The Man Who Loved
::Sigh:: you’re all going to know what I look like now*…
In June of 2007, coworker and good friend of mine, one Mr. Tom Russell, approached me with an opportunity to act in he and his wife’s newest film. (more…)
A Warning and a Plea
This is NOT actually my hard drive*
Well, dear friends, it seems as though I have fallen victim to an incurably failed hard-drive… (more…)
$25 Head-Mounted Display
So it’s 2007: shouldn’t there be more cyborgs? Well, for a mere $25.00 (or less), you can be one big step closer to being one yourself. How so, you ask? Click the following link to to find out! (more…)
The Torch of Saint Dismas
Warning: this one could be a bit upsetting
Imaginary:
“So,” she asked in her charming cockney accent, “this is what you’ve been working so mysteriously on all this time, is it?” The young gentleman to which she was speaking smiled in the affirmative and handed over the parcel, hastily wrapped in what was clearly the kitchen towels. He watched with pride and anticipation as his athletic, yet elegantly feminine wife drew the oddly-shaped gift from the linens in which it was lightly bound. As the wrappings fell gracefully to the hardwood floor, a look of gleeful disbelief spread across her alabaster countenance. With the eyes of a young girl just given a pony, she wildly looked up at her grinning husband and stammered “It…It’s some sort of…It’s…It’s a Hand of Glory, isn’t it?!?!” (more…)
The Bug: Steampunk Computer Mouse
The Telecalculograph finally has a suitable mouse!
Imaginary:
Though the eccentric Professor William C. Ravenscroft remains stingy on details of his “Telecalculograph“, he has recently allowed photography of the device with which its user controls it. These images, as well as speculation upon their contents follows:
SteamTV Part 1 — first looks at my newest project
My university’s chapter of the IEEE held a “Hacks/Mods/ Gadgets” contest a while ago, in which I entered the Telecalulograph and Vitorio-Nixie Tube. By sort of winning (there were only two other entries), I was awarded the chance to build the project of my choice–with them picking up the tab! I rather quickly realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to construct something that had been nibbling at the back of my mind for some time: a steam-powered Baird Televisor. While many people have built reproduction mechanical TVs, I am (to the best of my knowledge) the first to power it directly with a steam engine. I am beginning to see that there is good reason for this, but I am determined!
The project is in it’s infancy now (hence the “Part 1″), so there isn’t a whole lot to see yet. The physical framework and most of the basic components are built and functioning on their own, but the is an incredible amount of work to be done before the thing actually does anything interesting. I will be posting updates as I go along, so stay tuned! Photos and descriptions of what I have so far are after the jump:
Source for the Mysterious Pen Found!
This photo is sort of troubling. Who is this “Craig” that this small child is writing to? Where is he supposed to be taking her?
Possible kidnapping aside, the industrious Flickr member “Allwell.geo” has succeeded where I have failed: finding a source for the pen I used in the Victorio-Nixie Tube. It’s not quite as cheep as I’d like, but hey–better than nothin’, eh? Anyway, click on the above picture to be whisked away to said cyber-store.
Want something cheaper? Well, let me direct your attention to my most favorite catalog in the whole wide world: American Science and Surplus. Among their vast plethora of geekish goodies, they have this. It won’t be much good for an exact replica, but what fun would that be anyway?
Brass Tracks
Feel free to groan at the name 
Imaginary:
Slowly, powerfully, and with a certain indefinable confidence, the gleaming behemoth rolled towards the iron-clad fortress. 30 paces from the pitted wall, a great billow of steam burst forth and the elegant beast slowed to a halt. The unmistakable sound of massive, meshing cogs emanated from the monster’s head as the cannon lowered into place. A thunderous explosion rocked the ground and a barely visible blur shot out from the barrel. In an instant, a second blast was heard as the volatile capsule met its mark.
