R2D2 turned into retro gaming shrine, includes head-mounted projector

We don’t know exactly how to say this without overloading your nerd subsystem, but this R2D2 unit packs eight consoles, an integrated sound system and a projector for throwing your Jet Grind Radio sessions onto a wall. The only extras you’ll need are the masses of controllers you see above and the steady constitution to not erupt into geek euphoria. Popular Science reader Brian De Vitis is the man you have to thank for this splicing of console goodness, and he’s been kind enough to also provide a picture of the R2’s mobo-laden innards. It awaits just past the break.

[Via Hack N Mod]

Continue reading R2D2 turned into retro gaming shrine, includes head-mounted projector

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R2D2 turned into retro gaming shrine, includes head-mounted projector originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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N900 hacked to replace the innards of a Speak & Spell, can never bring back your childhood

Nokia has been handing out the N900 for selective “artsy” uses lately through its “Push” program, and the folks at Tinker it now! sure seem to have put their model to good use. They’ve paired the device with all matter of nostalgia, including a Rolodex, FM radio and a 3D Viewmaster. Our favorite by far, however, is the Speak & Spell hack, which puts the gargantuan Speak & Spell keyboard to good use in penning text messages for the N900 — which displays them in the classic font and even articulates your words with a speech synthesis engine. It’s all a testament to the flexibility of Linux, hacker ingenuity and of course liberal application of Arduino, but it’s also a little advertorial-ey, so you might want to leave your gag reflex at home for this one.

[Via Nokia Conversations]

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N900 hacked to replace the innards of a Speak & Spell, can never bring back your childhood originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hard drives quit their day job to pursue new life as a speaker system

We know what you’re thinking, why would you ever turn two decent hard disk drives into tinny speakers when it’s much more logical to use them as storage and buying cheap speakers instead… but if you’re the kind of mad scientist who likes to see doohickeys function outside their intended use, or have friends who’d be really impressed or amused, you might want to consider recreating this classy speaker set complete with transparent glass case and the requisite blue lights. All the instructions lie beyond the read link, and if you’re not quite convinced, we think the video after the break is likely to change your opinion for the better.

[Via Hack a Day]

Continue reading Hard drives quit their day job to pursue new life as a speaker system

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Hard drives quit their day job to pursue new life as a speaker system originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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magicJack gets hacked into a magicNetbook

magicJack may still be sorting out its own fairly ambitious cellular plans, but it looks like some folks are taking it upon themselves to put the cheap phone call-making device to some exciting new uses — like this crafty modder who crammed his trusty “MJ” (as those in the know call it) into his Eee PC 1000HE netbook. That mod apparently took a full day of tweaking to get working just right, but it does indeed seem to work as promised, and will let you make dirt cheap phone calls simply by plugging any old phone directly into your netbook (via a headphone jack). Unfortunately, there’s no step-by-step how-to just yet, but you can check out some pics of the process at the link below and do your best to follow along.

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magicJack gets hacked into a magicNetbook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original Game Boy repurposed as external hard drive

Okay, so maybe this here mod isn’t nearly as extreme as shoving an entire PC into the case of a classic Game Boy, but it’s still pretty fantastic in its own right. Completed at some point during the dog days of summer, the 80GB Game Boy had its innards stripped and replaced with parts that enable a 2.5-inch 80GB SATA HDD to operate beautifully as a standard USB hard drive. The display you see here is (unfortunately) an illusion, as it’s simply a professional-looking still insert that merely gives the impression of it paying Game Boy titles while offloading spreadsheets. Now, if someone could figure out how to make it pull double duty…

[Via technabob]

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Original Game Boy repurposed as external hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: EeePC modded into a WalleeePC


We know how it is — you were an early adopter of the netbook craze sweeping every nation from Austria to Australia, but now that 11-inches is looking like the new de facto standard, your old 7-incher just isn’t cutting the mustard anymore. So what do you do? You mod that sucker into a kitchen cabinet door, of course. You’ll need a 7-inch USB touchscreen to layer atop an EeePC 701, along with a few other bits and bobs, but the most important thing to remember is a spectacularly loony soundtrack. Or so the video after the break seems to instruct us.

[Via JKK Mobile]

Continue reading Video: EeePC modded into a WalleeePC

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Video: EeePC modded into a WalleeePC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ben Heck realigns Xbox 360 pad for improved awesomeness

If you’ve spent any time on Engadget before, you’ll be aware that we’re big fans of Ben Heck and his tireless modding, tweaking and hacking (or is it Hecking?) of console hardware. The latest feather to his cap comes in the form of a customized Xbox 360 controller, which sees its D-pad and action buttons swapping places in an effort to help a handicapped gamer get his proverbial groove on. The trigger buttons are also flipped, but the pièce de résistance is the inclusion of four extra action buttons along the bottom of the controller that make one-handed gaming totally feasible. Check ’em out after the break.

Continue reading Ben Heck realigns Xbox 360 pad for improved awesomeness

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Ben Heck realigns Xbox 360 pad for improved awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Movie Gadget Friday: Weird Science

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.

We last left off on the cyberpunk streets of LA in Strange Days. This week, in honor of the loss of the man behind so many 1980’s icons, Movie Gadget Friday is paying homage to filmmaker John Hughes with a look into the 1985 cult-classic Weird Science. Tapping into the geek-fiction fantasies of most tinkering teenagers, real-life gadget specs are stretched to surreal capabilities to create the ultimate female bombshell. It’s without surprise that the character’s name, Lisa, was inspired by the Apple Lisa, Apple’s first GUI computer.

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Movie Gadget Friday: Weird Science originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WPA networks cracked in just under a minute, researchers claim

To think it was just a few months ago that we thought taking 15 minutes to crack WPA encryption was a feat. Researchers from Kobe University in Japan are claiming they can best that by a wide margin by cracking any WPA-protected connection using the TKIP algorithm within just one minute flat. The details will be revealed at a tech conference on September 25th. Feeling paranoid? Bump up your encryption to the still-secure AES algorithm or WPA2… and if you’re just wanting to live life on the edge, consider downgrading to WEP — it’s as good as open at this point anyway.

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WPA networks cracked in just under a minute, researchers claim originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DIY mini-fridge is just big enough for a can of soda, just odd enough to scare the FBI

DIY mini-fridge is big enough for a can of soda, odd enough to scare the FBI

Full-sized refrigerators are awfully easy to come by. Your average yard sale has one keg-sized example sitting in the corner (probably with the door removed), but what if you need something smaller? That’s when you turn to instructables and learn how to put together this peltier-powered mini fridge. It has a trio of coolers (under)powered by a 55 watt, 5 volt power supply sprouting enough exposed transistors, wires, and fans to make it all look like something the Department of Homeland Security warned you about. It’ll drop a can of soda down to a perfectly frosty 46F, but sadly nobody bothered to mention exactly how long that process takes — hopefully a little less time than was required to stick the thing together with expanding foam.

[Via Hack A Day]

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DIY mini-fridge is just big enough for a can of soda, just odd enough to scare the FBI originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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