DIY

How do you appease a 10-year-old parrot with clipped wings, a loud mouth, and separation anxiety? Give the intelligent bird a way to get around the house so it can follow you, of course.

That's exactly what Andrew Gray -- a retired Navy officer currently pursuing his master's in engineering at the University of Florida -- created for his beloved family parrot, Pepper. Gray invented the Bird Buggy, a robotic vehicle with two-wheel drive that the parrot can perch on and drive around freely so it can tag behind people and not feel lonely. No kidding. … Read more

We've seen transforming robots before, and I'm not talking about anything related to Hasbro.

Researchers from MIT are among many engineers and tinkerers trying to design robots that perform different functions by changing their shape or appearance.

Japan-based Brave Robotics has designed a 1/12-scale RC car that can transform into a humanoid robot. It can shuffle around, grab footage with its Wi-Fi camera, and even fire little missiles from its arms. … Read more

If you thought the Grinch was bad news, you haven't yet met the Dalek Christmas tree, an alien entity so evil it wants to not only wipe out Christmas, but all of humanity as well. That's one chimney Santa Claus is going to regret sliding down.

Doctor Who's most famous villain has appeared in the abode of Dain Sandoval, a network admin in California. There have been no reports of casualties... yet.… Read more

NASA is already experimenting with 3D-printing components for rockets to Mars, but the fun doesn't have to stop at liftoff.

Researchers at Washington State University and NASA are suggesting that rocks on the moon or Mars could be used to print useful objects like tools or replacement parts.… Read more

You know that greasy bike chain sitting in the corner of your garage? Take a look at the below gallery of original art made from bicycle components, and you might think twice about getting rid of it.

Chicago-based bike parts company SRAM gave a group of handpicked artists a box each of 100 high-performance bicycle components and told them to craft something amazing. They responded with everything from a bike-centric interpretation of Vincent van Gogh's famous "Starry Night" to a robotic ostrich, a crawling "Sramantis," and your typical Mary Jane-wearing bike chain quadruped with a plastic baby head. … Read more

Sometimes it's hard to say "no." You get an e-mail from a friend who wants you to read, critique, and edit his 500,000-word epic sci-fi fantasy novel. Your boss wants you to forfeit the next 12 weekends to help out with a pet project. This is when you need to have the Semi-Automatic Gmail Assistant (SAGA).

SAGA looks deceptively simple. It's a colorful rectangular box with a chrome button, a place for a key, and a USB hook-up for your computer. Your computer sees it as a standard keyboard.… Read more

Despite my small fear of bugs, there's just something creepily cute about these mechanical insects by Justin Gershenson-Gates.

Gates, a self-taught tinkerer, usually sells jewelry accented with watch gears on his Web site A Mechanical Mind, but people can't seem to get enough of his occasional arthropods made from watch parts, tiny lightbulbs, and other bits and bobs.

In an e-mail interview with Crave, Gates revealed the inspiration behind these creepy designs: a recent trip featuring a freak spider encounter -- "with a leg span of about 3 inches," he says -- prompted the idea. After returning from vacation, Gates created a set of spider legs with watch-winding stems and tacked on other watch parts to create his first spider. … Read more

Photographer Clayton Cubitt is using some of his recent, slightly naughtier work to entice donations for Hurricane Sandy victims, but with a unique Instagram- and Twitter-based twist.

For every $200 donated to Occupy Sandy Recovery, the photographer based in New York and New Orleans releases one of his sexy #babesofsandy photos on Instagram.

So far we've only seen two storm babe shots, including one that's complete with the requisite DOLCat (drooling on laptop) and another that would would win the approval of Sir Mix-A-Lot. With a little more attention to the cause, hopefully Cubitt will need to fill a few memory cards with some more sexiness soon.… Read more

Online retailers will begin selling a 4.5-inch-wide Intel-branded desktop PC for do-it-yourselfers later this month.

The product name is a mouthful -- the "Next Unit of Computing," or NUC for short.

"It's geared more to home theater/home media center," said Intel spokesperson Dan Snyder. One usage scenario he suggested: slap it on the back of a wide-screen display (see photo below).

But note: as Anandtech points out, it is truly a bare-bones system aimed at DIYers. … Read more