It turns out the Mac OSX IDE comes free on Mac OS X install disks. “Interface Builder” and “XCode”.
I picked up a copy of the O’Reilly “Learning Cocoa with Objective-C” for$10 at Half-Price Books, and decided to see if there was any value in learning to make a Mac app. The book was written for 10.2, but still kind of works.
I haven’t decided to build or not to build anything yet. I just figure that if I can’t program a computer, I don’t really own it yet. I don’t have a project in mind.
Yet.
…and easy to make!
http://www.ponoko.com/
the concept is simple, and an example is demonstrated here:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/09/ponokos_new_photomake_ser.html
And here’s an example item that is for sale that I like:
http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/Chromatophobic/30mm-snowflake-x3-366
They brought you Diet Coke and Mentos and now…
http://www.edn.com/article/469869-Single_wire_keypad_interface_frees_microcontroller_I_O_pins.php
http://www.edn.com/article/CA46074.html
http://www.ecelab.com/circuit-metronome.htm
I was going through an old project notebook, and ran into the following entry:
“I’ve been trying to figure out how to build avoltage attenuator for a couple of years, and my current brain exercise is to make a circuit that will pop a servo motor to 180° until a touchswitch is hit, then pop it back to 0° and shut off.
sigh. I’ll get it.”
(I have a feeling this was some kind of automated scope lens cap, so I could do darks/flats remotely)
I wish I had better notes for this project…
http://www.discovercircuits.com/DJ-Circuits/onoffwtimeout.htm
