Sep 06

How to turn a spare LCD panel into a working monitor for $33

Posted in: diy, hack, hacking, Hacks, LCD, mod, mods, monitor, Today's Chili
We know how it is. You have a laptop or monitor that’s finally bought it, so you decide to salvage it for parts that you’ll use someday. Well, here’s one decidedly inexpensive option for any spare LCD panels you might have lying around. As noted by Make, you can now buy a simple LCD controller on eBay for just $33, which will turn that panel (assuming it’s compatible) into a fully functional monitor without too much skill required on your part — you’re on your own to make it presentable, though.

How to turn a spare LCD panel into a working monitor for $33 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 06

Gamer stuffs PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles into one case, clears shelf space for the trifecta

Posted in: hack, Microsoft, mod, mods, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, xbox 360, Xbox360

Sure, we’ve all thought about how nice it would be to have our PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles in the same enclosure. But, as many similar thoughts go, we left it at that. Not content with letting a good thought simmer, Reddit user timofend accepted the challenge and built himself a gaming mega-machine — he stuffed the new slim model of Microsoft’s console into a PC tower alongside an older 80GB PS3. Looking to save some funds in the process, the über-gamer skipped out on a liquid cooling system — but he notes that when both machines are running simultaneously, they each hover around 100 degrees Farhenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Hey, we’re not complaining… but really, timofend, can we please see a NES / Dreamcast / O.G. PlayStation combo in your next masterpiece? To take a peek under the hood, hit the gallery below.

Gallery: PS3 and Xbox 360 in PC Tower

Gamer stuffs PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles into one case, clears shelf space for the trifecta originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 26

Commenting on Engadget: a refresher

Posted in: mod, mods, Today's Chili
Commenting on Engadget: a reminder, and how you can help

Hey there, it’s time for yet another refresher on the wonderful world of Engadget comments. After the break you’ll find our “human’s guide” to commenting, a sort of care and feeding guide for your Disqus account. If you’ve been here for awhile (hello, you) it should be mighty familiar but, since the flow of the commenters has hugely increased lately, we’re going to be more strict for awhile, deleting any comments we deem to be trollin’ or hatin’ and banning repeat offenders. We don’t like banning people, and we realize that haters do have to hate, but we love encouraging active and open debate down there. This is the best way for us to do that.

Read on for some guidelines to keep in mind.

Continue reading Commenting on Engadget: a refresher

Commenting on Engadget: a refresher originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Engineer hacks a Kindle, creates easy to use prototype for sister with cerebral palsy

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, hack, hacked, kindle, mod, mods, Today's Chili, video

This may not be Amazon’s next version of the Kindle, but this rad mod does fill a very unique purpose. Glenn, an electrical engineer, created what he’s calling the Frankenkindle for his sister, who has cerebral palsy. This e-reader features controls that are much easier for her to use than the stock buttons on the factory offering. Using the keypad from a children’s reader and Amazon’s pride and joy, the fully functional device is only lacking a permanent mount for the hacked digital library and some wire organization. In between the buttons and the Kindle, he’s customized a Teensy USB microcontroller to interpret and pass along the proper input commands. While fully aware the device will need some user testing, Glenn intends to tailor this bad boy to his sister’s specific needs — and if that wasn’t enough he’s got more tricks up his sleeve that will help others with physical disabilities. If you’re wanting a quick walk through, check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Engineer hacks a Kindle, creates easy to use prototype for sister with cerebral palsy

Engineer hacks a Kindle, creates easy to use prototype for sister with cerebral palsy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 08

Rich Decibels Brainwave Disruptor scrambles your head, not your eggs

Posted in: arduino, hack, homebrew, LED, mod, mods, Today's Chili

Child of the ’80s? Then you’ll most likely remember those notorious PSAs about your brain and eggs, and the dangers of turning yourself into an omelette. Yeah, well turn off your inner Nancy Reagan for a second because we’ve got an Arduino hack that should have you just saying yes. New Zealand artist Rich Decibels created a homebrew brain entrainment device that uses low frequency sound and light to induce different mental states. The mod pieces together an Arduino Uno with two separate interface boards — one for pitch and separation controls, the other for LED and volume — to deliver a combo of binaural beats (two slightly out of sync tones) and flashing headset-mounted lights that’ll slow down those cerebral hertz cycles. If you happen to live in the land made famous by Frodo’s Shire, you can check out the brain-slowing goods at Thistle Hall’s Project Briefcase exhibition. Not a Kiwi? Then be sure to hit the source for an audio taste of this hacked head experience.

Rich Decibels Brainwave Disruptor scrambles your head, not your eggs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack a Day  |  sourcePonoko  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 30

CNC machine carves dot drawing portraits for your living room walls

Posted in: mod, mods, Photos, Today's Chili

Fancy seeing your mug enlarged to halftone-processed heights? You’re in luck, because Finnish modder Metalfusion has a homebrew solution for those Wall Street Journal-style hedcut delusions. Using a specially designed image conversion program, the DIY hobbyist tranforms .jpg, .gif or .png files into DXF-formatted dot patterns of varying density. The resulting images are then fed directly into a CNC machine where a drill is left to make the wood-carved magic happen. Need some visual confirmation of this awesome feat, then head past the break for a video demo of this old-timey optical illusion.

Continue reading CNC machine carves dot drawing portraits for your living room walls

CNC machine carves dot drawing portraits for your living room walls originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink HackedGadgets  |  sourceMetalfusion (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 09

Fukushima plant operator uses modded robot vacuum to suck up radioactive dirt (video)

Posted in: Japan, japanese, mod, mods, robot, Robots, Today's Chili, video

A few months ago, back when Japan was freshly reeling from that devastating earthquake and tsunami, it became obvious that robots could help survey radiation levels in Fukushima, even if they were powerless to lower them. Now, Tokyo Power Electric Co., the company that operates the damaged nuclear plant, is experimenting with an ad hoc system designed to clean at least some of the radioactive dirt from the reactors. What you see in that clip below is an industrial-grade vacuum cleaner attached to a Warrior, the most heavy-duty of iRobot’s mobile bots. The idea is that workers can control the system from a safe distance, and let the robot handle the dirty work of removing toxic sand and debris. Head past the break to see it in action, combing the floor of the (eerily) empty plant.

Continue reading Fukushima plant operator uses modded robot vacuum to suck up radioactive dirt (video)

Fukushima plant operator uses modded robot vacuum to suck up radioactive dirt (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jul 2011 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 23

Rotary phone mod tweets your emoticons, heavy soldering still required

Posted in: Hacks, LED, mods, Today's Chili, twitter

File this under ‘questionably useful, but darling nonetheless.’ ZviZvi over at Instructables needed to update an outdated product for his Industrial Design portfolio, so he took grandpa’s old rotary phone and implanted an Arduino soul. With an involved bit of slap n’ solder and a WiFly shield, our enterprising Israeli modder transformed this once-luddite tech into an emoticon-tweeting wireless terminal. While the phone’s LED-lit dial is only capable of outputting ten heartwarming expressions, that’s still ten more than any rotary phone’s ever had before. Sure, you could always use that ever-accessible laptop (or smartphone) for your Twitter needs, but where’s the fun in that? Per usual, budding inventors can tickle their Emo in the source link below.

Rotary phone mod tweets your emoticons, heavy soldering still required originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 10

Datamancer Steampunk Laptop now available for anachronistic pre-order

Posted in: laptop, mod, mods, notebook, pre-order, PreOrder, Retro, Today's Chili
Datamancer Steampunk Laptop

We really hope you’ve haven’t grown tired of Steampunk over the years. Over-saturated? Passé? Perhaps, but there’s still something undeniably alluring about the blend of Victorian-era mechanics and modern technology. That’s why, even three years after we first caught a glimpse of it, we’re pretty psyched to hear that Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop is actually being made available for purchase. Detailed specs haven’t been offered, we only know that it will feature “cutting-edge internal components,” but we can tell you there are a bevy of customization options. You can choose everything from the wood stain color, to keyboard fonts, to etched brass lids or clockwork gears like the original design (except these will tick and turn). You can pre-order one now (at the source link) for $5,500 — a healthy discount over the estimated price once production on these one-of-a-kind machines kicks in to gear ($7,500+). Now we just have to decide between food and rent, or a work of PC art.

Datamancer Steampunk Laptop now available for anachronistic pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrunchGear  |  sourceDatamancer  | Email this | Comments

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Jun 05

Newest Kinect hack: a grocery cart that loyally follows disabled shoppers (video)

Posted in: hack, Hacks, kinect, Microsoft, mod, mods, research, Today's Chili, video

Microsoft’s Kinect is the gift that keeps on giving for hackers, spawning everything from glasses-free teleconferencing to Tesla coil manipulation to uh, well, Android dance parties. But Luis de Matos’s wi-Go project is one of the most socially conscious we’ve seen: it adds a laptop and (despite its name) a Kinect to a shopping cart, enabling the cart to follow a wheelchair user. Improving on the B.O.S.S. bot we saw a half-decade ago, the wi-Go could allow anyone — including the disabled or elderly — to shop independently, regardless of physical capability. De Matos doesn’t offer many technical details, but see the video above for a before-and-after demonstration.

Newest Kinect hack: a grocery cart that loyally follows disabled shoppers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Kinect Hacks  |  sourceLuis de Matos (Vimeo)  | Email this | Comments

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