DIY Kits
- DIY Lomo Camera - $15.05
- Mozzarella & Ricotta Cheese Making Kit - $23.46
- Elenco AmeriKit Learn to Solder Kit - $13.69
- Arduino Sidekick Basic Kit - $22.50
- Arduino Cookbook - $27.14
How curious it is that some people like to spend hours doing themselves what I could accomplish in a 20-minute, $20 trip to Target. DIY speakers? A DIY synth? No, no, here's the best: DIY LED greeting cards. You know, the ones that light up and flash and make the girls go, "OMG!" Yes, ladies, I know I'm clever and thoughtful* and have impeccable taste in paper products, but handy, electrical-circuit savvy, and capable of following instructions with more than 2 steps I am not. So you're getting birthday greetings that cost me $5.99 and 3 tries at perfecting a signature that appears to emanate from the hand of a total mack. Not a homemade science project.
I do kind of dig those Electro-Dough creatures though.
As will children over 4 and adults who like to feel a sense of accomplishment in the place that I would prefer to feel a sense of consumerism.
If you fall into one of the former two groups, Technology Will Save Us has a small collection of DIY Kits for your tinkering pleasures. For example, the aforementioned Electro-Dough set includes all of the implements and instructions necessary to build responsive, interactive sculptures from batteries, LEDs, and Play-Doh. More sophisticated hands-on fiends might prefer the Start Arduino Kit, a beginner's box of programmable electronics for building basic circuits, or the DIY Synth Kit, replete with a 556 Integrated Circuit, jumper wires, and prototyping breadboard, plus the requisite speaker for listening to the cacophony of noises you'll generate.
Additional DIY Kits include:
- The DIY Speakers Kit. Comes with a custom designed amplifier (the Uber Amp 9000) and all components needed to make a set of speakers out of any material.
- The Lumiphone. A custom designed circuit board and related components needed to make a tiny musical device.
- The Soldering Kit. An all inclusive set of tools for metallic adhesion--a soldering iron, solder wire, soldering tip cleaner, side cutters, wire strippers, desolder braid, helping hands, and protective safety glasses.
- The Thirsty Plant Kit. Includes a solar panel, plant marker, flashing LED, and items necessary to make a solar powered plant thirst detector.
*And always grateful to Facebook for reminding me it's your birthday.