Nov 4 2009 I Want One!: A Secret Knock Door Lock
Holy shit, it's a PVC pipe bomb! No, not really. It's the Knock Lock, a homebrew door lock that will only release the deadbolt if you perform the secret knock. Cooooool -- I want one for my clubhouse!
A microphone (okay, really a speaker) presses against the door and listens for knocks. If it hears the right number of knocks in the right cadence it triggers the motor to turn the deadbolt and unlock the door. If the sequence isn't recognized, the system resets and listens for knocks again.
There's a very worthwhile video after the jump of the lock in action. The only problem is every time you perform a knock your neighbors learn how to gain access to your apartment. Still, neat idea. But I'll just stick with my tried and true knock: KICK IN THE DOOR, WAVIN' THE FOUR-FOUR, ALL YOU HEARD WAS GW DON'T HIT ME NO MORE!! I'm serious, don't make me pistol-whip you.
Hit the jump for another shot and the video.
Oct 29 2008 Cool: Guy Makes Open Source Gameboy
Nearly 20 years after the original, a guy has developed an open source Gameboy made with fairly basic components. If you're interested, you can actually buy a kit with all you need here for $250. Or, if you're MacGyver, you could just make your own with a handful of paperclips, a disposable plastic plate, an iPhone, the batteries from your girlfriend's vibrator. Alternatively, if your girlfriends swears she doesn't have a special friend (despite your having heard a humming in the bathroom), you're going to need a potato.
Hit the jump for another picture and some videos.
Mar 19 2008 New And Improved Bookmark Uses Air
Call me old-fashioned, but I still read books. Big ones with lots of words. And typically I just use a bill I'm not going to pay or a piece of toilet paper to mark my page. Or, if I'm desperate, I'll just dog-ear the hell out of it. Well now a group of designers have developed the ABRACADABRA bookmark. All you have to do is squeeze the air filled bladder, and BA-BOOM!, your book explodes open to the right page, showering you with torn pages. Just kidding, it just transfers the air to the other air chamber and makes a little space where you left off. I know, my design was way better. And what's up with the copy there in the graphic? First, I doubt Aladdin would appreciate someone squeezing his tube any time they want to get their read on. And secondly, the copywriter who wrote that thing about "starting the story that leads you to a whole new world" should be fired for being high at work.
Puffy Bookmark [yankodesign]
