Discover the goodness that is Hack A Day

October 25, 2005 11:41 AM

Discover the goodness that is Hack A Day -- DIY geekery of all sorts awaits you: vacuum forming • Infrared web cams and digital cams • robotic helicopter • Telemarketer Interception System • Jacob's Ladder • Dobsonian telescope [pdf] • prison tatoo gun • TIG welder • parallel and serial port sound • LCD projector • FM transmitter [tripod] • computer-controlled glider • jet-powered beer cooler • retro wooden laptop • White Trash hoverboard • refrigerator speaker cabinet • tornado machine [pdf] • fog machine • LED Pimp Bed • seismometer • persistence-of-vision game system • webcam telescope • racing game controllers • Segway • laser projectors • flamethrower • bagpipes and hours upon hours of time wasting others.
posted by Ogre Lawless (20 comments total)

Oh man, this just reminds me of how much I want a Jacob's Ladder. Come on, 10000 volts coursing through an exposed metal wire? That's got to get you chicks.
posted by jenovus at 12:04 PM on October 25, 2005

Holy #@$%, check out the animated gifs of the flamethrower. That's soooo hawt. hehe
posted by cleverusername at 12:07 PM on October 25, 2005

I'm pretty sure that flamethrower was made by an SA goon, and he just tidied the presentation up a bit for a web site. I'd remember that PVC backpack anywhere, mostly because PVC + fire = bad idea (chlorine gas).
posted by jenovus at 12:13 PM on October 25, 2005

That's k3wl dood.
posted by elpapacito at 12:13 PM on October 25, 2005

Hack a Day has the most offputting design.
posted by smackfu at 12:15 PM on October 25, 2005

DIY TIG welder? Insanity.
There's a nice range of stuff covered on hackaday, always something interesting. It's usually way over my head, but I really enjoy seeing the processes involved in bringing these things to life.
posted by prostyle at 12:56 PM on October 25, 2005

I completely agree with prostyle. I tend to look at it so that I realize how little I understand.
posted by OmieWise at 1:00 PM on October 25, 2005

The last thing I do before my sentencing hearing is learning how to make a jail tattoo gun and then how to make pruno (ewww, I didn't know it had ketchup in it! and one kind made entirely of sauerkraut and orange juice?).

But lots of good fun neat stuff here. I could spend weeks exploring it!
posted by fenriq at 2:18 PM on October 25, 2005

How is it even possible that hackaday hadn't already been posted?
posted by The Monkey at 3:03 PM on October 25, 2005

I was about to complain otherwise, that Hackaday hacks were at my level of understanding, and therefore not very cool...
posted by phrontist at 3:13 PM on October 25, 2005

How is it even possible that hackaday hadn't already been posted?

I posted with a HackADay [via] here but it's a goodly site to have its own post and this is a fine one.
posted by scarabic at 7:15 PM on October 25, 2005

there was an ealrier Metafilter post but the link broke but anyway I found the Dood that made his own dorm room AC system that so rocks! Now on the flip side .... can anybody share a way to hook up a Solar panel to charge a battery that can run an electric heater on a Winter night? I've got a couple of cold corner bed rooms to deal with this Winter ....

great post ... like the flame thrower , this was the same site that did the most awesome car raditaor coolled PC

(awesome for single doods anyway) LOL
posted by celerystick at 8:10 PM on October 25, 2005

that flamethrower link had escaped me, though I frequent the site. that kid's my hero. No, really.
posted by Busithoth at 8:15 PM on October 25, 2005

The Telemarketer Incerception System is hilarious.

I'm listening to some of the MP3s of this program in action. I highly recommend the Grandpa series:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

(These are zipped WAV files.)
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:17 PM on October 25, 2005

Oh, and before I looked at it, I assumed that the Dobsonian telescope just had a picture of Jesus taped over the lens.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:20 PM on October 25, 2005

Is there anything on there about how you can make popcorn even without a microwave? :-)
posted by clevershark at 8:57 PM on October 25, 2005

That flame thrower is a Darwin Award waiting to happen. No, really, I like fire, and flames and all kinds of goodness like that. I've made my own Thermite, magnesium flares and all kinds of tasty things.

But seriously, don't build that thing. No heat or flame shield, no flame arrester, nada. I don't think I even saw a fire extinguisher or a simple bucket of water in those shots. He might as well have put the denatured alcohol in a Super Soaker and lit it with a zippo. At least he didn't put gasoline in it.
posted by loquacious at 10:19 PM on October 25, 2005

right ... do not under any circumstances tell your neighborhood Boy Scout or Explorers leader about
Hack a Day dot com and Serious Moms Choose Jiff
posted by celerystick at 5:10 AM on October 26, 2005

Most cool
posted by Smedleyman at 10:00 AM on October 26, 2005

more fun on the make blog
posted by pekar wood at 5:13 PM on October 26, 2005