24Eng Portfolio Year 03

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.

The third year of this blog saw a different type of project. The previous years were filled with projects that were started and had a completion date. Year three saw ambitious projects which were not possible to define by a date. A podcast was started with Tim Shank of Twin Cities+ and an audiobook version of Charged: DesertIrish was started. While a book usually has a date where it gets finished, this story could safely be called a serial. The audio chapters add to the serial since they could be compared to a radio show.

The first project was easy to call completed, and it happened on a Tuesday. It was a birthday present in the form of a coffee maker. The Drip Coffee Maker brought light metal working together with basic carpentry for an antique-look coffee maker that makes tasty coffee.

Next was a recording space, which was never formally a project and continues to improve so it a completion date hasn’t been defined, but it has been serviceable. This was part of the Charged: DesertIrish book project.



Another implant was added to my body, so there was a definite date when this happened. The implant was not chosen because of its functionality, it was a cosmetic implant.


As mentioned, a podcast was started. This doesn't have a COMPLETED date unless we decide to broadcast a final episode. The show page can be found on TwinCitiesPlus.org. This project used the recording space mentioned above.


As the author of a superhero-themed novel/serial, I was interviewed by a geeky podcast called Unapologetic Geek Out. The specific episode was mentioned in the blog post that day.


Networking in the interpersonal sense isn't easy, but at hack days, I have made some strong contacts. I even hand out business cards or have people scan the NFC tag in my hand for my contact information. This hack day featured a system for encouraging kids to do their chores.

As a birthday gift for my mother, I made a 3D model of the lake where she keeps her RV then printed it the size of a dinner plate. It was turned into an Instructable and featured.


Pokémon GO literally got me running to the door. With jogging shoes and everything. I loved the augmented reality game, but I wasn’t particularly good at catching wild Pokémon. My usual brainstorming session started with servos and microcontrollers but ended with my simplest creation ever, and it works beautifully. This project also comes in at the shortest bill of materials with a piece of poster board and 16 sticky notes. Hack-a-Day even featured it.


Hearing is funny to me. My whole life I’ve had poor hearing and I’ll probably need a hearing aid before my next decade birthday. This microphone mimics the way humans hear with microphones embedded right inside 3D printed ears. In case you’re wondering about a wind cover, a winter hat works wonders.

Public speaking and biohacking go well together for me. At least I thought so. I presented to a small group on the subject of sleep hacking as an introduction to biohacking. The biggest problem I had was the audio quality on the microphones.

A gear-hub with curved spokes was created for a project, but it is a useful product regardless. Many of the parameters can be changed to tune the hub to any needs. Variables have been shown in the graphic below. Each variable can be altered independently for a very custom hub.

Like the spoked hub above, another project was started, and completed, to facilitate another project. This Power Drill to Belt Sander Conversion used 3D printed parts, also designed in OpenSCAD, and common hardware store parts, to make a belt sander that used an ordinary power drill as the motor. Not construction-site grade but enough for sanding plastic and wood in a pinch. Videos.

I got x-rays of my hands. This wasn't much of a project since I didn't work more than to talk to a chiropractor. But it's awfully cool, so I include it anyway. From the left: RFID ampoule, ring finger magnet, index finger magnet, NFC ampoule, Firefly tattoo. Before the RFID and x-ray, I made an animated picture of the implants.

The Color/Touch was built for cognitively challenged kids, particularly those with Down's Syndrome and those on the autism spectrum. All this needed to do was change colors when a button was pressed, but the design considerations were off the charts since kids could get violent with such a toy. I also went to lengths narrating this video.

The Tough Pi-ano was built for the same cognitively challenged kids, and it was made to be just as tough. I put effort into the script this time, and if you listen carefully, all but one sentence has a pun. I'll let the video do the descriptions since it's less than 80 seconds.

Smart glasses will hopefully become more popular and less expensive. Until then people, like me, who live on a hacker's budget will have to keep making our own. Anyone can print the frames to this display holder and have a custom-fit holder for this Pi0 or any computer.

Head-mounted computers may be the wave of the future, but a smart pocket-watch is a blast from the past. After some searching, it may also be the only one of its kind. Too bad, it's kind of cool.

Comments