Monday, August 5, 2013

MicroGreen Machine (hydroponic micro greens at virtually no cost)

photo (1).JPGNow anyone can enjoy super delicious micro greens for little more than the cost of seeds. This technique:
- produces a big crop in about 7 days
- eliminates all the mess of dirt
- is self-watering

Sound good - let's dig in...

cartonCut.jpgFirst, appreciate that a micro green is just a stage of vegetative development - it's the time after a seed sprouts, but before it becomes a plant. Most seeds can be grown to the micro green stage where they are tender, flavorful, and full of nutrients.

Grab yourself a milk carton, tetra-pak or similar, a half gallon is nice but a quart sized container works fine. Wash it out to remove any trace of the contents.

Use scissors to cut into the carton and remove a piece as shown by the dashed line. Adjust the size and shape of your cut as appropriate for your container - this shape works great and preserves the strength of the container, but you can get creative here as well.

Take that piece and drop it straight down into the carton. This will create a shelf to grow your micro greens on.


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Pocket Stereo Amplifier

step 1_box.jpga while a go i came across this instructable: Rechargable pocket sized amplifier
and loved the idea of a pocket sized audio amp but was disappointed but its lack of capability, namely only using mono amplification and only having 1 output option 
hence the idea for the stereo amplifier was born
doing a little digging on  amplifier IC's I found the LM 386 a mono amplifier ic with some extra capability's like bass boost and 200 times gain settings (but more on those later)

So how do you take a Mono amplifier and make a stereo? easy, stack 2 side by side

this amp also contains 3 output modes: internal speakers, external 3.5mm jack and RCA

step 2_parts.JPGMaterials and components:
(image 1)
2 - LM386 (mono-audio amp)
2 - 8 pin ic holder
2 - 3.5 mm audio socket
2 - speakers
2 - 2 pole 2 throw switch 
2 - 33nF capacitors
2 - 47nF capacitors
2 - 10µF capacitors
2 - 220µF capacitors
2 - 10? resistors (colour bands brown, black, black)
2 - 10K? resistors (colour bands brown, black, orange)
1 - double RCA socket
1 - 2 gang linear 10k potentiometer
1 - potentiometer knob 
1 - 2 pole 3 throw switch
1 - 1 pole 2 throw switch
1 - 9V battery
1 - 9V battery clip
1 - ultra mini experimenters board or other small perf board
1 - project box
- mutli- coloured single strand copper wire, (not shown)
- masking tape (not shown)
2 - screws (not shown)

Tools:
(image 2)
- soldering iron
- hot glue gun
- solder sucker 
- solder
- wire cutters
- pliers
- screw driver set
- multimeter
- dremel or a drill
- ruler (not shown)
- sandpaper (not shown)
- glue (not shown)


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Garden side table with hard stone top (all re-used materials)

SDC13828.JPGA while ago I found a disposed hard stone polished kitchensink top. I carried this treasure home, although it was HEAVY and I didn't know what to do with it yet, but a creative person doesn't have junk lying around, only new ideas.
The purpose came to me later when I changed my front door to a new one and combined these two thing with some hardwood I got from a neighbor (He had it lying behind his house for years, used to be the base of his garden shet) and the legs of our old pine dinner table: These had to be transformed to a very sturdy garden side table.
Here is how I did that (although I might have missed some steps because I didn't took pictures of every step.)IMG_3991.JPGWell, as I said. I used a very nice 180x40 cm's polished kitchen counter-top out of hard stone. I found it in the garbage. Every month or so I like to dumpster-dive in my street when my neighbors dispose there treasures. Usually it's quite a goldmine (I even found some original screen-prints of some famous artists. Being an artist and art teacher myself I knew what they were. I've sold them for a few hundred euro's!).
Another day I got these big and heavy hardwood beams from a neighbor. They had a routed notch/angle (?) in them, in which the stone plate perfectly fitted.
My old merbau wood front door provided me the rest of the frame and last I used metal angles and the legs of our old diner table made out of pine. This table has been used in the garden for a few years on the place where this new table is standing now but it was to big for this small roofed space. The table top itself I used for another interesting project about which I will make another Ible later.

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Logitech Easy-Switch Keyboard Pairs with Multiple Bluetooth Devices

Logitech Easy-Switch Keyboard Pairs with Multiple Bluetooth Devices

When you have a computer, a tablet, and a media center, you might have three keyboards for each. The Logitech Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard, however, can pair with all three so you only need a single input device.

Logitech's Easy-Switch Keyboard offers three different Bluetooth pairing buttons so you can quickly switch the keyboard between different devices as needed. Whether you want to just switch just between phones and tablets or add your computer into the mix, you can. The keyboard itself somewhat mirrors Apple's Bluetooth Keyboard in its size and chiclet key style, but adds function to that form. If you like Apple's keyboards but want something with a little more functionality, you should check this one out. While it may cost a little more than your average keyboard, since it can effectively take the place of three it isn't a bad deal when used as designed.

Logitech Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard for Apple Devices ($88) or Windows ($60) | Amazon via The Wirecutter


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Electronic Bracelet

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The Decisive Hedgehog

I made the Decisive Hedgehog from a piece of old pine board about 21mm (3/4 inch) thick and just over 90mm (3 1/2inch) wide. It was already "finished" quality, since it used to be part of a bed frame.

The spines are bamboo skewers, I used ordinary kids' craft paints for the colour-coding and a fine drawing pen for the numbering.

The whole thing can be made with basic hand-tools (coping saw, hand drill, half-round file, a sharp knife, sand paper), but I cheated slightly, using a scroll saw, power drill and Kitewife's detailing sander.


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