Before the blog
First year
Second year
Third year
Fourth year
Fifth year
Sixth year
Seventh year
Eighth year
Ninth year
Tenth year<<<<<<<
Eleventh year
I have a list of my Press STUFF.
I find music from my Electronic Windchimes relaxing, so I wanted a convenient way to play it anytime. The EWC_Box was a battery-powered boombox and the first to integrate pseudo-random melodic instruments with pseudo-random drum beats. I was proud of how it performed and looked.
I have failed at haptic mechanical compasses since 2014, but I made an oversized proof-of-concept, roughly the size of a baseball. When I face north and jostle the device or turn north, I can feel feedback. Now that I have a working design, I can focus on improving and miniaturizing.
I bought an electric screwdriver, but it came with a rubbish case, so I made a custom holder from plywood with the laser cutter.
I decided to have a little fun and build a workaround for Pokemon GO, which required a lot of coordinated movements but rejected mouse and keyboard input. I used a couple of robotic arms to move an auto-tapper around the screen in a pre-programmed pattern.
Facial-recognition cameras are problematic, but you can "jam" them in low light by flooding the area with infrared light, which humans do not perceive. I swapped out the white LEDs in a hat-clip light with IR emitters, and it still ran off the same battery.
If facial-recognition cameras emit visible or infrared light, it is possible to blind them with passive methods, like 3M reflective tape. I cut shapes for the glasses and lined the edges, making them almost indistinguishable from ordinary glasses.
I learned some lessons in Year 9 about building power supplies. This time, I included terminals I could hand tighten over loose wires and barrel connectors. Everything was 12V, except the USB sockets, which included a 65-watt port where I could power a soldering iron.
I desperately want wearable computers to leap forward, but typing while standing is a tricky hurdle. I built a Bluetooth keyboard I could wear and operate like a keytar, but it was QWERTY, so I did not need to relearn any typing skills. The function keys on my left hand opened typing layers for macros and Numpad access.
I had a whimsical idea for a puzzle box inspired by a cryptex, which looked like elaborate bicycle locks. My design was to arrange keyboard keys and mechanical keyswitches in a cylinder. I used twenty-six letters and ten numbers for thirty-six keys, which comes out to six keys on six sides. I installed a battery so people could freely handle it and solve the typing puzzle. When someone gets a letter incorrect, the LED turns green, but when they type the right message, it stays green and flashes when they complete a puzzle.
GrinderCompass MKII was supposed to become a convenient wearable capable of notifying a wearer when walking north. I could not create strong enough feedback from lightweight parts, but I built a wearable-sized unit that I could test with while I worked on other projects.
I was running low on sanding discs for my rotary tool, and replacements seemed exorbitant. I saw some promising variety packs, but I also wanted larger diameter pieces, so I cut ordinary sandpaper sheets into circles with the laser cutter and got my custom size and some new textures. I could also do this with wet/dry abrasive sheets.
I made a two-neck flute that generated telephone tones. I called it a Phlute as an homage to phone phreaking. I painted it red because the electronic device that did this was called a Red Box.
Demonstrating my DTMF Phlute made some people happy, but I wanted to prove it worked, so I added some LEDs and a microphone to a DTMF breakout board. The multi-colored lights change when I play valid tones.
I had a retro-style boombox, but it required D-cell batteries, so I filled a couple of PVC tubes with a battery and voltage booster to get the requisite power. Everything fit inside the battery compartment, and I had a rechargeable boombox.
My laser cutter was a powerful tool for creating useful and sturdy shapes, but I wanted to create something pretty. The gyroscope I made taught me how to make 3D shapes from 2D cuts, but it never worked due to the air resistance of the side pieces.
My resin printer was great, but prints required a final curing stage. I built one inside an insulated bag that was reflective and flexible, so I could store it in minimal space.
My first cyberdeck, the EWC_Cyberdeck had an onboard music generator, Windows box, and detachable keyboard. It was wearable, but its weight made it uncomfortable. I was delighted with the caution tape theme.
I designed a card game for the Gravy Shock universe. The game follows a group of meteoroid miners trying to collect enough ore to complete their mission and head home safely. I used AI artwork but will hire an artist if the game passes all the playtesting.
Keeping track of a number while playing board games is done in many ways, but I wanted something that took little table space and could track two numbers and fractions as fine as 1/4. The pieces were laser cut and then screwed together to make a hinge.
I had a giant plastic padlock kit and made plastic lock picks from acrylic sheets on my CNC machine. I based the design on basic hook picks and flat wrenches. The chonky lock picks can open the lock.
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First year
Second year
Third year
Fourth year
Fifth year
Sixth year
Seventh year
Eighth year
Ninth year
Tenth year<<<<<<<
Eleventh year
I have a list of my Press STUFF.
I find music from my Electronic Windchimes relaxing, so I wanted a convenient way to play it anytime. The EWC_Box was a battery-powered boombox and the first to integrate pseudo-random melodic instruments with pseudo-random drum beats. I was proud of how it performed and looked.
I have failed at haptic mechanical compasses since 2014, but I made an oversized proof-of-concept, roughly the size of a baseball. When I face north and jostle the device or turn north, I can feel feedback. Now that I have a working design, I can focus on improving and miniaturizing.
I bought an electric screwdriver, but it came with a rubbish case, so I made a custom holder from plywood with the laser cutter.
I decided to have a little fun and build a workaround for Pokemon GO, which required a lot of coordinated movements but rejected mouse and keyboard input. I used a couple of robotic arms to move an auto-tapper around the screen in a pre-programmed pattern.
Facial-recognition cameras are problematic, but you can "jam" them in low light by flooding the area with infrared light, which humans do not perceive. I swapped out the white LEDs in a hat-clip light with IR emitters, and it still ran off the same battery.
If facial-recognition cameras emit visible or infrared light, it is possible to blind them with passive methods, like 3M reflective tape. I cut shapes for the glasses and lined the edges, making them almost indistinguishable from ordinary glasses.
I learned some lessons in Year 9 about building power supplies. This time, I included terminals I could hand tighten over loose wires and barrel connectors. Everything was 12V, except the USB sockets, which included a 65-watt port where I could power a soldering iron.
I desperately want wearable computers to leap forward, but typing while standing is a tricky hurdle. I built a Bluetooth keyboard I could wear and operate like a keytar, but it was QWERTY, so I did not need to relearn any typing skills. The function keys on my left hand opened typing layers for macros and Numpad access.
I had a whimsical idea for a puzzle box inspired by a cryptex, which looked like elaborate bicycle locks. My design was to arrange keyboard keys and mechanical keyswitches in a cylinder. I used twenty-six letters and ten numbers for thirty-six keys, which comes out to six keys on six sides. I installed a battery so people could freely handle it and solve the typing puzzle. When someone gets a letter incorrect, the LED turns green, but when they type the right message, it stays green and flashes when they complete a puzzle.
GrinderCompass MKII was supposed to become a convenient wearable capable of notifying a wearer when walking north. I could not create strong enough feedback from lightweight parts, but I built a wearable-sized unit that I could test with while I worked on other projects.
I was running low on sanding discs for my rotary tool, and replacements seemed exorbitant. I saw some promising variety packs, but I also wanted larger diameter pieces, so I cut ordinary sandpaper sheets into circles with the laser cutter and got my custom size and some new textures. I could also do this with wet/dry abrasive sheets.
I made a two-neck flute that generated telephone tones. I called it a Phlute as an homage to phone phreaking. I painted it red because the electronic device that did this was called a Red Box.
Demonstrating my DTMF Phlute made some people happy, but I wanted to prove it worked, so I added some LEDs and a microphone to a DTMF breakout board. The multi-colored lights change when I play valid tones.
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I had a giant plastic padlock kit and made plastic lock picks from acrylic sheets on my CNC machine. I based the design on basic hook picks and flat wrenches. The chonky lock picks can open the lock.
.png)
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