A HACK A DAY: Season 2
We bring you hacks and tricks to make life easier with technology around you
Season 2 features the following hacks:
- How to build a poor man’s lathe machine at home
- How to make an awesome wallet using a keyboard
- How to build an overhead camera mount rig
- How to do your own light photography
- How to make a spare key in 5 minutes using a plastic bottle, plastic playing card or a metal sheet
- How to fix your old laptop battery with charging issues
- How to make time-lapse videos easier
- How to assemble a computer in less than 30 minutes
- How to make your shoes waterproof
- How to use your DSLR as a PC webcam
- How to use your tablet as a secondary display for PC or laptop
- Drill holes without making a mess
- How to make a simple foam cutter at home
- Use an old laptop to make a homemade projector:
- Fix an overheating laptop
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How to build a poor man’s lathe machine at home
Many of you out there are definitely talented, but creating something at home usually puts you at a roadblock with absence of proper tools for the job. While drilling and cutting stuff, such as wood or metal, is fairly easy and the tools are easily available and cheaper too, there are a few tools that are almost impossible for you to own. Take for example a lathe machine, which is bulky and expensive. However, creating something at home does not need a large machine, unless you are building something huge. So for small objects, such as shaping a wooden block or alike, you don’t need a large machine. Smaller lathe machines are available, they don’t come cheap either. The video below shows you how you can make your own lathe machine at home using some old wood and a drilling machine. The entire cost for building the home-made poor man’s lathe machine won’t cross Rs 2,000. Check out the video below to know how you can build your own lathe machine at home.
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If you have any of those old keyboards which are not working or you simply don’t use any more, don’t throw them away. You can use some of the inside parts to create some awesome stuff. In the video below, the guy demonstrates how you can use the contact films inside the keyboard to make a transparent and textured, geeky wallet. The build is simple and straightforward.
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If photography is your hobby, or profession, then this video is just the one for you. The video below shows how you can build your own overhead camera rig at home. All you need is a few materials and a little skill. If you are not good at carpentry, we would advise you to get a professional carpenter on the job. This simple workshop will help you build your very own rig for a dirt cheap price. You may use older wood or make it out of ready iron or aluminium frames. The rig can be used as a steady camera stand for overhead photography. It can also be used as a light box by fixing white linen around it and focusing some lights from behind.
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Photography, though an expensive profession or hobby, is fun. There are several tricks and tips that can help you create wonderful photos and you don’t need to spend on expensive equipment. All you need is proper lighting, a tripod and understanding simple rules of the camera. Light painting is a simple trick and can be done with a camera that can control the shutter speed. If you own a DSLR or a point and shoot, all you need is a function to control the shutter speed, which gives you beautiful light painted images. The trick needs you to have a dark room and use the shutter speed at the lowest possible mode. Low shutter speeds below the 5 second mark are ideal for this effect. You just need to set your shutter speed to the lowest you need, and paint the image with a light source, be it a simple flashlight or an LED source. The low shutter speed keeps the sensor open for a particular time and captures light continuously, blurring the image accordingly to create a great light painting. Watch the video to know how it is done.
Here is another example on how it is done.
Here are some awesome light painting examples where professionals have practiced to get perfect photos and videos.
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Now making a spare set of keys is definitely useful as you may require sharing it with a friend, family member or a roommate. Making one the professional way from a key maker is the only method around. But what if we tell you that this guy made one using simple plastic playing cards? Making the key using this method can be super simple, but can be used just once or twice since the plastic becomes useless. However, the trick to make it is what fascinated us and we would like to share it with you too.
Do note, this trick works only on certain keys, usually the flat older ones and not the newer computerized ones. And beware; your keys can be easily duplicated if it falls in the wrong hands, even for a few minutes.
Here is another video where the guy uses the same trick to make a spare key using a plastic bottle.
Another one using an aluminum sheet
So next time you lose your key, it would be good if you clicked a photo of your key and then printed the same on a piece of paper (with the same size ratio), and then you know what to do.
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There are times when your older laptop starts giving you issues with the battery. An error message pops up on the taskbar showing that the battery has probably failed and is not charging. Though the battery usually fails after its life cycle has passed, there are chances that your battery has not actually completed the age.
The issue could also be with your laptop's battery reporting module or software. While there is nothing that you can do on the hardware front, you can defiitely try resetting the software section, which incorporates the battery monitor. It is simple—all you need to do is reset the counter and the operating system will analyse the battery's charge capacity and show the new value again. This could help prolong the battery use for a while before you finally opt for a replacement. On how to reset the monitor's counter, watch the video below.
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How to make timelapse videos easier:
Making time lapse videos is fun and the videos turn out to be very interesting. Taking time lapse videos is simple, and all you need is a time lapse app or similar software on your PC to create the time laps from regular videos. However, taking a 360-degree panned video for time lapse is not as easy. It involves using a tripod and also involves you rotating the camera manually. With handshakes and unsteady panning, the video might not come out great. For this type of videos, you need to have a constant and steady panning and the best method is to mount it on a slow moving motor. However, these come at a big cost. The video below shows you how you can take great panoramic photos and time lapse videos by using a simple timer. You can use an egg timer for the project. If you don’t have this available easily, a timer mechanism from a microwave or a semi-automatic washing machine would also work.
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How to assemble a computer in under 30 minutes
Whether you wish to explore on your hobby, or to learn something new, if you have a slightest inclination toward technology, this DIY video is certainly for you. You just require the essential PC parts, and then you can go along with the video to learn the casing and placement of those parts and build your own computer in 30 minutes!
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How to make your shoes waterproof
The CrazyRussianHacker has a video showing how you can make your shoes waterproof. Though the hack may not suit most, it is still a worthy hack for shoes that are used for play or trekking. The trick is basically a coating of wax all over your shoes so that it can easily repel water or liquid soil. The hack is best applied to canvas, leather or cloth/denim shoes, and can be done in under a few minutes. Check out the video below to know what needs to be done. Do note that there are chances you could ruin your good pair of shoes if the material is not suited for the hack. Try this at your own risk and we recommend trying them on an older pair before you go ahead with a newer, expensive pair. The hack cannot be reversed.
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If you do not have a webcam in your laptop and you need one urgently, here is how you can do it. With the help of a simple software, you can use your DSLR with the laptop or PC to use it as a webcam.
In fact, even if you have a webcam, using a DSLR instead is surely a good idea. For interviews and video calling with your family or friends, this could be a really good substitute. So go ahead and watch the video to learn how you can use your DSLR as a PC webcam.
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How to use your tablet as a secondary display for PC or laptop
How much ever big your monitor display is, sometimes one screen is just not enough. If you are into designing, sound or movie editing, stocks, a secondary display is always a blessing. When you have a parallel secondary display, you can multitask easily, get a better display reality, use it for constant updates, and a lot more.
Therefore, we bring you a hack that demonstrates how you can use your tablet or a phone as a secondary display, without having to invest in a new display for you PC or laptop. It’s quite simple; here you go:
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Drill holes without making a mess
Hate mess? Then, the site after drilling a wall must kill you!
Therefore, we bring you a hack that shows you how you can drill holes into your wall without spilling all the rubble and dust.
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How to make a simple foam cutter at home
Foam, or as we know it best as thermacol, needs to be cut with a very sharp knife or a professional foam cutter. While a knife is not recommended because of unwanted accidents, a foam cutter is the best and safest option. Cutting foam needs a professional tool which can cut through the foam with ease and is less messy. Foam cutters are the best for craft work and cutting foam. A foam cutter is nothing but a device with a hot wire to cut through foam like a hot knife cuts through butter. It incorporates a simple power transformer, which passes electricity through a thin metal wire. The electricity heats the wire, making it easy to cut through foam. The foam cutter is pretty expensive and can coast you anything between Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000, depending on the quality. But what if we say that you can build one at home in less than Rs 200? Watch the video below to know how you can make one with a simple power transformer, a guitar string, some wires, some thin metal pipes and a hard board.
Using the cutter you can easily cut designs into foam. If you want sophisticated designs, you can also use a thicker wire and bend it to any design you need. However you will have to pass higher electricity for the wire to heat up sufficiently.
Here is another guide: Click here.
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Use an old laptop to make a homemade projector:
The video below will explain how you can make a simple and cheap projector for your home or small studio by using an old laptop and an OHP. The trick is simple, but would require a little technical knowledge and lots of patience. The hack uses the OHP as the main projector and the laptop’s LCD display as the transparency film. Check out the video to know how its done.
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Fix an overheating laptop:
As opposed to the latest fanless designs in the many laptops, the older ones and some of the new ones as well feature a fan at the base of the laptop. These fans lead the laptop to heat up to high temperatures, making it almost impossible to work on them. Therefore, we bring you a hack that demonstrates how you can fix an overheating laptop.
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