Tag Archives: DIY + Hacks

Man Builds 250-Pound, 6-Foot Tall Xbox Series X to Set World Record

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Dreaming big: some people take it literally. Case in point, YouTuber Michael Pick, who dreamed of a giant Xbox Series X console, then constructed this 600% version measuring 6 feet tall, 3.41 feet wide, and weighing 250 pounds. The console took home the Guinness World Record for World’s Largest Xbox Series X console, presumably because who else would ever do this?

The console is basically a giant scale-size shell of an actual Xbox with the same comparatively small guts inside, but the power button works, and everything else is where it should be. I’m a little disappointed, but I guess that’s my own fault for expecting anything more from a giant Xbox Series X replica other than a bunch of empty space. At least they give it a cool paint job.

After completing the project, Michael donated the giant gaming system to the Atlanta YMCA Youth and Teen Development Center, so you can rest assured it found a good home. Would I have bought it if Michael had posted it on eBay? And paid shipping on that thing. Are you nuts?! I already learned my lesson buying that replica Raiders of the Lost Ark boulder last summer.

[via TechEBlog]

The GameCube Controller Sandwich is One Delicious Peripheral

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Because brilliant ideas come in all flavors, video game hardware modder and YouTuber Peter Knetter went and constructed himself a sandwich from a GameCube controller. Yum! It’s not actually edible, though, all the sandwich bits are made out of wax or plastic, but it is a functional controller. Now somebody just needs to port Cooking Mama or Overcooked to the GameCube for a match made in heaven!

The sandwich consists of an actual GameCube controller as the core of the sandwich, surrounded by fake deli meat, lettuce, and tomato, and finished with two pieces of faux bread. Not bad, but it’s very clearly missing mustard and mayonnaise, which I think we can all agree are the condiments that really make a sandwich, a sandwich. Back to culinary school with you!

Even knowing it’s not edible, I’d still have a hard time not trying to eat the controller. I’m a simple person — I see things that look like food, and I try to eat them. I can’t even tell you how many times an ambulance has had to be called because I was choking on a piece of plastic fruit, but it’s definitely in the double digits.

Animated LED Super Mario Bros. Clock: The Time is 1-Up

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Crafted by software engineer and Instructables user jnthas, this Super Mario Bros. animated LED clock features Mario jumping up to hit a question block to change the displayed time. How clever is that? Very clever – the answer is very clever. Far more clever than any clock I could ever come up with. Stupid raindial, what was I thinking?!

The clock consists of an ESP32 Dev Board, 64×64 RGB LED Matrix, some firmware, and a 5V power supply, all of which were purchased off AliExpress. You just slap all the parts together, and presto… nothing’s happening. Maybe you don’t just slap them all together as I had anticipated. There might be more steps.

If you want to build your own, you can follow jnthas’s Instructable, which is apparently well written and descriptive enough that multiple people have already replicated the project. Me not being one of them, just so we’re clear. Can somebody make one for me?

Modder Packs Tiny OLED Display Into LEGO Computer Brick

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LEGO builders: their level of ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Case in point, this mod created by programmer (not singer) James Brown, who managed to pack a tiny OLED display into a translucent brick to mimic a LEGO computer terminal. How about that! Eight-year-old me is going crazy over this, and current me is going even crazier!

The 3D printed brick has a tiny 0.5″ OLED display inside, controlled by an ARM-based microcontroller James made especially for the build. You just plug the brick into a LEGO baseplate powered by a 9V battery, and voila, the computer comes to life with lines of make-believe code that mimic the original screen. Amazing!

Seeing as how I have zero skills or knowledge related to mods of this nature, James, please tell me you plan on opening an online store and selling these. I would buy a bunch! Well, maybe not buy, but how many will you trade me for a wedding band?

[via TechEBlog]

Man Constructs Functional Cardboard GameBoy Advance SP

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Because dream it, and you can achieve it (even if that dream takes way too much time that could probably be better spent doing something else entirely), YouTuber Peter Knetter deconstructed a GameBoy Advance SP to remove the hardware, then built a custom case INCLUDING CONTROLS entirely out of cardboard, then put the hardware inside to create a functional cardboard GameBoy Advance SP. Personally, I would have called it the GameBoy Unadvanced SP, but that’s just me and I’m incredible at naming things.

Peter actually seems pretty surprised when it works, as was I. He’s even able to play some Tony Hawk Underground on it to put it through its paces. Sure you probably aren’t going to be able to play your very best on the system, but that’s a small price to pay for a GameBoy that gets soggy in the rain.

The next logical project will be constructing a duct tape GameBoy Unadvanced SP. Honestly, it’s only a matter of time, and not very much time if Peter is as proficient with duct tape as I imagine he is. I’m already looking forward to the video!

[via TechEBlog]

Man Builds Custom Fish Tank Stroller to Take His Goldfish on Walks

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Taiwanese Youtuber Huang Xiaojie had a dream: a dream of taking his beloved goldfish for walks around town with him. So what did he do? He built himself a custom fish tank stroller, of course! I think we can all agree it was the logical decision and way better than just filling a backpack with water and hoping for the best.

The stroller consists of a sturdy metal chassis that holds a cylindrical acrylic tube for the fish, with an integrated filter system, oxygen pump, AND under-tank light for showing off his fish at night. How about that! Just make sure you don’t push them past any seafood restaurants and traumatize them.

I swear, the things people do for their pets. Take me, for instance – I sleep dangling off the side of a king-size bed because my two 14-pound dogs like to starfish right in the middle of it. Remember: healthy relationships are all about compromise. I just had no idea I would be the one doing all the compromising.

[via OddityCentral]

Carving and Build a Kinetic Whale Sculpture: A Whale of a Good Time

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Have you always dreamed of building your own wooden whale kinetic sculpture? Who hasn’t? It’s one of the dreams that unifies humanity. And thankfully, photographer and artist Sylvain Gautier documented the process in which he built this particular model, so you can follow along and build your own. Or fail horribly and wind up with a bunch of blood-stained kindling as I did.

There’s a six-and-a-half-minute short version of the build video (above) for those of you with some existing knowledge of carving and building who only need the basics to get started, but there’s also a 26-minute extended version (below) for those of you who need their hand held a little more. Honestly, I don’t even think a six-hour version could have helped me.

I absolutely adore stuff like this – I’m a huge fan of whimsy. As an added bonus, Sylvain created a 10-hour looping video (below) of him cranking the sculpture and the whale swimming. So relaxing. I’m four hours in, and it just keeps getting better and better.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

Modder Builds MacBook Mini: “The World’s Smallest MacBook Pro”

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Because dream it and you can achieve it, modder Michael Pick (aka the Casual Engineer) went and built himself a custom MacBook Mini, which he considers “the world’s smallest MacBook Pro.” It doesn’t actually run iOS, though, instead, it’s powered by a Raspberry Pi 4 running iRaspbian OS. It only looks like an Apple product, which is what a lot of consumers only care about anyways.

The MacBook Mini features a light-up Apple logo on the back of the screen and a MagSafe charging connector and USB 3.0 port. Besides those features, the tiny laptop looks almost unusable – at least with my big bear paws. Maybe my wife could use it; she has tiny hands. They’re so small she can’t even open pickle jars, which is one of the two reasons I suspect she keeps me around. The other is jelly jars.

Pretty cool, albeit impractical. You’re probably better off just using your phone as a computer. Unless you still sport a Nokia 3310 brick phone as I do. I took it to the phone store recently to ask about an upgrade, and the kid behind the counter said he’d never even seen one before. Wait till I bring in my pager!

[via TechEBlog]

DIY Tandem Shower Head Kit: For Singing Duets in the Shower

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The DIY Tandem Shower by Boona is just that: a do-it-yourself solution to doubling your existing shower heads by adding another attached to a long rod. Impressively, the Tandem Shower has already far surpassed its Kickstarter goal, with more than $400,000 in funding past its initial $10,000 goal. Dammit, why didn’t I think of this?

The Tandem Shower is available in three colors (chrome, black, and Miami) and is adjustable to fit showers between 57″ and 76″ wide. It costs $249. *spit-takes warm shower water* Now I really wish I’d thought of it! Of course, the Tandem shower will only work well if you have high water pressure. If you have terrible water pressure as I do, you’re likely to only get a drip out of each shower head. You’ve been warned.

Boona advertises that the Tandem Shower will prevent cold spots while showering (e.g. your entire back) and can also help reduce water usage by showering with your partner. Hey honey – what do you say we get a tandem shower head so we can start showering together? No? I wonder what their cancellation policy is.

[via OddityMall]

HAL 9000 Garage Door Button Upgrade: I’m Sorry, Dave, I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That

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Because garage door buttons are boring and demand a futuristic improvement, Instructable user danthemakerman went and created detailed DIY instructions for taking your garage door button to the next level with a 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired HAL 9000 upgrade. “I am completely operational, and my circuits are functioning perfectly.” Are they, though, HAL, are they?

Dan’s original plan was to have the garage door be voice-activated, so he could say, “HAL open the pod bay doors,” and it would respond with the classic, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Unfortunately, after some research, he realized that it was going to be more difficult than he anticipated without getting Amazon Alexa or Google Home Assist involved (which he was trying to avoid), so he settled for a HAL 9000 push-button garage door opener instead. Settling during projects – I know all about it.

The final result is quite impressive, and it’s almost a shame HAL 9000 has to sit in the cold garage all day and night. I’d rather have it somewhere in the home where it’s on display all the time – like in the kitchen, where I spend most of my time. You know they say most accidents at home happen in the bathroom, but clearly, whoever said that has never seen me in the kitchen.

[via Instructables]