My favorite electronic gadget hacks.

Paul Michael — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:55:28 +0000

As many of you may have guessed, I'm a Metacafe junkie. I love that place. It's a great resource for those "how to" videos that make life easier, cheaper and quite often, more fun. I thought I'd share some of my favorite gadget hacks from the past few months. I've used them all, they all work 100% and they're quick and easy. No real skills required.

1: Make your own professional Noise Cancelling headphones for $20.
I work in a cubicle farm. Not that I mind, most of the time it's got a good vibe. But when I want to get down to some serious writing, I need to do it with no distractions. My boss got me a pair of $200 noise cancelling headphones. They're ok, but not great. So I searched the web for a recipe to find a DIY pair, and Metacafe had the solution - all for less than $20. Best of all, they work much better than the expensive pair.

2: The homemade USB cell phone charger.
Once again, my office was the reason for my internet search. I was tired of bringing the charger to and from work, often I would leave it at my desk and be left without it at the weekend. I had a spare charger but it was on the fritz. Then I wondered if I could use it to make a USB charger. I was right and it was Kipkay (the man who made all of these videos) who came to the rescue. This is a very cool way to charge a phone and I get comments on it all the time

3: Boost your car remote key by 50 feet.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. Well, my mind is sometimes a little forgetful and I work far enough from the car park to see my car but not lock/unlock it without walking out of the building. And this became a pain if I hadn't remembered to lock the car. Metacafe gave me a simple way to boost my car remote range by around 50 feet. Now I can lock it from my desk. Sweet.

4: An underwater video camera housing for $10.
Just like Kipkay, the producer of this gem, I needed to do some underwater filming but didn't want to fork out the big cash for the equipment. My setup cost a little more than $10, coming in closer to $15, but it's still a steal for great underwater shots. A sweet idea.

5:Get your PC to boot up much faster.
I really hate sitting in the chair watching my home computer take it's time to load everything before I can access my mail. I wanted a fast, easy way to make my PC start up at super speed, just like the day we first bought it. Here, Kipkay takes you through a simple step that stops a bunch of programs from slowing you down. An effective tip.

There you have it. On a personal note I'd like to thank Kipkay, wherever you are, for your cool videos. They have really helped me out, they're concise and well made, and they're the reason you're one of the top earners on Metacafe. Nice one.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: