Tech

WD “My Passport” 2TB Portable External Hard Drive Review

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Over the years I have created a lot of files, taken thousands of photos, saved countless images and PDFs, and bought or converted dozens of music albums. I have several internal hard drives, but wanted a compact high-capacity external hard drive for backup purposes. Western Digital’s My Passport hard drives are compact enough to travel, but … Read more

Dell UltraSharp 27″ Monitor U2713HM Review

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Dell U2713HM Ultrasharp MonitorThere’s nothing wrong with my old 24″ Samsung monitor, other than it being slightly too small for my current computing needs. I have been using it as my primary display alongside a 23″ Dell display for two years, and before that it sat next to a 19″ display for about four years.

But I was feeling constricted by the 24″ monitor and wanted to upgrade to something bigger. After doing some light research I saw that the Dell U2713HM monitor was gaining favor, and going by its specs I felt it to be a good fit for my needs.

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Lockheed Martin’s Bio-Inspired Samarai Micro Flyer

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Lockheed Martin’s engineers, inspired by maple seeds (you know, the ones that twirl as they descend to the ground), created the Samarai Flyer, a micro-aircraft that features a single asymmetrical wing. The Samarai weighs less than half a pound and can take off vertically, hover, and land, all the while streaming video from a rotating … Read more

Google Whips Out Wallet, Buys Motorola Mobility

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Google announced early this morning that they are acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion. This move appears to be primarily motivated by Google’s need to strengthen their patent portfolio in the face of anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple, and other companies. Major companies, such as Microsoft and Apple, seem to be doing this a lot these days. … Read more

Panasonic Lumix TS3 Rugged Digital Camera

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A while back I talked a little about Panasonic’s TS2 toughened digital camera, and how it looks perfect for jobsite use. When looking to pick one up for myself, I found that the new TS3 had come out. Like the TS2, the TS3 is shockproof, waterproof (down to 12m/40ft), dustproof, and freezeproof. Looking at its IP6x … Read more

Getting Started with Arduino Microcontrollers

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The Arduino microcontroller system, in its developers’ words, is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. At the minimum, an Arduino can be used to control lights, motors, and servos, and react to different conditions such as light, … Read more

How to Build a Solid Home Theater Computer (HTPC or DVR)

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Asus P7H55-M Pro Motherboard

This week I decided to add a home theater computer in my living room for DVR (digital video recording) use. I’ve had one running in the bedroom for about 5 years now, and it’s due for an upgrade as well. The two computers will mostly be used to record TV shows for future viewing.

Following is a brief breakdown of the parts that will be used for the builds, as well as an explanation about how some of the parts were chosen.

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Constrained Ball Pen and Pencil Attachment for Accurate Drawings

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Giha Woo’s Constrained Ball device is a simple pen and pencil attachment that constrains the writing instruments to move in only one direction. This allows for quick, easy and accurate freehand (well, near freehand) straight lines. To sweeten the deal, the attachment has sensors that measure the length of the drawn line in real-time. Right now it looks … Read more