[Keith Baxter] has undertaken something of a ‘Mount Everest’ of guitar modifications. He’s developing a Servoelectric guitar that trades frets for a keypad. It is still a guitar in the sense that it has a body, strings, and pickups to sense the strings vibrations and pass them to an amplifier. The left hand, which traditionally would shorten the strings as needed by pressing them against a fret, now changes string pitch using a keypad. This is an interesting fusion between traditional guitar and 80’s phenomenon, the keytar.

Each string is connected to a different servo motor. When a key on the keypad is pressed, the corresponding servo adjusts the tension of that string, bringing it in tune at the new pitch. His original design involved a lot of custom circuitry but he’s evolved the project to include an Arduino controller. This second generation both simplifies the control circuitry and improves upon it.

We’ve embedded some video after the break. In the first example you can see the strings adjusting for each new pitch. In the second, take a look behind the guitarist… what do you think he’s got planned for those giant capacitors?

One day computers will exist in every part of our lives. You’ll be standing in the shower, lathering up  when Chantal, your holographic computer controlled AI partner, informs you in a cool voice you have a new email. How splendid, it must be the office letting you know there is no work today! “Anything else?” You ask; “Negative” her electronically synthesized voice responds.

Over at TINYenormous they’ve made this dream come true – minus the holographic computer controlled AI partner bit. Rather its simply a physical email notification system consisting of an LED and Arduino with some python code. We like the concept but prefer our Google Desktop with Gmail setup instead. Perhaps by using a small wireless server and rechargeable batteries, it could make a great dinner table centerpiece notifying you of the latest email. How simple, or how complicated would you make a setup?

[Thanks Madmaze]

[Update]

Dan made a wireless version from XBee modules and includes an LCD.

J4mie is the original inspiration for the project.

Have your own notification system? Tell us in the comments, And we’ll place it here!

[Andrew] built a light box for an exhibition last year that displayed different colors statically. After showing it off, it went unchanged but future improvements remained in the back of his mind. Recently, he pulled it out again and hacked together a controller to drive the colors individually.

He’s actually reusing some of the hardware he built for a different project. At its core is a PIC 16F628 that actuates the lights using relays. In this case, only four of the eight on the board are used to control red, white, blue, and green cold cathode tubes. The video after the break shows the device randomly rotating through different patterns. This is a nice start to making the piece more interactive and we can image adding web-controlled color changes, or perhaps some Daft Punk inspired functionality.

It’s not a bazooka, but this altered instrument makes it look like the player is toking off of some type of weapon. [Kyle] wanted to take the already mysterious sounds produced by a didgeridoo then capture and alter them electronically.

The physical build of this project is nothing short of beautiful. He’s mounted several curved control boards to the outside of the instrument. The controls feature six push buttons, five toggle switches, and six potentiometers that interface with an Arduino. The sound is picked up by the device then sent along with the switch settings to a computer via Bluetooth. The computer then works its magic to create the wicked audio effects heard in the video after the break.

His article, linked above, includes several diagrams detailing the synthesis process. They’re a little beyond our understanding but if you know what’s going on, please share your insight in the comments.

We’ve all seen them, envied them:  They are the Cubicles of Unfathomable Awesomeness, beacons of style in the soulless sea of the modern workplace.  Is your cubicle unfathomably awesome?  Look for these tell-tale signs:

• Multiple pages from the Cute Overload Page-A-Day Calendar, the only calendar specially formulated to melt away those stressful brain cells.
• The almost-nearly-completely-as-cool calendar for the ASPCA!
• Pen. (Pens rock!)
• Telephone with more buttons than the Millennium Falcon.
• Web browser open to Google Analytics, bringing instant karmic enlightenment to statistics junkies.

And the crowning touch, the crème de la cool…

• Puppy in your in-box!

Cool pup + cool job = cool you, Ayumi S.

“So-called ‘puppydog eyes don’t exist!” you say. “PROVE IT” you say. “Prove it with photography from various Sender-Inners!”

OK then. Here goes:

CASE CLOSED!

Maverick the Anatolian Shepherd Dog by Kristin S. Black and white pup eyes look up by Amanda M. Irish Setter pupples by Paige P. Snow puppydog eyes by Amanda G. Bailey M. sent us puppy Stuart’s eyes. “Higgs Waking Up” is the work of Aurélia M. Jack the Pup is by Phoebe E., and finally, Gavin the Bernese Mountain Dog Puppulence is by Corliss. Final pup added last minute: Beagle mix by Martha P.

Starting a new robotics project and want to find the perfect servo for the job? It can be a real pain in butt sometimes. This is where ServoDatabase.com comes in. They’re compiling specifications and reviews on servos. We love seeing these databases pop up. Remember the online chip reference? You simply can not have too much reference material.

[via makezine]

Sometimes, truth is funnier than fiction, so here’s sender-inner Kimberley H.:

This is little baby Rufi, our four-month-old chihuahua. He loves a bit of warmth, so when Nick my boyfriend called me from the bathroom to “show me something cute” I was initially a bit unsure… then lo and behold what do I see but Rufi nestled in the warm underwear nook!

Ew!

Ever sat down from a long day of hacking and thought to yourself  “I wish there was a cool video game out there made just for me. Better yet, made by me!” Today is your lucky day with the release of UDK – Unreal Development Kit.

In days of old, the only solution to satisfying your game creation desires was a cheap game making kit, or adding to the millions of Source mods. Epic has changed tables by now allowing anyone to use their engine (non-commercially of course) to create the game of their dreams; who knows, maybe even the next Unreal Tournament.

UDK is currently limited to PC, but plans are in the process for PS3 and Xbox360 development. For those who cant wait, we suggest checking out XNA. Whatever tools you use, ever made a cool game? Tell us in the comments!

[Thanks Kinigit]

While browsing the web for new and interesting hacks to show you guys, we run across all kinds of interesting stuff. Often, we would love to share them with you, and get your thoughts, but they just simply don’t have enough information or aren’t hacks at all. This is where HackaDay Links come in. Occasionally we’ll gather up some interesting stuff and post it all at once. These probably won’t be hacks, so if you’re not into seeing other interesting stuff, just wait for the next post.

We used to do these posts from time to time, and we’ve decided to start again. Without further adieu, here are the links:

1.Medgadget has a pretty cool crutch system which uses your upper leg for support instead of your arm. Seems like a better way of building support for digitigrade legs to us.

2.VR pods sure are looking funny now days. Seems like you could do this on your own pretty easy with some simple dome projection.

3.We were unaware of The Gadget Show, till we saw this post on DVICE. For those that don’t want to sit through it all, they do two projects. One is a wearable computer jacket with a projector built into the sleeve, the other is a set of iPod controls built into some horribly gaudy high heels. We shouldn’t judge the fashion though, they probably know fashion better than us.

4.These massive robotic arms have been all over the net for the past few weeks. The video is sort of neat, with cool cgi effects, but all he does is wave them around somewhat lethargically. We do hope to see something more soon.

5.Princess Leia, sunbathing. We had to share. Thank us later.

6.You could win [Ben Heck]’s PS3 laptop. Unfortunately you have to spend a bunch of money at the score. Just in case you’re curious, they value it at $7500

Will the world eventually sour from too much cuteness? This just in: Jim Windolf’s article “Addicted to Cute” just hit the magazine racks! It’s all about America’s love affair with Robert Pattinson all things cute. We got like, a quote in there! About squealing! [Head tilt eyes crossed]

Check it out…

The whole human-rights problem was upsetting enough, but now the People’s Republic of China has crossed the Rubicon and gone too far! From sender-inner Kristina D. comes this startling news (emphasis ours):

We were recently traveling in China and Tibet – were you aware that Cute Overload is blocked there?! It’s understandable though, outrageous cuteness threatens social stability, which is their greatest fear… We thought we would surely perish from CO withdrawal! But luckily there was plenty of cute Tibetan pooch action in Lhasa to keep us going.

How dare they block Teh Qte! This outrage can be met with nothing less than… The Glorious People’s Tongue-Hance of Democracy! PTHTFHTFTHPTT!

After extensive research, Dell gambled on their focus groups’ request for “something softer to the touch” and lost.

Triple click, Maria F.

…Because you’ve seen Hilda’s ears, right? It’s like two furry Venus Flytraps just sprouted out of  her head – oh, poo! Sweetie, did I not mention that I needed a French manicure today –anyway, I mean, Hilda has a cute face…it it weren’t for those pipe cleaners she calls whiskers. It’s like, ‘What, did a 5-year-old invent you?’

By the way, how do my brows look? It’s like the one thing Hilda does right, you know?

Um, no. I did not ask for two “creepy cocoons” to be placed above my eyes. Where is Hilda. I need to speak with her.

You could just use Chunk’s whiskers as Q-Tips, Deidra L.

[Ellindsey000] posted this neat little pendant to his flickr stream. We like the way it looks, and the fact that it is a functional circuit. The schematic is even pretty neat. We would maybe wear this, as a belt buckle or something. When we looked at this though, we thought it looked really familiar. Yeah, it kind of looks like the arc reactor from Iron Man, but what we thought of was this cool looking walker. As you could probably already tell, it’s the same person. Great job again [Ellindsey000], and thanks for posting the schemtaic.

Ever annoyed by those pesky stickers on your fruit?  They never seem to pull off in one piece and they always leave a little glue behind. Well, the industry might be moving away from them in favor of laser etching each piece of fruit. They are using a low energy carbon dioxide laser to etch the skin. The FDA is in the final stages of approval for using this in the states. It is already in use in New Zealand. We might find this a bit weird, but we’ve seen weirder.

[via slashdot]

“… and I really must say how nice it is to meet such a good listener, someone I can open up to and really express myself, because in this day and age, the art of conversation is on its last legs, what with texting and e-mail and all the distractions of modern life, I mean nobody really sets aside the time anymore for a good, old-fashioned chat, in fact I was just telling someone other day…”

Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek-aboo, Steve E.!

We’ve featured several different ways to roast coffee beans over the years. This is the next logical step. [Nightlife31] shows us how to use an Arduino and a popcorn popper to create a fully automated coffee bean roaster.  You’ll have to modify your popcorn machine to be controllable. This means installing your temp sensor and relays. You can see a basic schematic for that in the project page. The rest involves making a fairly simple circuit on an Arduino protoboard attachment. The end result is quite nice. We wouldn’t mind waking up to some freshly roasted coffee beans in the morning. We’ve seen these done with PID controls,  and directly controlled by a computer. There’s even this one that has a much more involved build with a convection oven mounted on top instead of a popcorn popper.

Golly, I suppose we did sneak up on you under the covers, didn’t we?  Frightfully sorry about that, old bean.  Anyway, once you’ve finished clutching your chest, would you mind getting us our breakfast?  Thanks ever so.

N-no m-m-more c-coffee for m-me, Christopher A.

We’re pretty sure Apple decided to implement an IR sensor in their Mac Mini line simply to mock the user. For those who are unaware, the built in sensor only works with the standard Apple Remote; unless you happen to have a programmable PDA or similar you’re SOL. An alternative solution would be to install a USB IR receiver. But then your beautiful Mac Mini is forced to sit alongside an ugly black box. Why not have the best of both worlds? [SqueeZe] wrote an (almost) entirely non invasive tutorial for placing a USB IR receiver inside his Mac Mini. Reminds us of a certain hack a while back, but the objective was to get the IR receiver outside of the unit rather than inside. Different people, different worlds.

[Thanks Kiran]

What a weird dream!  I was running and running, but never getting anywhere.  Then this giant hand pushed me around on my back, and it felt so good I started doing it by myself.  And it kept happening over and over, like some kind of endless loop…

Note: Web site address displayed in some images contains NSFW material.

Update: See more of the kitty at top right here.

Through the years, our reader base has grown like we never could have imagined. We thank everyone for reading, and owe our gratitude to all  who have sent in submissions. We live for them. The more high quality submissions you send in, the more we’ll post.   Along with you, we’ve taken part in some really great projects and enjoyed the writing of some really great people.

Now it is time to share our plans for the future with you. We have two announcements that we would like to get your thoughts on.

#1. Content:

Hack a Day first started as an offshoot of Engadget. It was a place where we were able to look at things from a hacker perspective. Contrary to what some people believe, it wasn’t all hardcore electronic engineering. It wasn’t even all projects.  We had fun, and discussed our thoughts on many things that weren’t that complicated.

As we move forward, we will be covering a wide variety of posts. From simple things, like teardowns to the amazingly complex projects that inspire us all. We intend to get you original content from the perspective of people who are not just consumers, but hackers of all different skill levels.

We are working to make it easier to browse the site, with your specific interests in mind. Our first motion was to add the “Classic Hacks” category which gathers up the more complicated projects.  We’re open to other ideas of how to best categorize the content to make your experience better.

#2. Social Interaction:

Since the beginning of Hack a Day, we have been inundated with questions and requests. People are asking for help on existing projects as well as trying to break into the complexities that can lay in front of a beginner. We’ve seen unofficial Hack a Day forums come and go, but we think it is time that we did something ourselves.  We’ve been working behind the scenes on a really slick system which allows people to ask questions, get answers, and even rate and give feedback.You will hopefully see this appear in a matter of weeks as we finish up the last bits.

We look forward to seeing some of you shine, sharing your knowledge with the hacker community.

Oh yes, darling (click, click), lie back now (click, click, click)… now lift your head (click, click), give us a pouty look (click, click)… perfect, darling (click, click)…

Now look at the horizon (click), imagine a studly Weimaraner (click, click), stepping from the pool (click, click)… That’s super, love, let us feel it (click, click, click)…

All right, darling (click, click), give us a smile (click, click, click)… Arch your back a bit more (click, click)… Smashing, love, hold that pose (click, click, click, click)…

We’re having issues with that swimsuit, Rocket T.

Warning: This video contains actual footage of a severed dog head, kept alive. Watch at your own peril.

[Annalee] over at io9.com has gathered together the 25 scariest science experiments.  There are some truly frightening pieces, like the cyborg beetles which we’ve seen before, all the way to silly stuff like the guy who re grew his thumb using pig powder. Next time you’re thinking of admonishing someone for creating a flamethrower, or a super fast scooter, consider for a moment that they’re not burning peoples nasal passages to stop masturbation or creating zombie severed dog heads like the one in the video above.

Hey ladies and gentlemen glad ya could make it how’s everybody doin’ tonight that’s great ok this next act is the funniest comic working the dogmouth circuit today you’re gonna love him put your hands together for Rocky Boffo let’s hear it…

Good evening hey it’s great to be here so I tell my psychiatrist I think I’m a deck of cards he says I’ll deal with you later and my girlfriend’s a one-legged waitress yeah she works at ihop but seriously folks what’s the deal with these airline peanuts…

Is that a pinball machine part in picture one, Natalie F.?  (And am I a geek for knowing that?) (Update: It’s a finger puppet.  Thanks to various commenters for the info.)

[Pyrofer] sent in his stereoscopic game project and we are just giddy with excitement. He has hacked apart an old TomyTronic 3D handheld viewer and put new guts in. He’s using a PIC micro to push stereoscopic imagery to twin LCDs. He wrote all code from scratch including the 3d library, wii nunchuck driver, and LCD driver. This thing even has bluetooth so he can play multiplayer if he ever makes a second one. The whole unit is kept alive via a lithium polymer battery so you don’t have to worry about any cords other than the wii nunchuck.  This thing is awesome, we would love to play with one. You can see a video after the break.

[Steve] shows us his version of the knock detecting lock system. The idea is pretty simple, knock in a certain pattern and the door unlocks. We’ve seen it before several times. This solution is somewhat cleaner than the others, not only in physical design, but also in how you reprogram it. Simply push the reprogram button and enter your new knock. We’re a bit surprised that the suction cups actually hold it on the door. Maybe it’s just us, but we can never seem to get those things to hold very well. There are lots of great pictures as well as the source code available on his site.

[via HacknMod]

Friends, pilgrims, send us your hacks. Most especially, your Thanksgiving hacks. We had a wonderful time over the past six weeks collecting and highlighting your Halloween props and now it’s on to the next holiday. Did you build your own deep fried turkey rig with some special features? How about that pie making robot you built for last year’s celebration?  Can’t live without your twittering cornucopia? Document it and send it to our tip line! All Thanksgiving themed hacks will be considered but only the well documented and creative entries will be featured.

If you just joined us, here’s a roundup of the Halloween Props we encountered this year:

• Halloween props: Techy Jack-o-lanterns
• Halloween props: Servo eyes
• Halloween prop: glowing spooky eyes
• Shift powered pumpkins
• Animatronic winged demon terrorizes local garage
• A modular Halloween with grid beam
• Scare ‘em silly with a moving pumpkin
• Halloween prop: Bigmouth billy bass
• Halloween props: Low cost popup
• Quoth the Raven: hack some more
• Halloween prop: portable black light
• Halloween props: DMX controlled skeleton
• Halloween prop: the ground-breaker
• Piecax the Poltergeist reinvents the Knock Block
• Halloween props: Alien Costume
• Halloween Props: Pie of Sauron
• Halloween props: Skeleton springs from coffin
• Halloween prop: DIY fog machine
• Halloween props: flying crank ghost

disclaimer: boiling oil is dangerous, that’s why it used to be used for torture. Always consider your own safety!

[Turkey photo source]

Fiesta Deck or Promenade Deck!? Fiesta Deck or Promenade Deck!? Fiesta Deck or Promenade Deck!? Fiesta Deck or Promenade Deck!? [Alternating feets touching ground] I don’t see your name on my clipboard! I don’t see your name on my clipboard! I don’t see your name on my clipboard!

I need a drink. IIIISAAAC!!! (Thanks to Lilly W.)