How Not to Do an Instructable

Do not use this as inpiration, or maybe use it as inspiration as on how not to be lazy and forgetful and miss the chance to win a laser cutter.

Now I take on a lot of hobby projects, mainly to keep busy because when I'm bored I can be a little mischevious ;) The problem is I get most of the way done through what I originally planned to do, and usually just stop where the project is usuable for just me (i.e. homemade PVR, home network, PDA cradle/charger/usb hub, ...) and unfortunately for my significant other I don't complete them to a point where they are easy for her to use.

In this instructable I'll outline how I intended to document my PDA cradle/charger/usb hub but haven't and also haven't finished the project for months.

Step 1: Get Mats Together!

Ok, Get your materials togetther, and forget to write down specs, take pictures of what they originally looked like, and where you got them. For my project I planned on building in a usb bluetooth dongle, with a powered usb hub as my pda can act as host but has poor power output, and have a couple of Li-ion battery packs to power the usb hub and recharge my PDA during heavy usage.

Unfortunately I didn't write down specifics of what I used, where I got them or even what brand they were (but I think the usb hub was a Nexxtech, bah who knows). Here are some pics I gleamed from the Wibble Web.

https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FS1/A7VU/F8OQ9BAO/FS1A7VUF8OQ9BAO.MEDIUM.jpg
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FS1/A7VU/F8OQ9BAO/FS1A7VUF8OQ9BAO.MEDIUM.jpgOne of 2 small Li-ion battery packs
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FMT/Z6XV/F8OQ9BAN/FMTZ6XVF8OQ9BAN.MEDIUM.jpg
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FMT/Z6XV/F8OQ9BAN/FMTZ6XVF8OQ9BAN.MEDIUM.jpgPowered USB Hub
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FJG/EWWI/F8OQ9BAQ/FJGEWWIF8OQ9BAQ.MEDIUM.gif
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FJG/EWWI/F8OQ9BAQ/FJGEWWIF8OQ9BAQ.MEDIUM.gifBluetooth Dongle

Step 2: Put It Together, Electrically

Put the things together with some spare wire from who knows where and some solder. Make sure to strip everything down to bare essentials and NOT to write down which was the black wire and which was the red and definitely DON"T take pictures.

I did get the USB hub and bluetooth working, I hard wired the dongle to one of the usb ports that was facing the opposite way of the other 3.
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FN5/OGLA/F8OQ9BC4/FN5OGLAF8OQ9BC4.MEDIUM.jpg
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FN5/OGLA/F8OQ9BC4/FN5OGLAF8OQ9BC4.MEDIUM.jpgHere's a random pic of some naked electronics, this is sort of what I had after some soldering and stripping everything of its plastic casing

Step 3: Spend a Couple of Months Figuring Out a Casing

Now after getting the electronics procrastinate for a 2-4 months with the electronics in a box, procrastinating. I had changed jobs where I was no longer traveling across Europe, US and Canada so I no longer had a real need to finish this project. But I do go out for day trips and if I'm at a coffee house I want to browse the internet which requires a recharge as wifi really kills my PDA's batteries, so I decided to 'finish' it. So I bought a sheet of plastic, again FORGET what kind you bought, mine was clear and becomes brittle after heating it up with a heat gun.

I cut six pieces and have stopped on making it as I can't figure out how to make it a cradle where I can insert my PDA into.

Step 4: Don't Finish the Instructable

DON"T FINISH THE Instructable, that's the most important thing!!!

Comments

[roofm]

cool laptop?

[ac1D]

https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FS1/A7VU/F8OQ9BAO/FS1A7VUF8OQ9BAO.MEDIUM.jpg
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FS1/A7VU/F8OQ9BAO/FS1A7VUF8OQ9BAO.MEDIUM.jpgOne of 2 small Li-ion battery packs
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FMT/Z6XV/F8OQ9BAN/FMTZ6XVF8OQ9BAN.MEDIUM.jpg
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FMT/Z6XV/F8OQ9BAN/FMTZ6XVF8OQ9BAN.MEDIUM.jpgPowered USB Hub
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FJG/EWWI/F8OQ9BAQ/FJGEWWIF8OQ9BAQ.MEDIUM.gif
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FJG/EWWI/F8OQ9BAQ/FJGEWWIF8OQ9BAQ.MEDIUM.gifBluetooth Dongle

how not do a instructable..

[peach_fart]

lol it says dongle...hehehehe...dongle...HEHEHE...BUY A ROUTER!!!!

[ac1D]

you are 1 year late!

[peach_fart]

=O

[boardboyd]

Exactly how not to do an Instructable ;)

[crazycommanche=US=]

what exactly did u make the laptop if so its pretty cool

[sharkstun97]

you might add how to make a pen bb gun people stop making those god d**m "bb guns".

[osgeld]

i want your zaurus

[boardboyd]

It's gone to another user, still kinda wished I had it though.

[dchall8]

If you are going to take pictures anyway, be sure to use your oldest cell phone camera (0.64 megapixels), wipe the camera lens with cake frosting, and hold it right up next to the project (actually to the side of what you want to illustrate). Oh, and be sure to tell us how your camera sucks.

[boardboyd]

Nope, I think a hi-res MSPaint rendering is a better option, or have your dog draw with crayons and describe what it had illustrated with poorly written descriptions.

[XaiofDren]

Or, "ppl, this is liek my 1st intrucable plz don't flame me" and poor l33t sp3k.

[boardboyd]

w00tz1!! 4 sho |3r0!!!

[ll.13]

Hahaha! comment:5/5

[DuctTapeRules!]

You've forgotten; sp3k l33ts lolz LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mepain]

You forgot the magic words in the beginning. "this is my first instructable, so be nice"

[boardboyd]

Nah. It then wouldn't fit in with 'How not to do an instructable' theme.

[TabLeft]

To truly be bad it needs to involve Knex, or at the very least be about ninja stars or blow dart guns.

[boardboyd]

does a picture of a naked ipod count?