Still have an old tape deck installed in your car? This nifty hack lets you upgrade to the digital age without sacrificing your love for cassettes. There's nothing wrong with some low-fidelity tunes in your car every now and then, but if you want to listen to the tunes on your iPod or smartphone too, it's a lot easier (and cheaper) than buying a new in-dash player that supports line-in connections. Just add some wireless capabilities to you tape deck! All you need is a cheap cassette adapter,...
There are thousands of articles published every day about smartphones, tablets, eReaders, and any other kind of gadgets you can think of. The problem is that most people only really care about news related to the devices they actually own. So how do you filter out all of the stuff you don't care about? That's what Drippler does. It pulls news, tips, and app reviews and recommendations from all over the web and puts them all in one place, but only for the devices you want to read about. You te...
Before my time, people used to listen to music recorded on these things... I didn't really know what this thing was until my parents clarified and told me that they were called cassette tapes. These "cassette tapes" were utilized to store sound recordings on either side of the tape, which could usually hold between 30 to 45 minutes. I laughed at that information as I took out my iPhone 5 (roughly the same size), which can store roughly 40,000 minutes worth of music.
You can take some really awesome photos of water droplets if you've got a fast enough camera (and flash), but water drops aren't just spectacular as photographic subjects—you can also make them a part of the photographic process by using a water drop as a DIY projection microscope and even a macro lens for your iPhone. But as useful as a water drop can be, it's still way cooler when they're in front of the camera (as the subject). Recently, researchers from the National Autonomous University ...
Lucid dreaming, in which you're aware that you're dreaming, can be profoundly beneficial to us. It gives us freedom to do things we couldn't possibly do in the real world. It can show us the true potential of our brain power. You can even use lucid dreaming to question the nature of our own reality. For whatever reason, people everywhere are interested in this mysterious phenomenon...especially in achieving it. Whether it be visiting another planet or flying around, the possibilities in lucid...
It may seem like a trivial topic, but the majority of people don't use paper towels the proper way (just as they don't crap the proper way). The outcome of this improper usage?
A hidden feature residing in Mac OS X Mountain Lion is the ability to view and also reply to your friend's tweets through the Contacts application, previously known as Address Book. The only way to do this, though, is to provide your Twitter account login data to the Contacts app. To integrate your Twitter, just go to System Preferences, then click on Mail, Contacts & Calendars and choose Twitter. Put in your Twitter login information and then click on Update Contacts. Twitter will use your e...
There are certain files on your Mac that do not warrant encryption, but still need to be hidden. Whether it be snoopy parents trying to find pictures, or friends stumbling upon one of your love letters, there are times when you need to hide a file and have it kept secret. Obscure Your Files with Obscurity
Portal, the popular game from Valve, has been critically acclaimed since its release in 2007. Its unique gameplay and humorous storyline is the reason for its popularity amongst nerds everywhere. This has also spawned a large community in cosplay and prop design. The most popular aspect of the game has to be the awesome portal gun. The gun creates companion portals on almost any surface that allow the player to jump form place to place with ease and also allows you to move heavy objects with ...
Earlier this week, we learned that you can get people to put more money in a tip jar simply by drawing eyes on it. But what if you want to keep them away from something? Eyes can do that, too, especially when they're Putin's.
An isomorphic (or self-transposing) keyboard is "a musical device where a grid of notes is displayed to the user and the interval change between notes in constant for any given direction." For those of you who didn't grow up playing the piano like I did, that basically means that it lets you move between keys easily without having to learn new patterns because the keys are laid out so that a chord is the same pattern in every musical key.
It seems like every other day there's a new security threat or data leak in the news. Whether it's your credit card PIN or your smartphone's apps leaking your email address, no one wants their personal information out there, especially passwords. And if you use the same email address and/or password for more than one site, the effects of someone getting hold of your credentials can be catastrophic.
Did you know that the average cost to make a penny is about 2.4 cents?!? That's why the Obama administration asked Congress earlier this year for permission to change the metals in the penny, hoping to get the cost back down where it makes sense.
Tons of iPhone 5 users with Verizon Wireless hit the message boards last week complaining about their phones sucking down massive amounts of cellular data when they were actually using a Wi-Fi connection. Of course, that means Verizon customers could have been getting charged for cellular data they weren't actually using.
Who doesn't love Duck Hunt? It's arguably one of the most popular games ever created for the original NES system, even in spite of the mocking dog that everyone hates. I'm sure a lot of people still have their old controllers in the attic somewhere, so unless you're lucky enough to have an NES that still works, why not put that childhood nostalgia to good use?
Yesterday, we pointed out that hackers could remote-wipe certain Android-based Samsung smartphones like the Galaxy S III using a USSD exploit. All they have to do is hide a small code into any webpage or text—even barcodes—then once you click on it, the phone resets to factory settings in a matter of seconds. The video below shows just how easy it is.
We've shown you how to make water change color on command, but how about just half of it? What if I told you that you can split a solution right down the middle and make the color disappear from one side, just by shining light on it?
AirPlay is probably one of the most underutilized features in Apple products. It allows users to wirelessly stream photos, music, or video directly from their iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Mac to their Apple TV or AirPlay-supported speakers. The Apple support page has a complete list of all the supported and needed devices. Mirroring is also available, but only for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad 2, all of which need to be running iOS 5 or later.
In our society, multitasking is an obsession. Whether it's driving while using your phone (DON'T DO IT) or drinking a cup of coffee while typing up some work, we multitask at every turn of the day. People that work all day in front of a computer are especially prone to multitasking, and that's why XDA-Developers member Floyd1973 has developed a way to control any Android phone while connected via USB to a Windows or Linux PC. Android Remote Phone Tools
Planning on getting the iPhone 5, but want to keep your SIM card? The new nano-SIMs that manufacturers are adopting will be even smaller than the micro-SIMs that most of us currently use. It's fairly easy to cut a regular SIM down to a micro-SIM, but because the nano-SIM will be thinner as well as smaller than the micro, cutting it down to size will require a little more work. Photo by Tech Digest
Whether you want to use it to keep your guests safe or just to see who's the most drunk, it's always fun to have your own breathalyzer at a party. We've seen DIY breathalyzers before, like this one by Craig Smith, but how about an Arduino breathalyzer?
So, you want to throw a steampunk party and you have almost everything in place—your steampunk persona and iPhone are ready to go, and you've even got your own steampunk straight razor. What's missing? The Elixirator, that's what. The Elixirator is a steampunk cocktail-making machine by Botronics that can hold four different ingredients and mix up to ten drinks. It has a Picaxe microcontroller for a brain and was built using a lot of pieces from thrift shops. It has a plasma globe at the top ...
There's a lot of firsts that President Barack Obama can claim, like being the first POTUS from Hawaii, the first to publicly support same-sex marriage, and of course, the first African American to hold office. One of his coolest firsts, though, is that he's the first American president to ever brew his own beer in the White House. And thanks to a Redditor who filed a Freedom of Information Act request, two recipes have been released so that home brewers everywhere can give them a try.
Windows users have been getting a lot of bad news about their security lately. First, we found out that passwords in Windows 7 and 8 can easily be exploited if password hints are enabled, and now, Russian password-cracking software developer Elcomsoft has found another huge vulnerability.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy has been one of the most successful film series of all time, so it comes as no surprise that everyone wants their own real-life versions of the Dark Knight's gadgets and vehicles.
Got an upset stomach or a little heartburn? America's favorite pink pill will cure it right up. But did you know that there's actually metal hiding in those chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets? Yes, metal. Technically, it's a poor metal, but metal's metal, right? Well, we do tend to eat a lot of iron in our diets, because it carries oxygen throughout our bodies, so consuming metallic minerals isn't anything abnormal. But you'd never think that Pepto-Bismol is actually made up of metal.
Looking to transmit some super-secret audio communications to your other spy buddies? A laser is the perfect tool for getting your sounds heard from a small distance—without anyone intercepting them— even if it's just a cover of your favorite pop song. A laser audio transmitter uses light rather than radio waves to transmit sound. This is a much more secure way to send audio communications because the laser is a focused beam of light, whereas radio waves are not controlled, so they can be pic...
Remember going to the doctor when you were a kid? If the word 'traumatizing' comes to mind, you'll love the RoboDoc by MarkusB, a robotic doctor that makes checkups a little less scary (and a lot more fun) for kids. It all started when Markus took his 14-month-old daughter for a checkup. The finger clip that the doctor used to check her pulse terrified her, so Markus decided to build a heartbeat monitor just for kids that's much more likely to make them laugh than cry.
Who needs to go to bartending school when you've got the Inebriator to mix your favorite drinks for you? Want a cosmopolitan? No problem. Press a button. Want a tequila sunrise? Sure thing. Press a button. As long as you've got a good supply of liquor and mixers, the Inebriator is at your command. So, what exactly is this Inebriator thing? Well, it's a robotic bartender that can automatically pour 15 different pre-programmed cocktails. With 9 different liquors and 7 mixers on board, it's got ...
WonderHowTo has seen its fair share of dragon-related projects, from dragon wings, to dragon kites, to less-complicated origami dragons, but we've yet to see anything quite like this. Radio-control plane builder Richard Hamel built this incredible seven-foot-long, fire-breathing dragon using a JetCat P80 turbine and a 50,000 volt stun gun, with a 2.4-gigahertz touchscreen radio controller to fly it.
André Broessel of rawlemon has developed a solar energy generator that can use both sun and moonlight to create usable power. Oh... and it's gorgeous. The device is essentially a huge glass sphere filled with water that uses a ball lens to refract light in a way that increases energy efficiency by 35 percent. It's completely weatherproof and has an optical tracking device, meaning that it can be incorporated into architecture. Here's a concept design of how it could be used to power buildings...
Invented by Philadelphia tinsmith John L. Manson in 1858 for canning and preserving perishables, mason jars are experiencing a major resurgence in the DIY community. In addition to being a handy storage device for both food and non-food items, its old-timey, quaintly antiquated look also makes for good drinking glasses, candle holders, flower vases and eye-pleasing decorations.
Hate answering the door, but don't trust your friends with a set of keys? This RFID front door lock made by Steve Pomeroy will solve all your party-hosting problems. It reads the RFID tags in his friends' public transit cards and decides who's allowed in based on "groups" that Steve defines. And I have to say, it's also rather stylish. It's controlled by an Arduino serial console and a custom Android app to add and remove cards. The reader can store 50 or 100 tags at a time and allows 7 diffe...
Since most devices these days are mobile and wireless, a lot of people have a bunch of old hardware from a decade or two ago sitting around unused, just wasting away in dusty boxes. Look familiar?
As if the world needed one more reason to be obsessed with Shark Week, Volkswagen has teamed up with Discovery Channel to create this awesome "underwater car" that's actually a mobile shark cage.
No one likes to think about the possibility of natural disasters, but we all know they could happen at any time. Some of us are a little more paranoid than others, but wouldn't it be nice to know that you'd be protected if anything really crazy ever happened? Like the zombie apocalypse?
In 1958, Patrick Flanagan invented the Neurophone, a device patented in 1962 that allows radio signals to be picked up by the human nervous system. The skin is the organ that receives the signal, converting it into a modulated molecular vibration, which the brain interprets into sound. Basically, it gives one the ability to 'hear' through the skin, making it sound like the audio you're hearing is actually in your head. It's kind of like having headphones in your brain. The only problem was th...
Technology is awesome. You can use your iPad to record music or even turn your tunes into a solar system, but sometimes being plugged in all of the time can leave you nostalgic for simpler times. This new concept by Joelle Aeschlimann brings together the best of both worlds by turning your iPad into an old-fashioned, hand-cranked music box. The artist created three different music boxes, each one with its own unique song and visualization. The music boxes were made using wooden cylinders with...
Linux is generally a pretty stable OS, but occasionally things happen. However, as long as your keyboard has a SysRq key, you'll never need to worry about freezes again.
Gerridae—you've probably seen these weird bugs gliding across the surface of the water when you're out swimming or fishing. These insects are commonly referred to as water striders, or more cleverly, Jesus bugs, for their ability to "walk on water". It's a pretty cool trick, but what could it do for science, right? Turns out, quite a bit. Photo by felixtsao
