« The size and durability of the Moleskine Pocket notebook is perfect for my sketching needs, but the paper is not ideal. Although both “sketchbook” and “watercolor” versions are available, neither is well-suited to my particular requirements. And so, I have developed a process for replacing the paper (aka Moleskine Reloaded) while retaining all the other wonderful attributes of the Moleskine. »

How to Rebind a Moleskine Notebook: Make a Custom DIY Sketchbook! [link]

My white Intel iMac has been working great ever since I bought it. Then along came Leopard. After getting the upgrade and installing it, my iMac became instable. All of a suddain, it would hang. Or at least, the video card would freeze. I could still connect to my computer with ssh from my laptop, but all the unsaved work I had going was lost. That’s until I realized that Leopard changed something to the machine’s firmware to slow down the fans – either that or Leopard runs hotter.

Anyways, if you’re stuck in a similar situation, go ahead and download the excellent SMCFanControl application. It lets you speed up your fans individually (my computer has 3 different ones). Apple, in its constant quest for the thinnest and most silent device on the market, tend to design dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. The computer’s ventilation system’s efficiency drops below the acceptable threshold once it gets a bit dusty.

Go ahead and install this little gem of a program.

How to cool down your Mac by speeding up its fans [link]

Replace a broken spoke on a bicycle [link]

See also: Wheel truing tutorial [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]

Incredibly simple instructions on how to create tree grafts. Over time, the grafted branch will become part of the host plant. I’m pretty sure that nature imposes some limits, but you can still achieve some interesting results, way beyond simple “repairs”.

For the sake of not killing trees, start out with simple mods :)

Grafting Made Simple [link]

Living Tree Sculptures [link]

Although I never really needed a kit like this, I still find it’s a good idea to tag one along in your car. It contains everything you need for basic survival: water, food, warmth, basic tools, etc. Even if you’re not in a survival situation, it still might come in handy, considering it packs a lot in a little package.

If you never leave the city, this Field Soldering Kit might come in handy. It contains everything you need to fix up some wiring when you don’t have access to proper tools. I actually have one in my car and used it once to fix some wiring on a headlamp while camping – far from a soldering iron.

Survival Kit in an Altoids tin [link]

Field Soldering Kit [link]

This Instructable shows how to  replace various components on a defective Nintendo DS Lite. Very useful is you have a broken one. I don’t have one, but sure as hell would try to repair it if I had one and it broke.

Good Luck!

Repairing a Nintendo DS Lite [link]

I’m guessing that there are thousands of tons of perfectly good earphones in landfills today, all because their owners threw them away when the mini jack connector came loose, broke off, or got all “squelchy”. This instructable should be printed on the packaging of the earphones when you buy them. It teaches you how to fix the connector when (intentionally not if) it gets damaged.

There’s one thing that bothers me about it though, it’s the look of the finished repair. Very sketchy. I would have used heat-shrink tubing instead, which would look much nicer and be super durable. This set aside, it’s still a nice and useful instructable.

Mini Audio Connector Repair [link]

In this tutorial I will walk you through the necessary steps to change your PowerBook’s hard drive. The repair is performed on a Apple aluminum (alubook) PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz), with Firewire 800.

How to change a PowerBook Hard Drive [link]

[ 2009-12-01: updated link ]