Anna K. Hegedüs

I have a 15" MacBook. I've also had at least three chargers, because all of them keep fraying at the base of the plug.

This time I just decided to fix it myself.

Use a pair of needlenose pliers. Flip up the cord storage clips and put the jaws of the pliers in there. Now, pull the pliers apart. They work like a miniature "Jaws of Life" and put prying pressure on both sides of the plastic. With a little finesse, the adapter will split right down the seam.

When I heard that people were using my tutorial on building custom NES cartridges, I was elated. It's always nice to know that you've helped someone discover a new hobby, or find a new way to waste time. It's also a really cool way to contribute to educating fellow gamers, electronics enthusiasts, and geeks. I've always liked to post tutorials, because I feel as though it levels the playing field, between the "Elite Geeks" and those that want to learn.

Back in July or August, I contacted the mighty-fine folks at TecmoBowl.org and asked them for a favor: I wanted to use their ROM in a tutorial, showing people how to make NES cartridges. I figured, "Hey, what's the harm? It's a fun thing, and nobody's making money off of it, right?" I had a good time making my copy and drawing up the schematics and posted the video. As usual, it got a few hits, some replies, and then I thought I would move on.

I like to play a lot of games with headphones...especially old-school games. Unfortunately, consoles these days don't have amplified audio output, so regular headphones wont work very well without some sort of amplification. I solved this problem by building a small op amp powered by a 9 volt battery.