If you have an iPhone and watch long movies (usually from ripped DVDs) leaving the phone in the dock doesn't cut it, the iPhone needs to be horizontal. I usually have CNN, ABC or a few hours of news on my phone and like to leave it on my desk while I work but you can't watch these in the dock since it's turned the wrong way. Long plane / train trips with a tray made me want to make this too.

So - here's an iPhone stand I made, you can take the file to a place like TechShop in SF or anywhere there's a high powered laser that can cut acrylic. Believe it or not there are lots of these lasers in most cities, definitely at a lot of campuses now too. Universal and Epilog are usually the only two brands you'll come across.

I figured this is a good beginner project for getting starting with your own little "FabLab" like project. Variations on this model will work with other phones too, all depends on the size and dimensions of your phone of course.

I made this stand as a snap-to-together / press fit and it can be reproduced cheap, if anyone designs a better version send me the file and I'll post it up here on MAKE. I put a hole on each leg so the USB cable could fit through, it seems to be a better way to hold the sync/power cable.

Here we go... Get some acrylic, I bought a sheet of 12" x 12" clear acrylic (1/8th" thickness). You can get these sheets at local plastic stores in most big cities or online - Link (McMaster-Carr $6.48). Cast (not extruded) tends to be more scratch resistant and better for projects like this.

Download this file, it's an Adobe Illustrator file (black and white vector line art, included are other formats if needed) - Link (ZIP with AI//CDR/DXF). If you want to make a lot of these just copy and past the 2 shapes over and over.

A member from CCCKC approached me over a month ago wanting to make some special promotional badges for Defcon. They wanted something like these (http://inventgeek.com/Projects/Laser-Fab-LED-Necklace/overview.aspx) but wanted to keep the form factor of their previous badges (luggage tag size, basically). This is the first prototype version of the resulting LED badges.

These badges are glued together, so they don’t have any protruding fasteners, but the battery can easily be replaced (the LED can as well but that’s a little harder). The battery door is meant to be kept in place with a key ring or badge clip, but seems to stay in place with friction on the prototypes. I’ve included both 3mm (if you’re using 1/8” acrylic) and 5mm (for 1/4" acrylic) LED templates. If you want a thinner badge, use the 3mm LED version, but be warned that warping can be an issue if you etch it too deep. I have black acrylic in hand so the back and middle sections of the badges are cut from that, but there’s nothing stopping you from making the entire thing out of clear acrylic.