I've added several new products to the macetech store. The 5.5 volt, 2 amp power supply will come in handy for projects using 32 or fewer ShiftBrite modules. The 6 conductor cables make it easy to chain multiple ShiftBrites. If you've ever tried to make a lot of cables, you'll understand why many of our customer have demanded some kind of cable solution.

Anyway, these new products will make it easier to get your ShiftBrite project going...or should I say glowing?

No, I shouldn't.

What happens when you mix electronics, chain-letters, and awkward acronyms? You get TGIMBOEJ, or The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk. A nefarious plot to obtain more junk under the guise of giving away junk, hatched up by Windell at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories (with whom I occasionally cross paths at TechShop).

The idea is to recieve a TGIMBOEJ, pick out some interesting parts, put some more of your own electronics miscellany back in the box, and send it along to the next person. There are now several boxes circulating; you can track their progress and get yourself on the request list by visting the TGIMBOEJ wiki. Be warned there's a little vandalism on that site, so it may not be what you expect by the time you visit.  Read more»

It's not simple to set up a new store! But it's finally done (my roommate works with web sites as part of his day job, and helped get everything formatted), and I'm liking the new software a lot better than what I was using before. This will make it a lot easier to keep track of orders, set up discounts, allow user logins, add new products, etc. Currently there's just the one product, but stay tuned for more in the near future. Please leave a comment below if you notice anything I missed during configuration or templating.

ShiftBrite RGB module doing its thing. I realized I didn't have any pictures of the modules lighting up in each color. Planning to get a datasheet written up within the next day or two.

The shipment of ShiftBrites should be arriving tomorrow has arrived today, after the customs delay in Alaska. The store is updated and ready for orders. Everyone who pre-ordered last night will have their orders shipped today!

The next stock shipment of ShiftBrites is on the way! Looks like they'll arrive on the 13th. I'll send out an email to the people who contacted me regarding availability, and update the quantity in stock as early as tomorrow depending on how accurate the shipment tracking appears.

Update: we had a customs delay in Alaska...have that ironed out, so hopefully the new stock will arrive tomorrow. When I get confirmation of this, I'll move forward with the email notifications and the stock quantity update.

Shifty VU Demo from Garrett Mace on Vimeo.

Here's a demo of the new Shifty VU operating. This is no longer feeding Winamp Data into a Cubloc; the audio signal is rectified, filtered, and amplified with an RC decay, then oversampled with an AVR ATmega128 and displayed as a bar graph. Currently no fancy presets, just red and blue, but I have lots of ideas. Fading orange neon, peak detector, variable speed chasers, etc. Feel free to post your own ideas below!  Read more»

(Update May 19th, 2008): Re-stock arrangements are complete, we may be ready to ship as early as June 10th and no later than June 20th, assuming no problems. When the FedEx tracking indicates the shipment is within a day or two of arrival, the store will be enabled for purchases to be shipped as soon as stock is in hand. I have a big list of email addreses from people who wanted to be notified; you'll all be the first to know! Use the contact link above if you want to get the update. I think I'll send out an email when the ShiftBrites are on the way, and another right before I enable the web store again.  Read more»

Well, I finally finished setting up a web store to try selling some of the ShiftBrite modules I had manufactured. If these start to go fast, I'll put in a larger order. The product page is available here, and everything should work though it's my first attempt at "e-commerce" I believe is the fashionable term (maybe in 1998). Let me know if anything looks strange.

I built these today. Despite appearances, no welding was required. That's all 1/8 inch hardboard and 3/4 inch square hardwood molding, hot glued together. Then I sealed, painted flat black, applied iron-powder paint in various locations, then applied rust agent in multiple layers to get a nice effect. Then I pulled some parts off the TechShop Wall O' Junk and glued them on for extra zing. The tubes contain 10 ShiftBrite modules each, and will be used as left and right VU channels.