"He then used his Arduino to interface with the ATtiny85 and provide the code powering the effect."

It works on Windows 8 just fine. Unless you are looking at buying a Surface RT version - in which case it won't.

Stats don't lie.

It's called Spear Phishing and Google has an amazing amount of information on how bad people can leverage it to breech nearly every aspect of your life and as an IT Security professional I can say from experience with my users that it can be incredibly convincing and effective if done properly. Imagine a spoofed email…

Star8: Yeah, just get it. If you are having issues with Metro in general it'll turn Win8 into the OS you wish it was - end of story. Sure it's $5 once the trial version expires, but it's a sanity saver for the cost of a Starbucks drink.

As a correction/clarification, it's worth noting that many point and shoots support extra filters and lenses, but often require an adapter to get the job done. Cannon isn't the only one, but they've had a removable ring on a great number of pocket / point and shoot cameras that allows for off-the-shelf filters and…

I can safely say that Arduino is a RAPID protyping environment. Many projects that would take me quite a while to write up and burn to a standard microcontroller are a lot more "down load this, run it, tweak software...." type of solution that only takes half an hour from start to finish.

Generally speaking, assuming you aren't interfacing with different voltages such as 110 or high amp power needs (motors) you have a very low chance of damaging the board itself. You are MUCH more likely to burn up external components on your project board (LEDs, capacitors, etc), but that is just part of the game and…

I'm a long time Arduino geek, while not specific to the Due, for anyone interested in learning how to use an Arduino, just DO IT. It's a lot of fun and well worth the investment.

It should be quite doable - but don't think it'll be dirt cheap once you have some time invested. To be honest, the Nest is probably more cost effective if you don't like tinkering on this stuff for fun.

The butterfly coil shouldn't be understated. I used to work in high angle rescue rigging as well as other industrial systems that involved loads of coiling. Here's a butterfly coil step-by-step I made back when I ran a slackline company.

LastPass for instance as an offline mode. Even if the company goes belly up, you'd still have offline access to your encrypted password store. Since it syncs with multiple devices, the likelihood of them going down AND losing all of your offline files is highly unlikely.

Keep in mind that I have literally done this with my bottles, so it isn't theory. I still do it with many types but Deet and Denatured Alcohol strip the adhesive of the tape off fairly quickly and the dye runs almost immediately as it seeps quickly under the tap.

Denatured alcohol (and other chemicals like DEET) strip sharpie right off, so any spillage at all would leave you with an unmarked bottle. Your better off with other forms of marking it (tape, colored cap, etc), but since I hike with others who may or may not be used to my systems I use a different type of bottle, one…

To preface, most alcohol stove users are lightweight or ultralightweight backpackers/hikers/whatever. We're very likely to throw everything on a precise scale and weight each and every item, opting for the lightest method to solve our needs.

Crashplan - about the only economical large storage backup solution. I used to do it with offsite raid arrays, but frankly its cost prohibitive, especially if you want version control and figuring out seamless sync is harder than most give credit. I pay approximately 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of maintaining my old raided…

I mostly use Locale (more user friendly) but own Tasker as well and use it for when Locale isn't able to do what I'm looking for. Things I do:

I've used the same idea for larger kites, but I wouldn't recommend it for a balloon of that size.

While not "unbreakable" dynemma or spectra cord are radically stronger than traditional masonary twin or fishing line. Many industries use larger versions in industrial rigging, all the way up to using them for lifting cargo containers.

Just ask for the easy mix stuff, your local folks will point you to the right stuff.