At first glance, caviar doesn't seem overly appealing to the masses; not very many people would be willing to spend upwards of $1,000 on a tiny spoonful of salty sturgeon eggs from the Caspian Sea. Caviar truly is the ultimate symbol of luxury and fine dining. However, if you ...more
Surveillance is always a useful tool in a hacker's arsenal, whether deployed offensively or defensively. Watching targets yourself isn't always practical, and traditional surveillance camera systems can be costly, lacking in capabilities, or both. Today, we will use motionEyeO ...more
Still have an old tape deck installed in your car? This nifty hack lets you upgrade to the digital age without sacrificing your love for cassettes. There's nothing wrong with some low-fidelity tunes in your car every now and then, but if you want to listen to the tunes on your ...more
Most girls dress up only one way during Halloween: With a suitably colored bra (green for a leprechaun, pink for a bunny, for instance) and teeny mini skirt in a matching shade, plus some sort of headpiece so people don't just think they're hookers. But Halloween is about so ...more
Mashed potatoes are universally beloved, and for a good reason — they're cheap, tasty, and relatively easy to make. What's more, they're adaptable to just about every dietary regimen, whether you're vegan, gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant. And they're a staple for holidays s ...more
Whether you call it chicken-fried steak, country-fried steak, Milanese, wiener schnitzel, or breaded cutlet, there's something irresistible about a piece of meat that's been treated until it's thin and tender, dredged in beaten egg and flavorful bread crumbs, then fried until ...more
Want to connect your iPhone to a TV? Don't have much money? This little video shows you the quick and cheap way to connect your iPhone to a TV. Check it out, follow the steps and see how to keep some money in your pocket instead of forking it over to Apple. You will need a jai ...more
The alluring and stylish GiannyL is the DIY fashion design guru of the web. Do-it-yourself has never been so sexy before. Her fashion design video tutorials make new outfits not only hot, but cheap and easy. And recycling and reusing old clothing is not only practical, but eco ...more
If you have a good food processor or blender, there's no reason not to make your own nut butters, whether you like almond, cashew, sunflower, or the perennial classic, peanut. Not only can you control the taste, sweetness, crunchiness, and oiliness of the butter, you can also ...more
Google now has an iOS version of Android Wear, so if you own an Android smartwatch (Moto 360, ASUS ZenWatch, Huawei Watch, LG Watch Urbane, Sony SmartWatch, etc.), you can finally connect it with your iPhone. Previously, we covered a nifty hack that let you use an Android Wea ...more
Eavesdropping from a distance can be tricky because it usually requires some sort of bug or transmitter. It's easy to transmit audio through lasers, but you can also use lasers to build a microphone that picks up audio from a distance. LucidScience built the Laser Spy System f ...more
Holidays are a time for good food and good drink, but more often than not, we substitute good drink for, well, cheap drink. However, cheap wine doesn't have to be bad. As the international wine industry grows, it's becoming more common to find decent bottles on the cheap, and ...more
Few things in life are as exciting and magical as fire. And setting things on fire while cooking? Well, now you're speaking my language. I'm not talking about grilling, though I do love some outdoor cooking. No, I'm talking about the most badass trick in any cook's arsenal: th ...more
The new iPhone 5 was just revealed yesterday, and it's 18 percent thinner and just 1/5 the weight of its 4S predecessor. It's also taller with a larger screen, which gives you a fifth row for apps now. As far as speed is concerned, it has a speedy A6 chip and can tap into wire ...more
Warm water is an essential part of life that we sometimes tend to take for granted. Over one billion people, or roughly one-seventh of the world's population, have no access to hot water. Warm water is not only comforting when showering and bathing, but also helps the body ge ...more
"Tempering chocolate" is one of those intimidating-sounding kitchen tasks that keeps novice cooks away from some really fun stuff like making candy, chocolate-dipped biscotti, and fruit. It's really not as hard as it sounds, and although you can skip this step, it really make ...more
If you shoot videos with your iPhone in low-light situations, you may not always get the results you want. And that applies when recording video in 720p, 1080p, and even 4K resolutions. But there's an easy way to maximize your video's quality when filming in dark environments. ...more
Want to build your own DIY solar panels on the cheap? This video demonstrates how to make solar panels to power devices. The video explains how a solar panel works and how to connect it to a radio in order to power it. For more on this hack, including step-by-step instructions ...more
Fingers are very useful for many things in life—but fingers get dirty. With most smartphone and tablets using touchscreen technology, our fingers have become our greatest technological asset. But if you want to keep your phone or tablet from looking like this: Then you can try ...more
If you haven't met a person that's broken a pair of headphones, you might need to get out more. No matter how expensive or cheap a pair of headphones are, the sound can get buggy, the wire can get cut, or the headphone jack itself can be broken or ripped off the cord. But inst ...more
Making your own circuit boards can be a daunting challenge. You have to design a schematic, test it on a breadboard, design the board layout, and then after all of that, you still have to print and etch a board! Luckily, we have Fritzing. Fritzing is a free open-source PCB d ...more
I know it seems a little redundant to post this when I've already posted a video, but it is kind of hard to get more than a vague idea from the video alone. I hope this sheds a little more light on the subject. I'm sure it also seems like I'm beating this idea to death, but th ...more
This video origami tutorial shows how to fold up dollar bills and attach them onto a lei necklace to create a Hawaiian money lei. Watch, follow along, and never give a cheap, boring gift again. Video: .
We all know that distilled white vinegar is great as a general non-toxic cleaning solution and for deodorizing funky smelling rooms, but did you know that vinegar is also great for curing hiccups, deterring ants from invading your home, relieving jellyfish stings, and testing ...more
Etching your own circuit boards is tons of fun, but etching requires strong chemicals to dissolve the copper plating on blank circuit boards. The normal ferric chloride solution works well, but can be expensive and leaves permanent stains. Luckily, we can whip up our own etcha ...more
Nintendo may be developing cases that'll turn your iPhone into a gaming device like the Game Boy, but until something materializes there, you're stuck with cheap knockoffs on Amazon or a real Game Boy or Game Boy Color. But there's something else you can do to play eight-bit N ...more
A couple of months ago at the Black Hat security conference, hacker Cody Brocious gave the hotel industry a nasty surprise when he figured out how to hack the locks made by Onity that are used in millions of hotels worldwide. The reason his hack is so impressive is because it ...more
Cheaper (and perhaps cuter) than a maid, the simple scrub bot is easy and cheap to make: "This state of the art cleaning robot is great at polishing floors and shining glass tables (provided that you soap it up first). It also disperses small particulates evenly across your f ...more
Tea has been around for thousands of years, and as a result, tons of customs and ceremonies have sprung up around its consumption. Some cultures take their tea plain, while others put things in it. Sometimes there are special tea-holding vessels, other times not. Maybe there w ...more
Keir MacDonald shows you a cheap technique for making a practical blood-splattering effect for gunshots and other special fx in your films.
Hello, all. In this article, I will be showing you how to make one of the most useful products known to man. I am talking, of course, about charcoal. You might be surprised at just how many uses this stuff has. You can use it to purify your drinking water, replace your aquari ...more
There is very little in this world that tastes as good as a glass of fresh-pressed juice. The flavors in fruit and vegetables are more clean and immediate on your palate, while the chlorophyll and nutrients seem to zip right into your bloodstream. A really great glass of fresh ...more
If you're always taking blurry and underexposed pics with your mobile device, try using some of the tips below to turn your phone into a valuable photography asset. It doesn't matter if you have an iPhone, Android smartphone, or even a first-gen camera phone... you can still t ...more
You've seen what a vortex cannon can do, so now it's time to build your own! Okay, this air vortex cannon is not huge, but it's definitely a fun thing to construct if you have some junk plastic laying around, and it works really well for its size. Grab a cheap plastic containe ...more
Do you have a green thumb but an extremely limited living space? Try building your own DIY terrarium. All you need is a clear glass or plastic container, a few of your favorite plants, and some cheap gardening supplies to start your own self-contained, self-sustained miniature ...more
On May 17, Apple announced that Lossless Audio playback for Apple Music was finally coming to subscribers in June. The long-awaited option will let users stream songs at a much higher quality than ever before. Still, in the fine print, Apple noted that you wouldn't be able to ...more
Yay, you can now own the iconic Hermès bag for next to nothing! There's one catch—it's made of paper. Hermès is currently offering several free downloadable templates for the "Kelly Paper Bag" on the company's Facebook page. Not exactly usable in the traditional sense, but it ...more
A new coat of paint is an easy, cheap way to make your home look instantly better, but dealing with paint fumes for days afterward isn't so fun, especially if you have kids or pets. Most household paints have VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in them that release fumes as the ...more
Now that the Super Bowl is over, you might find that you have an econo-sized bag or two of opened potato chips slowly going stale in your pantry. After all, there are only so many bowls of Buffalo Chicken Pizza Beer Dip you can eat with 'em—and you definitely don't want them t ...more
Remember what life was like before your iPhone? Before there were palm-sized smartphones with seemingly endless features, there were phones like Motorola's RAZR that peaked with its embedded camera. Before that, there were simple flip phones with texting capabilities, bulky tw ...more
Microcontrollers are great. You can do anything from water your garden to catch wildlife trash diggers in the act—and on the cheap. I prefer to use the Arduino microcontroller because of the large and helpful community built around the website. Though it is my favorite, there ...more
The USB Rubber Ducky is a famous attack tool that looks like a USB flash drive but acts like a keyboard when plugged into any unlocked device. The Ducky Script language used to control it is simple and powerful, and it works with Arduino and can run on boards like the ultra-ch ...more
Are you one of those people that waits until the last minute to come up with a costume for Halloween? Unless you're a makeup artist, have a ton of money, or are ultra-crafty, coming up with a good Halloween costume is always a low-priority task. That is, until it's Halloween a ...more
Follow the steps in the instructional video to make a crazy paper toy. This project involves the use of delicate hand maneuvers but it looks fun! All you'll need for this project is a piece of paper, some scissors, and tape. Check out this video tutorial and learn how to make ...more
Before I get ostracized by all of you whisky lovers who live and die by whisky served neat, let me say my piece. In the past, I haven't been much of a whisky fan—I would shoot it back or add it to Coke or ginger ale, but I certainly wouldn't sip on it and enjoy it. In fact, t ...more
Streaming media companies like Netflix and Hulu make deals with Roku to have their apps featured on Roku's remote controls, but there's an inherent flaw with this model: the buttons become useless if the app no longer exists. So, is there anything you can do to change those de ...more
If you've accidentally jiggled your Xbox while a game was playing (or maybe your pet did), you might experience the Perfect ring scratches - or a laser burn. Ignore all the advice that tells you to use toothpaste, an eraser, or even crazier substances. All you need to do is go ...more
If you've ever been on the receiving end of a threatening phone call, you'll immediately know the value in being able to record phone conversations on your iPhone. Beyond that extreme example, however, recording calls is still an extremely useful feature to have for important ...more
Many operators use elevators to control access to particular floors, whether it be the penthouse at a hotel or a server room in an office building. However, the law requires them all to have a fire service mode, which gives emergency access to restricted floors, and a hacker c ...more
In general, no one actually WANTS a black eye. But if you're filming a movie, in a play, or just want to freak out your mom and dad or friends, it's nice to know how to "put on" a fake one. Check out this props and SFX video to learn how to give yourself a black eye using new ...more
I hate folder names, especially the one Apple shoves down our digital throats. On a computer, they make total sense, but on my iPhone, it's just more clutter on the home screen. You can tell what folder is what just by looking at the app icons within it, so why are we forced t ...more
If you want to get started sniffing Wi-Fi networks, you usually need to start with a wireless network adapter. But thanks to a Wi-Fi sniffing library written in Arduino and the ultra-cheap ESP8266 chip, you might not need one. For less than $10 in electronics, you can build a ...more
Whether you're embarking on an epic wine tour with friends or simply want to last an entire night of socializing and drinking with important people, there are times when good alcohol tolerance comes in handy. If you're a lightweight who would probably be labeled as a "cheap da ...more
Whether it's the start, middle, or end of summer, it's prime-time grilling season. If you find yourself without a grill, however, it may seem as if half your summer plans of swimming by the pool while stuffing hot dogs in your face could be ruined. But have no fear as all is ...more
When shooting video on your phone, you have two cameras at your disposal, the rear camera and the selfie camera, and you can switch freely between the two. As for microphones, you may have more than one but, unlike with the cameras, it's not easy to switch between them. Filmic ...more
The Nexus 6 uses an Ambient Display notification system that was heavily inspired by the Active Display feature on the Moto X. Essentially, the device shows a black-and-white version of the lock screen whenever you receive a new notification or pick the phone up. This is all m ...more
Are ants invading your living space? Start peeling some raw onions. Or add a sprinkle of black pepper to your floor and countertops. Or make yourself some coffee and sprinkle the leftover coffee grounds in areas where ants have been spotted. Somewhere in your pantry shelf or r ...more
There are two types of bad USBs out there. One lets you trick the computer into thinking it's a keyboard or other USB device, and the other goes straight over malicious into computer killing territory. Last year, Russian security researcher Dark Purple designed a USB stick th ...more
Someone has just smashed the side mirror off your perfect Nissan Altima that you parked on that busy road you know you shouldn't have parked on anyway, so now it's up to you to repair it— unless you want to pay an overpriced mechanic, who will charge you for parts, labor, and ...more
Keystroke injection attacks are popular because they exploit the trust computers have in human interface devices (HIDs). One of the most popular and easily accessible keystroke injection tools is the USB Rubber Ducky from Hack5, which has a huge range of uses beyond simple HID ...more