Sometimes mice don’t work; it just happens sometimes. What’s unusual is when the mouse doesn’t work because the ball is so completely coated with a uniform layer of sludge that it stops functioning. Here tiny spots of crap have been cleaned off so the actual mouse ball (gray & white) is visible. It’s sitting in the middle of a CD to steady it for the photo shoot…
Wooden laptop
You really have to admire the guy who made his own wood and leather laptop out of an old Dell unit. Inspired by Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash”, he spent 4 months making it.
No-Cost WiFi Antenna Reflectors
You may have already seen this on other hardware hack sites, or on Screensavers, but in case you haven’t, this is an extremely easy and quick-to-make parabolic reflector that can be used to direct the signal on your wireless (WiFi) antenna and to boost its gain (betweenb 10 and 12db). Definitely worth trying before investing in a larger commercial antenna. You can make the reflectors and mounts out of scrounged material, such as cardboard and wire mesh, or even cut-open Pringles cans.
Koss Canal-Type Headphones Hack
Nice DIY piece at Headwize on modding the US$20 Koss “The Plug” headphones so that they provide better audio clarity, improved acoustic isolation, and sound less tinny than the unmodified ‘phones (or the original modded version that appeared on the same site).
[Thanks, Craniac!]
DIY Retro-Computing
Tom Owad, of Applefritter fame, has just released a book with a very unique concept: hands-on teaching of modern digital computer concepts through the re-construction of a computer antique: The Apple I. The book is called Apple I Replica Creation: Back to the Garage and is published by Syngress Press, the same folks who publish the awesome Joe Grand hardware hacking books: Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty and Game Console Hacking. A PDF version of Chapter 3 of the Apple I book is available here. We haven’t seen the actual book yet, but we’ll try to get ahold of one and do a proper review.