Rule #1 of DIY: Never settle for what you're given. You can upgrade and improve just about anything with a little knowledge and elbow grease, especially if you
know a little about electronics. Here are 10 things in your home that you can beef up with a little soldering and DIY know-how.
10. Your TV
You may have the coolest home theater on the block, but even that won't save you when your TV rebels with the latest celebrity gossip you don't want to hear.
Take control of your TV with the Enough Already, a little DIY gadget that mutes your TV whenever it hears a word or phrase you've programmed it to watch out for—like "Justin Beiber" or "Twilight Saga." While you're at it, you can use an Arduino to
automatically lower the volume if it gets above a certain threshold, like when excessively loud commercials come on.
9. Your Home Security
8. Your Desk
7. Your Video Game Consoles
6. Your Cellphone Charger
If you want a really easy DIY project, try
upgrading your wall outlets to charge USB devices. You can also
build a super-simple portable USB charger in an Altoids tin. For a greener solution,
make it solar-powered or
charge it with the power of your bike pedaling. And, if you want to do away with wires altogether,
we've shared a ton of options for
modding your phone for wireless charging
5. Your Transportation
4. Your Headphones
3. Your Light Switches
Turning on the lights manually is no fun. Instead, mod the lamps in your house
to turn on with a wave of your hand, or with an
old-school made-at-home clapper. Alternatively,
control them with your voice, or set them up in the hallway for
easy motion-controlled lights that illuminate your path to the bathroom. Whatever you can think of, it's probably possible.
2. Your Chores
Doing chores is for chumps. Luckily, an Arduino and a bit of code can automate a ton of chores for you: it can
make the plants water themselves, it can
feed the cat for you, or even
rock your baby to sleep. Just make sure your parents/spouse/roommates don't find out what you're up to.
1. Your Home
A
home of the future isn't as far off as science fiction makes it out to be. With a little DIY electronics hacking, you can automate your home to do just about anything:
open the blinds when it's light,
tell you who's at the door,
make you coffee with a tweet,
unlock your door with a text message, and
oh-so-much more. It won't get you George Jetson's flying car, but you'll feel like a futuristic badass nonetheless.
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