aluminum

Want it? Make it, DIYers

The annual Maker Faire, which lies somewhere between San Francisco's counterculture tradition and Silicon Valley's materialism, is set for this weekend in San Mateo, Calif.

Now in its fourth year, the event is organized by Make magazine and showcases the work of people who build everything from wooden bicycles to life-size robotic critters.

I've been making some fun things myself since I bought a small milling machine awhile back. Here's a titanium adapter I made to attach a small commercial USB flash drive to my keychain:

Not long ago I found some blocks of aluminum bar … Read more

Apple's "Brick" manufacturing rumors - not so revolutionary?

Rumors are buzzing that Apple has been working on a revolutionary manufacturing process involving lasers and waterjets and solid blocks of aluminum for the upcoming MacBooks. The contention is that the rumored "Brick" product actually refers not to a product itself, but the manufacturing method for the MacBooks.

Site 9to5mac, who originated the rumor, state:

It is the beginning of the new Apple manufacturing process to make MacBooks. It is totally revolutionary, a game changer. One of the biggest Apple innovations in a decade.

The MacBook manufacturing process up to this point has been outsourced to Chinese or … Read more

Aluminum, hydrogen and a fuel for our future?

Hydrogen is lightweight and efficient as a fuel. When it burns, you get water as the exhaust, and the fuel cell technology that burns the gas is well developed. The major hang-up has been how to produce hydrogen without needing lots of fossil-derived energy.

Apparently, the way to cheap hydrogen is through aluminum. Purdue researchers earlier this year announced they'd found a way to use aluminum to get hydrogen from water. Today a Chinese ceramicist who did graduate work in Portugal says there's an even simpler way to derive hydrogen. This process uses powdered aluminum at room temperature, … Read more

Aluminum foil lamps: Lighter, brighter, cooler

Researchers at the University of Illinois got a bright idea. They developed a form of lighting that's more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs. And it's lighter and thinner than current fluorescent lights, which require a ballast and glass tubes. The diagram above shows how the researchers' aluminum foil-based "microcavity" plasma system works to produce light.

The researchers say their lighting system would look like a luminous, flat screen that could hang on walls in residential and commercial locations. The technology would even allow for curved and flexible versions of the lights, which could fit a wide … Read more

Mac Mini gets a suit of armor

Judging by the survivalist nature of many products coming on the market, we sometimes wonder if half the computer world is in a real-life episode of Lost. Either that, or it's an inordinately clumsy bunch. (We suspect the latter.)

Whatever the case, VictorSystems saw an opportunity to customize the Mac Mini for today's extreme computing, specifically for military use. This armored Mini has a case of reinforced aluminum that's "constructed from extruded rails and finned heat sinks to keep it cool, while the outer covers are made from wrought plates," SlashGear says. Bulletproof mouse and … Read more

Full metal keyboard, part deux

It's Valentine's Day, so we'll take this opportunity to declare our affection for all things metal and shiny (on the desktop, anyway). Just as we pined away for the aluminum Onkyo hardware barely a week ago, we are similarly taken with this Speed Link keyboard made of the same material.

Gizmodo rightly questions the practicality of this item, especially calling out its "compact" key arrangement. But we're a superficial lot here at Crave, and our heads are easily turned by a pretty peripheral--especially one that's ultra-thin with a jet-black metal finish and backlit … Read more

Full metal keyboard

Some of us at Crave have a rather unusual confession to make: We have a weakness for brushed metal. Aluminum, titanium, stainless steel--we just can't get enough. (Yes, we've been given the names of several reputable therapists.)

It probably started in our formative years with the DeLorean but has persisted right up to the cool steel profile of the LG Shine. You'll understand, therefore, why we never miss a chance to ogle these shiny objects, even if they be the otherwise mundane computer peripheral.

Onkyo, which won us over decades ago with its stereo equipment, has lured … Read more