Hacks, Mods & Circuitry: Page 11

What do these egg-carton lamps by American designer Victor Vetterlein have in common with Frankenstein's monster? More than you'd think! Both are green. Both have bolted necks. And both are assembled from materials most would be happy to let decompose.

This video offers instructions on how to use a wire wrap (or wirewrap) tool, an excellent and underrated alternative to soldering. It's particularly useful when prototyping as wirewraps can be undone quickly using the short end of the tool (though this particular process isn't demonstrated in the video). See how to connect a 4-legged RGB LED to header pins, a job that is particularly obnoxious to accomplish using solder and an iron, using 30-gauge wire and the tool. For more information, and to...

You probably won't be using a wire tracer very often, but if you do need it for some reason - save the money and make your own! This tracer is made solely out of spare parts that you probably already have in your garage or basement. So, follow along and get started.

A British prisoner was recently caught with a tattoo gun rigged from a Sony Playstation. The crafty D.I.Y.er broke down the Playstation and attached the console motor to a finely sharpened ballpoint pen.

The Xbox controller really feels good in the hand. Most USC controllers for the PC do not. Bridge the gap yourself after watching this video, which demonstrates how to turn an old Xbox controller into a USC one that you can plug into you PC. Now you can play all of your ROMs with a controller much more like what they are supposed to be played with.

Scenario: it's late at night, the roads are completely empty and you are stuck at the longest light ever. Solution: don't run a red- change it to green yourself. Avoid a ticket, save yourself some time (and perhaps a little gas).

Modder Bacteria presents his iNto64, a mini portable handheld of the classic Nintendo console. The iNto64 features:

Tinkernut demonstrates how to hook up your exercise bike to Google Maps. Using a stationary bike can be good for your health but it can also be boring. You can spice up your exercise regiment by using Google Maps. You will need a USB keypad with arrow keys, a magnetic contact alarm with wires, soldering equipment, an exercise bike and a laptop computer. Connect the contact alarm to the up arrow key on the keypad by opening up the keypad and connecting the wires to the up arrow key by soldering...

Scanners have been around for a while. They allow us scan photos and documents into digital versions that are a lot less susceptible to damage over time. But what if you want to digitize the memories of something that isn't 2D? With this hacker's how-to, you'll learn a method for making a 3D scanner. To follow along, you'll need a computer, a printer, a web cam, white foam board and a laser pointer.

If you have an extra speaker cabinet, a broken XLR cable and a little bit of soldering knowledge, you can create a functional kick drum microphone in just a few minutes' time. This audio engineer's guide will walk you through the entire process. For detailed, step-by-step instructions, and to get started building your own sub mic for extra low-end, watch this hacker's how-to.

How to Make Anything demonstrates how to use a three prong XLR mic with your camcorder. The XLR plug on the mic is not going to fit into the 1/8 inch plug on your camcorder so you will need an adapter. You can find an XLR to 1/8 inch adapter for about 10 dollars. Try to get an adapter with as short of a cord as possible to reduce noise and radio interference. You can also get an XLR box which is an interface which goes between your camera and the microphone. The XLR box will be about 180...

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a microphone with a pair of headphones. Headphones have properties and construction similarities that are similar to a microphone. Instead of plugging the headphones into the headphone jack, plug it into the microphone jack. Then you just simply hold your headphones up to your mouth and speak into it. The sound quality produced from the headphones is not very good and it should only be used if you don't have a microphone. This video will benefit...

Learn how to make a mute plug for your computer by following the steps outlined in this tutorial. This plug can be used for anything, including computers, stereos, mp3 players, or anything else with speakers that has audio. A mute plug is useful to get back at someone that constantly plays their stereo too loud because you are essentially cutting off their audio with this plug. The plug is place into where the headphone equipment would normally go. What you need are some old headphones. Take...

The itch chair, designed by Dana Gordon and Alejandro Zamudio Sánchez, is a futuristic chair that scratches the back of the sitter.

Soldering properly is a skill every electronics and computer hobbyist needs. Proper soldering appears deceptively simple, but it requires practice. One has to do the steps below to solder the wires which is as follows, First Clean the area you wish to solder and scrape the wire down to the metal and then wiping it clean with alcohol or acetone. Then you want to use a rosin-core solder for electronic applications, which comes normally with coils. Tin the tip of the first Wrap one or two inches...

Kip Kay, from Make Magazine, shows you how to take your radio controlled vehicle and turn it into a spy car, by mounting a camera onto it. Follow Kip, as he shows you how to remove the body from your radio controlled car, mount the camera inside the chassis using the triPod mounting screw hole on your video camera, and put it all back together. In just few short steps you, too, can have your very own radio controlled spy car.

While it is common knowledge that Thomas Edison created the first light bulb, he was not the first to create a means of creating artificial light. That distinction goes to a man by the name of Humphrey Davy who created a means to light up a room called an arc light. The following video will give you a detailed step by step procedure for creating your own 19th century arc light using materials that can often be found right around the home.

This video by makemagazine demonstrates a weekend project on how to make a LED light brick. The materials required for this project are listed on the link to the make magazine page in the info box or it can be orders as a kit from the make magazine store. Take the PCB (printed circuit board) and first solder the Resisters and Capacitors as shown. Next test the LEDs and separate them using a button cell batteries. Solder the LED, PIC micro-controller, DC power connector and tilt switch following...

This video demonstrates a project taken from "Make" magazine. Viewers will learn how to modify an ordinary computer mouse with a vibration unit for use with PC games, similar to the rumble controllers sold for video-game consoles, to make gaming more fun.

Nick and Anna Berte of Bel Air, Maryland mischievously rigged their snowman with a flamethrower.