DIY Tea Timer!

Rob writes -

Guido knew the secret to a perfect cuppa. It’s all in the timing. So he designed a battery-powered tea timer with a built-in LED display that will brew a perfect cup of tea every time. It’s simple: just fix a tea-bag on the tea timer’s extension arm, place a mug of hot water underneath it and push a button according to how strong you like your tea. The microcontroller-operated, 5V circuit provides a servo motor with control pulses to lower and raise the arm and the power supply is switched off automatically via FET.

DIY Tea timer – Link.

Art of Toothpicks

Spluch writes -

Zheng Changlun, a craftsman from Jiangxi, China is planning to create a mosaic that is 1.2 meters high and 0.6 meters wide with toothpicks. He is planning to incorporate 130,000 toothpicks to make a figure painting of Kwan-Yin, the Goddess of Mercy from Chinese folklore.

MMosaic made of toothpicks – Link.Related:

Art with toothpicks – Link.

Toothpick engineering – Link.

Toothpick and nail art – Link.

Toothpick art – Link.

Tom McKimson’s paycheck, 1944

Hey! I came across to this oldtimer cartoonist news by Jerry at Cartoonbrew. Warner Bros. uber-art collector Eric Calande recently added this item to his collection: A 1944 paystub belonging to animator Thomas McKimson. You know how much it cost on that day! Notes Eric:
Schlesinger was paying him a whopping $90 a week. This comes to about $4700 a year when an average salary in 1944 was $20 – $25,000 $2, 600. As these were the war years, the check shows a “Victory Tax” deduction. There’s also a field for a “war bonds” deduction.

Link : Cartoonbrew

Combi-Bolt.

The Combi-Bolt is a traditional sliding bolt, but it has a 4-dial, 10,000 number possible combination lock for keyless security. I used to have a Hasp and padlock on my backyard shed and had to cut the padlock off more than once because one of my kids lost the key. I’ve now had this lock on my shed for over a year and I love it. I keep my garden tools, the dog toys, basketballs and even a spare house key in my shed, and I no longer have to worry about my kids losing yet another key or myself having to destroy another padlock! Everyone has access when they need it and if for some reason I want to change the combination, it’s easy to do. It’s constructed of solid metal and has held up well over our snowy, rainy, windy winter and works just as well as it did the day I installed it. It also came with “one way” screws so that once it’s installed, you’d have a tough time getting them out (luckily I positioned it correctly the first time). You can even use this lock as a child safety device to keep the kids out of the cupboards in your home or workshop.

Link: Combi-Bolt

Instant Water Purifier.

I took a SteriPEN to Africa for 3 months this summer and the verdict is in: it’s the best water purifier you can carry without a tractor-trailer. It’s basically a UV ray flashlight you submerge into your glass. The water stays cool and it doesn’t change the water, except to kill all the living things in it, viruses included. It is expensive, but pays for itself quickly, as you don’t have to buy bottled water. On my trip, often when I asked a waiter for a glass of tap water, my request would elicit a smile or a laugh. In some cases, they simply would not bring me a glass of water. Most of the time, though, I convinced them — and then, to their amazement, I would take out the SteriPEN, push a button, and stir the water with the glowing purple UV light that always brought stares from other diners. After less than 60 seconds, I would take out the SteriPEN and drink the water, occasionally hearing gasps from other tables. Then I’d mention that UV light is how certain towns and companies now sterilize water.

Link: Amazon

FM Crystal Radio?

Larry writes -

I have heard, even from a physicist, that it is impossible to build FM crystal radios. On the other hand some experimenters claim that they have built them. This argument intrigued me to try and build an FM crystal radio, which I have done successfully. To my surprise, the result is an astounding performer, pulling in four local stations in Tucson. When connected as a receiver to a good sound system the sound fidelity is as good or better than more expensive AM radios. In fact, it sounds “high-fidelity”.

FM Crystal Radio, thanks Pekar! – Link.