Hardware, Electronics, Technical Stuff

General

• In a Nutshell: Why Current Smartwatches Suck
  This is a concise summary of the below article. I actually wrote this to vent off my frustration when the Apple Watch was released in April 2015.

• Watch Phones and Smartwatches: Will Someone Please Design One That Doesn't Suck?
  Based on my experiences with wearable telephones since the year 2008, This lengthy article discusses what I consider to be the ideal watch phone, i.e. a wearable cell phone, and why current models don't yet cut it.

Music and Audio

• Hand-Made Electric Guitars
  Between 1995 and 1998, I have built two electric guitars. This page doesn't only describe the process but contains a lot of advice if you want to build, repair or ‘mod’ your own guitar.
• Speaker Cabinets
  This explains how I evolved from a cardboard speaker in a cardboard shoebox to hi-fi speakers and experimental things like a well-performing small boombox with built-in miniature subwoofer, and the miniature surround system below.
• A Subwoofer That Fits in a Backpack
  This describes how I managed to cram a miniature subwoofer, a 5.1 decoder and a stereo amplifier into an enclosure the size of a small shoebox, for a truly portable surround system.

Electronics

• Creating PCBs with the toner transfer method
  Instructions for making your own Printed Circuit Boards with a laser printer instead of a photoresist layer.
• Variable Input Voltage LED driver bike light
  I have been interested in LED-based illumination as soon as LEDs started becoming powerful enough to serve as a practical light source. After a few iterations, I constructed an efficient 1W switching power supply LED driver that fits inside the enclosure of my bicycle's headlight, powered by the bicycle's dynamo.
• What's Inside the Conrad Energy ‘9V’ PP3 Li-ion Battery?
  How is it constructed? Is it a good idea to scavenge bare LiPo cells from this alternative for the classic 9V block form factor battery?
• Converting a USB Power Bank with a Fake Solar Panel into Something Decent
  If you buy a solar power bank these days, it is actually possible that the solar part is a lie. A piece of plastic with a light sensor is cheaper than a real solar panel… This page shows an example of such a scam, and how it can be converted into a true solar power bank after all.
• Hacking Chinese (Watch) Phones
  This page explains how to hack the firmware of MT6225 and MT6253-based phones. Mind that this is very technical, do not expect to be able to customise your phone through a few easy modifications.

PC and Other Hardware

• “Black Box” Case Mod
  This is a report on how I created a custom PC case from scratch.
• Installing an Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 on a GeForce 6600GT AGP
  Kind of a ‘sequel’ on the above. A report with pictures on how I made the impossible possible, so maybe an interesting read if you want to try a similar hack.
• Silly Hacks
  A collection of small ‘hacks’, often more for fun than practical use. E.g. creating a mutant ‘optical USB Apple ADB II mouse’ and a miniature PS/2 keyboard, and overclocking a G3 iBook.

Product Reviews

Until now, all these products are cheap to reasonably priced Chinese gadgets — I am a sucker for those things. Next to the actual reviews, most of these articles also contain a short section on how the product can be hacked to circumvent some of its flaws.

• Chinese Abardeen F80 Watch Phone Review + Custom ROM
  Six years after my first watch phone (see Nova N800 review below), I finally found another detachable watch phone, obviously inspired by the former Motorola Motoactv. The obligatory hacks are limited to software, more specifically I constructed a custom Android ROM, and the end result is pretty damn good.
• Chinese IKWear IK8 Watch Phone Review
  A review of basically the same hardware as the ZGPAX S5, but then in a better designed end-product. Between these two watch phones, this is obviously the one to get.
• Chinese ZGPAX S5 Watch Phone Review
  Finally, an Android-based watch phone. As usual, the review pits the pros against the contras, and discusses hacks and tweaks.
• Chinese MQ668 GSM Watch Phone Review
  A review of another watch phone, which nicely illustrates what I discussed in my more general watch phone article. (Spoiler: it is not good.)
• Chinese ‘S9110’ aka ‘Fashion’ GSM Watch Phone Review
  A review of a newer watch phone to replace my Nova N800, obviously inspired by Samsung's S9110 model.
• Nova N800 GSM Watch Phone Review
  A review of the “ultimate gadget”: a cell phone that can be worn on your wrist like a watch.
• HD Audio Rush 5.1 Decoder Review
  A review of a small standalone surround audio decoder.
• Yo-Blu Wireless Bluetooth Loudspeaker Review
  A small Bluetooth loudspeaker that I found good enough to warrant writing a short review for it.
• BTplug Vortex86DX-based Mini-computer Review
  A tiny headless x86-compatible computer that uses about 3 Watts of power.
• 3GP DVR Spy Pen Review
  Another gadget that would make movie spies jealous: a ballpoint pen that can record video and take pictures.
• ‘Dr. Hank’ SP-M600 Speakers Review
  Almost a gadget due to their size, these were probably the smallest PC speakers made out of actual wood you could buy a while ago. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they're also the best you can buy…