If a gadget can make Totino’s Pizza Rolls and attach LEDs to a board, it’s good in my book. Such is the case with this amazing hack from Cornell students Ko Ihara and Kashif Javed. These guys turned a basic toaster oven into a soldering iron. The LED display even outputs temperature thanks to an ATmega32 microcontroller.

If you want to build your own, the instructions are up on the student’s site. Take warning though, as it’s a dangerous mod for doing somewhat-dangerous work. If I had a dollar for every time I burned myself on a toaster or soldering iron, I’d buy Gearfuse.com and turn it into a porn site.

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I don’t know how many times I’ve been awaken out of a deep sleep when my washer or dryer goes off with that super-sonic blasting beep. It was even worse in the days where my mother and sister would do their laundry, with me, unsuspecting of the beeping, would be shocked out of my slumber.

Sure, it might be a real pain in the ass, but appliances never had a problem getting my ass out of bed, which is why I kinda see the point behind the Appliance Alarm Clocks. When the alarm goes off, the clocks will act like your everyday appliance, producing animated suds, shaking on its stubs, and making loud swishy noises. Possibly a nominee for the most extreme clocks you’ll never own? Get yours from between $17 and $20. (more…)