Year: 2005

HOW TO – Hacking the iTrip LCD

HOW TO – Hacking the iTrip LCD

ItriphackTrevor writes “When I got my first iTrip, I loved it. Yea, the range and quality could be better, but hey, I’ve got my iPod playing in my car. Then I found a tutorial online which explained how to increase the iTrip’s range simply by taking the antenna out of the case. When I did it, I was amazed at the increase in audio quality. Such a simple hack can easily make your iTrip much better. Then, I got the new iTrip LCD from Griffin, which has an LCD screen to display the station and a knob to change it. Griffin says the LCD version has better audio quality and range than the old iTrip, but it still didn’t match my hacked iTrip. Since I couldn’t find a tutorial online, I decided to just dive in. I used the same basic method as with the old iTrip, with a few small changes. If you decide to do this to your iTrip, know that it does void the warranty, and you need to be very careful.” Link and alternate link.

GPSP (GPS front end program for PSP)

GPSP (GPS front end program for PSP)

Interface Test Thumb1Amazing, a GPS mod for the PSP …“this is the first version of a program for the PSP that provides a practical GPS Graphic User Interface (GUI). The GPSP software for Sony PSP runs under LUAplayer 0.11 or later. LUAplayer is free. If you haven’t downloaded it, you will need to get it running on your 1.50 firmware PSP in order to try this out for yourself.” Link. Wifi + GPS on a PSP, this is great! The homebrew PSP community is the only reason many haven’t Ebay’ed their PSPs.

The Homemade Pipe Organ

The Homemade Pipe Organ

Current3Excellent site documenting a homemade pipe organ – Maker Raphi writes “The following website describes the process of how I designed and am currently building a 5 stop, 5 rank, all wood pipe organ for my house. I’m not an organist and I can barely play piano but I love music, organs and woodworking. Add to that that I’m a mechanical engineer and you have all the ingredients for a project like this.” Thanks Joel! Link.

HOW TO – Get Podcasts on Your Xbox 360

360Simple way of getting podcasts on the new Xbox 360 “How do you listen to your favorite podcasts on your Xbox 360? There is nothing better than slaughtering your pals online while you catch up with NPR’s Story of the Day. And kicking off the week with an episode of TWiT to accompany your Monday night XBL football league is a welcome replacement for repetitive announcers… let’s figure out how to get those podcasts on the Xbox 360.” [via] Link.

HOW TO – Convert DVR-MS to PSP Automatically

HOW TO – Convert DVR-MS to PSP Automatically

Mediablab-Logo-150-2How to convert recorded television to play on a PSP automatically from MAKE pal Jake – “Despite the recent launch of Sony’s own Media Manager, PSPWare remains the best solution for syncing content to your PSP. Chris and I were lamenting the lack of an easy way to automatically convert DVR-MS files created by Windows Media Center to files ready for playback from PSP Memory Sticks. Here is the solution.” Link.

Mac to PC Mod – The SE3000 Assembly

Mac to PC Mod – The SE3000 Assembly

Se3000MainAttila writes “This is my first computer mod ever. I wanted to build a compact gaming PC using an old Mac SE case. For my case window mod I took the old built-in black and white monitor, cut it near the end using sand-blasting technology…I designed all my logos in Illustrator; I had vinyl stencils cut out. I used those stencils to spray-paint the logos on my case, PSU, after it dried I used clear-coat to finish the case off.” Link.

The Homemade Nitrogen Laser

The Homemade Nitrogen Laser

Laser“The nitrogen laser will give 100kW pulses of light at 337.1nm (UVA light). The pulses are only 6ns long, so the energy per pulse is just 0.6mJ. It is a very simple laser, and it does not require mirrors or glass working at all! But using a mirror at one end of the laser will boost the output to over 250%. And if the nitrogen entering the laser (it is a flowing gas laser, but it can be made sealed) is cooled, it can go up to 120 pps. So if it is running at 120 pps, and has a mirror at one end, the average power output will be 180 mW. Although the beam is invisible it can be used to pump dye lasers to give beams with wavelengths ranging from infrared to ultraviolet.” Link.