Search Results

Search found 318 results on 13 pages for 'electronics'.

Page 2/13 | < Previous Page | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12  | Next Page >

• DIY Sunrise Alarm Clock Sports a Polished Build and Perfect Time Keeping

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  We’ve seen our fair share of sunrise simulators, but by far this one is the most polished build–everything from the atomic clock circuit to the LEDs are all packed cleanly in a frosted acrylic case. Renaud Schleck, the tinker behind the build, describes the guts: This is an alarm clock simulating the sunrise, which means that a few minutes before the alarm goes off, it shines some light whose brightness increases over time. The alarm clock is built around a MSP430G2553 microcontroller compatible with the MSP430 Launchpad from Texas Instrument. It features a DCF77 module which sets the clock automatically through radio waves. How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode

  Read the article

• Hack Your Lights for Remote Control

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  This clever hack combines a modified wall switch with unused buttons on a universal remote to create one-touch wireless control of the lighting in a media room. Andrew, the tinker behind this home theater hack, writes: I really liked the idea of controlling my “Home Theater” lights with a remote (TV or other), this would save me the exhausting task of heaving myself off the couch to turn the lights on or off. I found one of my remotes has a spare power button, its one of those stupid “universal” remotes that comes with DVD players or TVs but only work if you have all the same brand equipment, I don’t so this made a good option for a light switch. Hit up the link below to check out more photos of his project and download the source code. Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder? Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows

  Read the article

• Geek Chess: Nixie Tubes as Board Pieces [Video]

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  We’ve seen some geeky chessboards in our day, but this board is a masterpiece of geekiness. Check out the video to see the Nixie tubes in action. Courtesy of a tinker named Tony, we find this delightfully analog and geeky chess set. He writes: This developed as a spinoff from the hardware and controllers I’m designing for a range of nixie clocks and watches as a ‘simple’ project that wouldn’t need much software to complete it. All visible parts are made from materials contemporary with Nixie technology and no modern plastics or resins are used anywhere in its’ consruction (other than the electronic components and PCBs). The board and pieces are machined from phenolic resin laminate and assembled using brass fittings. The brown base pieces have been filled and wiped with gold and silver engravers wax, giving a ‘worn gilding’ appearance. The displays are ex-Soviet Nixie gas display tubes, manufactured in the early 1980s. No Chinese LEDs here… How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

  Read the article

• Eight Geektacular Christmas Projects for Your Day Off

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  It’s Christmas Eve and if you’re lucky you’ve got some time off ahead of you. Let’s put that time to good use with some holiday-centered geeking out. Come on in for LEGO ornaments, Darth Vader snow flakes, and Christmas light hacks galore. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know HTG Explains: Which Linux File System Should You Choose? HTG Explains: Why Does Photo Paper Improve Print Quality? An Alternate Star Wars Christmas Special [Video] Sunset in a Tropical Paradise Wallpaper Natural Wood Grain Icons for Your Desktop and App Launcher Docks My Blackberry Is Not Working! The Apple Too?! [Funny Video] Hidden Tracks Your Stolen Mac; Free Until End of January Why the Other Checkout Line Always Moves Faster

  Read the article

• Repurpose Old Phones As Intercoms

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you’ve got some old wired telephones laying around for want of a project, this simple hack turns two wired phones into an intercom. Over at Hack A Day, Caleb Kraft shares his simple phone hack inspired by his VW bus. He writes: In case you haven’t noticed from my many comments on the subject, I drive a VW bus. It is a 1976 Westfalia camper with sage green paint and green plaid upholstery. I absolutely love it and so does the rest of my family. We go for drives in the country as well as camping regularly. We have found that the kids have a hard time communicating with us while we’re going higher speeds. These things aren’t the quietest automobiles in the world. Pushing this bread loaf shaped hunk of steel down the road with an engine that might top out at 75hp results in wind noise, engine noise, and of course, vibration. I decided to employ a really old hack to put two functional telephones in the bus so my kids can talk to my wife (or whoever the passenger is) without screaming quite so loud. This hack is extremely easy, fairly cheap, and can be done in just a few minutes. The result is a functional intercom that you could use pretty much anywhere! For more pics of his setup (and a neat video of his rather retro ride), check out the link below. Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It

  Read the article

• Tempescope Displays Weather by Recreating It

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Yesterday we showed you an umbrella stand that signals raining/clear skies by color, today we have something even more interesting: an ambient desktop weather station that recreates the outside weather. The Tempescope pulls down the current weather report from Weather Underground’s API and feeds it to an Arduino board which in turn controls the device. When it’s raining, it pumps water down to simulate rain in the chamber. When there is lightening, LEDs flash. When there is cloud cover, an ultrasonic generator creates a fine mist inside the cylinder. Finally, on sunny days the entire thing glows warmly. To say that we want one would be an understatement. Hit up the link below to read more about the project, the display modes, and to peek inside the device. Prototyping “Tempescope”, An Ambient Weather Display [via Hack A Day] How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7

  Read the article

• DIY Leak Detector Prevents Water Damage

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  There’s no need to shell out for an expensive commercial leak detector when you can cobble together a simple one from basic parts. Over at Make Magazine, Electrical Engineer Jeff Tegre shares a straight forward guide to cobbling together a simple leak detector. Armed with the leak detector you can get an early alert if you water heater, washer, or other leak-prone appliances are hemorrhaging water. Make a Leak Detector for $25 [Make] Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed

  Read the article

• Roll Your Own Wi-Fi Spy Camera

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  This fun DIY project allows you to roll your own Wi-Fi based spy camera and then, when it’s time for a new project, pull apart the modular design and build something new. This build combines an Arduino board, an Adafruit Data Logging Shield, an a serial-based camera (among a handful of small parts and open-source code) into a spy camera that remotely delivers the photos via Wi-Fi. The nice thing about this project is that when you can easily deconstruct the build to reuse the parts in a new project (the number of things you can do with an Arduino is near limitless). Hit up the link below for an excellent and well documented tutorial over at LadyAda.net. “Internet of Things” Camera [via DIYPhotography] Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

  Read the article

• Hack a Wireless Doorbell for Customizable Ring Tones

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  When it comes to door bells, why limit yourself to a simple bell toll when you could be alerted to visitors by the Super Mario Bros. theme? This customizable doorbell hack brings ring tones to your front door. Check out the video above to see it assembled and in action, then hit up the link below for the wiring diagrams and step-by-step instructions. How to Add Custom Ringtones to a Wireless Doorbell [via Hacked Gadgets] How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder? Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It

  Read the article

• CircuitLab Offers Easy Circuit Building on the Web and iPad

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you like to sketch out your circuit designs rapidly, cleanly, and on the web or your iPad, CircuitLab makes it dead simple. The free tool includes an easy drag-and-drop interface, circuit analysis, easy printing, and more. Watch the video above to see the creators of CircuitLab whipping up a simple circuit to showcase the app, then hit up the link below to try it out. CircuitLab [via Hacked Gadgets] How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me?

  Read the article

• Visit the Museum of Endangered Sounds for a Bit of Nostalgic Sound-Based Fun

  - by Asian Angel

  Are you ready for a trip down memory lane? Then you will definitely want to visit the Museum of Endangered Sounds where you can have fun listening to the classic sounds of yesteryear! Enjoy listening to the sound of dial-up, the login sound of Windows 95, that classic Nokia ringtone, and more at the Museum. Click on a picture to play the sound, then click on the picture again to stop it. The sounds will continue to play until you click on the chosen picture… Museum of Endangered Sounds [via Neatorama] Browse on over to another of our ETC posts for more nostalgic sound fun: Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It

  Read the article

• Hack a Linksys Router into a Ambient Data Monitor

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you have a data source (like a weather report, bus schedule, or other changing data set) you can pull it and display it with an ambient data monitor; this fun build combines a hacked Linksys router and a modified toy bus to display transit arrival times. John Graham-Cumming wanted to keep an eye on the current bus arrival time tables without constantly visiting the web site to check them. His workaround turns a hacked Linksys router, a display, a modified London city bus (you could hack apart a more project-specific enclosure, of course), and a simple bit code that polls the bus schedule’s API, into a cool ambient data monitor that displays the arrival time, in minutes, of the next two buses that will pass by his stop. The whole thing could easily be adapted to another API to display anything from stock prices to weather temps. Hit up the link below for more information on the project. Ambient Bus Arrival Monitor Hacked from Linksys Router [via Make] Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

  Read the article

• Inside the Raspberry Pi Factory

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Curious where your pint-sized Raspberry Pi came from? You might be surprised to learn it was built, tested, and packaged all in an equally pint-sized factory in South Wales. Nick Heath of Tech Republic takes us on a photo tour of the Raspberry Pi factory with a stop at each stage of production and testing. The photo above shows one of the manual construction steps, the insertion of the large components such as the USB and Ethernet ports. Hit up the link below for the full tour. Raspberry Pi: Inside the Pi Factory [Tech Republic] Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus?

  Read the article

• DIY Touch Screen Mod Makes Regular Gloves Smartphone-friendly

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Smartphone-friendly winter gloves are expensive (and often ugly). Skip shelling out for store-bought gloves when, armed with a needle and thread, you can turn any gloves into smartphone-friendly ones. Over at Popular Science, Taylor Kubota shares the simple trick: 1. Order silver-plated nylon thread (silver conducts electricity). This can be difficult to find in stores, but major online retailers carry it. 2. Pick a pair of gloves to modify. Although leather works, it’s harder to push a needle through. 3. Stitch the figure of a star or other solid shape onto the glove’s index finger with the thread, making sure it will contact both the touchscreen and your skin. Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus?

  Read the article

• Which static electricity prevention tools do actually work?

  - by Boris_yo

  I need a device that would discharge static electricity from my body in order to safely work with electronics. I have looked and found some that interested me, but I don't know whether they work: Anti-Static Wrist Strap Anti-Static Release Discharger Keychain Anti-Dissipative Wrist Strap Anti-Static Rubber Finger Stalls Which of above mentioned actually do something? Do I also need and anti-static screw box? It has holes that screws get put in. Will I need magnetic screwdriver to pull screws out?

  Read the article

• 12.04 making BCM4313 card work with aircrack-ng?

  - by Charles Forest

  I'm a real Linux Noob, just started using it (this month) and until now i had no issues. now i'm trying to set-up aircrack-ng on my laptop, but it seems like it's using the worst card possible (or almost) there is a TON of tutorial on this card (seems to be hell to set-up) i have tryed some, but i ended up uninstalling my drivers, messing with my desktops, and ended by having no more "X" to close my windows (i have no clue how i ended there) i just re-installed my linux (took me 2 hours to setup everything again), but now i'm a bit "Scared" to try tutorials randomly again. Right now it says the driver is wl, wich is not the one i want (AFAIK it's not supported) i'm not sure what kind of informations are needed, but here's what i think could be usefull. lspci -knn 00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller [8086:0104] (rev 09) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel 00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port [8086:0101] (rev 09) Kernel driver in use: pcieport Kernel modules: shpchp 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0116] (rev 09) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: i915 Kernel modules: i915 00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:1c3a] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: mei Kernel modules: mei 00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1c2d] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd 00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1c20] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel 00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:1c10] (rev b4) Kernel driver in use: pcieport Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 [8086:1c16] (rev b4) Kernel driver in use: pcieport Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 [8086:1c18] (rev b4) Kernel driver in use: pcieport Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [8086:1c26] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd 00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller [8086:1c49] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt 00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller [8086:1c03] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: ahci 00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:1c22] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel modules: i2c-i801 01:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 540M] [10de:0df4] (rev a1) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: nouveau Kernel modules: nouveau, nvidiafb WIRELESS CARD 02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4727] (rev 01) Subsystem: Wistron NeWeb Corp. Device [185f:051a] Kernel driver in use: wl Kernel modules: wl, bcma, brcmsmac REST... 03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: r8169 Kernel modules: r8169 04:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller [1033:0194] (rev 04) Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:c0a5] Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd Also, if i'm "screwed" with my hardware, just tell me.

  Read the article

• Output current with Teensy++ 2.0 (arduino-based hardware)

  - by omtinez

  I am working on a project with a Teensy++ 2.0 for testing, eventually the goal is to use a Teensy 2.0 (info on both available here) and mount it onto a robot R/C car along with a Raspberry Pi. I have been able to use and test one of the very cheap distance sensors that use ultrasound, which requires very little current. I was trying to power a motor, I don't know exactly what kind of motor but I assume a very low-power one which is what comes with the R/C car cheapo, but nothing is happening. When I plug the motor to GROUND and +5V it runs fine, but when I use GROUND and one of the GPIO pins then nothing happens with the motor. The same GPIO pins were tested to successfully power and run the ultrasound sensor, so the board is fine. My suspicion is that the GPIO pins don't output enough current to power the motor, but my knowledge of electronics is rather scarce (I am a computer scientist, not an electrical engineer). So please forgive me if I am asking something obvious or plain stupid, but does the board not have enough power to power the motor? If so, I could try to use a second power supply that would go straight into the motor and use the GPIO as a gate to turn that power on and off; would such thing work? Is there a better design that could be used?

  Read the article

• What type of Multimeter is safe to use on computers?

  - by Ssvarc

  In "Upgrading and Repairing PC's - 18th edition" by Scott Mueller on pg. 1278 he discusses multimeters. "You should only use a DMM (digital multimeter) instead of the older needle-type multimeters because the older meters work by injecting 9V into the circuit when measuring resistance, which damages most computer circuits. A DMM uses a much smaller voltage (usually 1.5V) when making resistance measurements, which is safe for electronic equipment." Most DMM's that I've looked at have 9V batteries. Are they internally stepping down the voltage used when making these measurements? Wouldn't the concern of injecting 9V be true when measuring continuity as well? A little off topic, there is a fascinating way to test for laptop screen inverter failure, (http://www.fonerbooks.com/test.htm), is anyone aware of a safe DMM that is capable of this as well?

  Read the article

• What is a good program for mixed mode circuit simulation?

  - by Jeff Shattock

  I'm looking for a program that will perform schematic capture and mixed-mode (analog and digital) circuit simulation. If it also did PCB layout and routing, that would be a bonus, but not necessary. I currently use an old version of CircuitMaker/TraxMaker, but its dated, and the simulation engine is a bit lacking. Windows or Linux, doesn't really matter. What is a good program for this purpose?

  Read the article

• Melting plastic around DC-in jack in laptop

  - by Ove

  I recently noticed that the plastic around the DC-in jack of my laptop was warped (melted) a little bit. Since I noticed, I have done some experiments, and saw that the metal tip of the charger heats up very much when I am gaming, or performing CPU-intensive work (it's so hot that i can't hold it between my fingers). When I am using Windows normally (web browsing, music, video), the tip is not hot. I tried using another charger from a compatible laptop, but its metal tip overheated as well, so the problem is not caused by the charger. I have been using this laptop for gaming for 1.5 years and I never had this problem. When gaming I always use a laptop cooler. Dust is not the problem (i cleaned out the dust), and the CPU and GPU temperatures are not higher than when I got the laptop. The only thing that is excessively hot is the charger tip. Because I bought my laptop from the USA, sending it to warranty and back would cost more than the laptop's value, so I need to fix it myself. I have googled around, and I saw that the problem might be the DC-in jack that is located on the motherboard of the laptop. I plan to take the laptop apart and see if it has become loose, and soldering it in place if it has. My questions for you are: Did anyone deal with this problem in the past? Did anyone manage to fix it? Is the DC-in jack the culprit in this case? Or is it possible for the problem to be caused by another part on the motherboard? Is there any way I can check the DC-in jack with a multimeter? What should I measure (resistance, etc)? EDIT: My laptop is a Sager NP5135 (aka Clevo B5130M). I also posted on NBR, including some pictures: link

  Read the article

• How does increasing the number of transistors in a chip increase its speed....

  - by tyler

  Is the only purpose of transistors in a cpu to act as the switches that define its instruction set? And if so then why does increasing the number of transistors increase its speed?

  Read the article

• I want to plot ocean current with a GPS in a bottle.

  - by Fantomas

  Thinking of using a wine bottle with a cork that barely sticks out. Anyhow, I want to put in a GPS, a battery and a transmitter and to be able to collect position about every minute or so. Off-the-shelf components are preferred. What are my options as far as hardware and software choices? Thank you in advance!

  Read the article

• What are these? Are they broken?

  - by Chris Nielsen

  Please excuse the poor image quality: What are the components that I've circled in red? The ones on the left look whole and solid. The ones on the right have cracked tops, and although this picture doesn't show it, there are small brown threads coming out of the top. Are the cracked ones broken, or is that supposed to happen? If they ARE broken, is this something I should worry about? This is a video card, and it appears to be fully functional: I'm using it while writing this post.

  Read the article

• What is a good program, with PostScript output (for LaTeX), to make circuit diagrams?

  - by Breakthrough

  Hello; I just found out to my dismay that Visio 2007 does not include the ability to output drawings in EPS/PS formats, which makes it unsuitable for my uses. I wish to create various circuit digrams (including some texts for resistor values, voltage sources, etc...) with most electronic components (resistors, logic gates). Visio was a great tool for this, but I need to include these in lab reports which I am typesetting with LaTeX. The recommended format to include images in LaTeX is PostScript, so the fonts can be properly substituted, and the drawings scale properly. So my question: Is there a Windows program which will allow me to create circuit diagrams, add various labels, and export it to PostScript format?

  Read the article

• Adding a new USB port inside a Macbook Pro

  - by MikeC8

  I have a USB Dongle that I'd like to put inside my Macbook Pro. I have already found a spot that will fit the dongle. The next question is splicing one of the USB ports and connecting it to the dongle. Here's a photograph of the inside of my Macbook Pro, showing the USB ports and a little gray plastic divider with four holes in it above each port. http://min.us/mvoQEem My question: Does anyone know what is inside these holes? Presumably each one is a pin for the USB port, right? Can I just stick a wire in there, giving me 4 pins, plus the fifth attached to the metal outside the port? More generally, any one have any ideas for what might be the easiest way to get a USB port inside my MBP? :) Thanks!

  Read the article

< Previous Page | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12  | Next Page >