A HACK A DAY: Season 1
We bring you hacks and tricks to make life easier with technology around you
Season 1 features the following hacks:
- How to boost your Wi-Fi with a beer can
- Make your own scratch guard
- Make your own super high-power flashlight
- Jazz up your phone with these DIY accessories
- How to build a simple, quick smartphone microscope
- How to make a simple smartphone projector under Rs 100
- Convert old film negatives to digital pictures
- How to make a cheap and simple air cooler at home
- Android tricks
- How to make a laptop theft alarm cum emergency light
- Simple hacks for your car
- Make a pendrive from an eraser
- Digital hacks for building strong passwords
- iPhone tricks that will make your day
- Everyday technology you are using wrong
- 5 things you can do with a USB thumb drive
- How to fix a scratched monitor
- Simple Technology tricks for everyday life
- How to make a magnetic tool hanger, organizer
- How to make your own two-way intercom
- 7 cool photography tricks
- Travel hacks
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How to boost your Wi-Fi with a beer can
Each household today uses a wireless router. However, the routers have a specific range for broadcasting the radio signals. Wireless signals are usually affected by a lot of factors—distance, obstacles, power and interferences. While obstacles, power and interferences can be reduced by tweaking things around the house and placing the router appropriately, the wireless range cannot be extended, unless you have a high-end router, or install repeaters and hotspots.
Nevertheless, you can extend your wireless router’s range by a few more meters using a simple hack. The range can be increased by using any simple beer or soda can and you can build the hack within a few minutes. All you need is one or two soda/beer cans and a pair of scissors. Watch the video below on how you can build your simple wireless network range booster, almost for free.
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Make your own scratch guard
Spending on the smartphone and its accessories is one thing, but having to shell out money for a new screen protector almost every other month, is a different issue altogether. Therefore, we hunt down a hack for you that demonstrates how to make your own screen guard at home in a minimal budget. So, here you go:
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Make your own super high-power flashlight
Let there be light! We dedicate today’s hack to the tech geeks! The hack of the days is a DIY to making a super high power LED flashlight. One of the video, which is a recent one, showcases the trick to make a phenomenally bright 1000-Watt equivalent LED flashlight. The other video, however a few years old, demonstrates a great way to make a 500 LED extreme flashlight at home.
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Jazz up your phone with these DIY accessories
Be it day or night, winters or summers, your phone is something you always carry around with you, and it eventually becomes a part of you. So, why not doll up your phone a little, so it looks as rad as you do when you go out?
The video below shows a couple of ways you can jazz up your phone and its accessories right at home. It’s simple and it’s quick!
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How to build a simple, quick smartphone microscope
You can easily turn your smartphone camera into a powerful digital microscope. All you need to do is install a powerful lens in front of your smartphone camera’s lens and you have your digital microscope ready. Do note that you will not be able to use this microscope as a professional one for medical purposes, but you can definitely enjoy the high-powered, super-magnified photos of anything from a grain of salt to tiny insects. Building it is super simple, and you can figure out different ways of attaching the lens to your smartphone’s camera. You can use bobby pins, sticky tape, rubber bands and a lot more. The lens in this project comes from a cheap Rs 30 laser keychain. You can also use lenses from old DVD ROM drives, dead cameras, old scanners, telescopes, binoculars, and pretty much anything that features high-powered magnifying lenses.
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Not all can afford to have a projector at home. But what if we told you that you can make a simple, low-powered projector using your smartphone in under Rs 100? Well, watch the video below and you shall know how it’s done. All needed is a black cardboard box and a magnifying lens and your projector can be ready in an hour. Sit back and enjoy your movies on your homemade projector.
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You definitely must be having film negatives from your old photo albums. All have one. In the age of film photography, the negatives are the only form of original that can be used to recreate new photo copies. However, if you want to digitize them, it could cost you a hefty price. So why not do them at home, yourself. All you need is an iPad or a tablet, a smartphone or a digital camera and a tripod stand. The video below demonstrates the simple procedure of digitizing your old film negatives to store on your cloud. The iPad or tablet is used as a backlight, while the tripod is used as a stabilizer for your smartphone or digital camera. Note: if you want to take high resolution photos, use a digital camera or a DSLR for best results. Also we sould advise using a plastic diffuser on the between the display of the tablet and the film negative to avoid the pixels of the tablet’s display don’t spoil your high-res photos.
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The summer is here and you definitely cannot beat the heat unless you own an air conditioner. However, it is not possible for everyone to have an air conditioner in every room of the house. So if you are using your small room somewhere in the basement or your garage, you will definitely find the heat getting to you. And installing an air conditioner is almost next to impossible the certain areas. Buying an air cooler could be an expensive affair for some. So why not make yourself one using some simple things available around your own house? The video below explains how you can build a super simple, cheap and quick air cooler with a bucket, a small fan and some ice.
Here is another method for you:
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How to start a fire with a single AA battery:
If you are planning a camping or a trek, there are chances when you would need to create a fire for safety, cooking and whatever you need it for. But with match boxes and lighters easy to carry around, it is easy to get one up. But what if you forgot or ran out of the same? The video below shows you how you can start a quick fire within seconds with almost any battery you may have. All you need is a simple chewing gum wrapper or an inside lining of a cigarette box, which has an aluminium foil sandwiched on paper. The trick is to heat the foil with electricity and it will burn the paper to create a fire. Check out the video below to know how.
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You know your phone, but you don’t ever really know it! Here we have a video for you that shows some amazing Android tricks that you must know how to use. Most of these tricks have always been there in your phone, you just didn’t know about them, but now it’s time!
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You may have been to the nearest smartphone or electronics showroom in your area and seen that their demo units are attached to security USB cables. The moment you disconnect the USB cable, an alarm goes off, alerting that someone has disconnected the unit and could be stolen. This is a security feature that safeguards their goods when on display.
You could face a similar issue with your smartphones or laptops in your office or business environment. When you leave your desk for a while, you could come back to a stolen smartphone or laptop. So why not make a similar theft alarm for yourself. The moment someone disconnects the USB cable from your smartphone or laptop, the alarm will be set off, alerting you immediately.
Making the alarm needs a little electronics knowledge as well as a little soldering skills. If you don’t have any, you could have one made by a friend or your local electronic repair and service shop. The parts will cost you under Rs 200 and can be assembled in under an hour.
The alarm can also be converted or used as an emergency light during power outages at night. The device can be connected to a power adapter and the buzzer replaced by some LEDs. If the power trips, the LEDs start glowing. You can replace LEDs to high power ones and also replace the capacitor with a rechargeable battery for additional time. Check out the video below which demonstrates how you can create the circuit and use it.
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You will agree that maintaining a car is neither easy nor very pocket-friendly. However, here are some hacks that will help you learn how to repair minor scuffs, clean the interiors, create storage space and much more. Watch the video to know these hacks!
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Make a pendrive from an eraser
If you are bored of your regular looking black and blue pen drives, you can pep up your flash drive with a little a trick.
The video below demonstrates how you can make an eraser-styled pendrive within minutes and double its use as both an eraser and a memory stick. Especially a cool hack for students, do not miss!
(And no it won’t erase the memory!)
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In today’s hyper-connected world, it is no longer a question of, if you will be attacked—but when. Hackers are constantly infiltrating networks and evading detections by hijacking systems. The least you can do secure your accounts and protect your information is to be cautious and use strong and secure passwords.
Also Read: Beware: Users living in Indian metros more prone to malware attacks
The video below showcases some of the easiest and best ways to build strong and unique passwords.
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How much ever well you think you know your iPhone, there is always one hidden feature you miss out on. Therefore, here are some iPhone tricks that will change your life for good. Know how you can directly scan your credit card from your iPhone for details, learn how you can quick charge your phone and how you can make the unwanted pre-installed apps disappear!
Everyday technology you are using wrong
Even though we are surrounded by so much technology, there is still so much we don’t know about. Some of the most common technology around us is smarter than we know. Here are some things the everyday technology around us can do, and we have missed out on it. Watch this video to make your life simpler!
5 things you can do with a USB thumb drive
Transferring and storing data is what we all know a USB thumb drive is used for. However, here is a demonstration of five things, you probably didn’t know of, that you can do with a USB thumb drive. So dig out those spare flash drives lying around in your dresser and put them to some good use!
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How to fix a scratched monitor!
Using an LCD monitor? Accidentally scratched it? You need not worry. A simple trick can help you remove the scratch. Though the fix is not permanent, it will visibly disappear for as long as you wipe it back again. The trick is to simply fill the gap in the scratch so that it is not disturbingly visible to the eye. Check out the video which demonstrates how you can do it yourself, in under a few minutes.
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Simple Technology tricks for everyday life:
How often does it happen that you are confused while using smart devices at home or at your workplace? To make life even simpler, here’s a list of five simple tips that can help you come out of minor confusions of life, with regards to technology.
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How to make a magnetic tool hanger, organizer
If you own a small workshop or a large one, you definitely have tools in it. Keeping tools at hand is the most necessary ethics followed by any workman. In order to keep your tools in place, you need to have a good organized drawer, cupboard or toolbox. But in most cases, you end up either with scattered tools or insufficient space to store them at arms pace. The video below can come to your immediate rescue. The DIY magnetic hanger is an innovative idea to keep your tools organized and at hand, ready for action. All you need is a metal sheet and a few strong magnets.
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How to make your own two-way intercom:
If you still have those old landline telephones at home and aren’t using it, why not convert them into an intercom between your rooms? The procedure is simple and needs not more than a simple tweak. The entire project would cost you around Rs 100. All you need is a pair of wires running through the rooms and a simple battery or power adapter. The video below demonstrates how you can make your own two-way intercom at home in under 30 minutes.
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7 cool photography tricks:
The video by COOPH demonstrates how you can use everyday objects to tweak your camera’s lens (without damaging them) and improve your photography skills to click cool pictures. The video shows the photographer using simple cellophane to cardboards and strings and tap a few photography tricks. The camera is not damaged or tweaked in anyways. It simply is an add-on to the camera lens. Well, it would be difficult to explain here, so why not head straight into the video below, which explains the seven cool photography tricks.
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Travel hacks:
If you are planning a holiday, you are bound to carry loads of stuff with you, unless it is a short trip. Nevertheless, your short trip will also need you to carry a few articles for daily use. The video below will show you some of the coolest travel hacks, which could definitely help you during a journey or on a holiday abroad.