not a kludge

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~Not-So-Handy Andy

Prolific hacker Craig Smith digs up a toy from his childhood:

About 1983, when I was fifteen, I dropped my dad's red Bakelite soldering gun and broke the casing. Of course he was upset, so I did my best to "fix it." So I took my original Star Wars Han Solo pistol and gutted it to hold the soldering gun components. I even ran the lightbulb up into the scope on top. The button on the handle worked well for the trigger switch. Ten years later, when the old house was sold, the gun wound up in my belongings. To this day, when an underpowered iron just won't do, I pull out the "Han Solderer" and get the job done. Half of me likes the mod, the other half is ill over the fact that I gutted my vintage Star Wars toy. What's done is done.

Youtuber Spiritplumber devised a cheap and relatively-simple way to extend your cell phone's battery life. Recording video on smart phones is notorious for draining your juice and he claims this workaround can last a few hours with just a couple of bucks. Or you can go the less ugly but more expensive route and just pick up one of these guys.

http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-Instant-Charger-Lithium-universal/dp/B002FU6KF2/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1320097675&sr=8-1

I've seen photos of this thing floating around for a while, but never did it occur to me that it's in fact a real product. Available from Hammacher Schlemmer, this Wenger tool holds the Guinness Word Record for being the most multi-functional penknife. Kudos to you if you can name all of its fucntions. If not, here's a real Swiss guy going over how ridiculous this thing really is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnmfzhKYcHE&feature=related]

I'm pissed they took the laser out.

Etsy merchant Stella Bleu Designs uses vintage looking pipes to create beautiful looking bookshelves. Perfect for a steampunk home (preferably with lots of studs).

[polldaddy poll="5622691"]

Sun Chao, a crafstman from Kaiyuan, China, spent 4 months working on this project. The result is a fully-functional bicycle made from over 10,000 Popsicle sticks. Its inaugural ride lasted 20 minutes and easily supported his 200lb weight.

That's a lot of terrible jokes to read.

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It's normal to want to lick your keyboard, right? ~Not-So-Handy Andy