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'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 4th 2009 at 8:14PM

The Arduino board has been the engine of many wild and wacky projects over the years, from bakery tweeting to various musical instruments. For its next trick, our man Steve Hoefer has taken his microcontroller and, along with a piezoelectric speaker, a gear reduction motor, and some PVC pipe, programmed it to listen for a preset sequence of knocks -- a secret knock, if you will -- and unlock the deadbolt upon hearing the right combination. Although this might not be the security system you want to put in place for your home, this definitely looks like a fun weekend project. Check out the read link for instructions and schematics, but not before you see the video of the thing in action. It's after the break.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading 'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)

How-to: recycle your old gadgets

by Laura June posted Oct 27th 2009 at 1:56PM

We see a lot of gadgets come in the door here at Engadget. In fact, getting them in the door is actually the easy part... it's getting them back out that's a bit confusing. Recycling -- something that most of us do on a day-to-day basis with our trash -- is a bit stickier when it comes to gadgets. In recent years, however, most major consumer electronics companies have stepped up their games a bit and begun "take back" recycling programs of their own. There are a lot of resources out there if you want to rid yourself of old gadgets in a responsible way, but it can be a pretty overwhelming prospect, especially if (like us) you have an actual pile of old cellphones which has been growing since 1998. We thought about that a lot, and decided to try to make sense of all the wild masses of information out there on the internet, and to provide our readers a central location to look for all that information. Read on and see what we've come up with!

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How-To: Install Windows 7 and live to tell about it

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 11th 2009 at 6:40PM

So you're thinking about going to Windows 7, eh? Chances are your head is swimming in a sea of TLAs and confusing charts -- enough to have the most adamant Microsoft defender reaching for a something with an Option key. Fear not, noble purchaser of legal software. Though XP users have been punished for skipping Vista by not being able to directly upgrade now, the process of backing up your data, formatting and installing Windows, and then restoring your goods again has never been easier -- even if you're on a netbook with less storage than your smartphone. Vista users have even less to worry about. We'll have our full impressions of the finally finalized OS later this week, but for now let's journey hand in hand down the gently sloped path of the upgrade process.

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Take Back the Beep: how to disable voicemail instructions on Sprint (updated!)

by Paul Miller posted Jul 31st 2009 at 5:02PM

While we wait for all the carriers to get on board with nixing their endless, unhelpful voicemail pre-beep messages, we've already got instructions from Sprint on how to disable it for your own particular voicemail box on that network.

It's pretty easy:

Call your voicemail
At the menu, press 3 for personal options
Press 2 for greeting
Press 1 to change the greeting
To enable / disable the instructions, press 3

Trust us, we did some serious searching for similar instructions on the other major carriers, but had no luck. If you know of anything, let us know!

Update: Thanks to some helpful comments we've got instructions for AT&T and Verizon for lopping off bits of the message, and, in Verizon's case, speeding up the talking. Check 'em out after the break. Consider yourselves upgraded to orange, guys!

Continue reading Take Back the Beep: how to disable voicemail instructions on Sprint (updated!)

D.I.Y. wireless power project unleashes your inner mad scientist

by Joseph L. Flatley posted May 12th 2009 at 1:28PM

Before he was the patron saint of electric cars and GPUs, Nikola Tesla invented the AC motor, the Tesla coil (or, as he called it, the "coil"), and demonstrated that power could be transferred wirelessly. A hundred-plus years later, companies like Solaren Corp are angling to beam electricity down to earth from outer space -- quite possibly solving our energy crisis with science fiction means that would even make ol' Nicky T. look twice. But why should the big companies have all the fun? You too can experiment with wireless power, albeit on a significantly smaller scale, with merely a square wave generator, some coiled wire, a 60 watt bulb, and a few other low priced thingamabobs. Don't believe us? Hit that read link and see for yourself.

[Via Make]

Samsung NC10 netbook touchscreen hack caught on film

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Feb 5th 2009 at 1:52PM

Of all the DIY touchscreen projects we've come across lately, this is certainly one of them. The kids over at Netbook Mag have got their hands on the stately Samsung NC10 and were kind enough to put together a full blown, step-by-step guide to replacing its tired, non-touch responsive display with an exciting, new fashioned touchscreen. And if that weren't enough, there's a video of the software drivers being installed -- with a cool, vintage 1994 Euro-rave soundtrack. How great is that? Check it after the break.

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Daft Punk Homework: create your own EL suit

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 1:52AM

Good thing Halloween is months away. You'll need that time to hone your sewing skills in the noble quest to create a Daft Punk suit of your very own. Instructables has everything you need (except the electroluminescent wire, soldering iron, heat gun, and pleather tracksuit) to build an EL suit worthy of electronic celebration. Best of all, your tutor for the course is none other than the suits' creator for the duo's 2007 tour. Now get moving humans, it's time to let the robots rock the party.

[Via Hack n Mod]

How to "format" an iPhone to clear your data completely

by Nilay Patel posted May 21st 2008 at 3:56PM

We briefly mentioned using junk data to overwrite the iPhone's flash as a last-ditch method of securely clearing off your user data yesterday, and although we were half-joking, that's more or less your only option until Apple provides a proper secure erase feature. Security researcher Rich Mogull has helpfully laid out the steps for you, and they're basically what you'd expect: restore your iPhone, don't sync any personal data to it, and then manually transfer three different playlists large enough to fill the flash. Essentially you're doing a manual three-pass overwrite, which is pretty much exactly the long and tedious process it sounds like -- but we wouldn't dream of selling or giving away our iPhones (or any other phone with personal data on it) without struggling through it.

[Via Hack A Day]

Deliver a keynote like Steve Jobs in ten simple steps

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jan 27th 2008 at 3:28PM

Are you a CEO hoping to "step it up," "knock it out of the park," and generally "take it to the bridge" -- old-school style -- but you can't seem to work the magic? Well, BusinessWeek has got just the thing for you: a ten-point plan on how to deliver a presentation like our main man, Steve Jobs. Breaking it down from "set a theme" all the way to "rehearse, rehearse, rehearse," the cats at BW lay out everything you need to know to shatter sales records, hike your stock, and innovate the hell out of a keynote. Of course, they don't advise you on choice of outfits (we suggest jeans, sneakers, and a turtleneck), products to launch (how does iPhone 2 sound to you?), or how to properly execute a "Boom!" ("Boom!") -- but we're pretty sure you can suss those details out on your own. If you want the full breakdown of tips and tricks, including how to properly appear excited about your own products, hit the read link ASAP. To help you along, we've included a clip of Jobs doing his thing after the break. Boom!

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How to build your own UPS

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Oct 14th 2007 at 2:49AM

Whether your end improvement is a functioning office, or a longer game of Unreal, uninterruptible power supplies are an essential part of keeping your kit up and running. In case you were wondering what goes on inside the little -- or, as the case may be, big -- boxes that sit next to power outlets, icrontic has a how-to for constructing your own UPS. If you're not up to the task of constructing your own, then there's also advice about which type of off-the-shelf UPS is for you. Now all you've got to worry about are other, human based, interruptions.

How to build a CRT-powered electrified pet prison

by Evan Blass posted Aug 30th 2007 at 1:03AM

They say that sometimes the only way to get through to those you hold dear is with some tough love, so if you're just about at the end of your rope with a naughty, incorrigible pet gerbil, hamster, cat or guinea pig, it may be time to consider confining little Nibbles or Fluffy in a small electrified cage. For those of you who don't know how to build such a, um, specialty product -- and who would probably electrocute yourselves trying to figure it out -- Metacafe member NK5 has posted a handy how-to video on transforming an old CRT monitor into the power source for what is essentially a miniature version of those fences you see surrounding prisons and meth labs while driving along rural highways. Of course, NK5 also suggests a number of other, more pedestrian uses for the contraption, but embark on this project entirely at your own risk -- we're talking 30,000+ volts coursing through that cage. Check out the vid after the break...

Note: No animals were harmed in the writing of this post, and Engadget does not actually endorse shocking small pets, only snuggling them.

Update: Whoa, looks like some people didn't watch the video before leaving a comment. If you had, you'd know that it has nothing to do with making a "cat prison," and we only put that spin on this post to highlight the absurdity of the imagery. Still, we apologize to those of you who consider this to be a promotion of animal cruelty, and promise to give our own pets an extra tummy rub tonight in repentance.

[Thanks, Aaron C.]

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DIY iPhone earbud replacement

by Thomas Ricker posted Jul 5th 2007 at 7:14AM

One of our gripes with the iPhone are those ill fitting earbuds shipped in the box. Unfortunately, you don't have many options at the moment unless you're willing to live without the convenience of the mic / music toggle built into Apple's headphone cable. Even then, there's a good chance that your third party audio-only headphones won't fit the non-standard, standard jack. No worries, assuming you're not afraid of a wee bit (promise!) of soldering, you can fit the Apple cable with another set of buds of your choosing. Really, it doesn't look too difficult and James Papadopoulos even worked up a video tutorial which you can peep after the break.

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The DIY iPhone belt: please don't

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 30th 2007 at 7:23AM

If you're still using terms like "bling" and "pimp your [insert consumable]" to show how down you are with the kids, then perhaps you're also interested in wearing your new iPhone as a belt buckle in support of your poser persona. In fact, why not strap on a set of speakers too and show everyone just how ghetto you really are. Ok, ok, we'll admit, the design (bottom picture) shows some promise and the cats at Maya are only in the early stages (as in, the iPhone's only been out for 13 fargin hours) of their how-to. Besides, we know how desperate you are to show off your new gadget. Believe us, we know. Peep some early samples of the speaker-less version of the belts after the break.

Continue reading The DIY iPhone belt: please don't

The improved DIY infrared filter for stygian photogs

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 4th 2007 at 9:05AM

If you have a taste for surreal photography then you'll want to pay attention, goth boy. The kids at Instructables have a new, improved guide for building an infrared filter for your digital cameras and camcorders. While the filter will work with any point-and-shoot, your camera should feature plenty of manual controls over the ISO, exposure, and white balance for best results. The effect is particularly interesting when shooting foliage since chlorophyl is transparent at these wavelengths. As such, scenic landscapes process as lurid white nightmares haunting jet black skies. The longer infrared wavelengths also cut through the dust and haze of the atmosphere (and your tortured mind) better than visible light. The filter assembly consists of an empty bottle of your mom's antidepressants, an old floppy disk of ennui, and a piece of unexposed film processed by the disintegrations of youth. That's it, you're ready to shoot, assuming you can even get out of bed. Now click-on to see the completed filter if you still possess the will.

Continue reading The improved DIY infrared filter for stygian photogs

What to do if you spill liquid on your laptop

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Mar 20th 2007 at 9:22PM

Losing a laptop to a spilt glass of wine can be a very frustrating experience, particularly when said wine is of the cheap Rosé variant, as was the embarrasing case with this writer's late laptop. Well, one group of kindly DIY technology authors have assigned their noggins to the problem, and have created a post with an accompanying video which shows exactly what to do if you accidentally spill some red on your keyboard. Apparently, the best policy is to act fast -- just like the pretty, pretty, pretty good salt and club soda solution for carpet and upholstery spills -- by pouring off the excess liquid onto a towel, opening up the laptop, washing it under tap water, rinsing it under distilled water, and then leaving it out to dry. A quick reassemble later and the laptop should be back in working condition: but for how long? Also, if you do watch the video after the break, bear in mind that the music track is a loud variant of "Kung Fu Fighting," which seems to have been chosen purely for the line "and they did it with expert timing." Sigh.

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