iPhone apps S/D

btw has anyone used a Wacom pen or something like one for the iPad? not just for drawing but for general poking? worth it? or can you DIY something with conductive material and like a stick

use a dead man's finger, great hack

forgot the door code for the anatomy lab :(

Alternatively...

too tempting to eat it

Same reason Johnny 5 never got a palm pilot, iirc

I've tried the Pogo stylus but I don't like that it's squishy and blunt.

that's what she said

lol You know, I thought about what I was saying and said it anyway.

Recently got PocketCloud (remote desktop) and it seems pretty great and was simple to set up. Also ArtStudio, which has quite a lot of features and was cheap.

btw has anyone used a Wacom pen or something like one for the iPad? not just for drawing but for general poking? worth it? or can you DIY something with conductive material and like a stick

i DIYed one with conductive foam and a charcoal stick holder, already had the latter lying around so total cost was 80p. You have to have a fairly fat end, about 5mm, or it doesn't register, so you can't get super precise. For drawing it's ok, definitely better than a finger but not as good as a pen. For general poking it's fine.

ps leave it s1ocki

conductive phone: hardware store?

hardware/electrical, yup. if you're lucky. you might be able to get a cheap electrical doohicky packaged in it if you can't find it on its own.

but at that point you might as well just get a pogo or whatever.

anyone using cinemagram?

ya, i wish it were a bit better about all the instagram-ish features it sorta pretends to have

cinemagram lasted ~10 mins with me, nice idea

i got some conductive string on ebay super cheap with the idea of making my own ipad paint brush but it was kind of a pain in the ass. i have one of those wacom whatever things and never use it. i dont understand why they have to be so think. if the y sell paint brushes with conductive bristles surely there could be a thinner pen type deal right?

think = thick yo

cinemagram is way fun

coz Make A Gif

xp if the stylus is too thin it just won't register - the screen's really only looking for input from fat sausage fingers.

Yeah sure that's what they say but what about brushes that work and why am I able to drag a thin piece of conductive string across the screen and get an (admittedly sketchy but it is a light string) line in pretty much any art/ note/ sketch app?

i dunno! i tried cutting down the foam to less than 5mm and it just didn't work.

Is the string knotted made into a firmer point than foam might be?

Would a Palm Pilot stylus work? There might be an old Palm Pilot lying around my office. I'll have to see if I can find one.

Palm Pilot stylii don't conduct, so that won't work.

you can get the string/wire in different strengths.

has anyone tried one of these? http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut

(i haven't)

if youre going for off the shelf this 'flat' stylus seems at least a little more intuitive

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31JTPDDhc1L.jpg

ooooh that cosmonaut does look sweet

heres a DIY. See all plus pics at http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2011/Home/March/Week2/RDMHomeMar0911.htm#DIY_iPadBrush:

Based on our understanding of how the iPad touchscreen works, a "stylus" can be made out of ANYTHING conductive (metal, foam, skin, etc...) as long as it makes contact with the surface of the iPad screen in such a way that it spans a certain distance to register as a touch. iPad stylus are so easy to make (we made one in a few seconds with some copper foil and a wooden dowel) that it wasn't really worth a DIY write-up.

A stylus may be easy to construct, but what about making a brush that would work with the iPad? Knowing what we know about how the iPad touchscreen works, we figured that, in theory, it shouldn't be too difficult to make a brush that would work on the iPad. The challenging part would be finding the right type of material to make the bristles.

In order to make a brush, we need conductive bristles. We have already demonstrated that as long as something conductive makes sufficient contact with the screen's surface, the iPad will register it as a "touch." So, a bunch of copper strands should do nicely. The easiest source of ready-made copper "hair" is from an old power cord.

A few quick snips, strip BOTH ends, and we had ourselves a nice bunch of shiny copper bristles ready for testing. The Bic pen tube, with its tapered point, made it the perfect brush handle. So in just a little under 30 seconds, we made an iPad brush. Of course, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question is "Will it work?" The answer is...well enough, but it could be a lot better.

The brush is easily recognized by the iPad and will track nicely across the surface. The copper is too soft to scratch the glass screen. The only problem is that the bristles have no "spring" in them. They will deform on contact and will stay bent. While this is not a big problem, it does not really feel like a brush.

Unless Apple changes the fundamental technology behind their current iPad screen or someone adds a lot more technology to the stylus, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to have the kind of PRECISE pixel/brush control like that of a Wacom Cintiq. Any company implying such is being VERY generous in their claims. However, if you want to approximate the feel of using a brush on the iPad, follow our DIY instructions, and make one for a few pennies.

the cosmonaut is awesome

tempting!

okay so i tried to make a copper wire stylus and it worked intermittently. then i was messing around in my tool box and found a copper ummmmm thing bolts go in. anyway i tried it and no go but then i tilted it a little so only part of the metal thing bottom (hardly anything - approx 5mm x 2.5mm) was touching the ipad and voila. worked pretty good considering the size. Here it is to scale:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/6894004198_830cd379cc_c.jpg

Sketchbook drawing w/ it next

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/6893960104_2735fdcc7d_c.jpg

this Jot Pro looks pretty cool:

http://adonit.net/product/jot-pro/

The Jot Touch that is coming out shortly could be a godsend - a bluetooth pressure sensitive stylus.

wooow sunny, what app did you do that in?

speaking of, does anyone know a good sketch/drawing/note app for use with stylii that will a) make my handwriting look better and b) let me rest my hand on the screen while writing

Notes Plus is excellent but hasn't had a retina upgrade yet (it's coming). Paper is free and worth a crack, but extra pens cost money.

i dig paper but it doesnt filter out the heel of my han, will give notes plus a shot

Notability is loads cheaper, give that a crack. Not retina yet either.

atm Notability is US$1 and Notes Plus is US$8 so

Why are these styli so expensive? I like the Jot Pro but I don't want to spend $19 for a stylus. And that's cheaper than the Cosmonaut.

Dunno, but my Targus stylus cost around US$20 and I use it most days.

come on $19 aint so bad

I guess not if you use it enough. But neither the materials nor design seem that special. Or maybe I don't know enough about them to say.

let's learn... together

sunny tell us more about yr super thin stylus!