Arduino project: Sous-vide cooker

OK, I do a lot of cooking, but I don't "get" sous-vide.  For some reason, boiling food for up to 72 hours just doesn't sound very appealing.  Yet, not only is sous-vide quite a rage, the food can be very tasty and tender.

So for this arduino project installment, we are going to take a look at creating a sous-vide cooker.

This project comes from instructable user Etienne Giust.  According to the information, "You'll be set for approx 40$, maybe even less. That's not counting the rice cooker.", when a quality, consumer grade sous-vide cooker can cost 10 to 20 times that amount.

Urban Farming (dot org)

Where does gardening stop and farming begin?

Well, Google defines gardening as, "the activity of tending and cultivating a garden, esp. as a pastime." and farming as, "the activity or business of growing crops and raising livestock".  I think that technically, most people would define gardening as strictly plants and effectively less than an acre of land used for the purpose.

Does it really matter?  Probably not, except that, in most urban centres, raising animals for meat is prohibited, and many urban, community gardens are not a business and are in spaces less than an acre.

But the name is certainly catchy, and definitely points to something that is much bigger than a single garden, on a small plot of land in an urban centre.

Open Source "socially connected machines"

There is certainly something to be said about social technology.

While there are certainly valid concerns about the world we live in and its "technology zombies", at the very least, this behaviour is driven by our deep, human need to be socially relevant.

While many people experience their world with their heads down, working with their technology such as laptops, tablets, and phones, some people are working on technologies that are helping us be more social, without actually suspending our relevant and direct contact with others.

In some sectors, this is called augmented reality.  We'll be discussing a different framework than the visual aspects that many are focused on, in this article.

Raspberry Pi Project: Media Panel

So, this Raspberry Pi Project article description should be easy enough to do for an intermediate maker with computer knowledge.  A beginner could do it with some effort to learn some electronics, or can make it easier if the hardware is changed up a bit.

I think its important to offer a reminder that, while a Raspberry Pi is not as powerful as a new computer, nevertheless it IS a fully capable computer.  With that in mind, what this project requires is easy enough for a Pi to handle.  If you compare what a Pi can do, based on age of a computer, it would be as capable a computer as something you would have used in the early 2000s, while being the size of a cell phone.

So with that knowledge, it really is easy enough to understand the scope of what can be done with a Raspberry Pi.  As this Raspberry Pi Project shows, a very versatile media panel can be made with a Raspberry Pi for well under $200.

Open Source Smart Thermostat

This is actually going to be a fairly short and sweet article.

On January 17, 2014, due to the announcement that Google had bought Nest (a company that was making eco friendly and net connected home controllers like thermostats), a blog entry was made at spark.io, describing how to make your own, Open Source Thermostat.

So we are going to take a closer look at it.  It isn't an easy project, and even might border on advanced, but never the less, it is something that a person can create themselves, with a little effort.

Local Motors: Rally Fighter

OK, a lot of people are calling the Rally Fighter an Open Source car.  That's an interesting claim, although by some measure, perhaps it is.

The company that builds it is called Local Motors, and the car design has been crowd sourced, so certainly, there is a measure of Open Source colaboration going on.

Yes, you can get the parts for the car and put one together for yourself, so the DIY aspect of Open Source is there.

And yes, you can make modifications to it, so the derivatives portion of Open Source is there.

But is it Open Source?  Let's take a closer look and see.

Arduino project: Garduino = Garden + Arduino (indoors)

This had to be the next Arduino project to highlight.  Given the coming garden season, yet still too early for many to get onto the garden or have their plants outdoors.

The image of this working Garduino may not show much as far as the arduino, but you can probably notice the wire coming from the left plant bucket and of course, notice that this is inside, on a window sill.

It is hard to tell if this Garduino instructable is the first of its kind, but the comments section shows this project was created at least four years ago.

If you are ready to start getting ready to garden and are still stuck indoors with your plants, manually taking care of them, then this instructable by liseman is probably for you.

Web site : Open Source Food - is it really?

Open Source Food web site has been around since 2008, the title graphic of this article is from a blog notification about the site.

Open Source Food's self description is:  "Amazing recipes.  Delicious Food. Beautiful Photography. Created and rated by you and fellow food-lovers from all over the world. Open Source Food is your gastronomic hub where every visit will bring inspiration and a rumbling belly..."

It hosts a large number of recipes which appear fantastic (I've yet to try any) that are submitted under Open Source / Creative Commons licenses.

For this article we will take a closer look at the site.

To patent or not to patent

To many, this isn't even a valid question.  If you have an idea that you think could make you a huge amount of money, of course you want to patent or otherwise protect your potential earnings.

If you speak with a lawyer, it is possible that what is explained to you is a fairly straightforward process.  Search to see if a patent exists for what you are solving, then file the necessary paperwork, and receive your patent.

And, it isn't terribly costly, and it is something that a person could do, themselves.  Just like registering a corporation.

So, why wouldn't someone patent their world changing solution?  It must be worth it.  Or is it, really?

Raspberry Pi project: New schooled, old skool radio

OK, this was just too cool of a project to not present for this instalment of the Raspberry Pi project articles.

Yes, this project is listed as a moderate difficulty and 3+ hours.  By the look of things, configuring it all probably won't take more than 1/2 an hour, but there is some need to get your hands dirty (depending on how long the old radio has been sitting).

Basically, this project takes an unused, "old" radio and makes it work again, with a Raspberry Pi.

Between the Pi and a few extra pieces, this project should come in under $100.  If you already have some of the stuff, then you could squeeze this for under $60.

Open (source) Communities

The original title of this article was simply Open Communities.  It seemed like a fairly straightforward title to describe any group of people that either work together on specific projects or share resources between the participants.  Not quite communal, but somewhat similar.

Oddly, that title is the name of an organization that is specifically focused on "fair housing prices".  As mentioned in previous articles, it can be difficult to find appropriate information amongst all the chatter of a popular term.  With complete respect to what that organization indicates is its goal, I can not find any information that suggests it operates under an Open framework.

That said, an Open (Source) Community would be any community that openly collaborates, and exchanges and shares resources, especially knowledge, for the betterment of all, even as the individuals may operate independently of the larger group.

As we look into some Open (source) communities, we will discuss the pros and cons.  What to look for and what to look out for.

Copyright or copyleft?

Often, when someone creates content, they do not even consider this question.

In all fairness, people who simply draw a picture, create and share a recipe, write a bit of code (whether for themselves or for a customer or their employer) or write some content in a blog such as this one, or even on Google+ or facebook or some other social media web site, don't think twice about copyright.

Yet rest assured, if you post something to a web site or submit something to a publication or do create some content for an employer, they are most certainly thinking about it.  In fact, it is almost a certainty that you "signed" on some dotted line before that content was published.

If you write a letter to the editor, at some point during the submission, you will be presented with some form of notification that your content may be edited for brevity or for some other reason.  In fact, that notification likely states that the publisher takes ownership of your content even if they don't publish it.  You might not imagine why, but the reason is the publisher may decide to use that content in the future, in one form or another, and they are making sure someone doesn't  sue them for copyright infringement.

Do you even consider copyright when you start making something or do you just do it?

Arduino project: Turn signal bike jacket

A lot of people cycle to stay healthy and others do it to save money.  What ever the reason, safety is certainly a concern when on the public roads with a bike, and this is a great way to keep those behind us aware of any direction changes we might be making.

Of course, I think this is just cool...  in a very geek kind of way.  Like when you are walking through the library and need to turn into a book isle, you can signal your intentions...  B)

This project uses a light jacket as the wearable form factor, although it could certainly be sewn into a lighter shirt or even a heavier jacket.  Perhaps even into a helmet sleeve / sock (or hat, if you don't wear a helmet).

This project is brought to you by instructables user leahbuechley on the Turn signal biking jacket instructables page.

Obviously a person needs some sewing skills and electronics skills.  Neither of which should be terribly difficult to learn if you don't have them.