Feeling a little down?
Leo Burnett has created a Firefox plug-in that replaces every online instance of the word “Crisis” that you browse across with the word “Opportunity” so that you can start to see the glass as half full instead of half empty all the time.
Sure, it’s just a blatant sales tool for giving them more business, but you don’t need to make that a huge crisis opportunity now, do you?
[Via: NOTCOT]
Many people are still unsure of the value of Twitter, but if there’s one thing that will convince the masses it’s this: An office chair that tweets when you toot.
The Twittering Office Chair is a… unique project that uses a standard office chair and a bunch of fancy electronics to detect the presence of flatulence, and then tweet wirelessly whenever it sense a stinker.
The chair was made to help accurately document life as it happens, and thankfully, if you want to make one of your own, there’s a full set of instructions on Instructables for you to follow.
[Instructables - The Twittering Office Chair]
Still holding on to a Dreamcast in hopes of a Sega resurrection?
Then why not turn it into something useful like a DreamTablet?
The DreamTablet mod uses a 15” LCD, slot loading disc drive and plenty of batteries to keep the gaming going for a full 3.5 hours, and even connects to a regular TV for full sized gaming should the mood strike.
[Via: Gizmodo]
The 2008 MacMod Mod of the Year has been announced, and a Pre-AGP Mac running Leopard has been declared the winner.
While not quite as visually impressive as the other entries, which included a TiN’ed iPhone, a Cube with liquid cooling, a Mac made of Legos, and even a Mac shoved inside of an Xbox 360, the judges felt that James Little’s (aka jimjamyahauk’s) milestone of being the first person to get Leopard to run (or even boot!) on any pre-AGP Mac was definitely worthy of the prize.
Be sure to check out the site for more details on each of the entries, including build photos and detailed specs and info.
AT&T is (finally) offering free WiFi to its iPhone and Blackberry customers, and with a few easy/clever modifications to your laptop’s browser, you can enjoy that free web access on the big screen as well.
You’ll still need an AT&T account to use the hack, since you have to log in with that account to activate the service, but that’s a small price to pay for the extra access.
[UNEASYsilence - Free AT&T WiFi]
Since Microsoft went straight from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, they didn’t stop to do any revisions to the original like Sony did to the PlayStation 2.
However, this didn’t stop one crafty modder from making his own “Xbox Slim” project, and using it as a media center that can play games.
The Xbox Slim cuts more than half the weight from the original, weighing in at just four pounds, and adds in advanced features like a DVD/CD-R combo drive, 60GB of onboard storage, a built-in Wi-Fi receiver, and a built in receiver for the Logitech wireless controller.
Along with the hardware revisions, XBMC has been added for media center capability, and SNES, Sega, NeoGeo, and other emulators have been added for classic gaming goodness.
It might not be certified by Microsoft, but chances are, that isn’t exactly a bad thing.
[Via: Technabob]
Has the damaged economy managed to crush your new gadget budget?
Instead of sitting around and complaining, why not make your old things new again with a few “creative” hacks?
To help you along the path to recycled gadget goodness, Gizmodo has put together a guide to Zero-Cost Gadget Upgrades, including turning your Xbox, PC or Apple TV into a genuine media center, hacking your iPod with Rockbox, converting your PC into a Mac, flashing your crappy router’s firmware with DD-WRT to turn it into a top-of-the-line piece of hardware, downloading new maps for your old GPS, jailbreaking your iPhone for Wi-Fi Internet tethering, and modding your Wii to create a free emulation machine.
Who said the next great depression had to be so depressing?
[Gizmodo - Zero-Cost Gadget Upgrades For The Next Great Depression]
Your desktop wallpaper is an often-overlooked tool to help you stay organized.
Simple Help has put together a list of five different wallpapers that will help you increase your productivity, and by switching to one of them, you’ll never have to stare at XP’s rolling hills or Mac’s swirly colors again.
[Simple Help - 5 Desktop Wallpapers That Will Increase Your Productivity]
The Image Fulgurator is Julius von Bismarck’s photo hijacker that uses a flash gun and an old SLR camera to sense the flash of another camera and then project a message (either image or text) onto the surface of whatever is being photographed.
Apparently the reason for the Fulgurator is that Julius wants to challenge the confidence that people have in the accuracy of their photos, though I think that it’s more than a little fun to watch the confused faces of tourists who just can’t figure out what’s wrong with their camera:
[Via: MAKE: Blog]
If you were among the more than eight million people that helped Firefox set a new world record on Download Day 2008, then it’s time to start tweaking and tuning Firefox 3 to match your needs.
The first stop on your customization journey should definitely be at Lifehacker’s Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3, which digs a little deeper into the program and uncovers shortcuts, tweaks, and even Easter Eggs in the Mozilla monster.
Are you ready?
[Lifehacker - Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3]
AT&T will soon offer free Wi-Fi to all iPhone users at their more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S., including all Starbucks stores.
If you’d like to get in on that action, but don’t yet have an iPhone, then check out UNEASYsilence for a guide on how to use Firefox’s User Agent Switcher to trick hotspots into thinking you’re on an iPhone, and then granting you full access to their tubes of Internet.
[UNEASYsilence - Trick AT&T To Give You Free Wi-Fi At Any Of Their Hotspots]
CHDK, or Canon Hacker’s Development Kit, is a firmware enhancement that turns your Digic II and Digic III camera into a high dollar impersonator.
Because it’s a firmware enhancement and not a firmware modifier, CHDK is also non-permanent and non-destructive, so even those with a fear of killing their camera can give it a go without worrying about the long-term consequences.
To install, simply copy a few files onto a memory card and then start the camera like you usually do. The software will automatically activate, and then de-activate when the camera is turned back off again.
So what does CHDK do for you?
- Enhanced Image Capture (RAW)
- Additional Information On-Screen
- Additional Photographic Settings
- Support for Small Programs/Scripts
Plus, because it’s open source and still in development, CHDK is still being actively developed, and new features are still being added.
Ready to take the plunge?
Then check out Lifehacker for a full rundown of what’s involved.
[CHDK]
[Via: Lifehacker]
If you’re willing to put your electrical skills to the test, then you can create your own Electric Mountain Board with a scooter motor and the batteries needed to power it.
The design allows for minimum damage to the board, and the ability to remove it if you want to do some standard riding.
A mod that gives you the best of both worlds?
Sign me up!
[Instructables - Electric Mountain Board]
Here’s an interesting idea: Take an NES cartridge, rip out the guts and replace them with an NES console.
Then you can play Nintendo by simply plugging your cartridge into another cartridge!
The end result, called a Fami-Card, features an NES cartridge slot, power and reset buttons, a pair of joystick ports, and composite video and stereo audio outputs.
[Via: Technabob]
Sure, you could spend $300 on a Keyport to keep your keys in one convenient location, but with a little bit of clever modification to a Leatherman Micra, you can make your own flip out key storage gizmo that takes up less space, and impresses more with its DIY attitude.
Follow the link below for a step-by-step guide to making your own.
[Via: Toolmonger]
When one Mac modder found himself in possession of a well-worn PowerBook that was having some screen problems, he decided to breathe new life into it by turning it into a Mac desktop. (MacTop?)
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Essentially, the case is made of two sheets of white acrylic, bolted together by socket countersunk screws. I’ve used 15mm chrome pipe as the four spacers between the acrylic sheet. The perforated steel was cut to my specifications by a very helpful chap found on eBay. Cutting the CD drive slot was a little tricky, as was drilling the power button hole, but once done they seem to function ok.
The trackpad now thinks the lid is closed thanks to a well placed magnet (so that it runs in external monitor mode) and the original laptop battery acts as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), so it’s now quite the machine.
Future plans may include an overclocking now that extra space is available for a bigger heatsink, but as it is, the creator seems rather happy with his creation.
[MacMod - PowerBook to Desktop]
With the launch of Apple’s Air, they’re basically telling the world that wires are soon going to be a thing of the past.
If you’re already ready to jump on that wireless bandwagon, then perhaps it’s time to do a bit of modding.
By adding a Bluetooth dongle to your 4G iPod (you’ll need a steady hand and some decent soldering skills), you can create an iPod with internal Bluetooth capabilities.
(It also converts your iPod over to flash memory, so it’s a bit of a two-for-one deal.)
Join the revolution!
[Instructables - Internal Bluetooth iPod]
Homemade HD Video Projectors are what happens when you combine art, technology, and determination.
The basic components are an LCD panel from an old media player, optics from an old overhead projector, a very bright light, and whatever components you can scrap together form old electronics.
Though the end result is probably not as good as what you can buy off the shelf, it’s the process that counts, and for these modders, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
[Gizmodo - Homemade HD Video Projectors]
Whenever I use my RSS reader (NetNewsWire) to read Digg and then open tabs for the interesting sounding stories in the background in Firefox, I’m always greeted with an “Unresponsive Script” warning.
Fortunately, the error is just a timing issue, and if you’ve been receiving the same error, then the fix is an easy one:
- Type about:config into Firefox’s address bar.
- Filter down to the value for dom.max_script_run_time.
- Change the value to something higher than the default.
Yes, it’s that easy; and you’ll soon have uninterrupted browsing of your favorite social bookmarking site.
[Via: Lifehacker]
Have you ever heard of mileage running?
The goal is to fly for the sake of flying so that you can earn enough airline miles to receive perks from the frequent flier program.
To do mileage running, you only need two things: a lot of time, and cheap tickets (one to two cents per mile cheap).
Then, you simply rack up the miles, going through the ticket and routing calculations, through elite status, upgrades, irregular operations, weather delays, working the system, bumping and marathon flying; all for the sake of a few extra miles.
Ready to work the system?
Then check out Gadling’s Guide to Mileage Running, and learn from the best.
[Gadling - Guide To Mileage Running]
[Photo Via: AMagill]
