices that have a serial port. we also wanted a 3.3volt device with 5volt tolerant inputs, but most popular through-hole usb microcontollers were 5volt parts (e.g. the pic18fx550).

The device supports i2c, spi, uart/serial, and raw 2-wire and 3-wire. It looks like a pretty handy little tool, and Ian has included all the information you need to build one of your own.

The Bus Pirate

Eric J. Wilhelm, of Instructables, will be on NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday" and WCBS-AM 880 this coming Monday to talk about The Best of Instructables for a holiday gift-themed program.

The airtime for "Weekend Edition Saturday" will vary by market. The WCBS-AM program will air on 11/24 at 10:20 am, 11:40 am, 12:20pm, 1:40 pm, and 2:20 pm (all times ET). You can listen to it live at http://www.wcbs880.com/

Also, you can log onto NPR.org/gifts at 1:30pm ET tomorrow for a live chat featuring Eric talking about ECO-nomical holiday gifts!

Best Of Instructables Instructables.com has become one of the most popular magnets for makers and DIY enthusiasts of all stripes. Now, with more than 10,000 projects to choose from, the Instructables staff, the editors of MAKE magazine, and the Instructables community itself have put together a collection of some of the best craft and tech how-to's from the site. The Best of Instructables Volume 1 includes plenty of clear, full-color photos, complete step-by-step instructions, and tips, tricks, and new build techniques you won't find anywhere else. Over 300 pages and 120 projects!

Papervision - Augmented Reality (extended) from dpinteractive on Vimeo.

I tried it out and it was very impressed by the speed and accuracy of the motion tracking (he did flicker a bit and have problems when my lights were too bright, so be prepared to work a bit to make him happy). This is a Flash implementation of augmented reality created by Digital Pictures Interactive; all it takes is your web browser, a webcam, and a printed marker symbol. Now, would it kill the little guy to smile every once in a while?!

It seems to be based on the ARToolKit developed by Dr. Hirokazu Kato of the University of Washington.

I enjoy Augmented Reality much more than Virtual Reality because 99% of the AR environment is the real world in all of its infinitely detailed glory and I can accept a few lower fidelity objects overlaid here and there. Even the highest quality VR worlds still feel much less than real in a way that usually pulls me out of the experience.

via BoingBoing Offworld

Mary Lou Jepsen with XO Laptop, via Inhabitat

GREENER GADGETS 2009

WHAT: The Second Annual Greener Gadgets Conference is a revolutionary event and exhibition promoting the importance of environmental stewardship in consumer technology innovation. This one day conference brings together electronics industry leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists and designers to address key green topics including sustainable design and lifestyles, product marketing, energy efficiency and more.

The event also will feature the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, an awards program to recognize forward thinking and eco-conscious designers for their hard work, environmental awareness and creativity.

Greener Gadgets offers an excellent platform for environmental discussion and serves as an opportunity to visualize the potential for a greener CE industry.

WHEN: Friday, February 27, 2009

WHERE: McGraw-Hill Conference Center, New York, NY

No speakers announced yet, but "Last year's keynoters included electronics engineer Mary Lou Jepsen of PixelQi and One Laptop Per Child, environmental photo artist Chris Jordan, and digital artist and inventor Natalie Jeremijenko."