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www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Hardware/Glockenspiel.html

This project first saw the light of day at Christmas 1993 as my 124th constructional article in “The Micro User” magazine for the Acorn Archimedes or BBC computer. It was easy in those days to get an output from a computer, as these two computers had “User Ports” dedicated input / output ports brought out to a connector. Nowadays it is much more difficult to set a bit accurately timed as the operating system gets in the way. Therefore I decide to move the intelligence away from the controlling computer into an Arduino controller board and have the instrument driven from a MIDI signal that could be derived from computer, controller or instrument.

more info  http://arduino.tw

A drum machine built from an Arduino board, some resistors, two pots, two DIP switches and two 4021 shift registers.

One of the pots controls the sampling rate and the other controls the delay between notes.

The two DIP switches set the notes. There are eight beats in the loop. Each beat is set by the combination of the two switches.

Info, Code, Schematic:  http://little-scale.blogspot.com/2008...  

and

http://little-scale.blogspot.com

The struggle to keep your houseplants watered is getting a little help. A group called Botanicalls (Kate Hartman, Kati London, Rebecca Bray, and Rob Faludi) has come up with a method to monitor your plants remotely, then be Twittered when they need some water. Reed more www.botanicalls.com/twitter/

growdown.blogspot.com/2008/04/arduino-and-silvia-two-italians-one.html 

The typically straight-up espresso maker is now controlled electronically, allowing integration of a calendar, sleep timer, wake-up alarm, and temperature regulation. The system also allows a user to time its functions (to get that perfect cup of espresso),

The new Arduino Nano is the smallest and most versatile Arduino board yet. Designed and manufactured by US-based Gravitech, it has all the functionality of an Arduino Diecimila in a compact, breadboard-ready design. The Nano includes an ATmega168 microcontroller (w/ bootloader), integrated USB (FTDI chip) w/ Mini-B jack, a full complement of i/o pins (including two more analog inputs than the Diecimila), an ICSP programming header, and on-board regulator.

the Nano will be available from Gravitech in June for an economical $49.99.-

www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardNano

As Europe’s largest biodiesel equipment supplier, Green Fuels Ltd. designs and manufactures a range of affordable biodiesel processing equipment that produces fuel for small-scale, domestic usage - right up to commercial production levels. The advanced technology enables our customers to produce their own quality biodiesel cheaply and safely for use as a sustainable road transport fuel. There are currently more than 1250 Green Fuels processors in the UK and Ireland with a growing number in the rest of the world. Between them they produce more than 200 million litres of biodiesel every year.

order here Greenfuels

FuelPod1 = Inc. VAT: £1,169.12
All you need to start making your own biodiesel from used, or new vegetable oil. This small and sturdy processor can still produce as much as 40 litres of biodiesel a day – which is enough to fill the tank in most family-size cars.

FuelPod2 = Inc. VAT: £2,937.50
The new compact FuelPod2 produces up to 50 litres of biodiesel every day from a mixture of either waste or new cooking oil and methanol. Its fuel dispensing system lets you pump the finished fuel straight into your car. Safe, reliable and easy to use, it is operated by air control to avoid any sparks. Safe Band technology heats the oil prior to mixing using a thermostatically controlled heater in an integral heating tank.

FuelPod2-100= Inc. VAT: £3,642.50
The new FuelPod 2 100 produces up to 100 litres of biodiesel every day from the reaction of either waste or new cooking oil and methanol. Its fuel dispensing system lets you pump the finished fuel straight into your car. Safe, reliable and easy to use, it is operated by air-driven controls to avoid any sparks. Safe Band technology heats the oil prior to mixing using a thermostatically controlled heater in an integral heating tank.

http://www.speakerfactory.net/TURBINES/INNOVATIONS/BLUE/PAGES/BLUE.html

Technovoyance shows off the latest Pico-ITX board from VIA. The PX5000EG uses a 1 watt VIA Eden processor making it the world's smallest and coolest board ever. See at http://www.via.com.tw/en/index.jsp

Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects, by Tom Igoe  Available on Amazon

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-2199213-6139652

 O'Reilly: Building electronic projects that interact with the physical world is good fun. But when devices that you've built start to talk to each other, things really start to get interesting. Through a series of simple projects, you'll learn how to get your creations to communicate with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk explains exactly what you need.

This book is perfect for people with little technical training but a lot of interest. Maybe you're a science teacher who wants to show students how to monitor weather conditions at several locations at once, or a sculptor who wants to stage a room of choreographed mechanical sculptures. Making Things Talk demonstrates that once you figure out how objects communicate -- whether they're microcontroller-powered devices, email programs, or networked databases -- you can get them to interact.