Just received the Portable Powermat wireless charging, capable of charging three devices wirelessly and one through the USB connection. This portable version upon first glance is nowhere near as sexy as it’s desktop version. However, my opinion changed when I saw how small it could be folded up. The portable version is made up of 3 sections that are hinged and fold on-top of each other. Even when the mat is folded up it allows for a single device to be charged. In the folded state it takes up no more than a 4″ x 4‚” square, that is about an inch in height.

At first glance when I opened the box it was a bit overwhelming the number of piece that were included, however within two minutes everything was sorted and I was immediately charging my iPod Touch and also thinking of the dozens of other uses. The Powermat Portable is fine for charging one device, but it really shines when you have all three pads charging, since the number of required cables for power has been reduced to a single power outlet.

Nice features include are the two buttons that turn off the charging lights (perfect if you plan to use this in the bedroom) and a button that changes the volume level of the sound that plays when a devices is placed on or removed from the Powermat.

My first test of the Powermat was to place my iPod Touch, PSP and a friends Blackberry on the charging pads. It was amazing to see so many devices together and to not have all the extra cables hanging off the desk. Not to mention trying to find the power octopus so that I would be able to plug in all three devices at once.

In all I think my wife was the happiest to have the Powermat, in our house she is the cable nazi, and is always trying to find ways to reduce the number of cables. She smiled slyly as she watch me carry away all the obsolete power bricks to their new home in storage.

Be sure to sign up for the giveaway, two winners will be selected on September 10th, one for the mobile charging station and one for the mobile charging station. Only one entry per person – North American entries only (please).

Watch this :

You need a basic LAMP stack and “mp3info” – should be available in your repo’s.

This is totally open – if anyone wants to help out with development leave a comment or send me a message.

The goal is to stream remote media over the web with an intuitive web interface.

Installation :

apt-get install mp3info

cd /var/www

wget https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/cimediaplayer/Media.tar.gz?r=https%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fcimediaplayer%2Ffiles%2F&ts=1282412797&mirror=master

tar -zxvf Media.tar.gz

Add an Apache virtual host.

create a database : mysqladmin -u root -p create media

edit application/config/database.php using your database creds.

That should be about it – I know these instructions are lazy but it is Saturday… Leave comments if you need help.

So the company upstairs had a bunch of cool looking computer junk in their doorway so I decided to pay them a visit and see if they were getting rid of any of it.  They happened to have about 15 of these 8 year old 1U servers that caught my eye so I bought a few for $40 a piece.  The boxes work great with a P4@2.4Ghz/1.5GB and stay nice and cool – not to mention look really bad-ass when stacked up.

So when I was checking Ebay to see what others were selling these for I found this hilarious dude trying to sell one for $800.  Pay close attention to the title / images, it really gave us a good laugh at the office.

Check out the mirrored ad-FAIL here.

I kinda feel like a jerk for hi-jacking this call but it really was a lot of fun and I think (hope) everyone enjoyed it.  I’d like to thank Randy (Zeeek) for letting me share my experience setting up our new Asterisk box at work.

Download the call here, check out the post here.

Listen to the VUC every Friday at noon here and be sure to take part in IRC on FreeNode at #vuc.

I made these frequently as a young boy, they are easy to make, parts are very cheap (if not free) and you can spend hours tweaking it!

What you need :

• About 1M (3′) Thin gauge enamel copper wire – thick enough that about three inches could support the weight of a pencil.
• Small magnet – many fridge magnets will do.
• 1xAA Battery (1.5v)
• Push pins or small finishing nails.
• Small square block of softwood (about 12 cm wide will do).
• 3cm (1.5″) diameter cylindrical object (large magic marker or C cell battery is about the right diameter.)

The Build :

Begin wrapping the copper wire around the cylindrical object 10 to 20 times leaving about 10cm (3-4″) free on each end- this will be used for the armature.  Wrap the wire a few times within the coil itself to keep the arms in place – you want to make sure they are exactly 180 degrees from each other and centered as they will be supporting the weight of the coil.  Strip the enamel off the arms  using some scissors or something sharp – they need to be totally free of enamel.

Cut two additional 10cm long pieces of wire and strip the enamel off completely – these will be the brushes and will support the armature / coil.  Now wrap each one a few times around each push pin and insert into the softwood block.  Create a small loop at the top of each brush for the armature to slide into.  Consult the (shaky) video if my writing doesn’t make any sense.

Attach the battery to each push pin with wires – it is really handy if you can find a battery chassis with the wires already attached.

I will take some steadier photos and maybe draw up a diagram if anyone wants further instruction.  All of the parts above I found at my favourite store Active Surplus for less than three dollars.  Enjoy your super fun DIY motors and feel free to submit your masterpieces – I will post them in a new article.