Jason Podlaski takes broken skateboard decks and turns them into unique pieces of furniture called Deckstools.
Each Deckstool is made from recycled skateboard parts, and “the scrapes and scars on the decks create beautiful patterns over the original skateboard artwork”.
The stools are even assembled using original skateboard trucks for hardware, giving them an extra bit of authenticity and leaving nothing to waste. Plus, since each one is made using a used and broken board, each one is a unique and limited edition run of one.
[Deckstool]
Has the damaged economy managed to crush your new gadget budget?
Instead of sitting around and complaining, why not make your old things new again with a few “creative” hacks?
To help you along the path to recycled gadget goodness, Gizmodo has put together a guide to Zero-Cost Gadget Upgrades, including turning your Xbox, PC or Apple TV into a genuine media center, hacking your iPod with Rockbox, converting your PC into a Mac, flashing your crappy router’s firmware with DD-WRT to turn it into a top-of-the-line piece of hardware, downloading new maps for your old GPS, jailbreaking your iPhone for Wi-Fi Internet tethering, and modding your Wii to create a free emulation machine.
Who said the next great depression had to be so depressing?
[Gizmodo - Zero-Cost Gadget Upgrades For The Next Great Depression]
The Nimbus Cloud Computer “works like a PC” only it’s “better than a PC” because it’s free. Instead of paying for the Nimbus, you simply allow them to show you an ad while using the computer, and it pays for itself. If you don’t want the ad, you can also pay a monthly fee to use the Nimbus ad free, but where’s the fun in that?
A Cloud Computer is a re-imagination of the idea of a computer. We think that an ordinary computer is too expensive, too complicated, and too much for what most people want to use a computer for. What we did is put all of the costly and complicated pieces of hardware and software into our data centers. You then use a smaller, simpler, much less expensive device that’s always connected to the internet to control your computer. We think this is a much better way for you to do just what you want with a computer.
The computer comes with a keyboard and mouse, and you simply provide a monitor and Internet access, and you’re on your way.
Is this the future of computing?
[Nimbus Cloud Computer]
[Via: Spark Plugging]
TV-B-Gone is a small electrical device that turns off any TV with the push of a button from up to 100 feet away.
Now, with an open source hardware kit from Adafruit and a bit of soldering skill, you can make your own TV-B-Gone.
The kit comes with everything but the tools and the batteries, and is supposedly a “very simple kit and great for people who have never soldered anything before.”
[Adafruit - TV-B-Gone Kit]
[TV-B-Gone]
[Via: MAKE: Blog]
