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Build A Gas Guzzler Meter

Take an accelerometer, add a microcontroller and display, and watch the dollars fly out of your carburetor

Pain at the pump continues to reach new levels of misery every day. While most of us can’t afford to trade our current gas guzzler for a more fuel economical model, it would be nice to adopt some new driving skills that will translate into greater fuel economy. But where do you start? How do you know if your current jitney is a fuel sipper or a gas guzzler?

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Eee PC School #3: EZ Desktop Mode Mod

Build a pocket-sized gadget that lets you change your display mode for less than $5

This little gimmick has been in graphics design studios for years: a clever way to bring a wayward menu bar back from a dual monitor setup without plugging in a second monitor. Essentially, by shorting pins 1 (red video signal out) and 6 (red ground), and 3 (blue video signal out) and 8 (blue ground) on a 15-pin VGA adapter, you can mislead the PC into -- erroneously -- detecting the presence of a second monitor. Then it's just a matter of dragging the menu bar back onto the correct display.

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PPX: The PopSci Predictions Exchange

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  • Inflight Wi-Fi

    Will American and Virgin Airlines outfit all of their planes with Wi-Fi by the holiday travel season?

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