Smart Idea Search Results

How To: Jailbreak iOS 6 on the iPhone 4, 3GS, and iPod touch

Even though iOS 6 has only been out for a day, the folks over at iPhone Dev-Team have already released a Redsn0w jailbreak that works on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch (fourth generation). As of right now, there's only a tethered jailbreak available, which means that you'll have to connect your device to your computer every time you power it up, but an untethered version that works on more devices is more than likely on the way. Until then, tethered is better than nothing, so here's...

How To: Turn Dried Out Markers into DIY Alcohol Ink That Works on Glass, Metal, and Plastic

Dried out markers are the worst. They take up space, and for some reason, even though they're totally useless, most of us have at least a few lying around just for the sake of not throwing them out. Luckily, Julie Finn over at Crafting a Green World has come up with a way to repurpose them into alcohol ink, a versatile type of ink that can be used on non-porous materials like plastic, glass, and metal. This is truly a tutorial for the pack rat in all of us. First, a little primer on what you ...

News: This Real-Life Star Wars Hover Bike Could Be the Future of Personal Transportation

Admit it—at some point or another, you've wished that you had your own personal hovercraft. Don't worry, we've all been there. Well, a company called Aerofex wants to make a hovercraft that's way more than your standard leaf-blower-powered one, taking a queue from the swoop and speeder bikes from the Star Wars franchise, building their own sort of repulsorlift. This hover bike may not be quite as fast as the ones from Star Wars, but if the company has its way, it could be on sale by the end o...

How To: Build a Cheap Arduino Tachometer to Measure the RPMs of Spinning Fans (And More)

A tachometer, or RPM counter, is a device that measures the speed of something that's rotating. In a car with a manual transmission, the tachometer can be helpful in determining when to release the clutch and how much gas to give when you're taking off. This DIY Arduino Tachometer by Chris on PyroElectro uses an infrared transmitter and receiver break-beam pair to measure the RPM of a computer fan. When the fan blade passes between the transmitter and receiver, the IR beam counts the interrup...

How To: Discover the Hidden Colors in Everyday Objects with This DIY Video Spectrometer

A spectrometer is a device that splits light into all of the different colors it's composed of that can't be seen with the naked eye. It does this by using a prism to refract or bend the light. Jeffrey Warren over at Public Labs created a tutorial showing how you can make your own video spectrometer and create spectra like the one pictured below. Any guesses as to what the subject is? Believe it or not, that's what whipped cream looks like when viewed through a spectrometer. You can do this w...

How To: Make Your Own Dippin' Dots Ice Cream with Liquid Nitrogen

Dippin' Dots are a fun way to enjoy ice cream, but the price tag is not so fun. Plus, the company filed for bankruptcy last year, so they may not be around much longer. The good news is that you don't need them—you can make your own at home with some ice cream and liquid nitrogen. Redditor hypoid77 posted instructions on how to make your own DIY Dippin' Dots Maker out of a Styrofoam cooler, a couple two-liter bottles, a thumbtack, and some liquid nitrogen. Use the thumbtack to poke a 3-inch p...

News: This DIY Passion Fruit Battery Can Power Lasers!

It's been proven over and over that you can make batteries out of fruits and vegetables such as lemons, potatoes, and even apples. Turns out, passion fruit is also acidic enough to power a battery, but Maui Makers member Ryan K decided to take it a step further by adding a laser. Passion fruit, or Lilikoi as it's called in Hawaii, is usually over-abundant in Maui, so Ryan decided to put it to good use. Using anodized bolts, copper pipe, wire, switches, and some LEDs, he built a battery that c...

How To: Ditch Your Doorbell for This Front Door RFID Lock That Lets Whoever You Want In (Whenever You Want)

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...

How To: Find Out What Personal Data Your Mobile Apps Are Leaking with Mobilescope

If you use apps on your smartphone, chances are you have no idea what those apps are doing with your information. Just this year, there have been several scandals involving apps transmitting user data, like Path uploading users' entire address books onto its servers, HTC's Security Flaw, and Brewster exposing users' personal information (even Ashton Kutcher's). A new service called Mobilescope wants to make sure you always know where—and to whom—your data is going. Lots of apps copy your cont...

News: This Cardboard Bicycle Cost Only $12 to Make—And It Works!

Stop me if you've heard this one before. A man walks into a bicycle shop, hears about a canoe made of cardboard and is inspired to make an awesome, fully-functional cardboard bicycle. Sound far-fetched? Wait until you hear how his guy actually did it. Israeli entrepreneur Izhar Gafni says that the idea for his method came from Japanese origami. Folding the cardboard increases its strength by 2-3 times, making the material much more durable. Essentially, he made the basic shape for each part w...

DIY Rehydration Drinks: How to Make Your Own Electrolyte-Enhanced Water for Cheap

While it's easy to make fun of water with "electrolytes," there's actually some science behind it. Despite the name, electrolyte-enhanced water isn't all that high-tech, it mostly means that it's been infused with vitamins and minerals such as potassium and sodium, which are very helpful in preventing dehydration. Unfortunately, electrolyte water isn't especially cheap, and compared to the tap, it's downright expensive. Luckily, there's a few recipes out there that can help you mix your own e...

How To: Determine the area of a trapezoid

Need to figure out the area of a trapezoid for a household project? Even if you just want to sound smart, there is a simple formula that can be used every time you need to find the area of a trapezoid. Try the formula and see how good you are at geometry.

News: PvP + Traps = Awesomeness! in This Week's Redstone Competition

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our tutorials, post to the Inspiration board, and come play on our free server! HELLO, FELLOW MINECRAFTERS. Pmaguire here, bringing you my favorite idea for a competition so far! I hope that you will come to love it as much as I do! Well, starting off, as the title states, this week's Redstone Competition will be PvP Arenas! Except, not just ones where you physically fight. You have to have traps, things that make it hard to fight, and various ideas using...

How To: Tag like a real graffiti artist

Graffiti— do you have the guts to get out there and tag some property? There's a whole lot more than just spray paint involved. To be great, you'll need things like a sketchbook, pencils, pens, markers, spray can tips, latex gloves, legal (or illegal) wall, and most importantly… creativity. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be an urban graffiti artist, follow these steps to become da ’hood’s next da Vinci.

How To: Make a cool lamp out of a tequila bottle

In this how-to video from projectink we are shown how to make a lamp out of a tequila bottle. There's no need to spend 100 bucks on a lamp when making your own is cheap and easy and fun. These are the supplies you'll need: A bottle (we're using a Jose Cuervo tequila bottle), a plastic bag, super glue, a hot glue gun (or you can use epoxy), a screwdriver, a lamp kit (you can get these at the hardware store for about 12 bucks), and a glass-cutting drill bit. For the glass-cutting bit, try and f...

How To: Easily brine a chicken

This video will show you the ingredients, gear and process you will need to do to brine a turkey or chicken. Brine is vegetable stock or broth, salt and brown sugar. You can add whatever other spices you would like to season your meat.

How to Walkthrough Darksiders: The Destroyer

This is the end of the Xbox 360 game Darksiders. It's the last level, the last quest, your last mission… the Destroyer. You'll need to summon Ruin to stand a chance against the Destroyer. Hold the Focus button to target lock onto the creature so you can keep in in view as you move around. The idea is for you to ride in close enough to the dragon and slash it with your Armageddon Blade. Watch out when you see the Destroyer's front claws glow red as this means he's coming to slash at you. Eithe...