Learn how to  and shows you how to link an LED sign to your Google Voice account which can physically show you your voicemails through an array of LEDs.  The video below walks you through a quick demonstration of how the LED message board system works.

What you’ll need:

Firstly, you’ll need a Google Voice account. Then you have to download some python scripts to program the system correctly with a ‘trigger word’ – that way your system can pick voice messages and display them on the screen. You can set it to display all messages or just those of your choice. You’ll also need plenty of LEDs (of course), a soldering iron, and a 9v battery.

How it Works:

A Python script accesses your Google Voice account which finds the text version of you voicemail messages.  Then, it downloads them to a text file on your system which then displays it on the LED board.

More LED Projects:

• LED “Graffiti” using LED Throwies
• Top 10 Absolutely Stunning LED Light Projects
• Top 5 Custom LED Beer Pong Tables

Find out how to build your own ‘Word Clock’ using the power of Arduino. It’s definitely unique and eye-catching clock which literally tells you the time unlike your standard digital clock.

The instructions are really easy to understand and well written. As far as materials go, a laser printer and a few electrical components like the LEDs and connectors are about all you’ll need. As you can see from the picture, it comprises mainly of an homemade stencil (which you can build using a CNC plotter we covered or simply trace it out).  The author can provide the circuit board for the project – or you can do it yourself at home.

The project instructions also include all of the source code you’ll need to get the clock working correctly, a detailed PDF schematic, and a template for the stencil. Check out more arduino and clock posts below:

Arduino and Clock Projects:

• DIY Epic Pong Wall Clock
• Top 40 Arduino Projects of the Web
• Make a Laser Sundial

More details on the project’s background can be found in this video.  Not too much detail of the project such as source code is available, but setting up piezo’s with an Arduino is pretty straightforward.  Check out some of our other Arduino projects below:

• Incredible DIY Aerial Kite Photography
• Arduino Real Time DIY Pan & Tilt Camera
• Twitter Robot makes Popcorn, starts a Movie

Lian Li PC-A01

The site from Germany features some of the ‘world’s most beautiful computer systems’. Dare we disagree? Sleek with an aluminum finish, the photos show an advanced work in black and white tones. And what looks like some good cooling capabilities. Here are two snaps to draw your wows.

Lian Li V1200

We don’t know about the ‘most’ but these same guys do make ‘some’ of the beautiful computer systems. The stylish case mods from Lian Li combine beauty with looks and the V1200 is an example.

Dark-Bade

With this mod we make it a three in a row display of PC Mods from the guys at Million Dollar PC. This one is a surreal creation on four legs.

SubsCover Custom

This looks like a cool work in blue.

Russian Wall-E Case Mod

Are you awestruck? So were we, when we did a post on it some time back. This Wall-E inspired case mod is all in metal. Carefully put together in 18 days with some heavy duty workmanship. The Wall-E build is close enough to be a twin.

R2D14m

Dubbed the R2D14m by designer Pavel Rafalovich, this beast lives in a shiny sleek enclosure.

War-Scarred Look

A galactic war scarred computer meets alien cube from space? Inspired by Portal, of course.

Edelweiss PC

The stunning build in white complimented by and orange-red LED glow is one of our favorites. This is another dream case mod from Million Dollar PC.

Sleek Blue LED Case Mod

A geeky rendering of a Beijing building, this case mod is about ambient effects using LEDs. The picture below on the left is of  the building; the case mod is on the right.

• Get some more examples of geek art in our Fantastic DIY CaseMod Pics.

Massive Heat Sink

A case mod that becomes a passive cooling device using heatsinks and clever design.

DIY Oil Cooled PC

A video how-to on how to cool your PC using mineral oil.

Bonus: Build a Fridge in your PC

Okay, so it’s not a stunning, sleek mod like the ones above but it was too incredible to leave off the list.  An overclocked PC that feels, looks and does like a mid tower mini fridge. It’s a PC that dispenses cold beer!

As we continue to feature what’s cool in case mods, don’t miss out on our gallery of case mods.  Don’t forget to send us tips of cool projects you find on the web for extra cash.

Ah… the warm ambient lighting of retro chemistry lab equipment…Designer Benjamin Huber created these exceptional custom lights out of hand-blown glass.  While I’m sure they cost an arm and leg, you could easily just pick up some flasks and beakers for dirt cheap on eBay.  Then, grab some glass frosting spray paint, shove some white LEDs inside, and you’ve got your own custom lighting creations.

• Don’t miss: Top 10 Absolutely Stunning LED Light Projects
• More custom ambient lighting projects: Outstanding RGB Liquid Mood Lamps

Here’s an outstanding, yet simple custom lighting project you can build yourself. Using some basic lighting fixtures filled with colored mineral oil to create the custom glow effects. The authors also used a pump and PVC hose to create a lava lamp bubbling effect to spice up the lighting. What a perfect project to be entered into our Hack n Mod lighting contest. Imagine how fantastic this would look in this Mac-tacular Lair.

• Learn how to build your own custom lighting through the full tutorial.
• See all of our LED and Laser projects.

The “Edelweiss PC” is a stunning computer case mod in white complimented by the gorgeous glow of orange LEDs. It’s an exceptional build by Pius Giger and it looks more like a design concept than a case. See more details and pics of the Edelweiss computer Mod.

Looking at this design, you cannot but marvel at the extreme detailing. It appears to be water cooled and the tubes are tightly integrated into the body. The main board cables are also seamlessly hidden in the main design. The whole effect is neat when you see that the hardware is open to view. For me, what completes the effect is the fantastic lighting.

Did you catch your jaw before it hit the floor? Catch some of our other outstanding case mods too.

• Incredible, Sleek Blue LED Case Mod
• Xbox 360 Hellboy Case Mod
• Perhaps The Best Wall-E Case Mod Yet

And if you looking for a good place to start, then check out our Ultimate Case Modding Tutorial.

What is it about the combination of color and light which makes us automatically drawn to it ? Quite appropriately the video demo of Alex Beim’s LED bottle wall project is without sound. It’s all visual illumination as we watch 253 bottles light up with computer controlled LED bulbs. The glass bottles (probably Bacardi) are arranged in a grid of 23×11 on a flat mobile wall. Each bottle has a LED behind it. The bulbs are switched on and off in harmonic sequence by a programmed onboard computer thus creating patterns, letters and words.

The illuminated bottle wall project is a brilliant hit. If you need more creative uses light, check out some of our outstanding LED and light projects -

• Open Source POV Bicycle Wheel Animation
• Dirt Simple POV LED Display
  
• Giant Seven Segment LED Displays

• POV iPhone App Writes Messages in Midair
• LED Watch Flashes Time in Midair
• Dirt Simple POV LED Display

More photography projects:

• DIY Macro Photography on the Cheap
• Instant Camera Tripod on the Go

The human eye is much more sophisticated than a digital camera and perceives information quite differently. The sensors in a camera simply do not react in the same manner which makes it very difficult to shoot what we see, when it comes to LEDs. However, by changing some settings manually, you can drastically improve the results. For instance, variations to the shutter speed and white balance can perform magic when they are adjusted properly and are generally preferable to the auto adjustment mode.

So here is what you do:

• Get a set of LEDs and position them in a way that they form a square shape when lit.
• Take a first picture using the auto adjust setting. You can take a few if you prefer.
• Then, take a second one, this time adjusting the white balance and shutter speed manually, in order to optimize the results. Snap as many times as you wish.
• Test away! You will be able to determine which specific setting works the best with your LEDs and background.
• Remember to always use a tripod stand, when performing this type of experiment, for optimal results.

What difference can a tripod make?

• Instant Camera Tripod on the Go

In this case, if you want to play around with your aperture and shutter speed, a tripod would help immensely. Longer shutter speeds are hard to obtain, even with image stabilization, without a tripod and as you narrow your aperture, you’ll want to see how long you can extend your shutter speed. A tripod also lets you get multiple shots of the same subject with different settings so you can really compare your results.

Otherwise, professional photographers spend up to $500 on tripods, since they value the results. Without them, images tend to be hazy, contain too much whiteness which alters true color, and are never as precise because of shaky human hands.

Color bleeding

Color bleeding in photography is the transfer of color between nearby objects, caused by the colored reflection of indirect light. Due to color bleeding, when taking pictures of the LEDs you must, once again, adjust the settings properly in order to get the best results. Take for instance the image below; you can clearly notice the color bleed created by the transfer of light between neighboring LEDs. The most obvious ones are the REDs, since they appear pinker in hue every time they border two BLUEs.

Adjusting the white balance

• Learn how to draw and animate with light
  

It’s important to keep in mind, that once the lens of the camera gets saturated, the background might appear normal or (as we see it) but the LEDs will look whiter. In order to get the best and most realistic colors out of the LEDs, they require daylight. Indirect daylight would be even better to prevent the spectrum skew of artificial lighting, but more light is generally better than less, even if all you can get is a light bulb. For best results, the white balance should be adjusted in such a way that the true colors of your LEDs as well as the background appear closest to their natural color.

It’s all in the testing! The more you test, the more physical evidence you produce, which you can then analyze and compare, before adopting a successful technique. via Evil MSL