Cleverly Designed Inventions

PVC Pipe Laptop Stand

There’s probably a YouTube video around explaining that, but even the Pinterest image makes it seem like an easy project to do. The one thing I would do before starting out on this project is buy colorful PVC pipes and not use the drab ones that are the norm.

Pinterest is a curation tool. Let’s not forget the actual sources and the credit that’s due to them for thinking up these amazing but simple hacks. There are some mind-boggling technologies out there, and even more bizarre projects.

What are the best DIY technology ideas you found on Tech. Expert Review? Are you going to try one of the projects above?

A USB Hotplate

I found this hack on Pinterest, but learnt all about it on YouTube. This DIY project is for those times when you have a broken computer headed for the landfill. You need the processor, a USB cable, and a metallic plate you can get from your corner hardware store. This YouTube tutorial shows in detail how to put together this burner with common items. The DIY USB burner is definitely headed for my favorite dorm room projects list.

DIY Conductive Gloves

Spend a few cold winters, and empathize with the agony of taking out your gloves to answer calls on your smartphone. Touch surfaces are generally capacitive screens which respond to the static electricity on the fingers. Thick gloves block this signal, thus making the use of touch-enabled devices a problem. Researchers are working on the problem, spending a few million dollars on the way. Probably, no one told them about stitching a few strands of conductive thread onto the fingertips of the gloves. You might have to search for conductive threads, but it’s easily available on Amazon and eBay. Now, you just have to thread a needle. This is a nifty low-tech solution to a high-tech problem.

Google Maps Envelope

I literally fell in love with this idea, not only for its utter simplicity, but also for its practicality and aesthetics. Look at the screenshot above, and do disagree with me if you find the Google Maps envelope “ugly”. It’s not. It’s a creative concept right now (from two students at the Industrial Design program at Syracuse University), but I think you can apply this with a workaround if you have a color printer lying around. It could be a nice way to bring snail mail back in style.

The Shoebox Smartphone Projector

The homemade smartphone projector looks like a kid’s weekend project. Alternatively, let’s say it is dumb simple. The step-by-step illustration says it all. If you get down to making it, do let us know how long it took you. I am guessing ten minutes or less. I don’t think you need AirPlay anymore!

Amazon Weather

I can’t imagine myself putting a Kindle on the wall as just a weather display. But I can agree that the e-ink kind of looks neat. The thing to appreciate here is the iconography which the developer has made available under a Public Domain license.