Hot Hacks, Mods & Circuitry Posts

How To: Quick-N-Dirty Circuit Board Repair: How to Patch Faded or Corroded Traces with Pencil Lead

You may already know that you can build a functional circuit on a sheet of paper with the graphite from a pencil, but you'd probably never think of using it to fix an electronic device. This same principle can be used to bring back a bricked phone, but can also repair a damaged or corroded trace in a printed circuit board. Redditor 404ClueNotFound spilled water on his favorite computer keyboard (like so many of us have done before). The damage was minimal, but after drying it out, one key sti...

How To: Make a Super Secret Batman-Style Bust Switch for Your Batcave (Or Just Your Lights)

Remember the 1960's American television series Batman, with Adam West as Bruce Wayne? It was waaaaay before my time. The caped crusader that I'm more familiar with is actually this one... When I first heard of Adam West, it was him doing the Batusi on The Simpsons. I had no idea what was going on, so I looked up Adam West and his sensual dance and found myself face to face with the 1960's Batman.

How To: Convert Your Old Apple iMac G4 into a Cable-Ready HDTV

Most of us have traded our desktop systems for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, meaning there's a lot of outdated hardware sitting in attics. Want to give your old computer a new purpose? Matthew Chappee turned his iMac G4 into an HDTV using the guide by Dremel Junkie. One thing to note before you take on this project yourself is that if you want to use it to watch cable, you'll need a converter box to get around the MPAA's HDCP restriction. But, a converter box is considerably less expe...

How To: Use the rattlesnake knot, square braid and other paracord braiding techniques

Paracord braiding is a popular technique used to make lanyards and ties for survival gear. There are many different techniques a braider can use - the most common are the rattlesnake knot and the square braid. This video shows you the nuances of both techniques, a few variations, and how you can decide when to use one or the other. You can also alter the appearance and tensile strength of your paracord braid by changing how tight you make your knots.

How To: Increase the power of a 5mw green laser pointer

In this tutorial, we learn how to increase the power of a 5mw green laser pointer. First, you will need to gather the parts you will need, which include a vise, the laser, a soldering iron, and a block of wood. After this, cut the block of wood in half and then put your laser pointer in the middle. Pull and twist so the module comes out, then pull the foam protector off. Don't lose any small parts that come out. Next, unscrew the silver cap and then put on your new laser module. Replace all p...

How To: Build Your Own Internet Radio Player, AKA Pandora's Box

Growing up, my family would get together in the living room every Saturday night and gather around my mom's old boombox radio and listen to Disco Saturday Night on 104.3 FM from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. (the show ended in 2008 after 14 years of consecutive shows). The old ladies in the picture below are the best representation of these nights that I could find. Now, the radio is all but dead (just like the old ladies above) in this world of music streaming services and torrenting. All of our music is...

How To: Cut and Sand Your Micro-SIM into a Nano-SIM Card for Your New iPhone 5

Planning on getting the iPhone 5, but want to keep your SIM card? The new nano-SIMs that manufacturers are adopting will be even smaller than the micro-SIMs that most of us currently use. It's fairly easy to cut a regular SIM down to a micro-SIM, but because the nano-SIM will be thinner as well as smaller than the micro, cutting it down to size will require a little more work. Photo by Tech Digest

How To: Build a Cheap Arduino Tachometer to Measure the RPMs of Spinning Fans (And More)

A tachometer, or RPM counter, is a device that measures the speed of something that's rotating. In a car with a manual transmission, the tachometer can be helpful in determining when to release the clutch and how much gas to give when you're taking off. This DIY Arduino Tachometer by Chris on PyroElectro uses an infrared transmitter and receiver break-beam pair to measure the RPM of a computer fan. When the fan blade passes between the transmitter and receiver, the IR beam counts the interrup...

News: Want a Drink? The Arduino 'Inebriator' Will Pour You 15 Different Cocktails

Who needs to go to bartending school when you've got the Inebriator to mix your favorite drinks for you? Want a cosmopolitan? No problem. Press a button. Want a tequila sunrise? Sure thing. Press a button. As long as you've got a good supply of liquor and mixers, the Inebriator is at your command. So, what exactly is this Inebriator thing? Well, it's a robotic bartender that can automatically pour 15 different pre-programmed cocktails. With 9 different liquors and 7 mixers on board, it's got ...

How To: Block RFID Signals, Build an RFID Reader Detector, and Make Custom RFID Tags

RFID chips are everywhere. They're in passports, credit cards, and tons of items you've bought in the last 5 years or so. Big retailers like Walmart started using tracking products with RFID as early as 2004, and today, they're used in everything from mobile payments to hospital record systems. Chances are, unless you're a hermit (in which case you wouldn't be reading this anyway), there's an RFID tag within a few feet of you. Photo by sridgway

How To: Revive a Dead Hard Drive

We depend on our hard drives for our data storage and if they stop working, our important data can be lost, this could cause many problems like losing school projects making us to do them again, losing jobs and other problems . So here is a tutorial, on how to make a dead hard drive work again.

How To: Turn an Old Scanner into a Keyboard Light

Do-it-yourselfer Kipkay salvaged parts from an old parallel port scanner and made a flexible, super-bright light in this how-to video. The modification is done by extracting the lamp and running it through clear tubing. He mounted the new lamp above his keyboard for night typing. Watch this video tutorial and learn how to turn an old scanner into a keyboard light.

How To: Make LED-enhanced anti-paparazzi glasses

This video teaches us how to prevent those pesky paparazzi from invading our privacy. It suggests buying a pair of safety glasses that have lights attached at the sides. Then, remove the lights, and replace the existing resistors with higher-powered ones, and the lights with infrared LEDs. When the press tries to film you while you're wearing these at night, the cameras will see bright, menacing lights where your face should be. This how-to is presented as a joke, but it would be hilarious to...

How To: Test an electrolytic capacitor with a digital multimeter

If you're working with a capacitor and wondering whether it's working or not, this video will help you find out. You're going to need a multimeter, available at any good electronics store. This device is capable of testing many different electric devices, and capacitors are one you can test. Set the dial, hook it up and see if things are working! These multimeter devices are essential in the world of home electronics, so put one in your tool kit today!