Wired Peripherals Search Results

How To: Don't Smoke? Turn Your Car's Ashtray into a DIY Smartphone Dock

If you don't smoke, your car's ashtray is probably either unused or, if you're like me, full of loose change. And if your car is older, unless you've installed one, it probably doesn't have a place for you to plug in your phone. This quick hack by Jalopnik's Jason Torchinsky will solve both of those problems by turning your ashtray into a simple DIY smartphone dock that will charge your phone and let you play music through your car's speakers. After removing and cleaning the ashtray, Jason to...

DIY Portable Power Pack: Turn Your Backpack into a Solar-Powered Gadget Charger

A smartphone is pretty much useless with a dead battery. When you're out and about, it can be hard to find a place to plug in (if you remembered your charger, that is). But this DIY solar panel backpack made by electrical engineer Theodore Protasiewicz will help you use the scorching sun to your advantage and make sure that your gadgets are always ready to go. Theodore started with just a normal backpack, some solar panels, 18 gauge wire, and a USB port and hacked it into a traveling solar ch...

News: 1,000,000 Spiders Weave Rare Silk

A rare textile woven from the silk of more than one million spiders is currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The incredible textile measures 11 by four feet, and is the largest piece of spider-woven textile in the world.

News: Um, Are Those Kids On Fire?

Just a normal day in the life of the Dunn family. Seasoned stunt professionals Jim and Celia Dunn have appeared in Hollywood films such as Poltergeist , Scary Movie, X-Men II, Shanghi Noon and Jumangi. Their children, Connor, 15, Ali, 11, and Austin, 9, boast impressive IMDB resumes as well.

News: Paper Airplane Guru Sets New World Record

Takuo Toda broke his previous Guinness World record of 27.9 seconds in flight this past Sunday. The paper airplane virtuoso, head of the Japan Origami Airplane Association, aimed to reach a 30 second long flight with his 10-centimeter-long paper aircraft. Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it.

News: Paper-made Girls

Korean artist Osang Gwon creates more than just alluring paper-made girls. Gwon has moved past traditional papercraft, taking volumes of photographs of his subjects and constructing sculptural forms from the carefully arranged 2D images. Gwon shows in galleries, and has done commissioned projects for both Fendi and Nike.

How To: Make Ninja Darts for the Lighter Mini Cannon

In my recent article, How to Make a Mini Cannon with a Lighter, I demonstrated how to make a powerful combustion cannon out of parts salvaged from a standard BBQ lighter. The mini cannon was originally made to fire airsoft pellets, but I felt it was time to revive the project with something new.

How To: Organize cord clutter with Martha Stewart REAL SIMPLE

Learn how to eliminate cord clutter with the folks from Martha Stewart's REAL SIMPLE. Nothing is more annoying than a pile of messy cords. Those dozens of wires around your home?in your kitchen, by your computer, behind your TV?can be a tangled nuisance. Control cord clutter with these quick tricks and clever organizing products. Let REAL SIMPLE guide you on the best solution to eliminate cord clutter.

How To: Make a corsage

Trish Horrington shows how to make a corsage. Using two orchids, ivy leaves, bare grass, scissors, stop wire, a pearl-headed pin and other equipment, Trish shares quick tips in creating a beautiful corsage. Make a corsage.

How To: Recognize Crowd Control - Part 3

For our final part of recognizing crowd control, we shall look at the mind. It's the most complicated thing in the universe, but also the most easily influenced. What makes us to gullible? What methods to commercials, companies and the media use to influence our position on things? These are just a few of the questions we will answer.

Understanding Electricity: Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla In my opinion, one of the most neglected inventors of all time. The names Edison and Marconi come to mind as familiar, but Tesla? Most think of a car. Few know that Tesla is responsible for alternating current, florescent lights, radar, remote control, generators that preform efficiently, the spark plug, and many others. The U.S Supreme Court declared in 1943 that Tesla, not Marconi, was the true inventor of the radio.

News: Has Chain World's Journey from Game to Religious Icon Ended?

At GDC 2011 this past March, three of the world's best game designers participated in a contest called Game Design Challenge. Each presented their vision for a game that fit the prompt "Bigger than Jesus: games as religion" before an audience, with applause to determine the winner. Jenova Chen, John Romero, and Jason Rohrer all spoke, and Rohrer won in a landslide with his revolutionary game called Chain World.

News: The World's Most Expensive Video Games and Consoles Ever

Most of the indie and vintage games discussed in Indie Games Ichiban are pretty cheap to purchase. They rarely top twenty bucks, which is one of the major advantages independent games have against their sixty-buck, major league counterparts. But if you think $60 for a game and $300 for a PS3 or Xbox 360 seems like a lot, then you haven't played Steel Battalion or seen the TurboExpress. They go above and beyond what normal gamers are willing to spend for questionably entertaining products. Her...

Apple's iCloud: What You Should Know

As I was listening to Apple's WWDC conference today, what ran through my mind the most is if there were ever a time to switch to the world of Apple computing now is it. Today's WWDC keynote presentation was chock-full of new and updated iOS mobile software—too much to cover in this one article. But the most "new thing" coming from Apple this Fall is iCloud, a file sharing and streaming service that requires no wired connections.

News: The Revolution of the Hacked Kinect, Part 1: Teaching Robots & the Blind to See

In 2007, Nintendo introduced the world to motion control video games with the Wii. Microsoft and Sony built on Nintendo's phenomenal success and released their own motion control products for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 late in 2010: the Kinect and the Move. The Move is basically an improved Wiimote that looks like a sci-fi Harry Potter wand, but the Kinect just might be the most important video game peripheral of all time.

How To: Install No-Frills Drip Irrigation

Solving a Dilemma This is a simple how-to for a cost effective drip irrigation system for your garden. My motivation to set up my garden for drip irrigation was pretty simple. In the summer, it gets to 90+ degrees outside, and my 50’ garden hose didn’t reach the far extents where I have the majority of my large trees. I noticed a large amount of the water I applied to the trees just ran off and did absolutely nothing. This was a huge waste of resources.

Get Into the Kit Business: How to Build and Sell Your Own Arduino Shields

The DIY industry is booming, despite the desperate blackmailing of society by finance capitalists. Companies like Adafruit and Makerbot are grossing well over a million dollars a year, and Evil Mad Science Laboratories just recently dedicated themselves to running a full-time kit business. Making kits is fun, but starting a business can be scary. If you already enjoy making gadgets and want to take the plunge into selling your own kits online, this article is for you.

How To: Make a Simple Touch-Triggered Transistor Relay

In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of ...

How To: Find Out Who Unfriended You on Facebook

How many Facebook friends do you have? The average person on Facebook has around 140 friends while some hit the ridiculous Facebook friend limit of 5,000. Facebook states that its services are for people you know in person. I don't think anyone has 5,000 friends in person, do you? Personally, I don't even think Megan Fox has 5,000 friends in person, so how could any regular person have that many? But that's beside the point.

How To: Create a Super Speed Track in Minecraft

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. There are many ways to get around in Minecraft, from boats to mine carts, but did you know that you can travel even faster on foot? That's right, by creating a running track, players can run at super speeds! Not only is it the single fastest way to travel, it's easy to build as well. No redstone wires required.

How To: Get Free Wi-Fi from Hotels & More

Often times when staying at a hotel or anywhere for that matter, you'll whip out your laptop and check the local area for Wi-Fi. I know you've all been in my shoes when you find an unsecured network that appears to be public Wi-Fi belonging to the hotel or airport, and you connect to it. You connect fast and perfectly, only to find that when you open your browser, it says you don't have an account, and are filtered from accessing the web. This is because the owners of the network want to keep...

News: The Soft Fur Rat

The African Soft Fur Rat though new to the pet trade is a unique little rodent with unusual qualities. Not only is this little rat a great step up for people who feed reptiles it is virtually odorless and that is definately a plus for those who would like to have a pet rat or mouse they can keep inside the house and not spend a fortune in bedding or spend a lot of time cleaning to keep the rodent odor down.