Yes, it’s that time again. Trying to get as much done as possible before the inevitable snow and frigid temperatures make us want to crawl back into a warm bed and hibernate until spring. There just never seems to be enough time to get everything done.
I’d rather not dwell on the economic chaos going on around us, but let’s face it – it sure has been a heck of a stressful year for alot of people. I’m not normally interested in the daily stock market sagas, but, man, it’s sure set many folks into a panic. Me, well, I know we’ll end up paying more for this and that; it’s always the average person who ends up footing the bill for the incompetencies of those who have more money and power than most of us will ever achieve, but c’est la vie.
Getting tired of the trendy phrases yet? “Economic correction”, “market re-grouping”, “investor panic”, “recession”, “depression”, “accounting errors”, “over optimistic quarterly earnings”. With all of this doom and gloom in the headlines lately, it’s no wonder many people have the blues! I just keep reminding myself that despite the daily negative press, things could always be worse, I suppose, and not one government or group of people/corporations is responsible for the current mess. Back to happier thoughts.
Brad finished the latest bike project, the HighRoller Short Wheel Base Recumbent, and we’re planning to do the pictures and videos this weekend. The weather has caused some delays and it gets dark here now about 7 pm, so we’re really pressed for time. Stay tuned to the Forum for updates and announcements. We hope to have the plan available for download in 3-4 days.
He also has a design in the works for a rugged, sturdy winter bike or trike, which he plans to work on from now until late January/February. Since we’re usually knee-deep in snow by then, it will be a fun project to work on and test in the outdoors.
I addition to the bicycle projects, we have agreed to do another book for McGraw-Hill Professional, “Mind Performance Projects for the Evil Genius.” Tentative projects include: biofeedback, lie detector, heart rate monitor, body temperature monitor, lucid dream devices, hypnosis, brain wave monitor, and so on. They will be fun and practical, but fully functioning projects. Brad has made some of these devices before from scratch, and found them to be interesting, so now he’ll show how you can make your own at home without spending a ton of cash. It will be out in early summer 2009. Stay tuned for announcements.
A big thank you to Justin Lemire who trekked across Canada this summer on his homemade custom recumbent e-bike and stayed with us. He sent us a couple of his custom made e-bike monitoring systems as a thank you for our hospitality when he rolled into our city last month. We will be keeping in touch with Justin and letting him know of our upcoming electric bike projects. More on next year’s line up of Atomic Zombie bike projects will be posted in a few months. There will be more trikes, recumbents, tandems, choppers, scooters, e-bikes and trailers.
Also thanks to the folks at MAKE Magazine and Instructables for inviting us to be a part of a new book, The Best of Instructables Volume I: Do-It-Yourself Projects from the World’s Biggest Show & Tell
MAKE Magazine is also including some of our practical jokes and spy gadgets projects in an upcoming edition, too: MAKE: Technology on Your Time
Cheers, friends.
