Intercom Personal Assistant Hack Turns the Raspberry Pi into a Secretary

Instructables member janw uses an old Televox intercom to call his assistant. But here’s the thing: the intercom is his assistant. He calls her Raspberri, and she’s just a few rads shy of being a Fallout character.

Janw took great pains to preserve the exterior of the intercom and the way that it’s activated. That means that he simply presses the button to “call” Raspberri and speak his command, after which she should respond as if she was on the other end of the line.

Janw used a DPDT switch to rig the intercom’s speaker to a sound card, which in turn is connected to a Raspberry Pi. A USB Wi-Fi adapter allows the computer to go online to search for information. Then he installed Steven Hickson’s voice command software and wrote Python scripts to tell Raspberri how to respond if needed.

Tell your browser to cancel all your meetings and head to Instructables for more on Janw’s hack.

[via Hack A Day]

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3D Printer Turned into Air Hockey Robot: It Prints, It Scores!

A few years ago we found out about mighty Roombas moonlighting as sumo wrestlers. Jose Julio’s RepRap 3D printer also has a sporting spirit. The robotics enthusiast unlocked his gadget’s potential and turned it into an air hockey player.

The robot has three motors: two for moving its mallet across the y-axis and one for movement along the x-axis. Jose Julio wrote the drivers for the motors in Arduino. He then color-coded the mallet and the puck, installed a PlayStation Eye camera and wrote a program in C to make his robot see. Finally he wrote another Arduino program that predicts where the puck will go so that its motors can react appropriately.

Another neat thing about Jose Julio’s setup is that the table uses two old PC fans to create a cushion for the puck to slide on.

Jose Julio knows that his robot still needs a lot of practice – and programming – before it’s ready for primetime. For instance, it doesn’t know where the goal is, though as you saw in the video it can already score even without that handicap. But Jose Julio says he can easily imagine RepRap enthusiasts making air hockey robots of their own, improving and refining its programming so that robots could have different difficulty levels and even different strategies.

Insert a token in your browser and head to Jose Julio’s blog for more on his project.

[via The Next Web]

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DARPA Giving out Money to Develop Electronics That Kill Themselves on Command

About a year ago, we mentioned that DARPA was working on a plan to develop electronics that would destroy themselves on command. The idea was to get devices that soldiers could take into battle that could be destroyed if lost or left behind. I have a hard time keeping up with my smartphone in the house, I can only imagine how easy it would be to lose one when someone is shooting at you.

DARPA has now started giving out millions of dollars to companies to develop these electronics. DARPA gave $2.1 million to PARC to develop a program called DUST. That program involves electronics with dummy circuits that can dissolve into sand-like particles with an electrical trigger.

IBM was also given $3.5 million to develop strained glass substrates that can explode when triggered. That would result in CMOS sensors in electronics that can be destroyed using radio signals. Another firm has been given $4.7 million to develop a battery that can self-destruct. The goal is to leave the devices non-usable and any information on them non-retrievable if the device is lost.

[via Motherboard]

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Marty McFly’s Outfit – In T-Shirt Form

You want to look like McFly don’t you? *knock knock* Hello McFly?!? Anybody home? Up until now, if you wanted to dress like Marty, at bare minimum you needed to at least buy an orange hunting vest. Fans of the Back To The Future movies can now dress just like Marty McFly with this t-shirt.

This awesome Back to the Future shirt is available on Amazon for about $30(USD). You get the maroon t-shirt, blue plaid button-up shirt, jean jacket, and orange vest, all in one shirt. Sweet! Marty was layered up real good and ready for the coldest weather.

It’s great for Halloween or just everyday geek wear. Just don’t forget your skateboard. Or your crazy old Doctor friend.

[via Geekologie]

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Tech Deals of the Day: Friday, 2/7/2014

Our friends at TechBargains.com compile a list of daily deals to help you save money. Keep in mind that as with any good deal, products are limited in quantity and can sell out quickly – so don’t hesitate to check them out now.

If you’re looking to buy a product from a specific store, save money with updated and verified coupon codes here.

Computers & Peripherals:

• Manufacturer Refurbished Vizio CT14-A1 Intel Core i5-3317 Dual-Core Ivy Bridge 13.3″ Ultrabook Laptop w/ 1600×900 & 128GB SSD $479.99 plus free shipping (normally $699)


• Netis ST3105G Unmanaged 10/100/1000Mbps 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch $9.99 plus free shipping (normally $30 – use code: EMCPHPC53)


• 100-Pack Rosewill 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Blank Media Spindle $9.99 plus free shipping (normally $20 – use this form)

Home Entertainment:

• TWO (2) Foscam FI9821W 720p High Definition Pan/Tilt Wireless IP Cameras $194.99 plus free shipping (normally $300)


• Factory Reconditioned Onkyo TX-NR626 7.2ch 95W/ch Network Home Theater Receiver w/ 2 HDMI-Out, Built-in Wireless and Bluetooth, and Factory 1 Year Warranty $279.95 plus $5 shipping (normally $95)


• Vizio E320i-B1 32″ LED LCD HDTV + $50 Dell Gift Card $249.99 plus free shipping (normally $349)


• LG 60LA6200 60″ LED LCD HDTVd $999.99 plus $19.98 shipping (normally $1449 – use code: BKE116722)

Personal Electronics:

• Canon EOS Rebel T5i SLR Digital Camera w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM + 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens $657.59 plus free shipping (normally $220 – use code: VLLDC86VT4RR3$)


• OEM Packaged Beats by Dr. Dre Monster iBeats Urbeats Earbuds Headphones $49.99 plus free shipping (normally $120)


• 2nd Gen Asus Google Nexus 7 FHD 7″ 16GB Tablet $199.99 plus free shipping (normally $230)


• 230)

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Loki Helmet Replica: Hëdgard

We featured a horned Loki hoodie before, but if all you want is his huge helmet, Etsy shop Raptor with a Shotgun has what you need. Sadly, they don’t have a raptor with a shotgun.

The helmet is about 2 feet-tall and is made of fiberglass-reinforced liquid plastic casting resin. For practical reasons the shop made the horns out of hollow plastic, but you should still feel their heft when you put the helmet on.

If you’re planning on cosplaying as the god of lies and mischief, you can also get the rest of his armor from Raptor with a Shotgun. That includes his armguards, a shoulder piece and a chest piece.

The shop even has a replica of the muzzle that they put on Loki in The Avengers.

Trick your browser into taking you to Etsy to order these replicas. The helmet costs $450 (USD), while the whole armor set – excluding the muzzle – costs $680. You can also get the pieces separately.

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Shortcut-S Photoshop Keyboard: Optimus Primus

Art Lebedev’s Optimus keyboards are elegantly customizable, but they’re very expensive and may not have enough keys for your needs. If you’re an avid user of Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Premiere, AutoCAD and other programs that have a ton of commands, check out the Shortcut-S keyboard.

Shortcut is a large USB keyboard, measuring about 16″ long and 12″ wide, but at least it’s only 0.3″ thick. It has a total of 319 keys: 299 of the keys will be mapped to specific commands as determined by Shortcut-S Sistem-S – the company who developed the keyboard – while the remaining 20 keys will be yours to customize.

The keyboard’s overlay in the images above and in the video below is specifically for Photoshop, but Shortcut S Sistem promises that they will release more overlays and software profiles for other programs.

Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Shortcut-S keyboard as a reward. You can also find out more about the keyboard on Shortcut-S Sistem-S’ website

[via Gadgetify]

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Tech Deals of the Day: Thursday, 2/6/2014

Our friends at TechBargains.com compile a list of daily deals to help you save money. Keep in mind that as with any good deal, products are limited in quantity and can sell out quickly – so don’t hesitate to check them out now.

If you’re looking to buy a product from a specific store, save money with updated and verified coupon codes here.

Computers & Peripherals:

• Iogear GMP10K GearPower 11000mAh Mobile Power Station $24.99 plus free shipping (normally $50 – use this form)


• Two (2) Sony SF16UX/TQN 16GB SDHC Card (Class 10, UHS-1) $24.98 plus free shipping (normally $60)


• Asus VS247H-P 24″ LED LCD Monitor (1920×1080) $119.99 plus free shipping (normally $200 – use this form and code: EMCPHPD99)

Home Entertainment:

• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Game (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC) $29.99 plus free shipping (normally $60)


• Refurbished Roku 3 1080p High Definition Streaming Player + Remote w/ Built-In Headphone $69.95 plus free shipping (normally $95)


• LG 47LA6200 47in LED LCD HDTV(1080p/120Hz/3D) $599.99 plus $30 shipping (normally $899)

Personal Electronics:

• Dell Venue 8 Intel Atom Z2580 Dual-Core 16GB Andriod 8″ Tablet $129.99 plus free shipping (normally $220 – use code: VLLDC86VT4RR3$)


• Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 SGH-I497 16GB 10.1″ Tablet Wi-Fi + 4G (AT&T) $170.00 plus free shipping (normally $320 – use code: WINTER10)


• Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens $301.11 plus free shipping (normally $510)

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Star Wars Lightsaber Umbrellas: Saberellas?

If you have been reading Technabob for a while, you might recall back in 2012 when we mentioned some Star Wars lightsaber umbrellas that had surfaced. When these things first hit the market, they went for over $60 each, which is way too much money if you ask me. Our favorite seller of all things geeky, ThinkGeek, now has its hands on three versions of the Star Wars Lightsaber Umbrella, and they are much more affordable this time out.

ThinkGeek has the Darth Vader, Obi-wan, and Yoda versions of the lightsaber umbrella for $35.99(USD). That is money well spent to stay dry. The shaft of the umbrella is anodized in the correct color for the blade of the saber when you open it.

The Yoda version is green, Vader style is red, naturally, and the Obi-Wan version has a blue shaft. Each of the hilts is styled after the lightsabers used in the films. The umbrellas also have a silk-screened logo for the Jedi or Imperial forces and come with a shoulder holder.

These won’t protect you from ice storms on Hoth, but they might be good for those rainy days in the swamps of Dagobah.

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LEGO X-Men X-Mansion Concept: A Home for Gifted Minifigs

Minifigs are often hated and feared by humans because they are different. Also because it hurts when you step on them. True believer Glen Bricker wants to build a haven for these extraordinary toys with his proposal for an official LEGO X-Men X-Mansion, aka Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Glen’s proposal is for a four level mansion that folds out to reveal its rooms, which includes the famous Danger Room, Cerebro, Professor Xavier’s office, Beast’s laboratory and Storm’s attic garden.

Glen included 45 minifigs in his mockups to make the proposal more appealing, but he knows that the number of minifigs – if any – that will be included in the playset will be far fewer. He knows that LEGO and Marvel will have the final say, but if he had his way he’d include Prof. X, Beast, Shadowcat, Gambit and Mystique and maybe Storm and Cyclops as well. What did Wolverine ever do to you bub?

Team up with the Uncanny Browser and head to LEGO Cuusoo to vote for the proposal. Glen also suggests reaching out to Marvel – either through Facebook, Twitter or sending them an email at officex@marvel.com – to let them know about the proposal.

[via Glen Bricker via Super Punch]

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