10 Amazing Hacks that Harness the Awesome Power of USB

Turn your USB wi-fi dongle into a satellite dish

If you've ever tried to take an older laptop or a desktop on the internet over a wireless network, you've probably dealt with a USB wireless dongle. This hack shows a simple way to boost your wireless reception by creating a sort of satellite dish out of a pasta strainer. Another, similar hack shows the same feat accomplished with a folding metal colander.

Turn a case fan into a personal cooler

Another classic, the USB casefan cooler mod turns an old PC casefan into a simple USB-powered desk fan. We could tell you all about how to make one out of an old USB cable, a case fan, and a coat hanger, but we'd rather just link to our full writeup .

USB Laser Air Purifier

As a special treat for making it all the way through this list, we've saved the best USB hack for last. Behold! The USB Laser Air Purifier.

Pay no mind to the dubious air-purification effects of cheap laser pointers. Disregard the fact that without any fan blades, the air being "purified" will mostly just sit inside the seemingly-unnecessary 2-liter soda bottle. No, simply sit back and bask in the spinning, blinding light of the USB Laser Air Purifier .

Did we miss your favorite USB hack? Hit the comments and let us know!