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Nunchucks

Fact: Kids love nunchucks! Sure, some kids are into swords or maybe even throwing stars, but all kids love nunchucks…

Now you’re saying “Hold on there Mr. Maniac! Nunchucks ain’t safe!” To which I say, you just need to make them safe. Oh sure, you could just go out an buy Rubber Foam Nunchucks from karatedepot.com, but what fun is that? Wouldn’t you rather spend time with your children making your own (safe) nunchucks? Of course you would! What parent wouldn’t?

Nunchucks Nunchucks

We can easily assemble kid-safe nunchucks out of some old cardboard tubes and some cord. The trickiest part is just tying the knot. Once you’ve got two pair put together, you’re ready for battle – I mean FUN! Let the kids solve their differences the way they do in kung-fu movies. Or get in on the game, and show the kids who the real martial arts master in the family is. These kid-safe nunchucks are just the answer to the often asked question: “How can I beat my sibling without hurting them too badly?”

(Disclaimer: Don’t be an idiot and hurt yourself or someone else…)

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DIY Easel

For BarCampMilwaukee, someone mentioned those big pads of paper on the three-legged stands… An easel! That’s it…

DIY Easel Pictured here is my DIY Easel, which was built out of scrap material in my garage… A few 1×2’s, old hinges, and a handful of screws. It’s at Bucketworks now, where it will live, and be used for BarCampMilwaukee.

I like building things without plans (but don’t tell my Dad.) I tend to just start hacking with wood, just like I would hack with code when programming for fun, and improvise as I go. For this thing, I didn’t even break out a tape measure. I think it turned out ok though.

Even thought it’s slightly portable (the hinges let it fold almost flat, I had to get it in the car somehow!) I told James at Bucketworks they could just have it after BarCampMilwaukee. I don’t think I’ll have enough need (or space) for it. I’m sure they’ll put it to good use.

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I Heart 8 Bark

Doug Ward (of Fourth Rotor) is an old friend of mine, and I like the things he’s done…

I really wish I would have known that he released all of the 8 bark music on 8bark.org over two years ago (since I spent a lot of time digitizing my copy of Structurally Sound about 2 and 1/2 years ago) but that’s ok, I’m just glad he did it…

Sure, I may have to talk to him about applying a nice license to the recordings, but dammit Doug, you done a good thing! Thank you my friend…

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DIY PowerBook Repairs

As PowerBook (and iBook) users know all to well, those damn power adapters can go bad. Well, mine finally got to the point of not working. So for the last few weeks or so I’ve been without the use of pbox, our lovely old PowerBook G3 Wallstreet.

I looked on ebay and at some of the 3rd party suppliers of power adapters, but because I’m what you might call frugal, and a hacker, I took matters into my own hands, and in my own hands I put some tools. Pliers, utility knife, wire cutters, and some duct tape. Ah, there’s always room for duct tape…

So now the power adapter works again. I did managed to lose a tiny resistor in the hackery of it all, but as the saying goes “We got power!” I mean, what could that little resistor be doing anyway? Sure, there is a chance I might get an electrical shock when checking email, or launching Firebird, I mean FireFox, might cause it to burst into flames. Oh well, such is the price you pay for attempting to keep up with the fast pace of technology on a limited budget…

Flaming PowerBook warning label