Hacks, Mods & Circuitry How-Tos

How To: Learn about the tools and components used in basic electronics

Electronics are the most important new thing people have created in the last hundred years, and learning how to use them will make you much more able to function in modern society. If you want to learn about electronics without going to a class or anything so formal, this excellent video series will teach you everything you need to know to get started. This video, the first in the series, will teach you about the basic tools and components you'll need to work on electronics projects, includin...

How To: Hack Battery-powered Christmas Lights Into Laptop Holiday Decorations

Christmas is the time to splurge— not just with presents and food— we're talking decorations. It's that time of year when verdurous fir trees take up half of your living room, when waving elf figurines silhouette your front windows, when Rudolph flies from the rooftops, Santa in tow. But more than anything else, it's a time when those Christmas lights double tour elctrical bills, dancing to the "12 Days of Christmas" for the whole neighborhood to see.

How To: Build an analog internet meter out of an Arduino Ethernet Shield

The internet has created amazing new standards for how closely information can be followed. If you want a portable analog unit that will monitor one important piece of online info continuously and have some DIY electrical knowhow, watch this video. It will show you how to use an Arduino Ethernet Shield to make an internet meter to monitor email, stocks, and other online info on a simple analog display. You will need to know some PHP to make this work.

How To: Build a handheld version of the TSA's microwave-based body scanner

With the TSA's full-body scanners occupying a great deal of airports nationwide, the debate remains as to whether air travelers should continue to be subject to immoral security techniques and possible health risks due to the x-ray scanning devices. The "advanced imaging technology" may help keep obvious weapons out of major airports, but scanning naked bodies seems more voyeuristic than crucial to national security. But while the argument continues, one woman is taking a stand… well, not rea...

How To: Make a digital color organ with high-powered LEDs

Collin of MAKE is back with another inspiring project. You may remember his analog light organ. Well, he's decided to upgrade and make his light organ a digital one. One thing to watch out for is the amount of heat emitted by high-powered LEDs, but as long as you find a way to dissipate the heat, this will work out just fine. Watch, and don't forget to read the thorough instructions before building this!

How To: Solder stainless steel

This video tutorial is in the Electronics category which will show you how to solder stainless steel. For this you will need silver bearing solder. Harris #8 StaBrite is good, but it is expensive. Plumber solder works fine, but make sure it has silver in it. Use Harris Stay Clean liquid flux. All the surfaces have to be clean and sanded. In this video a pipe is being soldered to a metal sheet. Apply some liquid flux to the outside of the pipe to be soldered. Make a neutral flame, heat the pip...