Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots

The Nervous Squirrel’s Furby Gurdy (version 2) isn’t the first music maker we’ve seen that’s better understood when viewed during an out-of-body experience, but it’s certainly one of the strangest. The circuit bent Furby sequencer, which is linked to a Korg SQ-10 in the demonstration vid after the break, combines centuries-old musical methods with some of the strangest characters to ever grace planet Earth. We could talk for hours on end and still not do this thing justice, so just click through and mash play to see what we’re referring to. We’re warning you, though — we haven’t seen anything this weird since Smash Mouth’s lead singer showed up at an Intel press event.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Continue reading Video: Furby Gurdy makes “music,” trips you out

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Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Oh sure, we’ve seen a limited number of hacks surface for the hotly selling (but still unsightly) Amazon Kindle, but we’ve yet to see a hardware mod of this magnitude. We’ve always heard that desperate times call for desperate measures, and evidently said mantra is very true. After having the display in his Kindle smashed around 8 months ago (thanks, kid sister…), blakebevin set out to perform an unprecedented surgery. With an unwanted Sony Reader LCD in hand and a badly broken Kindle on the operating table, he attempted to give the latter unit new life with a few pixels from a cross-town rival. We’ll warn you — this one’s not for the rookies in attendance, and even Mr. Bevin (it is Mr. Bevin, right?) had some “nagging button issues” once the thing was sewn back up. Give the read link a look if you ever find yourself in this admittedly peculiar situation.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets

Oh sure, you’ve been able to buy digital camera-equipped binoculars for years now, but finding one that does video (particularly with the camcorder you already own) has been a continual struggle. Thanks to one engineering soul, you can forge ahead with your plans to video all sorts of sights by adding a CCD eyepiece to any ‘ole set of binoculars. Once installed, you simply hook up your camcorder (hope it has video in), mash record and get to gazing. Be careful what you look for, though.

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Filed under: Robots

We’ve seen methods for hooking house plants up with their own Twitter account, but there’s hardly anything more satisfying that building a robot to read back all those feeds from the thousands of people you’re undoubtedly following. Ganzbot is a decidedly low-budget robot that relies on an Arduino Decima to control the head actions and a USB cable to receive up-to-date status information. Have a look at the innards as well as a few words being spoken just after the jump.

[Via MAKE]

Continue reading Video: Ganzbot reads Twitter feeds aloud, looks fashionably low-rate

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Filed under: Robots

What could possibly provide us more joy and mirth than a Segway? How about a Segway-inspired bot that fails spectacularly on a consistent basis? The tech in play here is quite simple, and the fact it can stand as long as it does being that top heavy is actually pretty surprising. The best news? Hit the read link for a guide to making your very own fail bot at home. It’s fun for the whole family.

[Via technabob]

Continue reading Miniature “balancing” robot is sad, hilarious

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Filed under: Gaming

This one isn’t quite as dodgy as they come, but the very notable limitations really keep this from being the whiz-bang hack that it appears to be on the surface. Hacker StreetskaterFU had no trouble getting confirmation from others that his method of running Blu-ray games from the PlayStation 3’s hard drive was indeed legitimate, but it is only confirmed to work with select “older titles” including Warhawk, MotorStorm and Call of Duty 3. To make matters worse, instructions are sketchy at best, but at least there’s a video of the process working after the break. Let us know how things go should you give this a whirl.

Continue reading Hacked PlayStation 3 reportedly runs Blu-ray games from HDD

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals

Had enough Wall-E mods yet? Really, you have? What, you some kind of whiskey-drunk, bunny stuffer? This is Wall-E, the Disney robot sent to save us from ourselves and apparently, beige computers. This latest mod drops a a trio (hey, why not) of DVD drives into Wall-E’s trash compacting belly. Add cardboard, aluminum, toy bulldozer parts, and some fancy Dremeling and this is the result. See him in action after the break.

[Thanks, John]

Continue reading Video: Wall-E’s DVD duplicator mod directive

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Here’s a fun, not-completely-original, but still-pretty-neat idea: littleBits. Tiny, pre-assembled circuit boards that create a library of mix-and-match electronic components for building that next amazing wonder widget. Oh, and they’re open source. The “blocks” snap together via magnets, and there’s an ever-growing selection of modules to choose from. The project is still in its infancy, but we’re expecting to see some good work from Joe Hacker Guy on the DIY scene, or anybody else too afraid to pick up a soldering iron, once these arrive at some sort of retail availability. An intro video is after the break.

Continue reading littleBits are like Legos for circuit boards

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s tough for us to go six months without a newfangled approach to hacking the famed USB missile launcher, so it’s with great joy that we present to you this particular one. By utilizing a spare Wiimote, a USB-enabled PC, a USB missile launcher, a few strips of duct tape and a minor amount of programming knowledge, you too can craft an auto-aiming launcher which can find, aim at and attack IR targets. Grab the aforementioned items and hit the read link, just take care to not poke your eye out, alright?

[Via HackNMod, thanks Joe]

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Filed under: Storage

Seems everyone is coming out with a cheap, do-it-yourself SATA adapter to convert all your extra flash memory cards into a makeshift SSD. This time, we’re looking at the ¥10,000 (about $91) PhotoFast CR-9000. The 9.5-mm tall, 2.5-inch, 3Gbps SATA adapter accommodates up to 6x SDHC cards and should fit into most slim laptops. That’s enough slots to make a 192GB SSD (using 6x 32GB cards) for a bargain $900 or about $270 for a 48GB SSD based on a quick calculation of SDHC cards found on-line. While performance depends upon the weakest card of the lot, Impress Watch was able to squeeze a respectable 111.4MBps reads and 55.17MBps writes from their RAID 0 setup using class-6 rated, MLC-based, SDHC cards. That’s nothing like the performance of the latest MLC-based SSDs but not bad for what you pay. Still, with SSD prices in freefall, these DIY adapters are quickly becoming less and less attractive.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Look, we know it’s pointless and likely in violation of even the most rudimentary safety codes enacted since the Middle Ages. But there’s something about DIY hackery of that 500mA USB port that tugs at the little Erector Set cobbling kid in each of us. Just wire up an off-the-shelf pan with some insulated tungsten filament and you’ll be cooking an egg in about 7 minutes — you know, after an overnight pre-heat, presumably. Now prepare to have your noodle scrambled along with an egg in the video after the break.

Continue reading DIY USB pan cooks your egg faster than a cellphone

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Look, we know it’s pointless and likely in violation of even the most rudimentary safety codes enacted since the Middle Ages. But there’s something about DIY hackery of that 500mA USB port that tugs at the little Erector Set cobbling kid in each of us. Just wire up an off-the-shelf pan with some insulated tungsten filament and you’ll be cooking an egg in about 7 minutes — you know, after an overnight pre-heat, presumably. Now prepare to have your noodle scrambled along with an egg in the video after the break.

[Thanks, Mira B.]

Continue reading Video: DIY USB pan cooks your egg faster than a cellphone

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

From the same brilliant mind that brought you the RoboStool comes something a bit less useful but equally mesmerizing. Put simply, Norris Labs’ Stonehenge is a robotic time teller which rearranges placards in order to express the current time. The concoction utilizes a CrustCrawler Smart Arm and a Parallax Propeller chip along with 14 cards to display the current time, though it does operate, um, a bit slowly. Ah well, it’s not like you’re in any hurry to see what this thing can do, right? Oh, wait… you are? Head on past the break for a quick look.

[Via OhGizmo]

Continue reading Stonehenge robotic clock: telling time never looked so fun

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Filed under: Laptops

Sick of your puny 3-cell battery? Not really kosher with paying absurd premiums for a 6-cell edition? Do what any self-respecting, entirely fearless netbook owner would do — create your own 9-cell while simultaneously sticking your tongue out at MSI. We wouldn’t go tinkering with a battery pack unless you’re a) quite skilled and b) well protected, but those looking for extra long battery life at the expense of (severely) uglifying your machine can dig into the how-to guide waiting in the read link below.

[Via jkOnTheRun, thanks Joe]

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Filed under: Gaming

Okay, okay — we get it. So maybe there’s just not enough room in a genuine Zapper to fit all the necessary innards of a Nintendo Entertainment System into, but it’s just a bit weird to see the Big N’s antiquated console crammed into some other light gun. Similar to the NES-in-an-NES-controller mod we peeked earlier this week, this unit includes a plethora of games and all the controls you need; just plug it up to a TV, pop a few batteries in there and you’re golden. Is it any surprise this guy was tracked down on Ben Heck’s own forums?

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming

Okay, okay — we get it. So maybe there’s just not enough room in a genuine Zapper to fit all the necessary innards of a Nintendo Entertainment System into, but it’s just a bit weird to see the Big N’s antiquated console crammed into some other light gun. Similar to the NES-in-an-NES-controller mod we peeked earlier this week, this unit includes a plethora of games and all the controls you need; just plug it up to a TV, pop a few batteries in there and you’re golden. Is it any surprise this guy was tracked down on Ben Heck’s own forums?

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

If you’re an owner of the first generation iPhone then one of the (many) annoyances you’ve discovered with your new curvy and slightly chubbier 3G sib is the fact that it won’t fit your existing dock — be it the dock bundled with the iPhone or with the Bluetooth headset. To make matters worse, Apple chose not to bundle a compatible dock with the iPhone 3G — you have to purchase that separately for $29… you know, assuming you can find it. Fortunately, that old dock can be made into a suitable charging base for your iPhone 3G with just a bit of simple Dremel action and elbow grease. Sounds like a bargain to us.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Look, that USB-powered fish tank was fine during your teenage years of irresponsibility, but it’s really about time you started acting your age. Of course, we’re not suggesting you actually work harder — just smarter, is all. The DIY Automatic Fish Feeder is an exceptionally cheap, easy and almost life-changing creation that will never, ever forget to keep your fishes well fed and well lit. By attaching a makeshift pill bottle dispenser to a timer, Baha Tanju was able to create an automatic feeder that barely requires any attention. We know fish have a way of forgetting everything they ever knew every three seconds or so, but they’ll love you three seconds at a time for never leaving ‘em hungry.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

This one has been around the block a time or two, but considering you have absolutely nothing else to do on a Sunday, you might as well dust off that DIY kit and get to work. What you’re looking at above is a genuine (albeit modified) NES controller playing a bona fide classic on a laptop. Amazingly, all of the software required for such a marvelously good time is stuffed tight within the controller itself. Take a step back and digest that — your very own NES emulator (with ROMs), shoved inside a Nintendo Entertainment System controller. Does it get any more awesome than that? Hit the read link to start building your own and let us know. Video of the action after the jump.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Continue reading Modder shoves emulator, ROMs into actual NES controller

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Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

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