Gadget Hacks: Page 348

This is a cheap little hack from a $5 discount store headlamp. Check it out. Quick and easy. You need a bolt to secure to your camera. This is great if you are shooting long shots and need different brightnesses. Otherwise kind of ghetto.

In this Household Hacker experiment, we'll demonstrate how to completely remove scratches from your CD or DVD media. For this project, we used:1) 1 tablespoon peanut butter2) Toothpaste3) Diet Soda (must be sugar free or seltzer water)4) Plastic container5) Baking soda6) Lots of paper towels

Make it harder for spammers to clog your inbox with ads and scams. Learn how to avoid spam email with this Howcast video. You will need a secondary email address, a keen eye, and an anti-spam program. Tip: Never click on links in spam email - including "unsubscribe" links, and never, ever reply!

Finally Halo comes out on the iPod Touch and iPhone!! You must have a jailbroken iPod Touch or iPhone and have Cydia! Also upgrade to firmware 2.0 or higher through iTunes!

Using the instructions on the MAKE blog (04/2008) We made this portable fume extractor for soldering.  Works great at close proximity (2 inches).  Note: We didn't screw down the voltage regulator, just stuffed it in the side. This will keep the fumes from seeping into your lungs by trapping them with an Altoids tin.

Use a motor to make a fan and a speaker. People often take for granted the common items and devices they use in everyday life. Looks can be deceiving. It's not what things appear to be, it's what they can become.

This is a tutorial on coding an iPhone App in XCode.

This Weekend Project is the USBattery from MAKE Magazine Volume 16. Conceal a flash drive in a AA battery! This is a way cool USB battery mod or hack project. It makes a cool secret storage space for your spy projects. Wear gloves, safety goggles and a non alkaline battery.

Don't you just hate it when you try to go on a website while you're at work—and find out your boss has blocked it? Here's how to thwart The Man. With these tips, you'll be able to check your facebook or myspace at work (or whatever sites your employer may be blocked). All you need is access to google. Did you know? According to one survey, 78% of employers block employee access to pornography, 47% block gambling sites, 20% block shopping and auction sites, and 4% block news sites.

Nicad batteries often die in such a way that they won't take a charge and have zero voltage. This usually means they're shorted out by crystal dendrite growth. Here's a method of bringing them back to life by zapping those shorted crystal dendrites away with too much current and/or voltage. We'll use a welder as a power source. You could also use a car battery, a DC powersupply, or almost anything with some voltage. Charged-up capacitors are popular for this because you can get a very fast...

Project 5 from Popular Science's 5 minute Projects with Craftsmen Tool is 'Integrated Circuit Cufflinks'.

See how to hack a wireless CCTV (closed circuit television) camera to show your Windows or Linux PC desktop on your 42-inch plasma television. This is a homemade hack that's easy with good quality picture. Doing this mod can save you money, unless you don't have a CCTV camera laying around.

There's probably a reason that laser pointers are banned from most schools: They're just to fun to put down! Whether you're using them as a pointer, to distract your classmates, or to very wickedly point them in people's eyes, they are toys that are quite addicting.

Make the most of your YouTube videos! Watch this video tutorial to see how to make the most out of the YouTube player by uploading widescreen video. Here's how to prepare your videos for widescreen viewing:

You know YouTube is able to host high-defintion video content online now, right? Well, how do you watch it, or make it, or embed it? Well, this video tutorial will show you how to upload, embed and watch 720p HD video on YouTube. This YouTube hack will let you watch and embed videos in true 1280x720 high definition.

Don't use a perfectly good DVD burner to get your laser that will pop balloons, light matches, and burn stuff. Just buy a laser diode at mfgcn.com and also a laser housing, and you won't be tearing a computer DVD player apart. This is the easy way to make a 200mW burning DVD laser. Use a Mini Maglite and some rechargeable batteries so you don't burn out the laser.

Get out your iPhone or iPod and get ready for some jailbreaking! Watch this video to see how to QuickPwn Jailbreak your Apple iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. This jailbreak will work with the 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 Apple firmware.

This video will show you how to record video on your Apple iPhone 3G for free! This is a complete guide to installing the iPhone Video Recorder on your iPhone 3G, which also works on the First Generation iPhone.

If you own an Apple iPod or iPhone, and you want to unbrick it, you'll need to prepare the device first. This video will show you how to put your Apple iPod or iPhone into DFU mode, which means Device Firmware Update. You'll need to attach the Apple device to your computer for iTunes. If you're looking to jailbreak the iPod, this will help you get to that step.

Learn how to insert a SIM card in an iPhone along with the other great features that come with it in this free computers and modern electronics video clip. This is important if you're trying to unlock it for other carriers or international plans. The SIM card also hold all of your information and can help to restore your phonebook if the iPhone is damaged.

The best way to transfer contacts from a computer to an iPhone is to use Mobile Me, formerly known as Dot Mac, which automatically synchronizes Outlook or Entourage with the iPhone. Keep track of contact information, on both the computer and the iPhone, with tips from a digital technology specialist in this free video on the iPhone.

This is a great tutorial on cracking the iphone to record more than 30 seconds on the iPhone 3G's video camera. This is a hack of the previously still camera that comes stock with all of Apple's phones. Enable your iPhone to shoot video instantly and free!

Take apart a 9V battery and turn it in to Six AAA batteries. This way you save money. amazing science experiment trick. This is a simple battery deconstruction that results in a 9 volt battery's dissection into six AAAA batteries. They are not AA or AAA, but a kind you won't find at Radio Shack.

Dave and Pat break down the basics of RFID technology and show you how to put it to use by building an RFID beer safe!

Light up your world with these beautiful and easy-to-make illuminated LED balloons.

Learn how to build your very own motor, but not just one motor, three motors. These motors you will learn to make a very simple, and the materials needed are minimum. Just watch to see how to make simple homemade battery-driven motors.

You simply have to see this to believe it. Is this lady stuck in her trunk?! Here's an easy step-by-step tutorial on how to find it! You need Google Earth and a sense of humor. This is a quick navigation to find an outrageous Big Brother sighting.

This shows you how to install an app for the Apple iPhone that records video. You have the capability to record video. The hardware is there. It's simply a deficit of software. Both the iPhone 3G and regular iPhone can record video with the right iPhone App. Here's what you need to get video captured with your phone.

Some governments and organizations employ proxy servers to filter web content, permitting access to some web sites while blocking others. Here are several ways to get around these censorship policies. This is employed in China with YouTube and many other voices of anti-goverment ideas.

This week on Make Magazine is a project with parts from the Arduino Starter Kit. Skip over building the Proto Shield. Otherwise, it's a simple build that doesn't require any soldering. Arduino is a speaking control for robotics. It can be used in other Make kits or robotic projects. This is a circuit bending and circuit board project that involves basic circuitry and wiring.

Just a really quick overview of Googles new browser, Chrome, and some of its features. you can get it at Google.com/chrome This goes over Opera, Firefox and Safari differences. Chrome automatically adds favorites to your tab. The incognito setting lets you browse in a porn-mode without any cookies, history or cache clearing.

This is an instructional video featuring Doug Prime, founder of the Future Engineers Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Melt the solder to connect wires for switches and permanent circuits. Heat the surface before you put the solder on it. Don't drip the solder for it is too much and not necessary. Make sure you wash hands and have a ventilated room because solder sometimes has lead in it.

This is an instructional video featuring Doug Prime, founder of the Future Engineers Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Use wire strippers where they are like scissors. To cut off the wire's insulation and strip it you need to know the wire's gauge. Check the gauge on both the wire and the stripper.

This is an instructional video featuring Doug Prime, founder of the Future Engineers Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. If you want to make a homemade switch watch this video on using solder to tie the wire. Use sandpaper to clean where you will solder.

Did you know you can stimulate yourself to have a lucid dream? Well, it may take a little bit of practice first, but this sleep mask can certainly help you have the most interesting and realistic dreams of your life (yes, kinda like "Inception.") Just check out this video to learn how to make a super cheap lucid dream mask out of two LED lights and a pair of goggles.

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This CommonCraft Show video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.

Notorious hacker Chris Tarnovsky opens his underground laboratory to WIRED, providing a peek into the world of satellite television smart-card hacking. This complicated process involves nail polish, a pin head and various acids -- so don't try this at home (unless you're Chris Tarnovsky)! Chances are you won't even know what's going on here, but that's not going to stop you from watching this video tutorial on how to reverse-engineer a satellite TV smart card, is it?He uses acetone to strip...

Looking to find out how to solder EL or electro luminescent wire? This is a great tutorial on cutting the jacket and soldering the 40 gauge corona wires. They're very fine wires and you don't want to nick them while stripping them. You also need copper tape to help join the wires.

New to eBay? Don't worry, setting up an account and buying and selling doesn't take that much effort at all. Everyone who has an Internet connection has at one point come across eBay, to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, to find the cheapest deals on plasma televisions and computers, or to get rid of their dusty, old record album collection in their web store.

New to eBay? Don't worry, setting up an account and buying and selling doesn't take that much effort at all. Everyone who has an Internet connection has at one point come across eBay, to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, to find the cheapest deals on plasma televisions and computers, or to get rid of their dusty, old record album collection in their web store.