If you haven't seen it by now, behold, the Gears of War, Nerf Lancer modification. Forsaken_angel24's genius is rooted in the combination of a regular Nerf Longshot and toy chainsaw. Neither of which would cause the average Wal-mart parent cause for concern. Combined, they take on the form of this foreboding assault rifle with working chainsaw bayonet, LED lighting and sound effects... which shoots squishy balls at little girls. Full instructions for modders are posted over at the Nerfhaven forums. We've added a video after the break -- not so much a how-to as a loving tribute to man's god-given right to war.

[Via Hack n Mod, thanks Nick L.]

It looks like iPod minis aren't obsolete just yet thanks to Mark Hoekstra's flash card mod, which entails switching out the original Microdrive with a 4GB flash card. iPod minis served a short term in Appledom, but come to think of it, they're a manageable size, have one of the more durable iPod casings, and they don't look half-bad either. After the modding is complete, a quick restore in iTunes reloads the card with Apple's firmware (you can also upload other software like Podzilla), then you're all set to jam out. So if you own a member of this dying breed (and have a steady hand), use this little proof-of-concept to extend your mini's lifespan while one-upping Apple at the same time.

[Via digg]

It's hard to deny the nostalgia we get from having a cord dangle off our next-gen controllers while reminiscing about our Gradius days. However, some Wii gamers are wishing Nintendo's classic controller was a bit less Dreamcast-inspired, and a bit more NES-like in terms of cord placement. Rather than just moaning about it though, the resourceful folks at NintendoGal have a simple hack involving nothing more than a dremel saw and a triwing screwdriver to make your controller more 1984. Personally, we would like to see a hack to make it wireless like its motion-sensor enabled brother, but we all know that doesn't free it from having cord issues. Take note, though: Nintendo won't be sending out any replacements if you hurt yourself with this mod.

If there ever was a hack that could be assured of a mention on Engadget, it would be this: the MacBook tilt-sensor controlled Roomba. Once again utilizing the accelerometer inside each and every MacBook, the guys over at Hacking Roomba managed to get a Bluetooth-enabled Roomba to listen to the Mac's tilting orders. Practicality isn't the aim here -- lets face it, the Roomba will willingly clean a floor on its own. Instead, it's a mix of ingenuity and "because we can" mentality that draws us to these sorts of projects. That and the possibilty of freaking out the Engadget HQ house cat, of course.

While the vast majority of recent Mac modifications have dealt with the headless Mac Mini, the Toolman decided to go a different route with his gutted 17-inch Apple Studio Display. As with most mods, he simply had too many enticing parts lying around without a proper home, and chose to combine them using whatever it took, resulting in a Mac-ish clone at worst, and a sweet all-in-one computer at best. After heavy modifications to front button PCBs, adding a mic for VoIP usage, rewiring everything numerous times, "butchering" an i2c bus, and using a heat gun to make the pesky plastic conform to his wishes, he still had to get the thing to boot up. After initial memtest errors and a few bouts with frustration, he finally loaded Ubuntu Linux successfully from the external optical drive. He also noted that the possibility remained open to one day affix a slot-loading drive, but left it out initially due to the inability to truly find an "elegant place" to install it. Regardless, this well-constructed mod most certainly didn't come easy, and for those who'd dare give something like this a go on their own, be sure to continue on for a look at the YouTube demonstration, and hit the read link for a bevy of photos.

[Via Digg]

Here at Engadget, we're all about DIY projects that make your (and our) life easier. Ever since the days when range-extending cantennas were the rage, we've all been hankering for increasing the reception of our notebook's WiFi adapter (legally). Displeased with the built-in Dell 1470 a/b/g mini PCI unit in his Asus A2H notebook, a brave, engineering mind over at NotebookReview took to eBay in search of a solution. After purchasing a $118 "Turbo-Tenna," he concocted a plan (hit the read link for the full skinny) to wire the amplifier internally in order to provide a sleek, unobtrusive appearance. Using a soldering iron and an "on / off switch," he wired the Hong Kong-based device to his laptop's power supply and routed the connector to free pins on the VGA output. Once complete, his reception went from spotty and sluggish (1Mbps) to a much improved 24Mbps. It was noted that the installation was a tad on the complex side, and when the antenna is in use, your VGA port is subsequently out of order -- but hey, who needs a connection to the board room projector when you're enjoying wireless internet on a beautiful offshore island?

An intrepid modder named lightrunner with a long and housebound winter in his sights has posted his experience of expanding the capacity of his Series3 TiVo from the standard 250GB to a whole terabyte, which takes the S3's total recording capacity up to a possible 131 hours of HD recording, or a whopping 1244 hours -- 52 days! -- of standard definition television. Like a lot of other modifications, the process of getting the TiVo to accept the array of hard drives was a long and complicated one: if you want to emulate this effort, you better be comfortable dealing with a nekkid TiVo, a RAID 5 setup, and several user-unfriendly Linux and Mac disk utility applications. Despite the well deserved kudos that lightrunner gets from this job, we've still got to wonder where the guy is going to find the time to watch a working week of high definition TV re-runs.