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The Big Book Of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects

Fire up your soldering iron, charge up that drill, and get ready to hack! From a tiny theremin to a watermelon keg, from an automatic cat feeder to a glowing mousepad, the ingenious and hilarious projects in The Big Book of Hacks are perfect for aspiring makers. And it's all brought to you by the DIY masters at Popular Science magazine.Four comprehensive chapters help you create megafun games and toys for the amusement of all: GEEK TOYS Be the life of any party with rad gaming hacks, amazing pyrotechnics, quirky DIY robots, "wow"-inducing projectiles, and lots of ways to make beer even better. HOME IMPROVEMENTS Pimp out your pad with a laser-security system, an improvised sous-vide cooker, and a life-size cardboard display of anyone you want. GADGET UPGRADES Want to stash a flash drive in an old cassette? Use a DIY stylus on a touchscreen? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera? With this book, you can. THINGS THAT GO Give your motorbike a Tron vibe, deck out your car with an action-figure hood ornament, and keep gadgets charged on the go with a solar-powered backpack.

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: Weldon Owen; Original ed. edition (October 23, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1616283998

ISBN-13: 978-1616283995

Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.9 x 9.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (116 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #242,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #100 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Reference > Patents & Inventions #193 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Mixed-Media #1540 in Books > Science & Math > Technology

I agree with the previous reviewer about being slightly disappointed upon opening this book after it arrived today. I have been a long time subscriber to Popular Science and was excited to pre-order this book as soon as I discovered it. However, I thought it would be more detailed and hands on than it really is. It's not as much a guide to 264 amazing DIY projects as it is a catalog of random ideas others have tried. The step by step instruction are very limited and lack details which could be important, especially in some of the more complicated projects. I'll still enjoy the book, but it will be a coffee table book to peruse rather than a guide to creating fun do-it-yourself projects.

I was slightly disappointed when I received my copy of the book today. As a subscriber of Popular Science I quickly found that many of these projects featured in the book had already been featured in the "You built what?" section of the magazine, and as such, were never intended for the reader to build them, but simply to showcase some impressive DIY projects other people had built. These dont have instructions, just a page telling you about it yet they are still numbered. Because of this, the advertised number of 264 DIY projects becomes a lot smaller in reality.On top of that, the projects that do have instructions, usually contain 1 picture and some brief text about how to make what's in that picture. Overall, I was expecting a book that gave some walkthroughs on how to build these hacks step by step. If that's what you are looking for, just check the internet.While entertaining,this book is good for giving you ideas of what to do, just not the best at actually telling you how to do it.

I really thought it would be a fun book to build or try a few things out, but almost all the hacks were dumb (use condoms to waterproof your camera?), needed tools or materials that are not common (you need a table saw and a special blade to cut glass - sure, we all have that handy, or I'll just run right out and spend $500.00), or just really dumb (stuff newspaper into your jacket to stay warm - that's a hack?)Sorry, but the book is a huge waste of money. I spent 30 minutes, found nothing worth doing and donated it. And feel bad about donating it.

Thought the book would be of actual use with maybe 10% being applicable. Found maybe 1 out of 264 to be of any real interest. Directions also vague as well for anything but electronics. Very disappointed from Popular Science.

Awful. I really wanted to like this book, since I loved the "Big Book of Maker Skills." But it's 95% useless, and the rest isn't worth the price.There are numerous proof-reading mistakes, even in the forward and the author's introduction. Seriously? Did anyone read it?There is a useless section on tools and skills. A list of tools with no pictures at all? If I didn't know what they were, how are two gauge sentences going to clear it up for me? Welding is covered, in its "entirety," in nine bullet points on one half of a page. Still without any pictures.Much of the information is wrong: The description of a transformer is just plain wrong. The picture of a transistor is a four-legged can, unlike any transistor that any DIY person is going to find. Resistors without the color code? Useless.We then jump right into a bunch of projects about how to drink, including tap-sucks from a vodka-filled watermelon, hiding your beer can, and drinking in the shower. Perfect. My life is complete. The only interesting section was an all-in-one brew-to-tap beer machine, but without any real detail, and no links to find out more.There are electronics projects w/o schematics, or any operational theory. The "planetarium" tells me to buy an arduino-clone, and lots of optical fiber. What kind of fiber? Where do I get it? How do I handle it? Why this clone? How do I program it? (Oh, the ardunio instructions, all half page of them, are wrong.)Build an explosive PVC cannon. But don't bother telling folks what "Schedule 40" means, much less what kind of PVC to use.Avoid this book. There are hundreds of better ones out there.

My son absolutely loves this book. We have started several of the projects inside. You have to love being able to buy a used book that looks just as good but less than a quarter of the price. This book is full of great ideas.

My husband is very disappointed with this book. Reading the description gives one the idea that the book tells you how to build things from ordinary household items but that's not the case at all. Fortunately, I had an gift card which paid for most of the cost of the book so we didn't lose too much money.

Many easy ideas many may not consider explained and how to assemble; potato gun,home made squirt gun and other stuff. Also has projects to repurpose everyday items for other uses; dart board as a clock, a cardboard box into a smart phone projector. Fairly simple, fun things to expand your creativity.

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