Bob's Bird Blog Links

(or, Alexander's Avian Anecdotes)

Links

Bird house cam links:

Here's the article on Make Magazine's blog that first introduced me to the idea of putting a webcam in a bird house.

Make's blog also has an article about putting a webcam on a bird feeder. There's even a video!

Birdwatching.net is selling a bird house with a camera already inside. They say the camera has infrared LEDs built in. (As you can read from Building the Bird House, I bought a different camera that also claimed that, and was disappointed that the LEDs emitted white light. I was able to change them, but most people are better off buying a camera with the correct LEDs installed.) The camera appear to output an analog signal for your TV or VCR. It will not plug into a computer unless that computer has a video input. The camera I chose uses a digital USB connection. I have no connection with Birdwatching.net, and have never done business with them, so I neither recommend nor disparage them.

Other links:

When I was a kid, I made some live action and stop motion animation movies. A few years ago, I remade one of the stop motion movies with computer animation. You can find the movie and four bloopers at my account on YouTube.

Speaking of movies, if you're even remotely interested in Star Trek, you should check out the stunningly good fan-made episodes at New Voyages. For a smaller investment of your time, see these stunningly funny Star Trek inspirational posters.

Microscopy can be fun. I bought a beginner's microscope from Edmund Scientific, but the microscope hobbyists on Usenet laughed at me. Unable to bear their ridicule, I bought a higher quality used Leitz microscope from Nightingale. When my daughter's class was learning about bacteria, I sent both my scopes in. The reports back were that the kids could see a lot more with the Leitz than with the Edmund Scientific, or even with the microscopes the person running the lesson (not their regular teacher) brought in.

As you may have gathered, I like reading Make Magazine's blog. They have a related site where people post instructions on how to make and do all sorts of fascinating things. Make also showed me (speaking of microscopes) how to preserve a snowflake, which I did and it really works.

Along the same lines, I enjoy Hack-A-Day and Hackszine.

Spark Fun is a store that sells interesting stuff for electronics hobbyists, and they have a blog that's updated once every week or two with new gadgets.

Engadget keeps me up-to-date on new electronics products that are angling for my money.