10 Projects to DIY Tech Nerds.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Projects intertwine art and practicality. Create your own plans. Apply your mental strength. Add some elbow grease, and in the end, one is left with the fruits of their own hard work and impeccable planning. Well, that's the idea, anyway.

And when it comes to DIY projects, nobody does it quite like nerds. You know exactly what we mean - people who like slaving over minutiae until they have perfected their projects, whether a homebrew computer or smartphone application auto-scheduled.

For you and your friends, we've rounded 10 of our favorite nerds DIY projects. Some of them will cost you some serious dough and require time to complete. Others are simple, fun, almost free and demand only their unwavering dedication to completely nerding out.

Forget tablets and smartphones, but they are ponies. When it comes to game time, play equipment, life-size, are the true thoroughbred. They are bigger, faster and more powerful than any other equipment you'd find in most homes. And are not the most environmentally friendly machines.



During a high-speed game, these teams can hope to hundreds of watts of energy value, all in the name of running fast CPU, graphics processors and other high-end components. But there are ways to green your machine.

You can start by selecting components that devour less power, which is easy to do for a team custom built with parts that you select. Manufacturers are more sensitive to the concerns of green these days. Nvidia and AMD, for example, both produce power-sipping products for a variety of purposes of computing. ASUS unleashed his Ge-Force GTX 650-E, a high-end graphics card for all gaming needs, requiring only about 60 watts at full power.

And let's not overlook some of the more obvious indicators. Turn off your electronics when you're not using. Or at least use the power management features in its operating system for your machine enters standby low power when idle.

A solar cooker is a major nerd DIY project. Ditch the microwave or range. Cook using only sunlight instead! However, many people overlook this incredibly useful tool because they think it is too difficult to create.

It is easy to build your own solar cooker with household items, and you can use one of the dozens of different (and free) plans that you can find online. They all use the same principles to heat food or drink.

You just concentrate the sun's rays with a reflective material such as aluminum foil or metal to a (read: black) non-reflective container that absorbs light and helps convert it into heat. Cover the device with transparent glass or plastic to trap heat and reduce heat loss to typical outdoor breezes ... and then wait.

Depending on the type of food you are cooking and the amount of sunlight available, you could take half an hour to several hours to complete a particular dish. Once done, however, you will literally be able to eat the results of your effort nerd.

Cycling is an efficient and health conscious mode of transportation. And if you live in a region prone to freezing winter weather, often treacherous, too. You can make your driving safer by adding homemade snow and ice tires.

First, a set of tires that do not mind the puncture is needed. You turn the tire inside out and then drive screws (flat head screws) so that the ends emerge through the bearing surface of the tires. The exact length of the screws depends on its tread, but I understand that you want the tip of the screw to extend about a quarter inch beyond the knobs rubber tires.

For a decent coverage, you probably have about 200 screws. As the drives through cover, be sure not to twist the rubber. This may involve the use of a screwdriver or low torque setting on your drill. Use the same pattern all the way around the rim for a consistent grip. Install liners tire tube for protecting the heads of the screws. And considering the decreased tire pressure slightly for better traction in slippery conditions.