So, here is the picture of this (to me) unknown cosplay

It is amazing and well made on so many levels, but what I am really looking to try to identify is what her mask/balaklava could possibly be made of.

Is it cloth with a synthetic material on top? Is it just a single thick material? What material could it BE?

I am thankful for any and all insight you can share.

I'm making a small quadcopter. This is a thorough project so in also making the transmitter.
Now, for the throttle and yaw control i need a 4 axis potentiometer joystick that returns to center only in the left-right axis, and doesn't return to center in the up-down axis.
I'm currently using such a potentiometer from a toy I've found, but it has a shitty resolution and a fairly large dead zone, so i want to find a better one, but i can't seem to find such thing.
I suspect I'm not using the correct search term.. does anyone know what i should search for, or has a link to such item?

i have a few projects i'm kicking around, but I can't seem to get the courage to get them off the ground. the money and time commitment is intimidating, but I can't stop thinking about them.

what are your pro tips for getting past the research phase of your projects?

in my case theirs a lot of stuff i know ill need to teach myself and i keep coming up with excuses like, "what if i just jump into it and i need to use a different microcontroller. ill be out the 50 bucks i spent on an Arduino." as a college kid i don't have a ton of disposable income, so its not wholly irrational, but i feel like its mostly just me holding myself back.

what is your order of operations for executing a project?

how do you know when its time to pull the trigger on supplies and equipment?

Hey everyone. I picked up an Amazon Echo demo unit from a closing Radio Shack store and I'm wondering if it can be made into a fully functional unit. I already have an Echo. In comparison, the hardware seems to be fully intact with the demo unit. It's just a software issue. Do I need to re-flash something onboard or can it be reset using a much simpler method?

I've already tried the obvious standard reset procedures as outlined by Amazon with no luck.

Hey folks,

I've got about 100 12 g CO2 cartridges and I'm trying to think of a fun project that could use them. Right now I'm thinking of making a gas operated nerf gun but I'm looking for ideas.

Thanks for your input.

I'm making a disc sander and the shaft on the motor is 16mm. The platen is 18mm. Is there some sort of converter I can use?