Todays & Tomorrows Technology

A regular complaint over at Instructables is that not everybody can afford their own laser cutting rig. If DK Ahn has his way, however, precision cutting – of at least paper, wood and polypropylene under 2mm thick – would be available to the mainstream, thanks to his MOW microfactory.
The MOW is a tabletop cutting machine, that sits on a desktop and moves itself via four tethered anchors. Patterns would be downloaded and beamed over to the MOW via Bluetooth, which would then shuttle around slicing through the plastic or whatever material it was dealing with.

While the glossy device in the image above is merely a concept render, DK did put together a working prototype. Made from bits of remote-controlled cars, plotters and other recovered gadgets, you can see the prototype in action in the video below; if you want to skip to the action, start watching from around 8:35.

You’ll need more than a passing familiarity with the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to spot the mod here, so we’ll give you a hefty hint: it’s the fingerprint reader in the right-hand side of the palm-rest. MyDellMini forum member Rich decided he wanted biometric login functionality in his netbook, so inserted the guts of an Eikon fingerprint reader into the Mini 9.

To do so he also had to squeeze a USB hub inside, so as not to lose one of the Inspiron Mini 9’s external ports. After some careful measurements, he cut a narrow slot into the palm-rest, and then gave it a suitably beveled edge to allow contact between finger and sensor.

Considering you can pick up the Eikon for under $40 through Amazon Marketplace, this doesn’t have to be an expensive mod, either. Next step for the Mini 9 – which as you can see is already running Mac OS X – is an internal GPS receiver.

This enthusiastic man is holding what could, with a little more R&D and a big marketing budget, be the next big peripheral in first-person shooters. The handiwork of “The Redneck Techie“, the Game Gun is a modified keyboard, stuffed into a gun peripheral, with motion-sensitive tracking and an LCD display mounted on top.


That means you can look around and move through the game by twisting the gun around, seeing exactly what’s happening on the integrated display. A Gyration motion-sensitive mouse is used to track movement, and the latest prototype is wireless thanks to a tethered battery pack.

The next prototype, meanwhile, promises to be even more impressive. Rather than use the compact LCD display, three pico-projectors will be mounted on the end of the gun, allowing for a super-widescreen picture on your nearest wall. Best of all, since this is all built with off-the-shelf parts, there are no game-specific drivers needed; any FPS will happily play with the Game Gun.

It may not put the fear of the Empire into any nearby planets, but steaks and chicken thighs should begin quivering at Bryan Tate’s custom Death Star grill. Currently up for auction on eBay, the grill has a vent built into the weapon-dish and a neat little Imperial Cruiser handle.

Bryan took two Weber grills, painting the inside with Krylon barbecue paint for heat-resistance and the outside with grey engine enamel. The vent on the top opens up and was custom-made, plus there’s a second vent underneath.

The auction ends on June 14th, and as of writing is just over $100 (having not met the reserve). Be warned, though, shipping the grill is going to add significantly to that: after all, it’s 36lbs in weight.