Life Hackery

Anyone who uses the standard in-ear earphones that came with their iPod will know that they can be uncomfortable and aren’t exactly the best quality. For some people, in-ear models just don’t stay put at all.

If you want the convenience of in-ear earphones without the annoying side effects, ChaosProjects.com shows you how to upgrade those cheap earphones for just 80 cents. All you need is a leather punch and some foam ear plugs.

Basically, you remove the plastic ear “comfort” caps from the earphones. Then squeeze the foam ear plugs down, punch a 4mm hole in the middle with the leather punch, and fit them over the earphones. And there you have it: an ingenious yet simple way to keep those bad boys in your ears while blocking out most external noise.

Most of us were completely shocked by the news earlier this month that Polaroid would no longer be producing the instant film that made them a household name. Sure, instant film will still be available from Fuji, but Polaroid not making Polaroid film just seems wrong somehow.

If you don’t think you’ll be able to live without the funky borders and fascinating write-on-ability of Polaroids, fear not. Polaroid will be producing enough instant film to last until the end of 2009. After that, hopefully Fuji and other manufacturers will be able to meet whatever demand there remains for instant film.

But in the meantime, there are some fun things that you can do to honor the long and successful life of Polaroid.

Turning your digital photo into a Polaroid is a lot of fun and can combine the convenience of digital with the nostalgic fun of Polaroid. This video shows you how to take a digital photograph and turn it into a Polaroid in Photoshop Elements.

For those of you who prefer GIMP for your photo manipulation merry-making, here is a comprehensive how-to on doing the same type of Polaroid trick in GIMP.

And finally, if the day ever comes when you have a Polaroid camera but it is utterly impossible to find film for it, why not turn it into something useful? This is a great tutorial on turning that old Polaroid camera into a digital camera.

The humble toothbrush has long been ignored as a source of great, fun hacks. Only recently, with the popularity (and subsequent abandonment) of electric toothbrushes, has the toothbrush really come into its own as a hackable piece of household equipment. Whether you’ve got a brand new boring old analog toothbrush that you’re just dying to spice up or a whole drawer full of electric toothbrushes from Aunt Sally (who doesn’t seem to recall giving you one for every holiday for the last three years - WTH?), here are some fun things to keep you and your toothbrush occupied.

Don’t like the new kids’ toothbrushes that come with lame two-minute songs? Hack your very own musical toothbrush and play whatever music you like. Technically, you could just turn on the radio…but the radio wouldn’t use your skull to conduct the sound, now would it?

If you want the deep-cleaning of a $100 electric toothbrush but aren’t keen on actually spending $100 on a toothbrush, here’s how to turn your $6 electric toothbrush into a powerful cleaning machine.

This one is purely for entertainment purposes - or for tattooing bananas. Seriously, homemade tattoo gun + your skin = nasty, nasty infections.

If regular pool toys just don’t do it for you, use the waterproof motor from your electric toothbrush to make a homemade torpedo!

This is less a set of instructions than it is a 23-second video of a Lego car with a toothbrush motor strapped to it driving around in a circle. But it gives you an idea of the mind-boggling technology contained in that dormant toothbrush that’s just waiting to be unleashed upon the world.

This very cool project is the unholy union of a toy car frame and an electric toothbrush body and motor. Vroom!

Ever wished you could find your toothbrush in the dark? No? Well, try this anyway. You might be surprised how useful an LED toothbrush can be.

And finally, the world-famous Bristlebot. This little guy uses a simple pager motor and a single battery to provide endless hours of mindless joy for everyone within viewing distance.

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Digital Camera Hack! Secret The Stores Don’t Want You To Know! - Amazing videos are here

Once you’ve gotten to your travel destination on the cheap, you’ll probably want to take some memorable photos and videos to preserve the experience. But what if you realize in a panic-filled moment that you forgot your cameras at home? Never fear - here’s a video that will show you how to reuse one of those $20 single-use digital cameras. You can keep digital photographs of your journeys without adding to the disposable products pile of waste.

For moving picture records of your travel adventures, here is a similar hack for a single-use video camera.

If you absolutely have to buy disposable products, you might as well get all of the use out of them that you possibly can!

Imagine all of the silly old stuff you have sitting around the house that is simply going to waste and hasn’t been used in years. Think it’s all junk? Perhaps not. Here are ninety-nine creative ways you can use things you thought had only one purpose, from beer and soda to rulers, stamps, sugar, toothpaste, old CDs and even your iPod.

Having trouble learning how to chopstick? Think of this approach as cheap-and-easy training wheels while you learn the ropes. Inexpensive plastic clothes pins can be disassembled without tools or much effort and their spring can be reused with any generic chopsticks.

Scared to fight for the road, pitting your bike against a few tons of truck or car? Take a conventional fold-out ruler, apply something shiny and reflective and strap it to the back of your ride. Fold it out as needed and back in when parked.

Sick of those fake-smelling toilet bowl fresheners that reek like faux flowers? Get the normal hanging plastic device but swap out the insides with a tea scent of your choice - there are plenty to choose from and it will almost certainly beat out “lemon mist.”

Looking to have a professional and colorful nail job but don’t want to pay for it? Find some interesting stamps with the same or alternating patterns, trim out and apply them. This approach is more manageable and easy to remove anyway.

Prefer loose-leaf tea but find yourself forgetting to buy bags or tea balls? No worries so long as you have a handy household stapler and some tissue paper.

10 Unusual Uses for Beer: marinate meat in it, grow better grass, kill slugs, snails and mice, calm a stomach ache, polish gold, take a bath, polish furniture or cook with it.

3 Unusual Uses for Chocolate: make underwear, cars or even a dress.

6 Unusual Uses for Tooth Paste: Stop itching bug bites and minor rashes, clean up Kool-Aid stains, sooth minor burns, clean ivory piano keys, remove smells from your hands, spot clean your shoes.

6 Unusual Uses for Paper Clips: unbreakable bag closers, zipper pull replacement, cherry pit remover, bathroom door key, Christmas tree ornament hooks, reach electronic reset buttons.

10 Unusual Uses for Sugar: make cut flowers last longer, improve outdoor plant health, hand cleaner, wasp trap, soothe a burned tongue, kill cockroaches, fly catcher, start a fire, keep biscuits or cake fresh

6 Unusual Uses for Butter: remove glue from your hands, gum from your hair, swallow pills more easily, slice through sticky items, remove tree sap or even use it to shave.

10 Unusual Uses for Human Hair: test tress making, growing food, cleaning oil spills, making clothes, creating furniture, crafting art, making soy sauce, nesting material, creating rope.

10 Unusual Uses for an iPod: load text files of exam answers, plan workouts and set timing goals, load a subway map, calculate a tip, learn a language, use the light to read, repel telemarketers, facilitate geocaching, magic 8 ball or sing in the shower to tunes with a waterproof case.

5 Unusual Uses for Old CDS: mini hovercraft, disco ball, lamp, “q-ball” and sculptures

28 Unusual Uses for Coca-Cola: clean a toilet bowl, remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers, clean corrosion from car battery terminals, cook, loosen a rusty bolt, bake a moist ham, remove grease from clothes, clean rust in a bathtub, clean milk stains from clothes, make barbecue sauce, prevent an asthma attack, relieve constipation, prevent diarrhea, condition hair, fertilize azaleas or gardenias, clean eyeglasses, clean tarnished pennies, strip paint off metal patio furniture, get rid of fruit flies, boost a compost bin, prevent flatulence, relieve an upset stomach, kill slugs or snails, mousse hair, sooth a jellyfish sting, clean blood stains from clothes, soothe a sore throat, neutralize skunk odor.