Hot Hacks, Mods & Circuitry Posts
How To: Hack a Cheap Floating Globe into a Levitating Imperial Death Star!
Have any Star Wars fanatics in your family? Well, here's a great Christmas gift idea for those Star Wars fans who think they have everything... a freaking LEVITATING DEATH STAR!
How To: Hack a Pair of Cheap Active Shutter 3D Specs into Light-Detecting, Auto-Tinting Sunglasses
Wouldn't it be awesome if your glasses could detect when it's bright outside and automatically darken? Well, the technology has been around for a while, but it'll set you back a few hundred bucks.
How To: Build a Deadly Motion-Activated Airsoft Turret Gun
It's tough out there on the battlefield, especially when your stuck in the trenches and your comrades are dropping like flies. There's no hope. At least, until the next airsoft battle.
How To: Turn a Super Cheap Mousetrap into a Powerful BB-Shooting Handgun
Here's a way you can turn a mousetrap into a fun little handgun that shoots up to 40 feet! This is a great project because it can be made with simple materials, very basic tools, and in just a few minutes!
How To: Add an Extra USB Port to Your Wired Computer Mouse
Ever try plugging in two flash drives into your MacBook Pro before? The USB ports on MacBooks are not only directly side by side, they're insanely close to each other, so it can be extremely difficult to plug in a large USB device with another smaller USB device. Sometimes it can fit, but it's a strain on the USB port and the device itself. If one of the items in question is a USB mouse, then your worries are over...
How To: Use Your "Dead" Car Battery to Power Emergency Fans, Lighting, and More!
A common misconception is that all car batteries die. This, in fact, isn't true—the majority of "dead" car batteries just don't contain enough juice to power a car, but they can still provide enough watts to keep emergency fans and lighting running, which is great when a power outage occurs. So, instead of lugging the battery to the nearest drop-off center or just letting it collect dust in the garage, you can put that car battery to good use.
How To: Deter Data Thieves from Stealing Your Flash Drive by Disguising It as a Broken USB Cable
Having a flash drive is more or less a must, but the biggest downside is that they often get stolen, and it's not hard to figure out why. They're small, so they easily fit into pockets, and a lot of people store valuable information on them. Want to pretty much guarantee no one takes yours? Disguise it as a broken USB cable like Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Science Labs so it just looks like a piece of junk to would-be thieves. The materials are pretty simple: a flash drive (the smaller the bett...
DIY Portable Power Pack: Turn Your Backpack into a Solar-Powered Gadget Charger
A smartphone is pretty much useless with a dead battery. When you're out and about, it can be hard to find a place to plug in (if you remembered your charger, that is). But this DIY solar panel backpack made by electrical engineer Theodore Protasiewicz will help you use the scorching sun to your advantage and make sure that your gadgets are always ready to go. Theodore started with just a normal backpack, some solar panels, 18 gauge wire, and a USB port and hacked it into a traveling solar ch...
How To: Build Night Vision Goggles with a Car Backup Camera and Monitor
Night vision goggles are awesome, but the price? Not so much. Luckily, you can make your own pair that will have you sneaking up on your friends in just a few simple steps.
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: Place Your Electrical Socket Safely in the Wall If It Was Pulled Out
Hello! This post is about the electrical socket. Imagine that somebody pulled the cable out of the possible protection outlet too fast? The result can be seen on the following photo. What to do next? Step 1: Preparation
How To: Hack a Hard Drive into a Hidden Flash Drive, Cell Phone Charger & More!
Video: . Recycle your hard drive into a hidden flash memory device that only you know how to turn on and use in secret. This DIY hack project allows you to recycle your broken hard drives back to life and turn them into something useful.
How To: Modify house clocks to run on solar power for five dollars
Power the clocks at your home with the sun! With a solar cell that costs around $5, you can convert a clock to solar power and avoid buying batteries or running up the electric bill. Instead, connect a rechargable battery to the solar panel with a few wires and some adhesive and soon you'll have enough energy to power your clock for as long as it lasts.
How To: Increase the range of a remote control
Kipkay shows you how to increase the range of your remote control for your television. You use electrical tape to make sure that the leads do not come into contact with the reflector.
How To: Hack a megaphone into a bionic hearing spy device
Make a bionic hearing spy device by hacking a megaphone! Kipkay brings you this hack video on how to use a megaphone to spy on people. You can pull in conversations up to 100 feet away! Check out Kipkay hiding in a tree, spying on people. It also works through walls. That's how to make a bionic hearing spy device!
How To: Secretly record people with your own spy sunglasses
Hack a pair of sunglasses to secretly record audio and video and spend less than $40 in the process with this how-to video. To replicate this hack for yourself, you will need a spy camera and black solar shield sunglasses. For detailed, step-by-step instructions on building your own spy recorder sunglasses, watch this hacking how-to from Kip Kay of Make Magazine.
How To: Make a motion triggered spy camera
Kip "Kipkay" Kedersha is known for his intriguing and clever how-to and prank videos, even when he teams up with MAKE Magazine. He will show you how to tweak, hack, mod, and bend any technology to your hacking needs. No electronic device, gadget, or household item can stand the test of Kipkay's hacks and mods.
How To: Turn a Chromebook into Google TV
The Google Chromebook may be simple, but it is not limited. Watch this video to see how the Chromebook works as a kind of rudimentary Google TV when hooked up to a large monitor. This easy mod will let you enjoy your Cr-48 Chromebook in a whole new way.
News: Magic 8-Ball Booby Trapped with Camera Flash
Take $1.35 of thrift store bric-à-brac, toss in a few spare parts from your electronics drawer and mix it all up with an earnest desire to alienate your loved ones forevermore and what do you get? A booby-trapped Magic 8-Ball, that's what! Hacker arfink explains, "My idea was to make a Magic 8-Ball which would blind an unsuspecting victim with the camera flash. I had an old Honeywell thermostat at home which had a mercury tilt switch inside, and after cutting open the 8 ball and removing the ...
News: Trade in Your Grill for Japanese LED Teeth
In the far away land of Japan, gold is out, glow-in-the-dark is in. LED "grills" were recently conceived of by two Japanese designers/hackers for a winter advertising event at clothing store Laforet Harajuku. The LED teeth attachments quickly became a hot item. Foreseeably, one of the two designers demonstrating the teeth in the video above is the familiar Daito Manabe (our favorite "self-electrocuting" mad hacker). Manabe's partner, Motoi Ishibashi, came up with the idea when "he saw a video...
How To: Hack a laser pointer into a burning laser
It's not just for annoying cats, anymore. You can upgrade your laser pointers and turn them into an actual burning laser! This tutorial by Kip Kay shows you how to mod a basic laser pointer into a higher powered laser.
How To: Build a blue laser ray gun that will burn things magnificently
If you've ever seen Goldfinger you've probably wondered when we're going to get access to lasers that could cut a man in half. This might be it. Watch on to learn how you can, with some electrical engineering skills, make a DIY blue death ray laser gun that will cut through all kinds of stuff. No word on whether it works on British secret agents.
HowTo: Make Your Own Tron Costume With Electroluminescent Wire
Want to make your own sexy (or not) Tron costume like designer Syuzi's? All you need is a black body suit and some electroluminescent wire. The bodysuit is easy, but as for the electroluminescent wire, you'll need Adafruit for that:
How To: Build a simple analog self-balancing robot with basic electronics
Analog robots might seem a little backwards conceptually, but they are still really fun to make if you're into robotics and electronics. This video will teach you how to make a simple self-balancing analog robot. It's basically a small, robotic, analog Segway.
How To: Build a DIY laser cutter gas containment chamber
If you are the proud owner of a laser cutter, you had better be careful with your expensive new toy. Some materials can damage the optics in your laser or produce poisonous gas when you cut them, so you need to make a gas containment chamber to work in. Watch this video to find out how to do that out of silicon wafer, silicone sealant, and a metal cookie tin lid.
How To: Wire a light with a 3 way switch
In this video, Mark Donovan teaches us how to wire a light with a 3 way switch. Before starting, make sure the power is turned off from the main circuit panel first, and you test to make sure it's off. You will have two switches for the same light fixture. For a 15 amp circuit, you can use 14-2 and 14-3 wire. These wires will have a black, white, and red wire. The 14-2 wire just has a lack and white wire with a copper ground. The power coming into the base should have all the wires that conne...
How To: Make a DIY XBox 360 Wi-Fi adapter
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a DIY. XBOX 360 Wi-Fi adapter. First, go to your network connection properties on your laptop or netbook. From here, you will disconnect from any connection you have going. Then, select both connections and right click 'bridge connections'. Once finished, reconnect to your Wi-Fi network. Now, you can take one end of your cable and connect it to your computer and then your XBox. From here, you should be able to connect to XBox Live and play any game you'd...
How To: Make a homemade rocket from a can of compressed air
Rockets can be made from things you can buy at any electronics store - like a can of compressed air. You can even buy your own kit, or assemble your own by following the instructions in this video. Once you've built the chassis, just insert a can of compressed air and let it ride!
How To: Build your own turret board using the press fitting method
Assemble a hammer, a number 43 drill bit, a turret setter, an X-acto knife or hobby knife, the plastic for the board and, of course, your layout! Once you have everything, this tutorial shows you how to build what you need to end up with a functional turret board.
How To: Attach a few spin-activated LED lights to a yo-yo
Here's a fun weekend project you can use to add to a common toy. Get a yo-yo with concave sides, a few pieces of thin plastic (like from a CD case) and a few lithium-powered LEDs. Then follow this tutorial and get a yo yo that lights up when you play with it!
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: Make a remote control work with only one battery
Hack your remote control so you only need one battery to run it! All you need is one paper clip to let you complete the circuit between the battery and the hardware on your remote control. It'll run at a lower voltage, so you'll have to be closer to the TV, but it will still work!
How To: Create a printed circuit board (PCB) with a printer, photo paper and iron
If you haven't made your own PCB (printed circuit board) yet, perhaps you we're just missing the proper instructions. But now, watch and learn from AP Digital light! They show you a fast and easy prototyping technique using a laster printer, photo paper, and a regular household iron. It's the heat toner transfer method of making PCBs.
News: Robo-Exoskeleton Puts Paralyzed Back on Their Feet
Meet Rex, the Robotic Exoskeleton—a pair of wearable robotic legs that promise to help the wheelchair-bound get back on their feet. The wealthy ones, at least. The device is expected to retail for around $150,000 stateside.
How To: Use a wire wrap tool instead of soldering
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 ...
How To: Build a 19th century arc light
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.
How To: Build an iPhone/iPod charger cable
Systm is the Do It Yourself show designed for the common geek who wants to quickly and easily learn how to dive into the latest and hottest tech projects. We will help you avoid pitfalls and get your project up and running fast. Search Systm on WonderHowTo for more DIY episodes from this Revision3 show.
How To: Build a one-string electric bass guitar
MAKE and Kipkay brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. Make Magazine celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.
How To: Turn a mouse into a powerfake multimedia controller
MAKE and Kipkay brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. Make Magazine celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.
How To: Remotely Bug Hacked Bluetooth Headsets
Tinkernut presents the Bluetooth headset hack! This video shows one of the vulnerabilities of some bluetooth headsets. To prevent this vulnerability, it's best to invest a little more money into a more secure headset and making sure your headset is turned off when not in use. You can find all of the links and scripts used in this video, as well as find answers to questions you may have at the link below: