Category Archives: Gadgets

Balabolka and Microsoft Speech Platform, way for multilanguage TTS (text-to-speech)

Posted on 17 December 2014 by Admin

Most of the TTS tools on MS Windows support SAPI 5 (SAPI=Microsoft Speech API). In a previous blog, eSpeak and TTSReader were introduced as an alternatives for non-english languages. The good news is that the free tool called Balabolka also … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Tools, For Fun or Interest, Gadgets, Hobbies and Other Interests, Recommended Free Tools, Tips, Tools | Comments Off

David Laserscanner with webcam & line laser, Tools for capturing 3D objects

Posted on 4 August 2013 by Admin

A tool called DAVID LASERSCANNER has a free alternative with limited options. The main limitation is that one can save captures with lower resolution only. The tool is shown below. And the setup consists of “corner with calibration picture”, line … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio and Video, Basic Tools, DIY, For Fun or Interest, Gadgets, Hobbies and Other Interests, Recommended Free Tools | Comments Off

SCENECT with Kinect, Tools for capturing house layouts in 3D

Posted on 31 July 2013 by Admin

SCENECT is a free tool from FARO to capture 3D point cloud of objects and environments. There are several other tools for the similar 3D capture, and the choice depends on the goals. In this case the main goal is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anvanced Tools, Audio and Video, For Fun or Interest, Gadgets, Hobbies and Other Interests, Innovation and new tech, Recommended Free Tools, Robotics, Security, Tests | Comments Off

DIY Star Chart (planisphere)

Posted on 7 April 2013 by Admin

There are 2 great sources if you wish to create yor own star chart. Online planisphere tool Ready made Uncle Al’s Starwheels in Wikipedia: A planisphere is a star chart in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on … Continue reading →

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DIY Spectrometer, and notes on online Spectral Workbench

Posted on 6 February 2013 by Admin

There exist several variations of DIY spectrometer by using CD or DVD as the main component (ie. generating the rainbow of colors by diffraction from the optical disk grooves). The output is a spectra, light intensity versus wavelength. In Wikipedia: … Continue reading →

Posted in Android, Anvanced Tools, DIY, For Fun or Interest, Gadgets, Hobbies and Other Interests, Tests | Comments Off

DIY heater for digital camera

Posted on 23 January 2013 by Admin

Once, when taking outside photos, the digital camera (Canon SX1) started to get problems. I hadn’t thought about it much earlier, but obviously -18 degree Celsius was too much for the electronics. Quick search on internet showed several DIY heater … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio and Video, DIY, For Fun or Interest, Gadgets, Hobbies and Other Interests, Tips | Comments Off

Test, DIY webcam microscope

Posted on 2 January 2013 by Admin

I happened to have 2 broken gadgets: a webcam with broken optics but with working sensor, and a digital pocket camera with working optics but with broken electricity. The question was that what happens when changing the optics of the … Continue reading →

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