DIYs & Mods

A group of young minds at the Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, MN have constructed from scratch a lithium phosphate ion-powered motorcycle that can travel at speeds of 60 MPH for 50+ miles before needing to be recharged. Safer than any Vespa you’ve taken for a ride, this electric bike has been built with the driver’s safety in mind.� ...

Let’s be square with one another: you haven’t used your WiiMotes since you got Super Smash Bros: Brawl. That’s alright though, because Tom Tlalim of the Netherlands was in the same boat as you. Using eight Nintendo Wii controllers, that previously were doing nothing more than collecting dust, Tom is able to create and manipulate sound in real time. This ...

Over on Flickr, user j.rusten decided to craft his own pair of headphones. Constructed with a vintage look in mind, the cups are made of layered cork with a green plastic shell. The final result? A cross between Grado and an Air Force pilot’s headset. The drivers used only cost $50, so I’d imagine you could design your own pair ...

ITsecurity.com has posted a comprehensive guide on do-it-yourself wiretapping as well as wiretapping defense. Offering a slew of choices to approach your attempt to spy on your gorgeous blond-haired neighbor including: how to install bugs, track someone’s whereabouts with their cell phone (if it’s registered with a U.K. phone company), in addition to how-to FM wiretap. And if it boils ...

Phil Torrone over at MAKE is famous for laser-etching designs into electronics such as laptops. Now a small company called Little Factory has one-upped him by producing laser cut scarves that form words out of tiny letters. Versions are available with both uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as a numbers piece. While I’m not sure if these are the ...

Following his creation of a portable Atari 2600, Ben Heck was hesitant to make the 7800 portable due to the complexity of the motherboard. But Ben didn’t let that phase him as he’s finally finished the portable Atari 7800. The motherboard was larger than the 2600’s thus the unit had to be larger, so Ben slapped a 7-inch wide screen ...

Since its release in 1984, the Roland TR-909 has since become the de facto drum machine for electronic dance music. Over on Flickr, user Firegroove took apart his TR-909 to try to fix it and documented the whole process. Never again will you see such ridiculous pictures of a huge circuit board. If you look at the boards and all ...

The world’s first electronic musical instrument is revived with this DIY from ClockworkRobot.com. With just a little soldering, you’ll be on your way to playing high pitched tunes in the sun. That’s right, this theremin is solar-powered. Sorry, no late nights playing this thing. It’s easy to play, as well; just casting a shadow over the panel with your hand ...

These recycled teacups called “Ted Lights” from Domestic Construction are just what you need to impress the grandkids! Home decor for the elderly never looked so stylin’.� A cool design and the feint odor of mothballs make for the perfect light to illuminate your kitchen with. Oh, and you can’t drink out of them as there’s holes drilled into the ...

TorrentFreak has a great article up on the history of one of the stupidest forms of DRM ever: The Lenslok. A small plastic device with multiple prism-like lenses, you’d hold the device up to the TV when a game prompted you to enter a secret message. Here’s an example of how this piece of shit was used: