DIY Blog

Turn a Nintendo NES controller into a retro USB flash drive that’s also a cultural icon. Now, why didn’t I think of this?

NES Controller USB Flash Drive [link]

While a capacitor the size of a 2L bottle doesn’t have any practical applications, it’ll help you understand the underlying theory behind the tiny capacitors that you can actually use.

Build your own Capacitor [link][via]

Great hack for Canon D200 owners: make a relatively cheap GPS that will transmit coordinates to the camera. Take a picture, and it gets stamped with the GPS coordinates. Not too shabby. I guess this would be great for traveling bloggers, photojournalists, or even artistic projects.

Canon D200 hotshoe GPS [link][via]

I love this: it’s cheap, effective and pretty simple to do. Basically, you take a 2$ Radio Shack piezoelectric transducer and use it as pickup. One thing bothers me a bit though: you need to drill a hole in the guitar to fit the jack. I’m quite sure there’s a way to go around this. And who cares, I don’t have a guitar ;)

I might build an acoustic bass out of scrap wood I have at home, and that sort of pickup would be perfect for it.

Cheap Acoustic Guitar Pickup [link][via]

The Street Grip is a useful camcorder accessory for use in action shots - think skateboard videos. It serves two purposes: a handle to grab your camera and an armor to protect it.

DIY Camcorder Street Grip [link][via]

A step-by-step guide that shows you how to put together a basic, battery-operated audio amplifier.

Make a Simple Audio Amplifier [link]

This sweet hack turns a cheap portable DVD player into a portable NTSC monitor. I can think of a few interesting applications: car night-vision and parking/back-up cameras, portable consoles, monitor for DIY film making, monitor for a hidden or remote (think on a kite) camera, etc. Nice, cheap and totally versatile.

Turn a 20$ DVD player into a portable NTSC display [link][via][via]

This simple project shows you how to drive a RGB LED with a PIC. Interesting, colorful, and expandable. With a little work, you can replicate the Ford Focus’ best feature with this: its configurable interior lighting.

How to drive a RGB LED with a PIC [link][via]

Yet another project that turns the ubiquitous Altoids Tin box into something useful. In this case, a solar powered cell phone charger. Great idea, and it’s made from old, recycled parts: the solar cell comes from those solar-powered landscaping LED lights that illuminate tree shrubs in front of suburban bungalows at night. Here’s a thought: steal one to make this project. You’ll contribute to reducing light pollution and restoring night to what it should be: darkness.

Maybe you shouldn’t steal a LED landscaping light, but then again, you are ultimately responsible of your actions.
Altoids Tin Solar Cell Phone Charger [link]

Can’t afford a Honda S-2000 but still want a cool push button ignition? No problem. Just do it yourself! It’s quite simple, really. You just need to drill a few holes and solder a few wires. A great project for the weekend.

Disclaimer: don’t do it unless you know what you’re going. Keep in mind that if your engine shuts off, so will your power steering, ABS and power brakes. This could result in a serious or even fatal accident. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Make a push button ignition for your car [link][via][via]