Over at Hack a Day is a guide on how to convert your old chargers for devices you no longer use into a useful charger with a USB plug. They will need to be of the 5V variety and provide at least 500 mA in order to be useful with today's gadgets with 1A being preferable; don't go so high you are at risk of killing your device though. Apple fanatics will have to do the usual modifications to convince their iThing to accept a charge but most other devices won't care if the charger is home made or not, they just want the USB. Do try not to set yourself or any of your possessions on fire by not testing your charger thoroughly before leaving it unattended.
"If you’re like us, you probably have a box (or more) of wall warts lurking in a closet or on a shelf somewhere. Depending on how long you’ve been collecting cell phones, that box is likely overflowing with 5V chargers: all with different connectors."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- BB10's 'dated' crypto lets snoops squeeze the juice from your BlackBerry – researcher @ The Register
- Replicant OS Developers Find Backdoor In Samsung Galaxy Devices @ Slashdot
- Hackers can steal Whatsapp conversations due to Android security flaw @ The Inquirer
- How to Use the Super Fast i3 Tiling Window Manager on Linux @ Linux.com
- Seven Great Moments in World Wide Web History @ The Inquirer
- How to shop wisely for the IT department of the future @ The Tech Report
- Projector on a smartphone? There's a chip for that @ The Register
- Make an HD Projector for Next to Nothing! @ Hack a Day
- Win a Powerful ASUS R9 290 Graphics Card @ Kitguru
“at least 500 mA in order to
“at least 500 mA in order to be useful with today’s gadgets with 1A being preferable; don’t go so high you are at risk of killing your device though”
Outside of some esoteric DC setups (e.g. low voltages at a few kilo-Amps), you won’t encounter ‘too much’ amperage for charging your electronics. The charging circuit for the device will only draw as much power as it needs. You will have problems charging if your PSU cannot supply sufficient current, but a larger PSU will not ‘push’ too much current into a device.
A very good point; I tacked
A very good point; I tacked that on in same way that toasters come with the warning "Not intended for the other purpose".