Electroids 9V USB Phone Charger (Awesome of the Day)

After the Matt and Kim show a couple of nights ago at Pop Montreal, as I stumbled home following the handy directions on my iPhone's Map app, the battery died, turning my 10-minute walk into a 20-minute search. But that's because I've yet to build the curiously handy 9V charger from Electroids out of an old Altoids can, string and some duct tape. OK, so maybe the component parts are a little more high tech—but if you've got the Altoids tin, Electroids will provide the rest.

Founder Aaron Dunlap created Electroids because he missed the hobby kits that Radio Shack used to sell. "Fun little things like FM transmitters could be yours for about $10 and a few minutes of soldering," he recalls on his site. "Now you can't find those at Radio Shack anymore, they've been replaced with satellite TV systems and god-awful cellphone accessories. I miss hobby kits, I miss being able to put something together with my own two hands and have it perform a task I could never imagine. This is what I hope to bring back with Electroids."

At least where Altoids-tin-based 9V-USB-chargers are concerned, he's brought the hobby kit back with a fury, selling over 5,000 kits and dropping out of college to fulfill the demand. He's even added a kit that'll turn your Altoids tin into an LED flashlight for $8.50.

The $10 (+$5 s&h) 9V phone charger kit includes:
A female USB socket
female USB socket
5v regulator IC
9v battery snap connector
9v battery clip
red LED
5 resistors
slide 1/0 toggle switch
1-2' hookup wire
Building instructions w/ photos

Josh Jackson is the editor-in-chief of Paste magazine and blogs daily about music, film and culture (and sometimes beer) at High Gravity. You can follow him on Twitter @joshjackson.

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