Whoa! Long title.

Ok… Where to begin. Everyone has done this, at least those who are fortunate to own a MINI. Two immediate mods one attempts is the Euro Parcel Shelf, and installing an Aux In. The Euro Shelf sits below the steering wheel, and replaces the knee bolster. It adds a tiny bit of room to hold small items. Perfect for a CD, garage door opener, or any other such item that is small in height. The Aux Input provides a mini stereo jack (1/8″) input for an iPod or any audio device with a headphone port (or line out).

Many people install the aux input in the shelf - this is a simple as:

Drilling three 2mm pilot holes

Drilling a 10mm hole in the middle

Mounting the plate with the two screws provided, and then attaching the aux input to the plate - NOT to the plastic. The input was designed to fit on the metal plate provided, not plastic - a 10mm hole is larger than the Aux Input input end. Therefore, the Aux Input should pass completely through the plastic if the plate is off.

However, I decided to step it up one level further, as some people have ventured, and installed my garage door opener into the shelf. Why? Coolness factor. Plus I was not about to spend $200.00 for something I could put together in an hour.

To install the garage door opener, I needed parts:

Misc stranded wire (22 AWG)
Automotive fully insulated quick disconnects
Garage door opener
SPST NO Momentary Pushbutton switch
Orange LED
Misc heat shrink tubing
Zip ties galore, and those sticky mounting plates

I purchased the switch at the local electronics store, Purchase Radio. I doubt they do mail order, and I’m sure it’s not worth the time trying to order a switch from them. You could always call and ask.

Switch specs:

Made by NTE

SPST
Momentary, Normally Open
Part number: 54-385

Data Sheet (for some reason, the switch is grey, but the description says red, probably placed a grayscale image in the PDF):

http://www.nteinc.com/switches/pdf/pg18.pdf

The pushbutton required a .72″ diameter hole! Very close to the edges of the blanking plate. I was tempted to use a vandal proof switch, but they cost around 15.00 a switch! And didn’t come in red.

Why an Orange LED? The MINI has Orange/Amber interior lighting, and an orange LED matches it perfectly. I used a 3mm ORANGE LED, but could have used a 5mm LED. I stuck with the smaller size of the original door opener. I purchased the LED from:

LSDiodes Optoelectronics

who are not terribly expensive when you consider Radio Shack and Digikey per LED pricing plus tax. Shipping was fast and professional. The only regret I have is not sanding the LED so it was diffused. If I have to take the blanking plate out in the near future, I will sand the LED. I may even upgrade to a 5mm.

Canon 20D. The switch looks like a miniature version of an arcade game button. Pretty cool. I haven’t made a decal/sticker yet to say something like “Tacks” or “Oil Slick” but will…

Canon 20D

If I were to redo it, I’d put the LED at top (I may just flip the panel next time I’m doing some work inside the MINI) so I could see it when I press the button! It looks cool at night, and amazingly works very very well.

“What?”, you say incredulously, doubting my sanity. But yes, I suggest we adopt a new measurement system.

Based on the iPod

Yes, I know, what I am saying is silly, perhaps even foolhardy. But take a look at history, as J J O’Connor and E F Robertson see it:

The earliest weights seem to have been based on the objects being weighed, for example seeds and beans. Ancient measurement of length was based on the human body, for example the length of a foot, the length of a stride, the span of a hand, and the breadth of a thumb. There were unbelievably many different measurement systems developed in early times, most of them only being used in a small locality. One which gained a certain universal nature was that of the Egyptian cubit developed around 3000 BC. Based on the human body, it was taken to be the length of an arm from the elbow to the extended fingertips. Since different people have different lengths of arm, the Egyptians developed a standard royal cubit which was preserved in the form of a black granite rod against which everyone could standardise their own measuring rods.

Why not use the iPod as a universal form of measurement, since someone is more likely to have an iPod with them than a ruler? Not only that, but an iPod conveys length, depth, and width in one quick glance.

We could even return to the days of the Egyptians, where we make a special trip to visit the granite iPod, and receive a blessing from Pharaoh Jobs. There we would make sure our iPod was up to date with the current size standard.

Since we would be starting out with a totally new measurement system, we could unify all measurement systems! Forget units of mass or weight - specify how many iPod Click Wheels it would equal. Or take length. Is it a foot? A meter? Or 5.5 iPod mini’s? Certainly the last measurement makes the most sense. But don’t take my word for it - check out Engadget or Gizmodo. Quite often they’ll have an iPod on top of the latest gadget, for easy size comparison. Soon enough, there will be an official iPod size rating, sort of like the insane Dell laptop-milk gallon comparison used to convey how much their laptops weighed.

I’ll be putting instructions inline, as some people might not have Acrobat or another type of PDF viewer.

Sapphire what??? The Sapphire XVIII was one radio (of many) found in VW’s throughout their aircooled days. A place to see more pictures of these radios can be found here: Volkswagen Radios The “hacking” I did consisted of rearranging some wires, and adding a line in so I could use my iPod with this radio. Sure it’s mono, but hey—I’m driving a car from 1973. Plus it has pushbuttons—a real novelty to me!

I’ve attached a PDF explaining what I did to hack the radio to install a line in. It’s not true line in, but is much better than the cassette adapter I was using before.

Sapphire XVIII Hacking

Heh. You’re thinking, again, that I must really be obsessed with the iPod. But no - this was made in response to my happiness with my iPod. I originally had a Panasonic SJ-MR200 MD recorder, but never used it as much as I intended, due to MD’s lack of direct computer control and uploading of music - with MD recorders of that time, you had to record in real time. When the iPod was released, I scoffed at it, thinking it too costly and limited in storage capacity. What was I thinking?

I’ve linked to a PDF file I made in 2002, and have updated with pertinent contact information. I originally intended to keep up with each iPod model, but could not due to 2 reasons:

1. My pocketbook, already strained by college tuition payments, could not keep up with Apple’s development cycle.
2. As far as I was concerned, it was too difficult to constantly update a book, since the iPod was so easy to use in the first place; ie, it was more or less pointless. It was fun at the time, so I think it was worth it…

The Care and Feeding of an iPod

This is one of those past things I did, to pass the time away. Kind of pathetic. But really funny, honest! Ok. Maybe not that funny, but still, original? Not psychopathically original but obsessively compulsive. But please don’t contact the authorities.

Remember when I said I was migrating my site? Well, wayyyy back in the past I had may different projects. Occasionally, I’d try to make a funny iPod parody like thing. Well, since the content I haven’t moved over is a bit more, shall we say, complicated, I figured I’d get all the simple stuff on the site.

You ever wondered where iPods were made? I mean, really made? Not some factory in Japan. Right here in the good old USA. Well, at least for those of you who live here.

Here is a picture of an iPod, who signed all consent forms to have her picture taken and released. The LCD has been blurred so you cannot determine her identity.

I believe she will be having one of the 20GB versions, but as an Apple representitive was about to stop me from taking the picture, I had no time to ask further questions.

Sony CCD-TR93 + Power Macintosh 7600/132
iMom	iPop

The iPod "farms" are cute. They start from being, oh, 1" tall, and it takes a good 3 weeks for them to be full grown. They try to keep them in playpens, seperated by height.

Of course, there are too many for the Apple employees to look after, the new iMacs have been tending to the farms since they were first developed. Thats what they were designed for. Not only do they have the ability to move around easilty by hopping, but they use the LCD screen to teach the iPod how to work, and can "herd" iPods from one area to another. It was only recently that Apple had the idea to actually sell the iMacs as computers.

This was very dangerous, as mother iPods are VERY protective of their young, and I almost got iPodded to death. They really can hurt, especially when five of them jump at your stomach at once. Nearly knocked the wind out of me!

As for iPop, he was very good natured about the whole thing, and laughed when I asked him what they ate. At which point I was shown the firewire hubs. Duh!

I really shouldn’t be posting this, as it is really embarrassing. I stamped it’s date in 2004, though I believe it predates that.

iCam - Apple’s greatest product yet!

iCam

Sony CCD-TR93 + Power Macintosh 7600/132

As you can see, the lens currently being used is a Nikon, but there are other lenses being considered. The white around the lens is a quick change adapter - currently looking at either a removable lens system, or a permanent lens. The adapter allows us to quick change various lens offerings from several companies with high quality optics. A white lens casing will be specially manufactured for Apple.

The overall form is like the iPod, with the controls for zoom in the front, to the right when viewed from in front. The unique thing about the iCam is how it takes pictures, you can choose any 90 degree rotation you want - as the tripod adapter mounts on the BACK, allowing the iCam to be mounted on a tripod in any rotation (even up!). There are two adapters - one ball joint, allowing a hemisphere of rotation (iCam pointed up towards the sky all the way to the lens being parallel to the ground). The second adapter restricts the rotation to 90 degree increments - allowing one to rotate the iCam, while keeping the back perpendicular to the ground. The shutter button will be a lower profile than shown, and will be mounted on both sides, depending on the rotation settings, only one will function. In addition, the zoom settings will switch, based on how you have it set up to rotate.

It functions as a high resolution firewire web cam, but it is recommended to use lower settings for low bandwidth situations.

Resolution:

1600 X 1200 in millions of colors, raw format

4.4 mega pixel CCD

4x optical zoom (subject to change depending on which lens is picked)

4x digital zoom, also iPhoto 2.0.1 includes a touchup digital zoom feature.

File formats:

raw, .jpg, .gif, .tif, and .pdf file save and export options

Pricing:

N/A

Models:

5gig

10gig

20gig (not released until the iPod has this option)

Audio support:

Will record to .mp3, .wav, .aiff

"Video Camera":

up to 10 hours compressed video, at 640 X 480

Quicktime export, for use in iMovie or stand alone

Built in mic

Extras included:

Still shots can be imported into iMovie

Eco friendly Hemp case, with cotton lining

Adapters as describe above

Connectors:

Firewire for power and data transfer, headphone jack, microphone/line in jack(software switchable)

Misc:

Will be Mac only compatible, but should be easily hackable (don’t let Apple know that I know this). The images are stored in a hidden folder called " Images".

DISCLAIMER

This device is not made by Apple, and is a spoof, on the general idea that Apple will come out with an Apple branded digital camera. I use, enjoy, and promote Apple when given the chance. If Apple would like to make me a beta tester for such a device in the near future, I would be most obliged, and would keep it secret…(or any device for that matter)…