Check out JaGe090879’s amazing time-lapse video of a Gecko being eaten by ants. A lot of times when I build something or do a tear down I want to record the entire process the same way. That way when I need to put it back together I can remember the steps. Using my PC and a simple script I automated my setup to record a snapshot every few seconds. It’s a bare bones setup and I’ve tested it to work on most windows Xp and 7PCs. Feel free to use it for your projects. [download after the break]

I can’t take credit for all the software, the webcam control is a derivative of rysiora from Poland’s work.  I just implemented the time-lapse portion. The whole program is written in AutoIT, a great free scripting language that lets you manipulate and simulate the windows user interface.

Instructions

Step 1) Download Exe
Step 2) Run Exe
Step 3) Set the timing (hit pgup/pgdn to increase or decrease while running)
Step 4) Hit F1 if you want to  take an instant snapshot
Step 5) Hit esc to exit
Step 6) Find your pictures in the same directory
Step 7) Profit

Got a computer with a webcam? Great!

Running Windows XP or 7? Excellent!

Running a MAC OS or Linux? Sorry the AutoIt language doesn’t work on those. Womp womp womp….

Download Program [exe]
WebCam Time Lapse

Download the source code [zip]
Webcam Time Lapse

Have you ever wanted a computer that you can leave on 24/7 and not even notice that it is on when you walk into the room? I know I have.  Now I finally built one that is so quiet you can’t hear if it’s on or not even if you stand next to it.

Here is a video to give you an idea of how small the computer is.

Notice how it makes almost no noise when it’s on. If you walked into the room you wouldn’t be able to tell that there is a computer there too.

Cooling

The dual core Atom motherboard used to have a small fan on it that cooled the graphics processor. That was removed and a 140mm Scythe fan was placed on top of the entire motherboard.  Why such a ridiculously large fan? Because it’s quiet. Rate at 10dB, it is the quietest fan that I have found for sale and it happened to be 140mm big. So I worked with it, and it turned out to do an amazing job at cooling the whole computer.

I was worried at first. While this big fan does move a lot of air, it moves it over a large area. The original 10mm fan sat directly on the chipset heat sink, providing localized cooling, which I was afraid the big fan might not match. I’m glad it worked out well in the end when I finally assembled everything and tried it out.

The 80 watt Pico power supply I used is over 95% efficient and produces almost no heat.

Front side of the Lexan mini ITX computer

The front of the computer has the power button. No USB ports or sd card readers. I was satisfied with just having 4 USB ports in the back. I used this computer as a media PC. I have a projector connected to it as well as a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Top of the Lexan mini ITX computer

And finally, The stats:

• Dual core 1.6Ghz Atom processor
• Integrated video card
• 1 Gig ram
• 80 Gig hard drive
• 80 Watt Power supply
• Awesome lexan case
• Under $250