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Watering Crystals

post from Toolmonger: The Week In Tools on 16 May 2008 01:41:00 PM. © Toolmonger: The Week In Tools

No, you’re not lost on an arts and crafts blog. These polyacrylamide polymer crystals can absorb 400 times their weight in water, swelling up to a jelly-like consistency and looking like watery ice, and photo pool member Poekie knows how to capture the beauty of that process. But these crystals can also save your lawn [...]

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http://toolmonger.com/2008/05/16/watering-crystals/

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Should You Hire a Professional

post from The Home Guide | DIY and Home Improvement Tips on 16 May 2008 01:39:46 PM. © The Home Guide | DIY and Home Improvement Tips

As with any home remodeling projects, it is usually the hiring of professional help that increases the costs dramatically so this is the first area to look at. (...)

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http://www.the-home-site.net/kitchen-remodeling/should-you-hire-a-professional/27
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How to Listen to Light

post from Daily DIY on 16 May 2008 01:16:59 PM. © Daily DIY

The human eye cannot discern flicker with a frequency greater than roughly 30 Hz. A light turning on and off faster than this does not appear to turning on and off. Instead it appears to have a constant intensity to the eye.Human ears however are much[...]

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http://dailydiy.com/2008/05/16/how-to-listen-to-light/

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Mine Probe

post from Toolmonger: The Week In Tools on 16 May 2008 12:50:00 PM. © Toolmonger: The Week In Tools

If you’re in the market for Gerber’s Deluxe Mine Probe Kit, one of two things is probably true: A) You’re underpaid, or B) you need to move. People who remove unexploded ordnance work mostly on their bellies, inching across the battlefield, constantly in danger. For these serious people and their serious work, Gerber makes some [...]

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http://toolmonger.com/2008/05/16/mine-probe/

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Space weather receiver

post from Daily DIY on 16 May 2008 12:30:00 PM. © Daily DIY

This very low frequency radio reciever kit is sold by Nasa's Inspire project - a group based around the study radio atmospheric phenomena, aka whistlers. These pulses occur in a frequency range audible to us humans (1 to 30 kHz) - and they sound quite[...]

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http://dailydiy.com/2008/05/16/space-weather-receiver/

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Keyboard is decontextualized into an alarm clock

post from Daily DIY on 16 May 2008 12:20:13 PM. © Daily DIY

"Sleep/Wake Up" by Julie Morel is a project that decontextualizes the "Sleep" and "Wake Up" keys found on typical PC keyboards into a networked control for the artist's bedside lamp. Visitors to the gallery in Toulouse, France can press the buttons which[...]

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http://dailydiy.com/2008/05/16/keyboard-is-decontextualized-into-an-alarm-clock/

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FloMix Asphalt Patch Kit

post from Toolmonger: The Week In Tools on 16 May 2008 12:19:00 PM. © Toolmonger: The Week In Tools

While it might be better to job out major asphalt repairs, you can definitely manage smaller projects yourself, and this patch kit can help. The FloMix kits advertise no dig-out — just sweep away loose material, then mix, pour, and spread. You can apply FloMix even in sub-zero temperatures. According to the instructions, [...]

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http://toolmonger.com/2008/05/16/flomix-asphalt-patch-kit/

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Record audio with the MSP430 microcontroller

post from DIY Life on 16 May 2008 12:00:00 PM. © DIY Life

Filed under: audio and video, geek it yourself, electronics, GIY: Geek-it-yourself, Flashes and PulsesThis article continues a series about building a DIY digital audio recorder. Inspired by this microcontroller audio project [via], I set out to build a simple digital recording device. I chose Texas Instrument's MSP430 microcontroller for this project because it's fast (16 MHz), it's cheap ($1), and it's very low power. Read the first part, the second part, and the third. In the first few[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/diylife/~3/291866253/

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Fedora 9 Puts Your Desktop on a USB Drive

This week's release of the Fedora 9 Linux distribution makes putting a full-fledged desktop on a portable USB thumb drive a three-click affair. Even better, you don't need Linux installed to create it, you can leave the data on your thumb drive[...]

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http://dailydiy.com/2008/05/16/fedora-9-puts-your-desktop-on-a-usb-drive/

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Plastic Bottle Fun Sign Me Up!

Man, it’s been a week! Let’s have a little Friday Nonserious Crafting Time. I dug this book out of my stash in honor of all the plastic bottles K. and I have been hoarding this week for our deck irrigation. This is a Hazel Pearson book, copyright 1965.

I love this book for its sheer exuberance with the concept of bottle recycling. Some of the designs are really funny in a totally endearing way.

. . . Like this bucket for your curlers, made from an empty bleach bottle. How much do I love the fact that there’s an actual curler attached to the front? (I wonder if anyone still wears curlers.)

This birdhouse just makes me smile.

. . . Whereas this just stopped me in my tracks. I would so love a glimpse into the thought process behind this idea. How does one look at a plastic bottle and arrive at a head hunter mask?

I’ve never been marriage-minded, but if I were, I would seriously consider this as my cake-topper. Look closely and you’ll see that the bride and groom are hemmed in by a tiny golden fence.

A variation on that theme is this amazing castle extravaganza diorama. That’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves inside there. A great home investment for them, as property values on a plastic bottle castle will only go up and up.

Here’s wishing you a splendid weekend! Here in P-Town, we’re heading into what we consider a “scorcher.” And after so many months of dreary cold weather, it’s gonna feel pretty sweet to complain about the heat!

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http://www.craftypod.com/?p=461

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