DIY Life

Bristlebot - make a toy robot from the head of a toothbrush

Jason Clarke — 2008-05-12T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, kids, robotics

If you've ever had the chance to play with a vibrating robot toy, you'll understand just how fun they can be. Most of the ones I've seen are of the wind-up variety, typically with long metal lets and rubber feet. They tend to be noisy, bouncy, and definitely unpredictable.

While I've played with various different versions of these wind-up toys for hours, I never really considered that I might be able to actually make one of my own. I certainly didn't think I could make one that is not only just as neat, but a significant upgrade.

Imagine my surprise when I happened across this article explaining how to make a battery-powered vibrating robot toy out of the head of a toothbrush! With the right supplies on hand (including an appropriate toothbrush, pager motor, and watch battery) this project can be completed in about five minutes.

It's really worth watching the video to see just what this little critter can do. I imagine it would enthrall my children, but even more fun would be to watch my uncle's cat go crazy trying to figure out just what this thing is!

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Eating a gourmet meal on the cheap

Jason Clarke — 2008-03-21T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: food

It's shopping day, you've got the whole family at the mall. Come lunch time, where do you go? The food court, of course!

Have you ever noticed that going to the food court causes people to scatter in 10 different directions? Each person wants something specific, and since the options are seemingly endless, they can get exactly what they want.

But what if you're alone, and you're craving a gourmet meal? For the purposes of this example, we're going to assume that you're a connoisseur of fast-food, and define "gourmet" as "consisting of multiple courses". Can you see where I'm going with this? You got it.

If you're craving a fancy burrito, some salmon sushi, and a slice of pizza with an Orange Julius to wash it down, chances are you can get exactly that at the mall's food court. Keep in mind the following handy tips to make sure that you have the best multi-course fast-food experience possible.

Buy cold foods first

If you're going to be getting some hot, and some cold foods, choose to pick up the cold ones first. Pay attention to which foods taste best hot and pick those up last. Alternatively, you could go an purchase each item before eating it, but that isn't as efficient or satisfying as sitting down with a big pile-o fast-food goodness.

Clip coupons

The one main drawback to buying your food from multiple vendors (aside from packing on the pounds) is that you don't get to take advantage of "meal deals". To combat this conundrum, carefully clip coupons.

Eat during off-peak hours

There's nothing worse than loading up your tray with two thirds of your amazing gourmet meal, then getting stuck in a long line with a cashier that has obviously never even used a calculator before. The best way around this is to choose to eat when the food court is simply not busy.

Good luck with your gourmet eating aspirations! If you have any further food-court tips, let us know in the comments!

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Beer bottle shelves

Jason Clarke — 2008-01-18T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, weekend projects

There was a time when I had such a huge collection of empty beer bottles, I didn't know what to do with them all. I was too lazy to recycle them and get the deposit, so they just keep kept sitting there, mocking me. And it's not a cool collection, you know? My brother-in-law has all sorts of unique beer bottles from all over the world, many unopened (but most of them empty, of course). He displays them proudly, and I feel jealous. Not an intense, burning jealousy, but more of a mild, passive-aggressive jealousy. But this isn't about him and his cool bottles, it's about me and my regular ones. Well, I guess it's about anyone that has beer bottles, but please stop interrupting and let me finish my story.

Okay!

So back in the day I had lots of beer bottles, and didn't know what to do with them.

That day was yesterday.

But today I have a mission! I turns out that you can make some pretty cool shelves out of beer bottles. Don't believe me? Have a look at Hacknmod's gallery of beer bottle shelves, suggested to us by a reader, Joe.

The ones like those pictured here that have holes drilled out for the necks of the bottles look like they would be more stable, but they also look like a lot more work. My shelving unit is going to rely on gravity and balance. And epoxy. Lots of epoxy.

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How to stay on top of your children's video game-playing

Jason Clarke — 2007-11-19T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: kids, recreation

As a lifelong avid gamer, I had never really considered the "problem" of staying abreast of my children's video game -playing habits. I simply figured that I would likely be involved in any gaming that they did, so I'd be able to monitor it from the inside, so to speak.

What I didn't account for was the fact that being a husband and father takes some serious wind out of my figurative video game sails. Aside from the odd game of NHL hockey with my son, my personal gaming has all but disappeared. This is probably going to sound overly dramatic to those of you that have never experienced the loss of an important hobby, but it feels like a part of my brain is atrophying and a significant part of what made me, well, me is disappearing. I'm no longer on top of the latest in the gaming world, and I'm in serious danger of losing touch with what I once considered to be a culture I was very much involved with. Plus, my four-year-old is regularly kicking my butt at video game hockey, a game at which I used to be able to dominate against all challengers.

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As my kids start to reach game playing age, how am I going to deal with all of the myriad of options that will be available to them? Clearly my original plan of ensuring that I'm a part of their game playing was not very well thought-through.

Luckily for us non-gaming parents - *sniff* - there is an online tonic for what ails us. What They Play is a site dedicated to helping parents "understand everything you need to know about the games your kids want to play, and bring you friendly, helpful, unbiased information about the content and the experiences that video games provide." Now how about that?

The site takes a decidedly healthy approach to educating parents about video games. Rather than trying to tell you which games your kids should or shouldn't play, they simply offer a venue where you can learn about the games your kids are talking about and see what other parents have to say about them.

Now at least I have an excuse to be surfing video game websites again - it's all in the name of better parenting. Right?

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How NOT to increase your car's coolness factor

Jason Clarke — 2007-09-19T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: cars and transportation, wood working

While this is certainly a very easy DIY project, I beg of you, please don't do it. But if you do, please send us a photo so we can all point and laugh.

The project in question is, as you've probably guessed from the picture, creating a wooden spoiler for your car.

Now, not all wooden spoilers are bad. (Okay, stay with me here!) Years ago my dad raced sports racing cars, and he had one in particular that was very difficult to handle. Before shelling out for a wing, he decided to fabricate one out of plywood to see if it would make a difference. It made a huge difference, and he ended up being quite a bit faster with it. So much so, that he never did replace the plywood version with a real wing.

But the spoilers and wings we're talking about in this post aren't going to make anything faster in any imaginable way. I think they're intended to make these old beater cars look "cooler", but I sure hope the owners of those cars are in on the joke, because they just look completely ridiculous.

Scrolling through this gallery of wooden spoilers is a guilty pleasure like watching the first few episodes of a reality talent contest show (pick one - singing, dancing, random "talents") where the fun is more in watching how absolutely terrible people are than seeing people with actual talent.

In case after all of this you are still dead-set on making your own wooden spoiler for what can probably only be described as your "sweet ride", it appears to be pretty self-explanatory:

Nail some two-by-fours together
Bolt to your trunk
Be incredibly awesomely cool

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Tips for teaching your kid how to ride a bike

Jason Clarke — 2007-08-30T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: cars and transportation, kids

Everyone knows how to ride a bike, right? But amazingly, not very many people know how to teach someone how to ride a bike. If you're considering taking the training wheels off of a youngster's bike and teaching them how to ride a two-wheeler, your first step should be to make sure they want to learn it. Children run on very different clocks, and some will want to learn at very early ages, and others will be content to wait a year or two.

Today my 4 year-old came home from a group play date where almost all of the other kids were riding their bikes without training wheels, and announced that he wanted to learn to do so too, this instant! So we made plans to head over to the local park with a nice flat paved area to practice. After the jump I'll share some of the ideas I used to make the experience fun for both him and me.

First, some quick tips:

Of course, make sure your child has safety equipment - minimally a helmet, but hopefully also knee and elbow pads
Adjust the training wheels up so that the bike is "wobbly", but don't torture your child by leaving it that way very long; 10 to 20 minutes is about right. It's not really a natural way to ride a bike, and only serves to teach them what balancing feels like in a straight line. Also, have you ever watched someone learning to ride a bike? They rarely ride in a straight line!
Contrary to popular opinion, it's okay to hold onto your child as they learn to balance on their own. I suggest holding them by the shoulders or waist, so you can very quickly slip your hands under their arms to save them from a crash. This is just as hard on the back as it sounds, but can mean a child who is excited about their modest accomplishments at the end of the practice session vs. a battered and bruised child who is quickly becoming afraid of the idea of riding a bike.

Now for the most important information: teach your child that the handle bars are for adjusting your balance, only. In other words, the bike's front wheel is not for steering, but simply for adjusting your balance. It will help them conceptualize how to stay on their bike without throwing their body from side to side, and anyway, it's true!

Once they are ready to start learning how to steer their bike, teach them that steering is accomplished by leaning the bike in the direction that they want to steer. This is also true; while it may feel like you're steering to the left when you ride to the left, the truth is that you are leaning your bike over, then steering left to compensate and keep your balance. Lastly, teach your child to keep on pedaling as they are learning. The pedaling may have a slight gyroscopic effect helping to keep the rider balanced, but more importantly it will teach your child to maintain their speed, which makes balancing far easier.

Lastly, don't expect a miracle the first time out! We came home tonight after an exhausting 90 minutes at the park, and my little one was ecstatic to have completed a few "rides" of 15 to 20 seconds unassisted. We learned how to fall by doing so on the grass on purpose, and generally had a lighthearted evening. Now he's more excited than ever to get back on the horse (so to speak) and try again tomorrow. Good luck!

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