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 If you're the kind of person who likes to know how many people have viewed your photo published on flickr, here's the project for you. Using an Arduino board, Ethernet shield and some simple hardware Jashil Hilsdon has created his Arduino-powered flickr meter. The results are shown using an analogue 0~1mA DC panel meter which could be modified with a new scale. From a software perspective the project is a little complex, but achievable. 

Thankfully Jashil has published everything you need to know on his flickr page, so head over for the Arduino sketch and links to other required software tools. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Although Jashil used a separate Arduino board and Ethernet shield, you can recreate this and many other connected Arduino projects using our Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB connection (no pesky FTDI cables needed) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet:

 The people at TKJ Electronics have published a new Arduino library which offers a virtual serial port via Bluetooth. The benefit of using this method is that you can now communicate with a Bluetooth-equipped Arduino board with any terminal software on a PC or other device. The required hardware is an Arduino board with a USB host shield, and an inexpensive USB Bluetooth dongle. You can also use terminal software with Android devices, giving a very simple method of Arduino control without requiring any custom software on the Android device. 

To download the library, and for more information visit the TKJ site. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you're looking for an Arduino-compatible board with inbuilt USB host shield, look no further as we have the Freetronics USBDroid board:

Apart from being a fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard microSD socket and the full USB socket and host-mode controller. As well as the Bluetooth application described above, this is the ideal platform for developing peripherals or projects based around Android devices with ADK (Android Developer Kit) functionality, but without requiring a USB host controller shield stacked onto an Arduino. For more information and to order, visit the product page here. 

 In a great example of necessity being the mother of invention, the team at RapLeaf have designed and built a meeting room scheduling system that interacts with Google Calendar. Each meeting room has a node with LEDs and an LCD which show the room booking status from Google Calendar, and the users can simply book or cancel a room reservation by pressing a button on the node. Interestingly from a hardware perspective, communication between the nodes and master is via I2C and not Ethernet. 

Furthermore the entire project has been made open-source, so head over to GitHub for the Arduino code, schematics and EAGLE files. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

When rapid-prototyping your Arduino projects that use an LCD, time and effort can be saved by using an Arduino shield with inbuilt LCD, such as the Freetronics LCD Keypad Shield, which contains a bright 16x2 character LCD and five buttons that can be read from only one analog input pin:

 Using a minimalist-Arduino circuit and four external buttons, Chuck has created a simple game-show buzzer system for four players. The first person to press their button illuminates a matching LED, and the remaining players are ignored until reset is pressed. This would be great for trivia nights or as a design foundation for something more elaborate - perhaps this project and four DMDs could be used to recreate "Sale of the Century". Nevertheless, it's a fun project and could be built in a short afternoon.

So to get started, head over to Chuck's website here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

When making your own game-show system or other Arduino-embedded projects, consider our Freetronics LeoStick. Apart from being one of the smallest Arduino-compatibles on the market with USB, it also has an onboard RGB LED and piezo for sound effects and knock detection:

 After many months and project updates, Simon Jansen has completed his Arduino-based rendition of the Apple II game "Taipan". It was an amazing journey of experimenting, trial-and-error and what looks to be a lot of hard work - however Simon has pulled it off. The game is so complex he uses one Arduino board for the game play, and another for the display control (using the tvout library), with game data stored on external memory via I2C. Finally the game hardware has been built into a great enclosure - an original copy of Tai-Pan. Watch Simon's video about the game below:

Kudos to Simon for creating such a project, and also sharing it with us in great detail. To follow his epic design story, check out his website here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you are new to Arduino and looking to make your own projects, join in with our range of Arduino-compatible hardware, prototyping shields and module range. A good start is the Freetronics Eleven, the Arduino Uno-compatible board with onboard prototyping space:

 Ellen Sundh has demonstrated in her website how to interface a commercially-available Amplus LED message board with an Arduino. From a hardware perspective it's pretty simple, and Ellen has written her own Arduino library to take care of the software side of the problem. Once again it's great to see people finding ways of controlling items with an Arduino, and tihs is a great example.

For more information, hardware instructions and code, visit Ellen's blog here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

Although interfacing with an existing LED display is pretty nifty, an easier way would be to get your hands on one or more of our Freetronics Dot Matrix Display units. Apart from being dead simple to use, they're very bright for indoor and outdoor situations. Available in various colours, the 32 x 16 LED matrix can display text and graphics quite easily - and can be daisy-chained together for extended displays. For more information, see our range of Dot Matrix Displays here. 

 Computer scientist Todd Neller has created and documented his Arduino rendition of of Oskar van Deventer's 4-Bit Maze game. Although very simple in principle, to win the game requires a keen short-term memory and a little patience. The "maze" consists of four LEDs (each with a matching button), that are on at the start of the game. The goal is to turn off all the LEDs. However, when you turn one of the off, others may turn on. Here is an example of a finished prototype:

To play an online version of the game, plus all the details to make your own - visit Todd's website here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

 Enthusiast Trevor Shannon has demonstrated the use of an Arduino sending data back to a PC to be used by a Processing sketch in the form of a simple rendition of an "Etch-a-sketch". He has connected two potentiometers to the Arduino analogue inputs, whose values are relayed back to the PC and then graphed in a Processing display window. For example:

Although a simple example, it shows what is possible with Processing and an Arduino. For more information including the sketches, visit Trevor's interesting website here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you are new to Arduino and looking to make your own projects, join in with our range of Arduino-compatible hardware, prototyping shields and module range. A good start is the Freetronics Eleven, the Arduino Uno-compatible board with onboard prototyping space:

 Sooner or later someone who watches too many movies and has a numeric keypad, an Arduino board, and a technical-looking briefcase is going to make a movie prop that resembles an explosive device. However it's fun, could have other applications - for example a time-delay door lock, or more fun. It's up to your imagination. However - be responsible. Here's a video of the example prop:

For more information, including the hardware design and Arduino sketches - visit the instructable here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

When building your own Arduino-embedded projects, consider our Freetronics LeoStick. Apart from being one of the smallest Arduino-compatibles on the market with USB, it also has an onboard RGB LED and piezo for sound and knock detection:

 Instructables user and Freetronics customer 'unusualtravis' has published details of his fantastic Arduino-powered catapult. Using some simple woodwork, a large servo and circuitry, a Freetronics Eleven board and the laws of physics - this great example of possible fun and games has been created:

Following the plans and instructions this would be a great weekend project, and something with great potential for use both indoors and out. For more information, including plans, circuitry and the Arduino sketch - visit the instructions site here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well. 

If you are new to Arduino and looking to make your own catapult, join in with our range of Arduino-compatible hardware, prototyping shields and module range. A good start is the Freetronics Eleven, the Arduino Uno-compatible board with onboard prototyping space: