Posts tagged as:

DIY

New BUGBase Brings Self-Build Mobile to Pre and Droid Smartphone Levels

by Jay Garrett on February 15, 2010

Every hardware tweaker will know about BUGLabs‘ build-a-phone, kinda like a Modu self-build, but now it’s had a refresh.

BUG 2.0 is now faster and Android ready.

The latest BUGBase, which is essentially the brain and nerve center, has been upgraded to TI’s OMAP 3 platform.

Before I get “huh?” from you – this actually brings the base up to spec with the likes of Motorola’s Droid and the Palm Pre.

Because it now stands shoulder-to-shoulder with top-end smartphones it’s only reasonable that it should support Android – thankfully it does. This also gives the new BUGBase tastey access to the Android App Market.

Worry not gadget builders! Although the BUGBase is new and sparkly it will still play nice with all those other bits you’ve been using to create your frankengadgets with – whether they be WI-Fi radios, GPS receivers, speakers or the BUGMotion accelerometer.

As yet there’s no price or release date for the new BUGbase.

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Build Your Own WORKING Star Trek Phaser – Really!

by Jay Garrett on January 15, 2010

This is a must for any sci-fi lover or people that yearn for the day we get the chance to tote laser side-arms.

This Star Trek phaser mod can explode balloons in an awesome pewpew stylee!

And: You can build one of your very own :) :) :)

The full how-to can be found at Laser Pointer Forums – nah, I’d never visited before either.

Check out the vid and see the awesome!

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The Tiniest Miniature Power Drill Ever – Tools For Mice

June 19, 2009 Click to read more →
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Take a look at this drill.
It was posted by Flickr user s8 and, from what I can tell, probably can’t help with the general DIY tasks that drills are used for.
But from another standpoint – it’s a very small, cleverly made, drill!!!
I’m just disappointed that S8 didn’t make a tiny holster for it and wear it [...]

Acrylic Cowboy Brings New Meaning to Bare Bones Computing

April 17, 2009 Click to read more →
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Looking for a barebones PC?
Well, this has to be as barebones as PC cases get!
Spotted on The Raw Feed this small piece of plastic with just enough room for the essential PC guts making your puter look something inspired by Make – which aint a bad thing
The Acrylic Cowboy (?!?!) looks to be a [...]

OCZ Technology Self Build Netbook

March 31, 2009 Click to read more →
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If you were one of the first to get a netbook and enjoyed the geekudos for that I’m sure you’re missing it now.
Almost everywhere you look there’s someone tapping away at a small puter in a coffee shop, bar or train.
How can you earn more geekpoints?
How about a DIY netbook?
For that self-brewed geekahol look no further [...]

VCR Barebones Media PC Case – Retro Coolness!

March 3, 2009 Click to read more →

Now this is very cool!
Not only  as you could be rocking some retro funkiness but could also confuse would-be robbers as they sneer at your old tech.
What am I typing about?
It’s this barebones media PC that you can buy from those good chaps over at Maplin.
Just add your own RAM, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, and [...]

Real Life Working Mr Fusion Attached to a Honda

January 6, 2009 Click to read more →

Ever since Doc Brown added a Mr. Fusion and a Flux Capacitor to a Delorean, many of us have longed to fuel our car with rubbish and/or travel in time.
Now you can do one of the above thanks to the marvels of Gasification!
Now, here’s the science bit:
Gasification is the use of heat to transform solid [...]

BaR2D2 – The Bar Droid That R2-D2 Couldn’t Be

January 4, 2009 Click to read more →

Remember when R2-D2 was taken by Jabba and converted into R2-D-Tray with a drinks holder so that the little droid could serve the guests on the barge? (see pic)
Well, if Jabba had seen this beauty then R2-D2 could’ve stayed unmodified and Jabba’s party would have gone according to plan as I doubt that this robot [...]

Speed Up Your PSP – Overclock Instruction Guide

January 3, 2009 Click to read more →

OCModShop have published their guide on overclocking the PSP’s CPU.
Why would you want to?
Well, because you can!
Apparently the MIPS R4000 CPU inside your PSP was actually……
“……designed to run faster than it does out of the box. By default, the CPU runs at 222Mhz, but the MIPS R4000 processor was designed to run at 333Mhz with [...]

Robot Can Kit – I Can Haz Bot

December 18, 2008 Click to read more →

Here’s a great idea for Christmas!
The tin can robot kit will help any budding bot builder to add motors, gears, legs and batteries to any empty drinks can.
When created, the robot “jitters around, buzzing and clacking” which sounds pretty great.
Everything is supplied, you just need to bring an empty can, an AA battery and a [...]

Zoybar – Modular Guitar Kit – Build Your Axe

November 24, 2008 Click to read more →

I play in a variety of bands and projects with an equally ecclectic range of styles.  I could be playing out-and-out pop one day and then a few days later playing Drum and Bass and then covering an Iron Maiden set.
It would be great to have the choice of set-ups, necks and pickups for each gig.
That [...]

LunaBlocks from Lunatics – Lego Furniture

September 10, 2008 Click to read more →

Building your own furniture has become fun!
Nope – I’m not being sponsored by Ikea, B&Q or MFI!!
Regress (possibly) and remember the joys of Lego.  Now imagine larger blocks.
You now have Lunablocks.
They’re giant perspex Lego-esque bricks that can be used to build pretty much anything -  a TV stand/coffee table is a good starting point and probably the easiest [...]

Build Your Own MSI Wind Desktop – Atom

August 14, 2008 Click to read more →

You fancy an mini/slim pc but love the DIY aspect – you probably made your own desktop before already.
How about going and getting yourself a barebone MSI Wind system from Newegg for $140?
No, not the laptop!
It’s one of the first desktop systems to use Intel’s power-sipping Atom processor (1.6GHz).
You’ll need to add RAM (it uses [...]

Open Source Stomp Box Effects Pedal For Geeky Guitarists – Coyote-1

June 20, 2008 Click to read more →

Now here’s a thing.
To get your own custom effects pedal can be a little on the expensive side – so why not do a Brian May and build your own?
The OpenStomp Coyote-1, whilst still in the prototype phase, seems a pretty well thought-out open source guitar effects module.
It has a Parallax Propeller 8-core processor running at 80MHz that can even [...]

ROBO Builder Kit – Does Exactly What It Says On The Box

May 25, 2008 Click to read more →

If you want to build your own robot there are a few kits out there but I’m liking the look of this one.
The ROBO Builder set does exactly what it says on the box and it allows you to build 3 different bots named DINO, HUNO and DOGY.
Each new ROBO buddy can be programmed to [...]

Mobile Media Hub or Geek Scooter?

May 8, 2008 Click to read more →

Personally, with the weather as it is here in London, this is the only time I’d ride a scooter in a faux Italian kinda way.
But i’d still miss the car-bound comforts such as hi-fi, video screen, etc.
Not so fast! How about a scooter that packs a PC with a 1.2 GHz Mini-ITX motherboard, 1GB of [...]

DIY Lightsaber

February 5, 2008 Click to read more →

To truly be one with the Force a young Jedi should let it flow through them – let it guide them in making their own weapon, the Lightsaber.
Failing that, get a kit online – namely the Force FC Lightsaber Construction set.
The kit contains instructions and all the parts which enable you to create the weapon of your dreams from 1,000 or [...]

DIY Roll up Keyboard

January 28, 2008 Click to read more →

There are a variety of portable keyboards out there now from roll up types to the laser projected ones.  But if they appear a tad on the expensive side still and you have an old/spare regaular keyboard hanging around………………
Remove the inner membrane from an unwanted set of keys, make sure the control board is accurately [...]