August 30, 2005
How to request your TSA records
For those of you that travel a lot, and dislike the whole Big Brother invading your privacy thing, here is a good step-by-step on how to request your records from the TSA.
Remember that TSA violated the Privacy Act by collection 100 million records from commercial databases even after Congress told them that they could not.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
how to make a live transparent desktop for OSX Tiger
Everyone has seen the transparent desktop hack. But to create a live one on OSX Tiger, you have to use Quartz Composer that comes with the development tools. A quick script will important the live feed straight into the desktop picture.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 28, 2005
How to make a solar cell in your kitchen
While not as efficient as the current silicon panels, you can create your own panels using some materials at your local hardware store and an electric stove to produce some panels that can provide 35-50 mA in the sunshine. Not a massive amount of current, but sometimes a little is better than none.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 27, 2005
How to turn your old NES controller into a TV remote
Kind of a neat hardware project. Shouldn't take too long and you just need some soldering skills, an old NES controller, and an old remote (preferably the size of the NES controller) for your TV. Might have to cut it down to size if your remote is too big.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2005
How to fold fitted sheets
This is just one of those things I could never do quite right, so when I found these directions... pretty useful around the house. Unless you happen to just take those fitted sheets and roll them into a ball or something.
- Hold the sheet inside out, by its two adjacent corners on one of the shorter ends. Position your hands inside each of these two corners.
- Fold the corner in your right hand over to the corner in your left, enveloping it. With your right hand, pick up the corner that is hanging down in front and fold it over the two corners in your left hand.
- Pick up the last corner and fold it over the other three corners. The sheet should now be right side out. Place your folded sheet on a table and straighten it, tucking in the elastic edges as you go.
- Fold the sheet into a rectangle and then again until it is the size you require.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
The X Lab
The X Lab is a MacOS X resource site with every FAQ from basic system configurations to kernel panics. Very useful for the MacOSX user looking for troubleshooting help.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 24, 2005
Howto use your Tivo with Vonage
I knew that Tivo needed to dial-up to get the listings every so often just like a modem dialup. Interestingly enough, someone got the Tivo to dial up through Vonage. I have to say, I'm impressed. While I have the Vonage service and it really is a huge dent in my utility bill, Vonage really hates faxing and some other telecommunication devices besides straight voice calls. This is very useful for those that use both.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 23, 2005
Backup Del.icio.us bookmarks with Excel
Social bookmark service Del.icio.us is a wonderful tool. But you probably are kicking yourself for not backing it up for whatever reason. Never fret, here is a tutorial that tells you how to back it into Excel. Yes... that Excel.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 22, 2005
How to fix a dead Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Amusingly enough, I have one of these generation 1 Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer's sitting in a box after it died. It has the same diagnostics (dead wiring) but I never got around to fixing it. nev from deadharddrive has also went and fixed the wiring in his Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer. I should try this, when I'm not so lazy, and resurrect my first optical mouse ever. Sometime...
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2005
How to fix a dead harddrive
This is one way to resurrect a dead harddrive. Unfortunately, this was a lucky drive being that there were no disc failures and it was just a logic board changeout. Not something that the LUX staff would attempt unless we were really desperate, but sometimes, hellish times call for hellish measures. nev was one lucky bastard.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 20, 2005
How to replace your iPod's battery
iPod batteries should last about 300 to 500 charges. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to change a battery without handing your iPod to Apple for a huge service fee or to an authorized dealer that will charge something outrageous also. But do not fear. PCWorld has gone and written a tutorial on how to replace your iPod battery. No more service fees!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2005
DIY DSL wiring
You've probably never wondered about how the DSL is wired into your house unless you're like ratchet, who's built his house and fought with the provider over crappy service.
This guide is to show you how to rewire the DSL circuit from the phone Company's NID to your modem and hopefully you’ll gain about 100 to 150kbps in speed, lower Latency and even get rid of all the Filters that are attached to your phones.
Feeling adventurous?
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 18, 2005
Want to get published? Be a LuLu
Self-publishing is the key to reducing the costs and finding your inner-writer. Lulu makes that happen. Founded by Bob Young (co-founder of RedHat), Lulu offers a variety of ways to publish including print and electronically.
In case that doesn't perk your interest, try the following from author Erika Dreifus:
Lulu tracks and pays the royalties. Authors may log into their accounts at any time, day or night, to check the latest sales, and they set their own royalties. Lulu’s commission is 25% of that royalty (or $.19, whichever is greater). Example: You publish an e-book. You set the royalty at $4.00. Lulu adds a $1.00 commission. The e-book price is $5.00. You are earning 80% of the total profit.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2005
Turn any RSS or OPML feed into a PDF
With RSS2PDF, you can turn any rss or opml feed into a pdf. Great tool written by Tom Churm.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2005
DIY Inexpensive CNC machine
I would love to get my hands on building one of these since actual industrial CNC devices are way out of my budget. CNC machines are used for computer-aided drilling and milling. These are some of the best devices if you have access to one, for creating custom parts or cases out of metal. In any case, if I'm ever NOT busy, I'm going to build one of these.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 15, 2005
Mirror Me
Mirror Me, is a service that tracks downloads of certain files, manage mirrors, and throttle the bandwith on the mirrors. Pretty interesting if you have large files and need to have efficient distribution when your users are not centrally localized.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 14, 2005
Express elevator codes
Apparently some hackers have figured out that if you hit the "Close Door" and the "Floor" button at the same time, in certain elevators, this will bypass all the floors and whizz you to the floor of your choosing.
Definitely a hack I'll be trying in the future.
Elevators that have been tested and worked on:
Otis Elevators (All But The Ones Made In 1992),
Dover (Model Numbers: EL546 And ELOD862),
And Most Desert Elevators(All, But Model Numbers ELD5433 And ELF3655)
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 13, 2005
How to make a wooden crate gift box
This is a pretty cool idea. As the Christmas season draws near, I might have to venture to the hardware store since this would definitely out-best anything Martha Stewart could come up with, in geek style.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 12, 2005
Wolfenstein83: TI 3d-raycasting
Interestingly enough, back in the hay day, I was forced to purchase a TI calculator for school. No one back then used them either for anything but assembly based games (good ol' Tetris), but this definitely one-ups ol' Tetris. Wolfenstein83 runs on the TI-83 and is a remake of the old id classic.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 11, 2005
Paper CD Case
Create the case with the website, print out the PDF, follow the directions and create your own Paper CD case!
You ask why? I have no clue. It's just neat, easy when you don't have a case I suppose. Otherwise, plastic cases are only about ten cents or less these days.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2005
How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data
PCWorld has a great article on how to reinstall Windows without losing your data. As usual, use the same precautions and backup your data in case you do lose it all. This isn't as clean as a clean install but it is a lot less hassle usually.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 09, 2005
Firefox UndoCloseTab extension
If you haven't installed SessionSaver, then this extension can do the same for accidental closing of tabs. While this could be very useful, just note that this is already built into SessionSaver also in the SnapBack feature.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 08, 2005
Howto change your Windows XP look into MacOSX
This was covered a while back somewhere else, but many people are asking about it. The tutorial given by TechManifesto here covers all the tools you need to change your bland looking Windows XP screen into the vastly better MacOSX. It's no replacement on the OS side, but at least you can look good.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 07, 2005
Electronic circuits for hobbyists
This page has amassed various circuit diagrams to do all sorts of fun electronics work. Most o these parts can be obtained from your nearest Radio Shack. Brings me back to the days in college when we built embedded wireless servers with logical diagrams such as these.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 06, 2005
Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows XP
Virtual Desktop Manager is basically something that was taken from the Unix platform a long time ago. XWindows has always had virtual desktops to increase the workable desktop space up to "n" fold for however many virtual desktops you wanted. Now the Powertoys for Windows XP is doing a similar use along with an OSX rip of zooming in and out from each of the virtual desktops. Cool feature, but way too late for being "innovative." Alas, you take what you can get in features that help you work in Windows XP.
LifeHacker < PowertoysWindowsXP
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 05, 2005
Blowing on paint prevents "skin"
Go figure. Never imagined that if you blow a deep breath into a paint can before sealing it up, it would prevent the "skin" from forming on the the top when you open it up again. Reason is because the carbon dioxide prevents oxidation of the paint. Strange fact, but definitely a useful one.
Via TricksofTrade
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 04, 2005
Howto make your site mobile friendly
While your server needs to be able to take on PHP, this is a quick way to make all of your sites run in four quick easy steps in a mobile environment.
Very cool for mobile device web design, without the web design part.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 03, 2005
Howto run Windows 2000 on a 32M ram
There is no magical way to make your computer run any faster than it is capable of, but there is a way to cut out the bloat from Windows (besides switching to linux). Daniel Iverson got Windows 2000 to run pretty smoothly on 32M of RAM and documented a HOWTO so that everyone else that has one of these ancients can try it too!
I'd personally just throw linux on it and not worry about it anymore, but hey. Who am I to talk?
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 02, 2005
Yahoo! Desktop Search Beta
While this doesn't hold a candle to Tiger's Spotlight, this is probably as good as it gets when it comes to Windows. On the fly search results through indexing of your computer's data means:
Faster searching on your Windows computer. It also searches Yahoo Messenger chat logs and Thunderbird email and email attachments. Just beware of stashing those pictures of Jessica Simpson in plain view of the indexer. Yeah, you know what we're talking about...
Get Yahoo! Desktop Search Beta here. Requires Windows XP or
Windows 2000 SP 3+.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 01, 2005
How to change text size with Firefox
LifeHacker:
If you find yourself squinting to read a web site with very small text on it (all the rage with the kids these days, that small text), don’t forget: hold down Control and hit the + key to enlarge or the - key to reduce the size of text on many sites using Firefox, including Lifehacker. (Command key for Mac users.)
What LifeHacker forgot to mention is that you can also hold Control and use the mouse to scroll up or down for text change. Scrolling up will shrink the text while scrolling down will enlarge the text.
Neat trick eh?
Via LifeHacker
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 31, 2005
How to fold napkins
When I was little, I learned to fold the napkins at the local Chinese restaurant by reverse-engineering their folding patterns. I thought I was so cool. Now you can learn how to fold napkins too and wow your friends!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 30, 2005
Jahshaka: realtime editing and effects
Having been more interested in media-driven opensource tools ever since heading the ConvergeSouth media team, I found this doozy a while back but never got a good look at it.
Jahshaka is really a great piece of work. It already supports linux, MacOSX, Windows, Irix. It is a realtime editing and effects system that seems to me runs straight and true to the a lot of the older school tools that I've used in the past.
It allows you to run scrubs on clips, and maneuver transition effects and other modules into place to create a more professional looking movie clip.
And guess what. It's open-source! Have at it!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
nLite - Windows installation customizer
nLite allows you to make a customized Windows installation including removing components such as MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer, or the like. It also creates a bootable ISO image, allows unattended setup, service pack integration, driver integration and other features. All this in a Windows product that is betaware (v1.0 beta4) and is only 1.11Mbytes!
Requirements: .NET Framework 1.1
Should work with Windows 2000, XP, x86/x64 and 2003 x86/x64 all languages. Longhorn will be supported when it reaches RTM.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 28, 2005
Mozilla extension: Super DragandGo
From the Mozilla Updates page:
Drag a link or anything like a uri (e.g. "abc.com" ), and throw it to anywhere blank on the webpage to open the it in a new tab.
Why is this cool? You can download pictures and open tabs without right-clicking now. Just drag and go. Nifty.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 27, 2005
PDFOnline
Another piece of free PDF technology. PDFOnline is a free service where you can upload a PDF and they will send you a HTML version, send them Word Docs, Excel spreadsheets, picture files, and they'll send you the corresponding PDF.
This is assuming you never use PDFCreator which is free also, or Cute-PDF Writer.
Or you could have broken down and bought Acrobat since you needed to edit PDFs. Either way, another useful tool.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
DIY Google Earth Movies
Google Earth is sweet but it the free version only allows you to do certain things. The $400 version can allow you to record movies and do fly-ins and other features but I don't know anyone that wants to drop $400 for Google Earth.
So this guy went in and did a bit of hacking and made his first fly-by movie! The tutorial on how is here.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 25, 2005
Parallel Port Magic!
Back in the day, when I was in college... we used to tinker with parallel ports and write assembly code to make them do funny things. Now you can learn those awful things too!
Actually... IT IS rather fun for learning how hardware works with computers and how to manage signaling.
So get to it!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 24, 2005
Computer Hacking and Unauthorized Access Laws
From the National Conference of State Legislatures, here is the complete State guidelines to computer hacking and unauthorized access. For each state, the law differs but it is definitely a worthy resource to browse if you ever wondered where your legal rights lay. Note that this says nothing about federal laws that you tamper with such as the CFAA.
Also another warning. Looks like the site is a bit dated (09/04/02)
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 23, 2005
Make your own comic books
It's one thing to know how to draw comic books. It's another to print and bind them and try to sell them in a store. But now you can with some of these PDF templates and this great tutorial on a step-by-step!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 22, 2005
Windows appends to text
One of the oldest and used often enough to not even blink an eye when you think about features of Linux is the append to text file feature. You can append pretty much any text to the end of a a text file without opening the file. With this fancy little script, Windows begins to start acting more like a real operating system:
- Create a C:\scratch\ directory on your computer.
- Right click this script and save it to that directory.
- Right-click on the newly-saved SFS.VBS file and choose Create Shortcut. Rename the shortcut something you’ll remember and use, like “add.”
- In Control Panel, double-click System. In the Advanced tab, click on Environment Variables. Under System Variables, choose PATH and Edit. Add c:\scratch\ to the end of your existing path.
- Now, to add text to a file named c:\scratch\scratch.txt, hit Windows-R, type “add” and Enter. Then a popup will prompt you for what text to save to the file.
Type in your text and hit Enter, and a c:\scratch\scratch.txt file will get updated with the new text and the date and time.
UPDATE(7/22): ratchet informs me that you can do redirection of text in a CLI on Windows. Agreed, but most people don't open Windows shell. If you do however, the easiest way to do this is by doing the following:
- echo "THIS IS A TEST" >> c:\mynewfile.txt
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 21, 2005
Keyboard removal on an IBM ThinkPad R50/e/p, R51, R52
Reader Viral Patel was looking for a fix for an IBM ThinkPad R51 and an howto on removing the keyboard.
Thought I'd share since IBM was nice enough to provide a whole movie clip to show how to remove the keyboard on these models!
Via IBM
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 20, 2005
Scribe: Mozilla Firefox extension
Word processing got you down? Pissed that you lost that "world changing" entry? If so, then Scribe is for you. This little extension allows you to hit "Ctrl-S" and save forms locally. This way, even if the ever-annoying Internet connection croaks, the post is still around!
Who need Notepad. Get with the age!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 19, 2005
Have a Mazda Protege? You're in luck for DIY
At ProjectMazda, the DIY tutorials are all over the place covering headlights to changing the oil. This reminds me of a Ducati howto site I used to go to when I needed to work on my motorcycle. Ahh. Those were the days.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 18, 2005
How to backup movies from DVD to DiVX on linux
How to backup those DVDs to the divx format on linux. Very interesting tutorial and definitely worthwhile read. While it is using a Fedora/RedHat distribution, I must say that it covers the steps pretty well. Interesting to note that the website is written in ASP (Windows).
Other resources but for Windows include doom9.net. I believe VideoHelp is also a very good resource to region-free hack your DVD players so that you can watch imported movies (as I do).
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 17, 2005
WindizUpdate
Ever wanted to do your Windows Update but hated the fact that your FireFox doesn't work with it? Windiz Update will! This is a non-Microsoft supported site and what they do is download the updates and allows the certain non-Internet Explorer browsers to run from it.
Currently supporting Mozilla FireFox, Netscape, Firebird, Opera, and K-meleon.
ThisWeekInTech(Podcast13) < 62nds
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 16, 2005
Are you big on pinouts?
Chan's Pinouts is a great resource for pinouts. Chan Wilson has gone and documented most of the most useful electronic gear such as the DB-9 serial, RJ-45, and even power connectors.
Useful for any beginning electronics hobbyist or even as a resource for the most advanced!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 15, 2005
Converting VHS to DVD
Here is a way to convert VHS to DVDs. There are many methods, and each has their pros and cons. This is a pretty straight-forward way and has reference material in case you want to try another method.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
Penny alcohol stove
This was an interesting find. Apparently with a beer can, some alcohol, and a penny, you can create a pretty efficient little stove for backpacking/camping.
Anyone want to mass produce some of these for the homeless? Talk about a useful little device.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2005
How to stop MSN.com's right click oppression on FireFox
Microsoft has decided to make it so that you cannot right click on the MSN.com site if you're using FireFox. Here's how to beat it.
Liberis:
Too bad for microsoft that their childish behavior can be stopped quite easily. If you have the adblock extension (and who hasn't?), do the following:
go to msn.com
open adblock
block the script http://hp.msn.com/scr/home/msnmoz1021.js
problem solved.
The only thing that script seems to do (it's been made hard to read) is mess with the mouse events, and only for mozilla browsers. The fact it has a really obvious name (msnmoz) just shows how stupid microsoft is.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2005
Poor man's Film Production Suite
For those that are looking to work on films but cannot afford it, here is a list of GPL applications that will make your life a lot easier.
Don’t be fooled, just because the software is free doesn’t mean that it isn’t of professional grade.
The list includes Cinepaint, Blender, and Jahshaka.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 11, 2005
Polaroid-o-nizer
Ever want to go a bit retro with your pictures and go back to the days of the Polaroid? Here is your chance with any digital photograph. Just go to the Polaroid-o-nizer and the rest is history!
ForeverGeek < Polaroid-o-nizer
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 10, 2005
Autorun
For all versions of Windows. This handy utility will show all of the current applications that are starting with Windows upon startup. While this is similar to looking at "msconfig," this utility puts it into a GUI base and makes it a lot easier to read.
Cost? Freeware.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 09, 2005
Howto unlock a Treo
Here is a step-by-step on how to unlock your Treo to work on any GSM carrier.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 08, 2005
Laptop to Walltop
Take an old laptop and turn it into a LCD photo frame! With pictures and great instructions.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2005
Rip DVDs with Linux
Using transcode and mplayer, you too can rip DVDs with this in-depth tutorial.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 06, 2005
Get red wine out of white carpet
Apparently forget commercial carpet cleaners when it comes to red wine. Wine columnist Jennifer Rosen says:
Solution of two parts Hydrogen Peroxide to one part Blue Dawn dishwashing detergent. (Must be freshly mixed). If you EVER drink red wine, write down this formula. It's unbelievable. Pour a little on a spot, rub lightly, sponge off. It left the rug so clean we couldn't even find the spot the next day. Impressive on fabric;, not just new or day-old stains, but ancient, many-times-washed ones, too. It's easy, and you probably have the ingredients on hand. If not, stock up immediately and you'll never fear red wine again.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 05, 2005
DIY WiFi Antennas
WiFi antennas are omnis off the shelf. This means that all the power is distributed in a 360 degree pattern around the antenna. The easiest way to increase your range and direct the signal is to change the antenna into a directional. Popular Science shows you how with some cardboard, you can build some ugly, but useful antenna deflectors to increase your range and redirect the RF power to where you want it.
And if you're not interested in creating ugly antenna deflectors, purchase some Flatennas from Tritium. Same thing as above, just a bit better looking.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Open Source UAVs
There is nothing more fun that building your own robotics and flying it around. UAVs are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Here are a couple of UAV projects on Ian Stalling's blog.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 04, 2005
Homemade Airconditioning
For $30, you too can make airconditioning using a garbage can, some ice water, and a fan. The basic idea is to take the heat drawn from the fan and transfer it to the water that is then pumped out of the system. Pretty useful for an hour plus or so of cheap AC.
Pretty useful when you're sitting outside celebrating the 4th!
MAKE < HomebrewAC HomebrewAC-MirrorDot
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 03, 2005
Hacking a Microsoft MN-700
Here is a tutorial for hacking a Microsoft MN-700 wireless router into a linux operated wireless router that is pretty much comparable with the Linksys WRT54G. Who knew that you could take something as crappy as the MN-700 and turn it around?
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 02, 2005
DIY e-books for your iPod
MAKE has a great little tutorial on how to turn your iPod into an ebook reader! Pretty neat if you have some documents that you want to browse through in ASCII mode.
I suppose this could be useful, although I don't really use my iPod for anything but music.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 01, 2005
Make your own root beer!
For all those kids at home that like little science projects! Make your own root beer here!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 30, 2005
Make an etch-a-sketch
With some basic electronic skills, you too can build an etch-a-sketch!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Build your own spot welder
DIY spot welder that costs approximately $130. Very useful if you need a spot welder and don't feel like shelling out another $70-120 for a commercial welder.
Disclaimer from 5Bears:
Please, please don't attempt something like this unless you truly understand the hazards involved. You must be adept at basic wiring, and must understand how a transformer operates. There are lethal voltages involved!
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Make your own blazing torch
You can make a torch that burns for hours with a little bit of cardboard, a can and some paraffin. Usual fire warnings.
Via BigClive
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
Fog maker and fog chiller
Ran across this tutorial for making your own fog maker to scare little children during Halloween. My current qualm about it was this one paragraph:
I've been told that overheating fog fluid can cause it to oxidize and produce toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde. I don't see how my fog machine design can overheat fog fluid because the fluid evaporates as soon as it reaches its boiling point. I would think the fluid would have to be pressurized in order to overheat it. Nevertheless, if you build a fog machine and the fog smells unpleasant or burns your nose, you shouldn't use it in such a way that anyone will breathe the fog. The fog should only have a somewhat sweet odor.
Otherwise, a very fun project it sounds like. Especially for an underbudget haunted house type fun.
One key note: This fog maker produces hot fog. To make the fog hang over the ground, the fog must be chilled. Two different tutorials for for different types of fog chillers can be found here and here.
You buy a perfectly good fogger if you shop around for around $30 according to Allen. But why buy when you can make something that would be quieter, more powerful and cover more area? Oh yeah... maybe that one paragraph....
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 26, 2005
Barstool racer
Barstool racing is like go kart racing but without a cage. These babies can go up to 50kph in about 5 seconds if properly built.
Plans for building a barstool racer here.
One thing to mention, the plans cannot be re-distributed without specific notice from the copyright owner. Apparently only Bar Stool Racing is the only site that is currently able to do the distribution. So point your friends here and build some racers. Then send the photos/videos, especially of barstool racer wipeouts!
Via Barstoolracing
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 25, 2005
USB Cigarette Lighter Mod
This is a pretty easy mod to make a faceplate with two USB front panel slots along with a molex connector on a cigarette lighter. Just make sure you have a strong power supply to support the lighter.
Or you could just buy one... but what fun is that?
Via IamNotaGeek
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack