The Daily Hack

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

Laptop Battery Hack Revisited
2007-03-16 22:10:00
At the beginning of the month I did a write up on how to refill a laptop battery, by hacking it up and putting in new battery cells. This great hack allows you to save a bundle of money!Well, I just recieved an email from Kipkay letting me know he has done this exact same hack. But, as you probably already know, Kipkay doesn't just write about his hacks...he video tapes them and posts them for all to see. Since this is friday, and a two post day, I thought it would be an excellent time to feature Kipkay's tutorial: Laptop Battery Hack !So without further ado...here is Kipkay's new video.Laptop Battery Hack! You'll Save $$$ - Watch more funny videos hereThanks for the tip Kip! :)
More About: Site , Visi

Pen Safe: Smash or Trash?!?!
2007-03-16 21:48:00
It's time for The Daily Hack's "Smash or Trash ?!?!" vote. This week we have an interesting(?) hack from the Instructables site. Brennn10 has written up an instructable on how to use a pen as a money safe.Basically, you take a pen (one of those thick ones) and take the ink "cartridge" out of it. You then roll up your paper money small enough to fit into your pen casing and close it up again. That's it! So what do you think? Let us know by voting below.Get Free Opinion Polls
More About: Safe , Mash

Sixth Sense Wi-Fi Hack
2007-03-16 03:20:00
Here's an interesting hack from the I Make Projects site. It involves creating a device that gives you a "sixth sense" for detecting wireless hotspots and wi-fi signal strength. After reading this hack you're gonna sit back and say "WOW!"So, what the hell is this device anyways? Well, according to the author it is:a small electronic unit that allows the user to sense the presence and relative signal strength of wireless hotspots. It can be worn as a pendant or carried in a pocket. It is "always on" and communicates the presence and signal strength of an in-range hotspot by way of sequences of pulses - like a heartbeat you can feel. The stronger and faster the "heartbeat", the stronger the wireless signal detected.How can you make your own? First off, you'll need "a microcontroller, some custom interface electronics, a small vibe motor, and an off-the-shelf Wi-Fi detector." Once you have all your materials together, you basically hook up your wi-fi detector to the vibe motor. ...
More About: Sense , Hack , Ense , Sens

Wii Nunchuck LED Hack
2007-03-15 03:07:00
Here's a sweet little hack for all you Wii gamers out there. It involves taking a Nintendo Wii nunchuck controller and adding LEDs under the stick for an awesome new look!Okay...so this hack isn't going to change the world, win a Noble Prize, or even change the way you game. But, it's so frickin' cool you'll be running out and buying LEDs to hack up your own Wii nunchuck! Seriously!!So, how is the hack done? Well, Finch from the WiiCade.com forums, does an excellent job of explaining exactly how he did it. He began by taking the outer casing of his Wii nunchuck off to get at the innards. Finch then bent his coloured LED to fit perfectly inside the Wii nunchuck and soldered the leads to the two test points (noting polarity). Finally, he shoved everything back into the casing, closed it up and plugged it in. The final results are pretty impressive!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Chuck , Nunchuck

Ultimate Dance Deck 2.0 Hack
2007-03-13 22:45:00
Here's a hack for all you hardcore gamers out there! Jared Bouck from the Inventgeek.com site created and "ultimate dance deck" for his Xbox. And when he says "ultimate dance deck"...he ain't kiddin'!You've probably seen those dance arcade games with the large plexi-glass dance decks attached to them. Well, Jared decided to make a couple of those...for his home video game system! He used an Xbox for this particular hack, but the whole set up would be easily converted to be compatible with a Playstation.So, how did Jared make his "Ultimate Dance Deck "? Well, he started by creating a frame out of 1" square stainless steel tubing. He used 1" thick Acrylite acrylic tiles for the deck and used an exsisting off-the-shelf Xbox dance pad as inspiration for the "Ultimate Dance Deck's" control system. The details of the actual hack are too exhaustive to go over here. But, suffice it to say, once down you'll definitely have one hell of a conversation piece for you and your gamer ...
More About: Hack , Mate

Homemade iPod Dock Hack
2007-03-13 03:14:00
Okay...so you've probably seen a number of homemade, DIY iPod docks out there. But, this one is so slick looking that I had to feature it!Kauz decided he'd create a homemade dock for his iPod Nano, that didn't look homemade at all. Kauz started his dock by making an inner case out of thick white plastic and mounting the original iPod USB connector inside. He hot-glued all the plastic components together and voila his inner case was finished. Kauz could have stopped there; the inner case would work just fine as an iPod dock. But, he went the extra mile and created a transparent outer casing out of resin. This gave the dock a more "Apple" feel to it. The final results quite impressive!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Ipod , Home , Hack , Dock

Super-Close Google Maps Hack
2007-03-11 22:57:00
Here's a really interesting/scarey hack from the Google Blogoscoped site. It involves hacking Google Maps to get super-close zooms in the satellite veiw. And when I saw "super-close" I mean like Wayne's World extreme closeups, man! :)So, how is it done? Well, you go to Google Maps and zoom in, as far as you can, on an area you want to view. You then switch to the satellite view and click on the "link to this page" button in the top right corner. Next, you "replace the ?z? parameter in the URL with a higher value, e.g. 20, 22, or 23, and wait."The results are pretty creepy! In one of the samples on the site you can actually see a man looking up, as if at the satellite snapping his pic. Thank God it doesn't work in my area of the world...I've already tried!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Super , Close

Photobucket Hack
2007-03-10 21:56:00
Here's an interesting hack for all you Photo bucket users out there. This hack, from the MySpace Hack s blog, allows you to view all the pictures in anyone's Photobucket album. And you only need to have access to one of their photos to do it!So, how do you do it? Well, first off you have to be signed into your Photobucket account. Then according to the hack author:1. You need to have access to a picture the person posted via photobucket..i.e on their myspace, webpage, livejournal etc. or you can try searching for their user name on photobucket.2. Ok, if you found and image, right click and select properties3. Open Notepad, or some sort of web publisher. Copy & paste the image location. It would look something like this for example: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d127/wa wadhsjkd/us.jpg4. Now, here's the actual photobucket hack: (you'll have to copy & paste it line by line sorry)http://smg.photobucket.com/svc/api. php?method=getuseralbum&version=1.0&m edia=all&album_nam...
More About: Buck

Smash or Trash?!?! #5
2007-03-10 12:46:01
Okay guys it's time for this weeks "Smash or Trash ?!?!" feature. This weeks hack is, in my opinion, pretty frickin' cool! It's a "balancing one-wheeled scooter" that's sort of a cross between a segway and a skateboard.According to the creator:It's very similar to a snowboard to ride, requiring no user input other than the movement of your body mass. Leaning forwards and backwards controls the velocity and moving your weight from heal to toe controls the turn radius. It's easy and very intuitive to ride.Check out the video below of the contraption in use. And then be sure to cast your vote!Get Free Opinion Polls
More About: Mash

iTunes Transfer (PC to Mac) Hack
2007-03-10 12:46:01
Here's yet another great hack from the Daily DIY site...and yes it has to do with iTunes again. But, it's such a great hack that I just had to let you guys in on it! :)Anyways, this hack involves transferring your "iTunes library along with your playlists and ratings" to your Mac from your PC, or vice versa. You're probably thinking "hell, that's easy! Just copy all your songs from one system and then save them to the other. Case closed!!" Well, it's a little more complicated than that. But, lucky for us Gina Trapani did an excellent writeup on just how to do it!I know you're all on the edge of your seats in anticipation wondering just how this hack is done. Well, I'll spare you the suspense and get right into it. As Gina puts it:The best, Apple-endorsed way to move an iTunes library is to use iTunes 7's built-in backup and restore. This copies the contents of your library to CD's or DVD's, and nowhere else (WTF, Apple?).However, if you're like me and you've got ...
More About: Itunes , Hack , Itune

Network Power Consumption Reduction Hack
2007-03-08 18:43:01
Don't let the title of the post scare you away...this is a really handy hack. Basically, it's a list of things you can do to reduce the power consumption of your home computer network. Less power consumption means smaller electricity bills, which means more money for you! :)Anyways, Tim Fehlman from the Daily Cup of Tech site decided he would try to reduce the amount of energy his home network was using. According to Tim:I left the door to my home computer lab (Yes, I have a home computer lab. Stop laughing!) closed one day. I came back a few hours later and was hit by a wall of heat when I opened the door! I thought to myself, ?That has got to be costing me a pretty penny to generate all of that heat!?So, Tim set out to try and find the best methods for saving that "pretty penny" and lucky for us he wrote them all up on his website. The methods are arranged by the difficulty level of the hack. There are hacks for "everyone" such as turning down the brightness of your monito...
More About: Power , Work , Network , Hack , Redu

iTunes PDF Organization Hack
2007-03-08 00:41:02
Here's a neat little iTunes tech tip for all you people out there that need to get a little more organized. Basically this hack, from the Daily DIY, involves using iTunes to organize your PDF files.Okay, so you're probably thinking "this guy's out of his mind! Why the hell would someone use iTunes to organize their PDF files?" Well, it turns out this hack is pretty useful. Just think about it, using iTunes would allow you to quickly access your PDFs by simply searching for the keywords. According to Gina Trapani:Using iTunes' Smart Playlists and its PDF support, you can build a document library where PDF's are automatically sorted into keyword-based lists.So how does it work? Well, first off, if you want to create PDF copies of things like reciepts, recipes, articles, etc. you will need a few tools. You will need a scanner, which will allow you to create digital copies of your original hard copies. Next, you'll need a print-to-PDF program (such as CutePDF) to transform ...
More About: Itunes , Organization , Hack , Itune

iPod Boot Fix Hacks
2007-03-07 06:39:01
Here are a number of hacks that allow you to fix an iPod that won't boot. Included in this list is a fix that uses a folded business card to fix a unbootable iPod! Say what?Matt Hickey from the CrunchGear site has written an excellent article on what to do with an iPod that just won't boot. You should always start by doing things Apple's way (i.e. restoring the iPod, manually rebooting the ipod, etc.). But, if those steps don't work, it is most likely your iPod has some sort of hardware problem. That means you'll have to open your ipod up...yahoooooo! :)According to Matt iPod harddrives "get warm as they spin, and the metal casings warp outwards. Some hard drives won?t work correctly when the casing isn?t secure. The solution is to put the pressure back on the disks." To do this, you simply fold up a small piece of business card and insert it behind the harddrive and close the iPod back up. This should remedy the problem...if it doesn't you will probably have to replac...
More About: Hacks , Ipod , Hack , Boot

Triple Boot XP, Vista and Ubuntu Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Here's a great resource for anyone wanting to set up different operating systems on the same machine. In this hack from the Lifehacker site, Adam Pash actually creates a triple boot system with Windows XP, Vista and Ubuntu all running on the same computer. Wow!I gotta tell you...I just set up a dual boot (XP & Ubuntu) on my PC last evening, but after reading this article I might go for the triple threat! Adam walks through all the steps required to complete this awesome hack. First, you create a dual boot XP and Vista machine. Then you have to partition your harddrive and install ubuntu to it. Don't worry it's not that hard...and when you're done you will have a kickass system!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Trip , Boot

Smash or Trash?!?! #4
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Okay, it's friday ...that means it's time for "Smash or Trash ?!?!" This weeks entry is, I think, pretty interesting.You've probably seen the ba-zillion or so computer cases, mp3 player cases, harddrive cases, etc. all made by attaching bunches of Legos into some sort of housing structure. But, this hack is a little different. Instead of building a case out of legos for his USB thumbdrive, ianhampton used legos as the actual case. Not really understanding? Well, don't worry I didn't really understand at first either. Turns out, ianhampton actually hollowed out his legos and fitted the thumbdrive hardware inside the lego brick. He didn't build the legos around the thumbdrive. I think it's pretty kick ass! What do you think??Get Free Opinion Polls
More About: Mash

Wii External Antenna Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Here's a great hack for all you Nintendo Wii gamers out there. It involves adding an external antenna to your Wii to get better wireless reception.Seth Fogie from the informit.com site does an excellent step by step article on just how to set up an external antenna for the Wii. According to Seth:The Wii comes with an embedded wireless network card from Broadcom. This card is an 802.11b/g card that can connect to most of the 802.11 wireless access points on the market...And thanks to an intelligent wireless configuration setup, most users will simply click a few buttons, enter the passphrase, and be online.However, the Wii has no external wireless antenna which means the wifi range may not be as good as one would hope. Seth removed the Wii's wireless card and added an antenna and pigtail to the card's U.FL connectors. He then put everything back together and tested the wireless reception with Airmagnet's wireless analyzer program. The results? Pretty impressive!To check out...
More About: Hack , Antenna , External

Refill Laptop Battery Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
A reader of The Daily Hack , Jay Summet, submitted a great hack that he had posted on his own site Jay's Technical Talk. Jay actually refilled the Li-Ion battery in his laptop making it as good as new!So, what did he do? Well, the Li-Ion battery in Jay's IBM Thinkpad X31 was getting "a bit long in the tooth." When brand new Jay's battery was rated at a 4.4 AH capacity, but his old battery was only holding 1.8 AH. This meant extremely short laptop use time...which everyone knows is unacceptable! So did Jay go out and spend over a hundred bucks on a brand new Li-Ion battery? Hell no! He decided to refill his battery for about half the price.So, how did he do it? Jay realized that it would be a lot cheaper to simply replace the OEM Li-Ion cells (keeping the original case, and charge/discharge electronics) in his exsisting battery, than going out and buying a brand new battery. He ripped apart his old battery and figured out which cells he needed and bought them at batteryspa...
More About: Laptop , Battery , Fill

Flash Based iPod Mini Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Here's an interesting hack from the geektechnique.org site. Mark Hoekstra (author) took an old iPod Mini , with it's microdrive based memory, and converted it into a flash-drive based player.So what did he do? Well, according to Mark:I already took apart my Mini to replace the battery and hadn?t put it back together again because I?m planning on doing something to the metal casing as well? *^_^*So with is iPod Mini already apart, he decided to add a compact flash memory card. Mark then ripped out the old microdrive and replaced it with the 4 GB flash drive. Finally, he hooked up the Mini to his computer and put a fresh install of the iPod's original firmware on it to test it, by clicking on the iPod restore button within iTunes. And guess what...it worked! Pretty sweet!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Flash , Ipod , Hack

Flashlight Cellphone Recharger Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
I just received an email from kipkay letting me know about his latest hack. And, I gotta tell you...it's frickin' awesome! Kipkay took a hand-crank powered flashlight and transformed it into an emergency cellphone/PDA recharger. MacGyver would be proud!Anyways, you're probably wondering just how the hack is done. Well, it's surprisingly simple. Kipkay took apart his hand-crank flashlight, like any good hacker would do! Inside was a "small hand crank generator and some button cells" that generate the flashlight's power. He then took an old 12 volt cellphone car adapter and cut off the cigarette plug end. Kipkay then "soldered the wires of the 12 volt adapter right to the two button cell contacts." The end results? A hand-crank recharger that provides free emergency power for your cellphone or PDA. To check out the whole hack watch the video below or click here.Use A Flash light To Power Your Cell phone! - Click here for funny video clips
More About: Phone , Hack , Charge

Digital Camera Automatic Transfer Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Here's a great little Windows XP tech tip from the Instructables site. Aeshir (author) explains how to set up Windows XP to "transfer the pictures (from you camera) to your computer, sort by date, automatically delete pictures...and automaticaly run programs" as soon as your digital computer is plugged into your PC.Wanna know how? Well, if your answer is "no" I suggest you look away because I'm going to explain it whether you like it or not! :)Anyways...here it is. First you have to hook up your digital camera to your PC and open the camera's properties. You do this by going to my computer right-clicking on your camera's icon and selecting "Properties" from the pop-up menu. When the properties window opens click on the "Events" tab and go down to where it says "Select an event:" and from the drop-down menu choose "Camera connected". Next you select the action you want the computer to take every time your camera is connected. There are several actions you can choose from, ...
More About: Digital Camera , Hack , Auto , Automatic

Netflix "Watch Now" Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
Engadget has reported that Netflix 's new feature "Watch Now" has been hacked! This hack involves keeping Netflix Watch Now from tracking your minutes and saving you money. And more money means you can spend it on something important like beer and junk food! :)Anyways, According to Engadget "normally Netflix keeps track of how long you've been watching, and correlates that number to the fee you pay each month." But, an ingenious hacker who goes by the handle Livesunkept figured out:That if you disconnect your network adapter after a given movie has finished downloading (usually 15 to 20 minutes), and then clear your cache and cookies before reconnecting it at the end of the flick, Netflix will only charge you for a few minutes of viewing time even though you rightfully owe about two hours worth of credits.This hack hasn't yet been verified...but the buzz on the net seems to suggest it works. It's definitely worth a try!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Flix

Liquid Cooled Computer Hack
2007-03-06 18:38:02
This next hack is pretty amazing! It involves removing a computer's original fan cooling system and replacing it with a new liquid cooling one.PM Magazine did an excellent instructable on how to turn your ordinary PC into a awesome liquid cooled monster machine!! You're probably wondering why the hell anyone would want to do this to their computer. Well, according to PM Magazine:Liquid transfers heat more efficiently than air, water-cooled PCs can run significantly cooler (and) run more quietly.All that, and they look crazy cool as well!! So, how is it done? Well, you need to purchase a computer liquid cooling kit specific to your mother board. The kit "includes a water block, hoses, pump, reservoir, and an external or internal radiator." But, before you go shoving hoses and pumps into your computer you first have to prep the motherboard. You do this by removing the motherboard from your computer and removing the heatsink. You then install the waterblock, hook up the hose...
More About: Computer , Cool , Comp , Hack , Coole

Ambilight Effect on a HDTV Hack
2007-02-26 00:35:02
Here's an interesting way to give your regular TV a background light projection, such as is used in the Philips Ambilight HDTVs. As jads (hack author) puts it:I love those Philips Amiblight HDTVs - you know, the ones with the rear backlight that projects colours onto the wall behind the TV? Not only does it look pretty, but if you're gaming or watching a film in low-light conditions then the backlight reduces eye strain.I'm perfectly happy with my Hyundai 32" HDTV and don't want to shell out for a Philips one... so it's Ikea to the rescue and you can get a similar effect for under $40.Wanna find out how? Well, I'll tell you. First off jads started by getting his lighting together. For this particular project he used Trettioen lighting. This was comprised of "4 LED light strips, the mains adapter and some bendy wires for corners." Next, jads mounted the lighting switch that came with the Trettioen lighting system to the back of his TV stand. Finally all you do is plug it...
More About: Hack , Light , Effect , Bili , Hdtv

Wireless NES & SNES Controllers For Wii Hack
2007-02-25 12:34:03
Here's a great hack from the ppl-pilot.com site! Mark Feldman (hack author) took a NES and a SNES controller and made them wireless to use with his Nintendo Wii . How crazy is that?How did he do it? Well, he went and bought an original NES controller and an original SNES controller from eBay for about $10 each. He used an off the shelf TX-C1 wireless chip and used a replacement battery for the iPod-mini for juice. The results? Wire less retro Nintendo controllers you can use with your Wii. Sweet huh?To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Roll

Thumb Shaped Thumb Drive Hack
2007-02-23 18:31:02
LasVegas did it again! Yet another great hack on the Instructables site. This time he turned a regular thumbdrive into one shaped like his actual thumb! Trippy!!How did he make it you say? Well, I'll tell you. First, he had to cast a mold of his thumb and decided on a product called InstaMold for about $10.50 US. He then had to pour an epoxy (12 minute epoxy for $9.95 US) into the mold of his thumb. For a skin tone colour, LasVegas used 2 bottles of Delta brand Candle & Soap Colours for $13.99 US each (1 yellow & 1 pink). Finally, he inserted the guts of the thumbdrive into the setting epoxy so that the USB end was sticking out (obviously, right). Anyways, the final results are pretty cool!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Drive , Hack , Shape , Thumb , Thumb Drive

Smash or Trash?!?! #3
2007-02-23 18:31:02
It's friday...that means "Smash or Trash ?!?!" time. Yahoooooo or gooooooooogle or whatever exclamation of joy you want to use!!! :)Anyways, todays victim is a keyboard mod from the Steampunk Workshops. They made a fully functional, self sufficient retro keyboard. I gotta tell I think this hack is pretty frickin' sweet! But, it's not my opinion that counts...it's yours. So vote below.Get Free Opinion Polls
More About: Mash

Birdfeeder Webcam Hack
2007-02-23 06:31:01
Here's a great hack for all you bird watching fanatics out there! Bre Pettis and Steve Garfield from the MakeMagazine video podcast does an excellent job of explaining how to make your very own webcam birdfeeder.So how did they do it? Well, they made the frame of the birdfeeder out of pieces of scrap lumber, added a cage to hold the bird seed and hot chili-pepper sauce (to keep the squirrels away) and mounted a wireless webcam to the frame. They downloaded the EvoCam software which allowed them to capture photos whenever the camera senses motion. Pretty cool!
More About: Hack , Webcam , Feed , Bird , Feeder

PS2 Disc Read Errors Hack
2007-02-21 18:29:01
This is a great hack for all you PlayStation 2 owners out there. Rob Nelson, from the Ars Technica site, did an excellent write-up on how to get rid of those annoying read disc errors.The tools needed for this job are 2 phillips (1 normal, 1 small) screwdrivers, 1 flathead screwdriver, a pair of plyers (maybe) and 1 can of compressed air. Rob takes us through the disassembly and cleaning of the PS2 unit. He also explains the best way to adjust the PS2 lens position. With a lot of patience and a little luck you should have your PlayStation up and running in no time!To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Hack , Read , Errors , Error , Disc

Bluetooth Antenna Hack
2007-02-21 18:29:01
Here's a great hack from the folks at the DngloZ site! It involves modifying the antenna of a bluetooth USB dongle to increase the range of your bluetooth devices. According to the author his bluetooth thumbdrive now gets "crazy range, my phone now connects to the pc throughout the whole house... Even if you got 3-4 concrete walls between the 2 devices!"How did they do it you say? Well, the hack is pretty simple. They took apart their bluetooth thumbdrive and connected an antenna from an old D-Link router to it. The results...a super bluetooth with amazing range! Pretty cool, huh??To check out the whole hack click here.
More About: Bluetooth , Hack , Blue , Antenna

The Daily Hack's New Look
2007-02-21 18:29:01
Hey guys,Well, I finally changed the layout of The Dail y Hack ! I decided to go with a 3 column, minimalist sort of look (based on a free template from http://freetemplates.blogspot.com/). I think it gives The D aily Hack a more professional look that's more pleasing to the eye. I hope you guys agree!C. Flowers
More About: Look