Henri captures the true Halloween

Henri 4 is quite the chat noir if you know what I mean.  His views are often insightful (in a dark and depressing way) and his outlook on Halloween is no exception.

Happy Halloween

E=mc^2 is Incomplete

In this video, Minute Physics does a really nice job of explaining the missing part of the most famous equation in the world, E = mc².  It seems that that simple version of the equation only holds true for objects that are not moving.  These moving objects have momentum which is represented as p in the slightly more complex equation, E²=(mc²)²+(pc)².  If you pay attention, you'll even see why it is that, according to Einstein, nothing with mass can move at the speed of light (or faster).  
Watch and enjoy.

Tasty Mex Hexaflexagons at Digital Diner

We did it!  We couldn't help ourselves.  We were inspired by Vi Hart to make the tasty hexaflexagon treats that you may have read about here on Digital Diner (If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you can catch up by reading read our previous posts here, here and here).  It was fun, educational, and mostly delicious.  We encourage any other curious readers to try for themselves.  IMPORTANT!  First, be sure to watch the safety video below... Even if you aren't going to make the hexaflexagon treats, you should really watch the video.  It's outstanding!

How to make your own Mex Hexaflexagon

Once you have watched the safety video, you should refresh memory by watching the Mex hexa flex video.  Also, before you start, you must get yourself some large tortillas.  Then the fun begins.  We found that in order to make the most efficient use of the tortillas, we cut each one in half and then cut a long strip from each side.  We calculated that in order to create the required 10 triangles, we needed a ratio of about 5 : 1, length : width of the strip of tortilla (actually 5 * 2 * cos( 60˚) : 1 which equals 5 : 1).  If your strip is too wide, say a 4 : 1 ratio, you won't be able to create the required ten triangles.  If your strip is too skinny, say a 6 : 1 ratio, you will have a very tiny hexaflexagon and end up with excess length of tortilla to cut off.  

Tortilla cutting

Next is the folding.  It can help to practice with paper first.  With a little patience we were able to fold some fine flexagons.

A tortilla hexaflexagon

Next you add yummy stuff.  Like Vi Hart, we put guacamole and sour cream on the first layer.

Then you must flex your flexahexagon in order to move the gooey goodness to the inside.  It is important to notice that because of the constraints of gravity, it is necessary flex your hexaflexagon by lifting up three vertices and opening up the bottom as Vi Hart does in her video.  If you are lucky it will flip nicely inside out.

After that, you need only to garnish with more yummy stuff.

 Then it is time to eat it.  It is quite a pleasant little gooey, messy treat.

Don't take our word for it.  Try for yourself!

We have some ideas for how to take it up a notch... stay tuned.  If it turns out, we'll publish the result here on Digital Diner.  If not, then forget I said anything at all.

How to Make a Drop of Water into a Work of Art

It's just a drop of water, but when it is frozen in time, suddenly it becomes a thing of beauty.  It happens so fast that we never see it, but with the magic of high-speed photography, the moment is frozen; captured forever.  In the video below, photographer  Markus Reugels shows his entire process, including the little Arduino controlled mechanism that helps him make a splash, so to speak.  I think the results are quite pleasing.

via PetaPixel

Steve Jobs' Yacht

Usually I'm more of a sailboat kind of guy, but I must admit that this yacht looks really striking.  I especially like the seven iMacs lined up across the bridge.  I can only imagine what it must be like to be onboard.  Apparently Steve Jobs was having this boat built when he died and they just finished it off.  I guess it is just the sort of boat I'd imagine him building.  His family attended the christening.

More pictures and the story in Dutch here.

Tex Mex Hexa Flex

Vi Hart is at it again.  As you know, we've been having fun with hexaflexagons recently here at Digital Diner.  Now Vi Hart has applied this technique to tortillas to make a new taste sensation.  Definitely worth trying out.  It looks geometric, topological, messy and yummy.

Awesome Aeroponics : Workshop Weekend

Plant roots growing in a soil-free aeroponics system

November 10-11 in Oakland, CA there will be a Workshop Weekend.  It is a great event where adults and kids alike can learn all sorts of things to enrich their lives.  In particular, you should all plan to attend because among all the other wonderful classes is one called "Awesome Aeroponics: The Art of Soil Free Gardening" which will be taught by a group called Team "Awesome is What We Totally Are".  This team was founded by Digital Diner's own Bix, Widdakay and some friends.
If you attend this class on November 10 at 1pm, you will build your own Aeroponic Garden system that you can take home with you!  Don't know what Aeroponics is?  It's the latest in high-tech, soil-free gardening.

Leaf on the left was grown in soil while the one on  the right was
grown in "Awesome is What We TotallyAre" high tech garden

The two lettuce leaves above show how awesome this technique is.  We planted two similar sized lettuce plants on the same day.  One was put in soil in our garden.  The other was grown using soil-free techniques.  As you can probably guess, a few weeks later we picked them and the one on the left used the traditional methods while in the same period of time the one on the right grew to about three times as large.  In the class you'll learn about hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics (which we collectively call *ponics). And best of all, in a couple of weeks you can start eating food from your own aeroponic garden.  This class promises to be educational, entertaining and hyperlocavoric.

Workshop Weekend will be a great event with a wide variety of classes for all age ranges to take.  Topics include how to roast coffee, liquid nitrogen ice cream, designing for 3D printers, how to build a web site, build a Gieger counter, MacGyver class and plenty more...   They all look great!

Plan to attend!  Sign up now for Workshop Weekend

Awesome is What We Totally Are - Team

Dry Ice Bubbles

I know it says don't try this at home, but it sure does look like fun.  You create a bubble using dish soap and the gas generated by dry ice melting.  Please... Can I?  Can I?

Arduino Uno vs BeagleBone vs Raspberry Pi

This is a post specifically aimed at our budding Makers out there.
We like to build stuff here at Digital Diner.  There is always some sort of project going on.  These days, most of our projects include some sort of digital component - a microprocessor.  If you haven't gotten bitten by the Maker bug yet, we strongly encourage it.  It can be incredibly rewarding.  If you have even a minimal understanding of programming, there are websites, platforms and tools to help you develop your skills to the point where you actually create a hardware device with buttons, knobs and servos - a real physical world gadget.  Software is fun, but when you can make your project physical it is even better.  

There are so many great platforms for creating digitally enabled devices that its gotten hard to figure out which one to use.  For example, we are currently building a hydroponic garden project and had to choose a controller to run the pumps, read the sensors etc.  We were surprised at the number of choices that were available to us.  It can be a little confusing for the beginner.  To help, we've taken three of the popular models and compared them so that you can choose the right tool for your next project.  Spoiler: we recommend all three.

The three models (all of which we use here at Digital Diner) are the Arduino, Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone.  We chose these three because they are all readily available, affordable, about the same size (just larger than 2" x 3") and can all be used for creating wonderful digital gadgets.  Before we get to the comparison, here is a brief introduction to each one.  

Arduino Uno

The Arduino Uno is a staple for the Maker community.  Arduinos come in various sizes and flavors, but we chose the Arduino Uno as an example of the prototypical Arduino.  It has an easy to use development environment, an avid user base and is designed to be easy to interface all sorts of hardware to.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is the newcomer to the game.  It isn't really an embedded computer.  It is actually a very inexpensive full-on desktop computer.  It is barebones, but at $35 for a real computer, its worthy of note, and it is a great platform for lots of Maker projects.

BeagleBone

The BeagleBone is the perhaps the least known of these platforms, but an incredibly capable board worthy of consideration for many projects.  It is a powerful Linux computer that fits inside an Altoid's mint container.

Human Tower Competition

There is a contest held in Tarragona, in the Catalonia region of Spain called the Tarragona Human Tower Competition.  The idea is to make the tallest tower you can out of meat.... well, OK, people.  The tallest towers are up to 10 layers tall, and the most dangerous position, the top, is usually given to a small child.  Yikes!  Based on the pictures, it seems like a pretty amazing event to see... just make sure you wear your deodorant.

More info and pictures here and here.