"Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better"
The x0xb0x (Adafruit edition) was available as a kit that includes all parts necessary to build a x0xbox: PCB, case with CNC machined faceplate, components, buttons and knobs, AC adaptor, pre-programmed microcontroller, and (of course) poorly xeroxed assembly manual*…You supplied the sweat & tears.
We have made 9 runs of 100 kits each. All but one of the components in the kit are through-hole.We had a great run and we are currently exploring how to best support this project in 2010 – so far we’ve made the project completely open source and we will have more updates in the month of April with what’s next for our role with the x0xb0x.
Because of demand and time/cost to make these kits -starting in 2005 we created a “waiting list” where interested kit makers could sign up to be notified if and when the next run was available for purchase.This list was a “spot in line” for the kits Adafruit Industries may make based on pricing, time and demand. We did not accept any payment in any form until the kit was shipped and the listee was notified to place their order with a special password for that run. This worked out great, we never “held” funds unless a kit was sent. The waiting list was simply a “back in stock” notifier for potential x0x customers.
At this time (4/2010) the waiting list is closed and no longer will be used. Our data retention policy for this list is as follows — We do not retain email addresses or names, if you signed up you can safely assume the list has been deleted, you will never be contacted by Adafruit or anyone else. We respect your privacy. We hate spam…. We will have more updates soon in the next days and weeks, we wanted to post this up as we updated some of our pages and re-did our inventory.
My Arduino powered, Megajolt-driven Nixie Tachometer ! More Information here – This is a prototype I made to test several technologies I am developing for my other Project (a 1976 Valiant Hemi Charger). Most of the details are in the Video. Arduino (AdaFruit Boarduino), I2C Bus powering the OLED Display and Tayloredge Smart-Nixie Sockets running In-1(4) Nixie Tubes, In-13 Nixie Bargraph, Megajolt Distributorless Ignition Controller controlling the ignition timing and feeding the RPM (and other data) to the controller. Source code and Construction Tips (but no drawn circuit diagrams yet) are available if you contact me on the MegaJolt (www.autosportlabs.org) Forums. No, I won’t build one for you (unless you are prepared to pay consulting engineer hourly rates), but I will describe and help you build your own. Yes, I know the Gemini is hardly an impressive Street Machine, but its my daily driver parts-getter that I’m testing this stuff on while I build my Triple-Webered Hemi Charger where the final version is intended for.
This Kickstarter request will help fund the creation of an open source wildlife tracking collar. The system is being developed to help save the last 2000 remaining lions in Kenya and is a continuation of work done in conjunction with the Lion Guardians Program and the Living with Lions research group. These organizations work to protect the last lions living in Kenya as well as the Maasai herders’ pastoral livelihood. The pledged $9000 would help fund the cost of parts, travel expenses for testing and labor in building the prototype. The project consists of two parts, a tracking system that utilizes GPS/GSM technology to locate and track wildlife and the open source documentation of the work. The first $1200 dollars over the target amount will go directly to sponsor a Lion Guardian for a full year in Kenya.
The installation includes six exhibits, at first sight looking trivial, each object incorporates a very unique ability. Each is accompanied with a little story, all completely concealing the existence of technical components such as speakers or sensors, only small connection ports as well as the uniform black finishing point to thier unusual abilities. In form and functionalty all these exhibits pursue John Maeda’s „Simplicity“. They are enjoying to use, they are surprising and one wants to explore and investigate them. This is a project by Georg Reil and Kathy Scheuring, January 2010 at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. Built with Processing and Arduino
The flip-top cigarette pack is one of the most successful pieces of packaging design in history. TankBooks pay homage to this iconic form by employing it in the service of great literature. We have launched a series of books designed to mimic cigarette packs – the same size, packaged in flip-top cartons with silver foil wrapping and sealed in cellophane.
The titles are by authors of great stature – classic stories presented in classic packaging; objects desirable for both their literary merit and their unique design.
Each story is complete and unabridged – with a type size that’s easy to read. Individual books are great for throwing into a pocket or handbag – an instantly familiar object to carry with you. The complete set comes in a stunning tin – perfect as a really original gift.
We had a Kafka-a-day habit until we got the Baudrillard patch.
Cool Tools is offering a prize to the person who submits the best review of an Enthusiast Source. Let’s call it The Enthusiast Sources Contest. Before the web, knowledgeable buyers shopped with mail order catalogs. You could sit at home and purchase all kinds of merchandise rarely seen in your neighborhood shops or mall stores. These specialty mail order stores usually catered to niche customers, offering cool things for every type of hobbyist and enthusiast. The major problem was finding these cool catalogs in the first place. Usually a friend of a friend had to introduce you to one.
Today, of course, websites have replaced mail order catalogs. But while search engines have made finding a prospective niche store a little easier, it still sometimes requires a recommendation of a friend to find an esoteric or reliable source.
I am looking for the best sources for enthusiasts. These online sources would be the best website that offers a deep selection in a very narrow field, with fair prices and service. Often (but not always) these specialty stores are also valuable sources for information, community, advice, and tips. There are many online forums where enthusiasts hash out preferences and brag about their gear. On the other hand some Enthusiast Sources are simply extremely knowledgeable vendors who cater to enthusiasts.
We have some favorites we are going to enter and if you think Adafruit is a good “Enthusiast Source” – please enter us in the contest! We love providing information, community, advice, tips, tutorials, forums, weekly videos, photos, tweets and more!
Tonight, Saturday 3/27/2010 – 10pm ET – “Ask an Engineer” – Adafruit’s weekly LIVE video chat! What is “Ask an engineer”? From the electronics enthusiast to the professional community – “Ask an Engineer” has a little bit of everything for everyone. If you’re a beginner, or an seasoned engineer – stop in and see what we’re up to! We have demos of projects and products we’re working on, we answer you engineering and electronics questions and we have a trivia question + give away each week. To see previous chat event videos, please visit the forums.
Chumby project! Tonight we will reveal an upcoming “hack” with the Chumby!
Drill press – help us find the best one… We are going to get a (better) drill press for the Adafruit shop, as we do research we’re wondering what all you folks use or have some good suggestions.
My goal in building this project was to create a machine that embodied the classic look and feel of the machine presented in Turing’s paper. I wanted to build a machine that would be immediately recognizable as a Turing machine to someone familiar with Turing’s work. Although this Turing machine is controlled by a Parallax Propeller microcontroller, its operation while running is based only on a set of state transformations loaded from an SD card and what is written to and read from the tape. While it may seem as if the tape is merely the input and output of the machine, it is not! Nor is the tape just the memory of the machine. In a way the tape is the computer. As the symbols on the tape are manipulated by simple rules, the computing happens. The output is really more of an artifact of the machine using the tape as the computer.
The best Parallax Propeller microcontroller project yet.
Printable catalog (PDF) or (EPUB)
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