Archive for March, 2009

DIY built-in pop-up flash diffuser

There no need to buy a pop-up flash diffuser because there is a simple guide which you can do it yourself. You may ask why do we need a pop-up flash diffuser for? The reason is that the build in flash is so small, it is a very hard light source and it can not be bounced.

Do it yourself pic 1

As you can see from the picture above it is very easy. What you need is just a wire hanger and a vacuum bag(use for the diffusing material). Follow the two picture below to shape your wire hanger. Dun worry it just take trial and error to get it right.

Do it yourself pic 1

Do it yourself pic 3

One thing to take note while you bend the wire, try to bend the wire along the side of the flash hot shoe. Because the wire’s plastic coat will eventually come
off, you do not want to short-circuit the pins on the hot shoe base.

Source from diyphotography

Make your own Wi Fi Range Extender

Most of the people who use Wi Fi at home will experience slow connection before, this can be due to the signal being block by a wall or you are staying in a mutli storey house. A lot people will choose to buy range extender which can cost you like 50+ bucks. In fact a lot of range extender are mainly just large antenna or long antenna which you could build yourself. I have found a simple and easy DIY to build a range extender.  This guide is from instructables. This Simple idea requires no modifications to a USB WIFI adaptor or your computer. You need only a few parts for this project and they all are pretty cheap.

Step 1 – Gather the items you need:

1 – Metal Strainer/Steamer
1 – USB WIFI Adaptor
1 – USB Extension Cable (I chose a 10ft long)
½” Drill Bit (I like to use stepper bits for metal)
Gorilla Glue (Epoxy works well too)
2 – Zip Ties

DIY pic 1

Step 2 -Drilling the Strainer/Steamer

Before you start drilling you have to remove the Center Post only apply to those people who steamer has one and drill a 1/2″ hole so that it fit just nicely for usb extention.

DIY pic 2

Step 3 – Glue and Zip-Ties

Insert the Female end of the USB extention into the hole you have just drilled. Then just apply the glue/epoxy and let it sit for 24 hours. This Creates a strong bond between the plastic and metal. Then used some tape to help hold the connecter in place while the glue cured. Be sure to apply glue to both sides of the connecter. Once thats dry the next day, zip tie 2 of the metal “ears” so they wont fold in on themselves when you use it.

DIY pic 3

Step 4 Finish it up and optional tripod mount

Finally plug the USB WIFI adaptor into the socket on the steamer and plug the other end into your computer. Test your new boosted signal strength and improved distance. by using Netstumber or Kismet.

Tripod mount is not a must but if you interested just pick hole near the edge of the steamer and use the drill bit i mention earlier on to enlarge the hole. Lastly just put the bolt from the tripod trough the hole and secure with the nut.

DIY pic 4

150Mbps WIFI USB WIRELESS LAN ADAPTER 802.11 B/G/N

DIY pic 5

Source: instructables

Finger drive

Finger drive

We have use before thumbdrive but i am sure we all have never use finger drive before. A computer programmer who lost a finger in a motorbike crash has replaced it with a USB drive. Jerry Jalava built a prosthetic finger, left, which contains a 2GB memory stick for storing photos, films and other files. Mr Jalava peels back the prosthetic from its “nail” to show the flash drive. He said: “It is not attached permanently to my body so when I’m using the USB I just leave my finger inside the slot and pick it up when I’ve finished.” The idea came to him when surgeons joked about a “finger drive” after his accident. Jalava is also planning for a second generation of finger drive this time round he wish to increase the storage capacity and to include RFID tag in it.

Source: timesonline

iPhone 3.0 New feature

When iPhone was launch it was very disappointed that they do not support bluetooth. Finally in their this latest firmware they have included bluetooth support which will allow application communication over bluetooth or through the dock connector using standard or custom protocols.

10:20AM – Apps talk to accessories via the dock connector and via Bluetooth. Supports standard protocols (playing music, album artwork, etc.) and you can build custom protocols.

“With iPhone 3.0 we’re going to take this to the next level: we’re going to enable devs to build custom accessories that talk right to the iPhone.” This is exactly what people have been wanting. “You can give the iPhone an equalizer to a speaker system. Here’s another example: FM transmitter, which would find the optimal broadcast channel and play your music. Here’s another class we think will be interesting: medical devices.”

There are a lot of new feature in iphone 3.0 but i cover only some interesting feature. For full coverage you check it out at gizmodo.

Copy and paste text – When you double-tap over text, you will get a “cut, copy, and paste” bubble dialog. Double-tap again and a “paste” bubble will appear if there’s anything stored in your clipboard.

New Spotlight - iPhone OS will allow you to search across the entire information contained in your device, no matter where, as soon as the information is supported it. If an application is written to support the new Spotlight, its data will also be available in the search.

iPhone 3.0 spotlight

Landscape keyboard - Apple has added the landscape keyboard mode to other applications, like Mail, SMS, and Notes.

iPhone 3.0 landscape keyboard

Multimedia messaging - A big one to send rich content to people without mail-enabled telephones: The new MMS function will allow you to include everything, from images to sound to vcards (no word on video, however.) Personally, I find these usesless having email, but some people seem to want it.

Turn-by-turn directions - Developers will also be able to create turn-by-turn applications using the GPS information from the iPhone and combining it with their own maps, without depending on 3G connectivity or Google.

iPhone 3.0 turn by turn

Push notification finally coming - Hopefully this time it will be true. Push notification means that your iPhone OS 3.0 applications will finally be able to receive messages from the intarwebs automagically, so you can have an Instant Message application and have your iPhone vibrate or make a sound when a new message comes in, even if the application is not running.

iPhone 3.0 push notification

Source: gizmodo

DIY your own lens hood with custom shape

With this simple DIY lens hood you will be able to create a shape of your choice on a blur image. What you need is a 50mm F1.8 lens. Best is to have the new Nikon 50mm F1.4 cause the largest the aperture the resulting effect will be better.

First get a sheet of contruction paper. Shape it to the size of the lens then at the middle cut out a shape you like.

DIY Lens hood

Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control for Nikon D40, D40x, D60, D80 & D90 Digital SLR Cameras

Secondly once you have completely attach it to the lens, it is now ready to set your camera aperture to the lowest value (mean largest aperture opening).

Lastly just take a few shot and try to shoot at different angle.

Some sample shots:

Sample shot 1

Sample shot 2

Source: diyphotography