Crowdfunding now: file server, meet memory stick; wood, meet laser cutter
By Ben Everard. Posted
This article was originally published as part of HackSpace magazine, which has since been incorporated into Raspberry Pi Official Magazine.
Piso
Memory sticks are one of the easiest ways of moving files around. They can store huge files, don’t require an internet connection, and work with almost any computer. However, they can feel a little primitive. After all, aside from their size and form factor, are they really much different from the floppy disks we had twenty years ago? Piso takes all the advantages of a USB memory stick and uses a Raspberry Pi to give it a few more features.
You can create virtual drives so that your USB stick can be reformatted, yet still retain the original data, you can snapshot the drive, and even access it wirelessly. It’s half USB memory stick, and half file-server all tied up in up into one device. It’s sure to make life much easier for heavy users of memory sticks.
From $27 hsmag.cc/jaxGdm Delivery: July 2018###
Ugears
It’s easy to get caught up in electronics. An Arduino or Raspberry Pi can transform something ordinary into a flashing, blinking, internet-connected device of the future. However, electronics is really only a tiny part of a long story of technology that goes back almost as far as humanity. For most of history, technology was about mechanics, and generations of makers and hackers developed ingenious devices using physical motion. Ugears celebrate this with their mechanical models. They already make a wide range and are crowdfunding an expansion to their existing line up, including a horse with a walking mechanism powered by an elastic band, and an archballista (a medieval siege engine).
Made of laser-cut wood, and assembled without glue or other fixings, the Ugears models look great and show off their mechanical innards.
From $39 hsmag.cc/IavHEo Delivery: July 2018
Ben is the Editor of HackSpace magazine. When not wrangling words, he enjoys cycling, gardening, and attempting to identify wild mushrooms.
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