Super cool program: Trebstar, a Mac and PC trebuchet modeling software, calculates the range and efficiency of your trebuchet design.

The program has various configurable parameters and animations, and also shows the forces on the different components of the trebuchet itself – lets you know what part might break when you build your masterpiece. A handy tool for aspiring punkin chunkers! And a quick reminder: watch me on Science channel’s Punkin Chunkin special this Thanksgiving. It’s awesome.

Download Trebstar 4.5 here
Unstuff it with StuffitExpander

Here’s a miniature trebuchet kit to let you understand the mechanics while throwing golf balls around the back yard (or office).

My Canon SD1000 with Gorillapod perched on a SF parking garage ledge shooting a full moon timelapse

I love my Gorillapod – it comes with me everywhere I go, camera bag, backpack or suitcase. The versatility of it extends beyond “turn-anything-into-a-tripod” – it’s also an amazingly entertaining toy for children, and some people have even looked to hack them into “helping hands” for soldering projects.

One thing with the G-pod though, I rarely get a perfectly level shot when using it. The alternative makes it worthwhile, but Instructable user Zomie took on that same hindrance and devised an LED-lit bubble level mount for his SLR Gorillapod. Cheaply found components make it an attractive addition to us nighttime photography fans.

Have you ever shot in low light conditions and noticed your shots were off level? Well I certainly have!  I have been doing a lot of work lately with long exposure photography and when I am out in the field using a gorillapod I find myself running into this quite often.

I know I can buy a shoe mount camera level, but at night it is very difficult to see.  I clearly needed to make my own, so please follow along in this instructable to see how to make your own.  Here is a quick video walk through showing you what you can build by the end of this instructable.

Read the whole writeup: How to build a light up camera level for a DSLR