Nike Free 5.0
By Steve Casimiro
Posted 12.01.2004 at 4:00 pm
Nike Free 5.0
Tech: Shoes emulate barefoot running
Cost: $95
Does it work? Surprisingly, yes
You can't actually go in this jet-powered port-a-potty, but you can go pretty quick
By Jeff Wise
Posted 12.01.2004 at 3:00 am
Dept.: You Built What?!
Tech: Homemade jet power
Cost: $10,000
Time: 10 days
Practical | | | | | Popcorn
Breathe new (and longer) life into those old home movies by transferring them to DVD.
By Stephen A. Booth
Posted 11.13.2004 at 8:10 pm
Dept.: Tech Lesson
Tech: Tape to DVD conversion
Base Cost: $100 to $500
Time: A few hours
Dabbler | | | | | Master
Melting and cooling bismuth reveals the secret crystalline life of metal.
By Theodore Gray
Posted 11.12.2004 at 4:00 pm
Dept. Gray Matter
Element: Bismuth
Project: Making crystals
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $20
Dabbler | | | | | Master
With a simple modification to a USB Bluetooth adapter, you can extend your wireless range to record-setting distances.
By Mike Outmesguine
Posted 11.12.2004 at 3:00 pm
Dept.: Void Your Warranty
Tech: Bluetooth antenna
Base Cost: $85
Time: 30 minutes
Dabbler | | | | | Master
Sony Ericsson's new P910 PDA cellphone might be the best combo device available. Here's how to double its cost.
By Phillip Torrone
Posted 11.12.2004 at 3:00 pm
Dept.: Maxed Out
Tech: Sony Ericsson P910 PDA cellphone
Base Cost: $800
Total Cost: $1,694
Steal | | | | | Splurge
Going high-tech with your home security, and even adding automation, doesn’t have to break the bank.
By Charlie Wardell
Posted 11.12.2004 at 2:00 pm
Dept.: Geek Guide
Tech: Home security and automation
Cost: $80 to several thousand dollars
Time: One hour to several days
Beta | | | | | Final
Can you hack an electric scooter to make it go faster?
By Scott Fullam
Posted 11.01.2004 at 1:55 pm
A: Sure, just get yourself a V-8 Hemi and some hot glue . . . Seriously, the most obvious way to squeeze more speed from your electric scooter is to replace its motor with one that’s more powerful. You’ll need to find a bigger DC (not AC) motor that is rated for the same voltage as your battery pack, or use one that’s rated at a higher voltage and simply install more batteries.
The GBA SP is the greatest mobile gaming device available. Here are the accessories that make it even better.
By Phillip Torrone
Posted 10.15.2004 at 4:00 pm
Tech: Game Boy Advance SP
Base Cost: $100
Total Cost: $164
Steal | | | | | Splurge
Turn your old laptop into a stand-alone MP3 player.
By Scott Fullam
Posted 10.09.2004 at 4:00 pm
Dept.: DIY
Tech: Recycled laptops
Time: 4 hours
Cost: $75-$410
Dabbler | | | | | Master
Geeks have loved it for years, but is the open-source OS alternative finally easy enough for the rest of us?
By John R. Quain
Posted 10.06.2004 at 6:00 pm
Dept.: Geek Guide
Tech: Linux
Cost: Free-$316
Beta | | | | | Final
Episode 5: Portable video
By Gregory Mone
Posted 10.06.2004 at 6:00 pm
Archos AV420 Pocket Video Recorder
Barrier to Entry: Auto-recording is a pain.
The Luddite Likes: Movies on the train, long battery life.
Verdict: Wait for next gen.
Cost: $550
archos.com
Thuraya Hughes 7101
By Peter Maass
Posted 10.06.2004 at 5:00 pm
Thuraya Hughes 7101
Tech: Satellite phone
Location: Iraq
Cost: $800
thuraya.com
What is BitTorrent, and how does it work?
By Cory Doctorow
Posted 09.15.2004 at 11:00 am
A: One critical difference between the Web and TV is how they scale. TV scales nicely—it costs the same to air a show to 10 viewers as it does to a million. On the Web, distributing a file to a million users at once is nearly a million times as costly (and slower) as delivering it to one.
BitTorrent, an open-source peer-to-peer parallel downloading tool written by Bram Cohen, changes the equation: The more popular a file is, the easier it becomes to fetch and the cheaper it becomes to serve.
Keep cans cold in the car with repurposed PC parts.
By Scott Fullam
Posted 09.10.2004 at 6:00 pm
Dept: DIY
Tech: Peltier junctions
Cost: $66
Time: 1 hour
Dabbler | | | | | Master
