• Digital photoframes are expensive. I know that the price of these has come down severely since their introduction, but I still can’t believe that one would spend $100 dollars for such a small device (some examples). No offense meant, but it wasn’t for me.
• The screen is huge compared to other digital frames.
• It is not just a photoframe! Remember that it’s stlil a computer. I can play music, movies, and anything else from my home network or the internet. This may seem silly, but during a party – it’s quite nifty!
• My wife actually likes it – all married nerds will understand that any spousally acknowledged technological success deserves its own bullet point.

So now the obvious question: “can anyone try this?” Obviously, the answer is yes or the post wouldn’t continue below… However, I wouldn’t recommend my seat of the pants approach. There is good information out there to make the process less painful – this is a “do what I say, not what I do” situation.

If you’d like to try this at home, here are some links and recommendations:

If you are not a hard-headeed uber-geek and want to do some research, try some of these links to learn about other’s attempts. As these are from instructables (see the previous post), there are plenty of instructions: http://www.instructables.com/id/Digital_Picture_Frames/

If I can offer a few slight suggestions so that you avoid my mistakes:

• Heat is a problem. Make sure you are careful about providing adequate ventilation behind your frame, until you are sure that your personal design will not require a firefighter…
• Frame size is really tough to judge. Try to find a frame that is deep, but that is 150% of the area of your screen. I managed to squeeze mine into a smaller space, but the heat and the cramped internals will require an upgrade sooner or later.
• Keep in mind that it is going to be quite heavy (unless you are butchering a perfectly good new ultraportable laptop). This is going to make hanging or even standing the frame a challenge. Aim for a frame with a back support made of plastic or stronger, rather than cardboard.

Apart from that, there’s not much that I can share… Although it may seem like an overly technical post (that has little real info), I’m one hundred percent confident that YOU CAN DO THIS! It’s a fun weekend project and let’s be honest: that old laptop was going to sit there until you either stepped on it or lost it in your next move…

~ab

Enter Instructables and Make: places where enthusiasts and experts can post step by step instructions on how things should be done. And they do! These two sites have slightly different flavors. Instructables tends to have instructions on nearly any topic, with more focus on creating achievable projects for our day to day lives. Makezine is more electronics oriented (although not entirely) and contains some projects that are for serious enthusiasts. Here’s a brief guide to both to get you started.
Instructables is made from a large community of DIY enthusiasts. Here you can find a remarkable variety of how-to posts.  For example:

• Make a hanging pot rack
• Make a speaker from a Hallmark Greeting Card (with a speaker)
• How to bake bread
• Convert your honda accord to run on trash

There are thousands of articles, each with photos and decent instructions.  Some of  the newer articles even have video.
One of the more interesting features is a box on every page where you can ask a question to the Instructables community.
At its core, Instructables.com is a great place to browse the ingenuity of others (see the  series of instructables on duct tape wallets) and to research ways to do something.
Make Magazine’s site is a techie’s dream.  However, you shouldn’t let that bother you, as there are far too many interesting sights and sounds on this fantastic website.  Personally, I’m a huge fan of their videocasts where they feature a “maker” who professionally creates art or technology.  Here are good examples of their videocast, their TV show and a sample article :

• Sneaky uses for magnets
• Smoke Rings, Theremin Orchestra, Pulse-Jet, Beer on CSPAN
• Kid’s race car from scratch

Another feature of Make worth investigating is the MakerShed where you can purchase kits for all sorts of projects.  I’ve got my eye on a couple of the little robot kits for beginners, as it seems like a fun Saturday activity.

Make writers also post their own projects on Instructables (maybe the ones that didn’t “make” the cut – sorry).

At the end of the day, both of these sites can provide both entertainment and useful information.  If you’re planning a home improvement project or something wacky, try out Instructables first. If you’re planning on building a robot (or simply want to watch other’s creations) visit Make.  Either way, you’re bound to find a weekend project.

Enjoy,

~ab