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Instructables user hunrichs made this clever spirograph rig out of old bike parts and a piece of pegboard. This could be a good way to learn about gear ratios!

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These days, we are deluged with data, and as a result we’re confusing noise with information, and information with useful information. But what many companies fail to realize is that what matters is what you do with that data — and as a result, they are missing out on a tremendous opportunity.

There are many devices available today that are technically able to run BitTorrent, but the manufacturers choose to limit the usability of their devices. TorrentFreak chats to the developer of TorrentRelay, a service that allows you to download torrents on the PS3, iPhone and many other web-enabled devices.

“Software as a Service” (SaaS) is an increasingly popular model for providing software functionality, as it is economical in terms of both cost and customer hardware resources. The NetBeans team created a Web Services Manager in NetBeans IDE 6.1 in order to support SaaS applications, making it easy for Java developers to access all the popular SaaS services on the web.

We all love our USB drives, don’t we? You should probably be using some portable apps on your USB drive – if not, check out our huge list of portable applications for your USB drive here.
In this post, I want to cover a few apps that will make managing your USB drive easier. In essence, […]

Tomorrow at the Conversational Marketing Summit in NYC, ad network Federated Media (FM) will make two announcements: the launch of the Conversational Measurement Toolbox and that they will now represent hardware reviews and forums network AnandTech. Federated Media describes the toolbox as, "a suite of campaign measurement, planning and reporting tools offering marketers greater control and insight into their conversational marketing efforts." The company claims that this is a first-of-its-kind offering.

The system will suck data out of the analytics tools used by FM publishers and then aggregate the data back to the advertisers with a focus on conversational metrics. There’s also an API for developers to use who want to leverage the analytics that FM is collecting. No specific analytical categories have been provided yet. Once I get access to the system, I will provide a more in depth review.

Federated Media CEO John Battelle is also a board member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and will now sit on the social media measurement taskforce to ensure that the Conversational Measurement Toolbox work follows whatever the IAB pushes in terms of standards and guidelines.

Perhaps the development of this new measurement toolbox is where some of the new $50 million in VC funding has gone.

In other news, ultra popular, been around forever, hardware news, reviews and community forum site AnandTech has joined the FM publisher network. AnandTech reports 8 million monthly users with over 55 million pageviews. I guess this is a good replacement for Ars Technica which has left FM after being acquired by Conde Nast.

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Jason @ Hackszine writes…

I can’t find any documentation for this, nor can I help posting it. I assume it’s a hardware hack that manually controls the floppy drive’s stepper motor, but it’d make my day if this was done in software using standard I/O requests. Either way, the 3.5 inch FDD finally serves an important function again.

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Every year the Crest Hardware store in Williamsburg Brooklyn hosts a collection of work from local artists. The entertaining and often humorous art is displayed along side a familiar selection of tools and supplies. Store manager Joseph Franquinha explains -

My father, Manny, has always impressed upon me the importance of community. As manager of Crest Hardware I am thrilled to provide a unique non- traditional atmosphere to showcase the art work of the creative and vibrant community we service. I have such a love and appreciation for art and I am fascinated with seeing the transformation of basic hardware materials into something other than what they are intended for.

The Crest Hardware Art Show is a real down to earth experience appealing to a broad range of people that live in the community. The ideas and concepts in the show are rendered on a silly and theatrical level allowing for an accessible experience. From previous art shows I remember walking through the store and seeing the “Brawny” paper towel display and had to take to a second look to see that next to it was packages of “Scrawny” paper towels. Surprises and laughter fill the shelves. You may come to run a simple errand but you leave with a little bit of culture and a big sense of community.

With a substantial crowd and well over 150 pieces on display, I wasn’t able to see them all (yet) - but my early favorite is Gregory Barsamian’s Running Man, seen in action below -

see more photos - Hardware Art Show on Flickr

Crest Hardware Art Show
June 7 - July 11
Crest True Value Hardware
558 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3596

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FarMcKon writes in about - Open House @ The Hacktory

This is the chance for anyone at all to come to our Lair (workspace) at our top secret location (1524 Brandywine Street Philadelphia) and work on top secret projects. Well, whatever project you or other people bring along to share! Drop by work on some projects of your own, or help with other people’s projects.

Here are just some of the types of experts you will find at our Open Hacks: Python Developers, Arduino experts, Hardware hackers, Motors and Robotics nuts, C++ developers, Web-heads, and more.

Stop by! Use our tools! Hang out! Abuse Exclamation points!

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All of a sudden I couldn’t sync my Zune anymore on my Windows XP computer. I would always get an error that there was an error on the installation of the hardware when I plugged the Zune into the USB port. The actual error I would get was:

There was a problem installing this hardware “zune” 

I tried all sorts of “fixes” including installing the Zune software update and uninstalling the Zune drivers, but nothing seemed to be working. There were folks on the Internet saying that I should format the Zune through a series of clicks - ummm no.

There was also a suggestion of cleaning up my registry and that I should get a registry cleaner of sorts and fix the problem. Though, there was also the suggestion that I should do a complete download/reinstall of Windows Media Player 11 as it will install some services that might have been removed. I gave this a try (as it was an easy one) and it worked perfectly - now my Zune is back connected and I am syncing.

While I was at TechEd 2008, I bought myself some nice “premium” headphones (plugin style).

They have like a canvas feel to the cord which is different and interesting and provide a more rigid cord than otherwise. I like them and they sound great. I also got myself a docking station (to plug into my receiver at home), though the AC adapter is something that I can’t take to Europe as it is for US power levels only. Dang. I would have rather carried a bigger AC adapter to then be able to carry that adapter around the world with me.