Get your iPack Rat here!

Disclaimer: preliminary data checks make what I’m about to share with you seem like a money saving solution. However, if anyone reads the fine print and finds out otherwise, let me know.

So. You’ve decided to be all 3008 instead of 2000 and late and get yourself a smart phone. But, every time you think about buying one, you cringe at the cost. Here’s a way to turn a device you may already have into one of the smartest phones you know. Check out truphone, a software-phone company that offers free down loads and a month by month contract that can turn an iTouch into an iPhone. Now the cost of an iTouch is nothing to scoff at (they’re actually more than a standard iPhone these days. Go fig.). But, if you already own one, this truphone solution could save you from having to buy yet another handheld device. And, if you’re going to college, you can really cash in, as Apple has their “buy a mac, get an iTouch free” program going for college students. Buy the computer you need, get the iTouch gratis, down load the truphone software and for $17 a month (or so they claim) you could be sporting your own d.i.y.Phone. Sounds good to me.

Pack Rat has a suggestion: Let the Wookie win.

Those of you out there who have earned your nerd badges are going to roll your eyes about today’s post, since I’m more than a decade behind the times. But, better late than never, right?

Today’s case study in obsessive makery is Simon Jansen, a New Zealander who has spent the last TWELVE years, painstakingly re-creating Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope into what he calls asciimation. Jansen has animated still images that replicate the original Star Wars using ASCII art. ASCII art (which resembles stripped down typewriter art) takes the American Standard Code for Information Interchange and instead of using it to transmit information, turns the code symbols into images.

Working on one shot at a time, Jansen creates his mini masterpiece in a simple text-editor, akin to Microsoft Notepad. Like standard animation, Jansen makes his ASCII creations come to life by displaying frames of ASCII one after the other at a given rate.

Unlike other forms of animation, he is limited by the few ASCII codes he can incorporate. And, if the entire video is viewed front to back, you might catch some of Jansen’s other limitations.

Technology has now out paced him: when Jansen began his project, he started his drawings using a Courier font, which has now become obsolete. “Unfortunately, now the standard font is Courier New, which is why the animation isn’t quite as I intended. It makes it look a little too stretched, vertically.”

Apparently Jansen’s not losing any sleep, though, worrying about perfection. He was recently featured on Make magazine’s blog for his other side project, a jet-powered beer cooler.

In addition, he’s working on his half-built R2D2, and a custom mini bike he’s building from scratch. Which explains why, after more than a decade, he still hasn’t finished his Star Wars asciimation.

At this point in his film, Luke has just rescued Princess Leia from her cell on the Death Star, Han and Chewy are running from the Storm Troopers, and Obi Wan is on his way for that fateful meeting with Darth Vader. But Jansen feels no pressure. “[I don’t add to it] very often. You have to be very bored to do something like this.” And, when asked when he expects the film to be completed, he replies, “Don’t hold your breath waiting!”

 To view the original video, visit http://www.asciimation.co.nz. To see a version with audio, check out it out at www.youtube.com 

photo copyright Simon Jansen

Pack Rat will let you go on, like a blister in the sun

If you love street art, then you’ve probably noticed that stencils have gained major popularity in the last ten years or so, now becoming almost as ubiquitous as tagging. The technological revolution, and the fact that everyone and their mother seems to have gone out and got Photoshop means that no matter what your skill level, you may be only a few clicks away from having a rockin’ stencil template of all your favorite images. Even if you just want to keep your graphic fun to yourself and not mark up the streets, check out this stencil tutorial from the U.K. based art-e-zine.

image copyright: art-e-zine

Pack Rat’s campaign platform is nothing but crafts.

In this highly charged election year, everyone is gearing up for a major change in the way our goverment does business. Show your support for a candidate, or start your own grassroots movement for yourself by making a vector political poster through Vectortuts’ Photoshop tutorial. Design so good, you could get your dog elected. (Editor’s note: Please do not get your dog elected.)

Photo by Vectortuts

Pack Rat Magazine: 1984 Winter Olympics Gold Medalist in crafts

Good afternoon friends. So glad you could join me here at the Pack Rat Corral, where we rope up the best darn D.I.Y. finds this side of the Mississippi (and across it, too). Today’s great find is about Geekware, a line of recycled tech crafts made by Acorn Studios and more specifically artist Nicola. Fun treasures range from circuit board earrings, keyboard key rings, and (my favorite) the CD clocks. She also has a fantastic blog about recycled craft and techy-nerdy craft which I found to be completely addictive. And, a fun projects page with recycle d.i.y. ideas like a tie coin purse, or an empty CD tower bagel carrier (just take a look below). This is a terrific stop to get inspired.