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Archive: hacks
August 28, 2010
Flash your computer BIOS with Openbiosprog-spi

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool:
If you've ever bricked the BIOS on your PC, then you might appreciate the Openbiosprog-spi project by Uwe Hermann. It is designed to be able to reprogram any flash memory that uses the serial peripheral interconnect bus (SPI), which could come in handy if you need to restore a botched firmware upgrade.
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 28, 2010 09:00 PM
Computers, Electronics, hacks |
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August 27, 2010
Antique clocks turned into speaker cases


Derek Bell didn't want to have tacky black consumer electronics cases in his living room, so he gutted a couple of satellite speakers and used antique clocks as enclosures. The subs are hidden in the gilt below the speakers. A very elegant solution!
Posted by John Baichtal |
Aug 27, 2010 12:00 PM
hacks |
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August 26, 2010
Updating a classic View-Master toy

Although he had fond memories of his View-Master toy, Tuttle of the Nashville, TN hackerspace, Hacker Consortium, was frustrated by it's antiquated film-based media. Instead of just tossing the toy aside, he decided to use some cheap LCD keychain displays, and modified the device for modern, stereo vision. Looks fun!
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 26, 2010 01:00 PM
hacks |
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Bowling ball + PanaVise = DIY engraver's ball

Xavier of My Heap put together this delightful homebrew engraver's vise by attaching a PanaVise to a bowling ball that pivots in a PVC pipe coupling. No word on how well it works, but ya gotta give it up for that kind of ingenuity.
More:
- PanaVise crank mod
- Lie-Nielsen chain-drive shoulder vise
- World's most beautiful vise
- Bitmoore drill press vise
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Aug 26, 2010 09:00 AM
Crafts, hacks, Toolbox |
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August 25, 2010
Moving? Don't carry those boxes, make a ramp!

MAKE subscriber Mike Figueroa wrote in to share this simple tip for moving. If you've got a lot of boxes that need to go downstairs, just set up a ramp and save yourself the lifting. Not recommended for delicate items, of course.
It seems like a simple idea, but I've never thought to try it (and I have moved out of a good number of second-floor apartments). I have tried other things, such as carrying the boxes in stages to different way points, to give myself time to rest and so I can prop doors open for short amounts of time without worry about my cat escaping. Know of any other good techniques for moving?
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 25, 2010 01:00 PM
hacks |
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August 23, 2010
USB-Powered Magic Trackpad


Out of the box Apple's Magic Trackpad is a battery-powered device. While this may be convenient for some, others prefer a wired connection. Since Apple neglected to offer a wired version, MacRumors Forums user markbog decided to convert his new trackpad to run off the USB. [via TUAW]
I don't like using batteries in desktop peripherals, they're horrible for the environment compared to wired power, and there's no need for batteries when it's just going to be sitting on a desk all day. So I took out the batteries in the Magic Trackpad, stripped an old USB cord down to the red and black power wires, and attached them to a battery-sized dowel. Works great!
Posted by Adam Flaherty |
Aug 23, 2010 04:00 AM
hacks, Mods |
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August 19, 2010
Repurposing voting machines as pac-man games
What can you do with direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machine, that has been proven to be insecure? That's the question a group of security researches from Princeton and the University of Michigan were faced with after proving time and again that the machines were trivial to tamper with. Concerned with the possibility that the machines might end up in a landfill, they worked out a solution: convert them into Pac-man arcade machines. Excellent work!
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 19, 2010 10:00 AM
hacks |
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August 16, 2010
Inchworm walker with clever analog control hack

Electronically, this dude is nothing but a battery pack, a servo, and a direction control switch. Mechanically, it's just as simple: A couple of rulers for legs, some Tupperware for feet, and a few odd bits of hardware. Oh, yes: And a comb.with a row of teeth broken out for a two-way limit switch. Details in this tutorial by Instructables community manager Randy Sarafan.
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Aug 16, 2010 02:00 PM
hacks, Instructables, Robotics |
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Single-handed game controller mod
Playing a game on the Wii with one hand is a major selling point of the system. However, what if you don't have a Wii or would like to play some of your older games? Dutch hardware hacker Hasse's brother can only use one hand, so Hasse decided to remedy the situation by successfully modding a standard two-fisted controller with an accelerometer. [via LifeHacker]
Posted by Adam Flaherty |
Aug 16, 2010 04:00 AM
Electronics, Gaming, hacks, Mods |
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August 14, 2010
How-To: Circuit bending with Jimmie Rodgers

Wondering what the secrets are behind circuit bending? Then you might to check out this talk that Jimmie Rodgers gave at the Next Hope conference a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the video isn't available, however you can download both the slides and audio from the presentation.
More:
- Circuit bent toy frog
- Circuit Bending Orchestra for the Fairytale Fashion Show
- MIDI-controlled circuit bending interface
- Circuit Bending the Bliptronic 5000
- Hi-speed circuit bending
- Circuit Bending video tutorials
- Circuit bending work station
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 14, 2010 02:00 PM
Electronics, hacks, Music |
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August 13, 2010
Arduino magstrip emulator

Using not much more than an Arduino, a piece of metal shim, and a bunch of wire, Instructables user sketchsk3tch built this Arduino Magstripe Emulator, which purportedly can spoof a magnetic card reader into thinking a card has been swiped. Quite the MacGyver solution to magstripe hacking...
More:
- Magnetic stripe card spoofer
- Decoding magstrip cards with Arduino
- Powdered rust reveals magstripe data
- Make your own Square credit card reader?
- "Banned" slides -- The Anatomy of a Subway Hack: Breaking Crypto RFID's and Magstripes of Ticketing Systems
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 13, 2010 10:00 AM
hacks |
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August 11, 2010
Adding an auxiliary input to a 2004 Camry radio

Nirav Patel wanted to listen to music in his car, but was having trouble with the tape adapter used to plug in his phone. Instead of just switching to a FM transmitter or getting a new stereo, he decided to take matters into his own hands, and modded the stereo to enable an auxiliary input. After some incidents involving the tape player, lots of troubleshooting, and a small fire, he was able to get everything working.
I performed a similar hack on the factory radio in my own car a couple of years ago, but for a slightly different reason- the aftermarket stereos with CD players that I installed kept getting stolen. Once I replaced it with an old tape deck unit with a secret auxiliary input, no one wanted to take it!
Posted by Matt Mets |
Aug 11, 2010 01:30 PM
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August 9, 2010
Run Flash on your iPhone
Regardless of what you may think of either platform, it's fun to see what others will do to get what they want. In the accompanying video Taimur Asad from Redmond Pie demos an alpha version of Frash running on an iPhone 4. If you want to try this yourself, check out this how-to. [via Redmond Pie]
Posted by Adam Flaherty |
Aug 9, 2010 02:00 AM
hacks, iPhone, iPod |
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August 5, 2010
Outlet mount device charging pocket from plastic bottle

Last summer, a commenter on my tutorial about how to make one of these from a shampoo bottle said, "instead of drilling a hole in the bottom of the bottle, you could cut off the bottom, flip the bottle upside-down and voila - hole." Don't know if there's any causal link between that tutorial and/or that comment and/or this anonymous photo recently submitted to ThereIFixedIt, but in any case it does look like an easier way to skin the cat. [Thanks, JP!]
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Aug 5, 2010 01:55 PM
Cellphones, Green, hacks |
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Good-looking Ikeahacked speakers


Inspired by the classic spherical speaker array Instructable from user mzed, Charles Visnic created these cool wireless speakers by transplanting the guts of a pair of RocketFish speakers into some birch bowls from Ikea, mounted rim-to-rim. It's a very cool build, but I have to say I'm just as impressed with this clever little working tip from Charles' write-up:
The smartest thing I did there was I would head into the hardware store and get what I thought I'd needed. Then I'd go to the car and start dismantling the speaker. When I'd reach an obstacle all I had to do was get out of the car and fetch the right tool for the job.
My Dad always jokes that any project requires at least two trips to the hardware store; next time I'm going to take a page from Charles' book and do all the work I can in my car in the Home Depot parking lot. [Thanks, Charles!]
More:
- DIY: Salad bowl speakers
- 360 Degree speakers
- HOW TO - Make a Low-cost spherical speaker array (from IKEA salad bowls)
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Aug 5, 2010 09:00 AM
Furniture, hacks, Home Entertainment, Mods |
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August 3, 2010
MAKE digital edition hacked!

Ouch! Clever forum member pulletsforever wanted to be able to read MAKE on his iPad, and in the process of poking around, found a security vulnerability that lets anyone download complete PDF copies of the MAKE digital edition, for free! CoverLeaf (the company that hosts MAKE digital) techs tell us they're working on a fix as we speak.
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Aug 3, 2010 07:00 PM
Computers, hacks, MAKE PDF, Online |
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July 30, 2010
MacGyver Mending: In the desert, try agave

Jonathan Johns, a coworker of ours over at O'Reilly Media and a frequent volunteer at Maker events, sent us a great little maker story that we think everyone will enjoy.
My son, Christian, and his two roommates were on spring break in Arizona. As they were climbing up and around the hills, Christian's cargo shorts tore out at the knee, and at the pockets. They all proceeded to put their heads together and decided to fix them up.
Using a multi-tool and some Agave, they stitched up the shorts and pocket, and solved the problem. This may or may not be Makezine's cup of tea, but in my circle of friends, it was pretty exciting to see 19- and 20-year-olds having a MacGyver moment.
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Thanks, for sharing the story, Jon. It's great to hear about inspiration when faced with adversity of any kind, at any age!
Posted by Shawn Connally |
Jul 30, 2010 03:00 PM
Crafts, Green, hacks, Kids, Wearables |
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July 29, 2010
Clever overhead garage storage hack


Great storage idea from user tluwelyn of survivalist community Alpha Disaster Contingencies. Dimensional lumber is bolted together to make Ts and Ls that, in turn, are bolted to the ceiling joists. Heavy-duty storage totes are then slid in and suspended by their molded-in rims. Looks like there's still plenty of room to park cars underneath.
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Jul 29, 2010 09:00 AM
DIY Projects, hacks, Workshop |
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How-To: Duplicate vinyl records by casting

Mike Senese, cohost of the Science Channel's Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It, rescued this tutorial about how to "pirate" a vinyl record from Internet oblivion and posted it on his personal site for posterity. [Thanks, Sam!]
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Jul 29, 2010 06:06 AM
hacks, How it's made, Music |
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July 27, 2010
$2 bluetooth serial with Propeller USB Host
When we last covered Micah Dowty's efforts in creating a software USB host for the Propeller, he had just gotten it working well enough to talk to a $2 Bluetooth dongle. Flash forward a few months, and he now has a running Propeller Bluetooth Stack, all implemented on top of the software USB port. In the above video, he demonstrates how to turn a propeller into a wireless serial port using the Bluetooth Serial Port. Of course, you could just buy a $30 adapter that does everything for you, but that's more expensive and not nearly as fun!
Posted by Matt Mets |
Jul 27, 2010 07:00 PM
Electronics, hacks |
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