1 Coffee Table + 2 Side Tables = Awesomely Wide TV Stand for $40

76" wide x 22" deep x 18" tall, this TV stand cost me $40, 12 screws, and two pieces of scrap wood

Backstory

Back when I was in college playing Wii on a 27” CRT TV in my one bedroom apartment, I got a $20 coffee table from Ikea and used it as a TV stand.  Fast forward a few years, a couple of bucks, and one 8 month old, and I needed a solution for my 47” flat screen.  The coffee table wasn’t long enough, so the TV stuck out over both sides.

The Fix

1) Buy two $10 side tables (the nearest Ikea is 7 hours away from me now, so I had to buy some from Walmart that were close) and put one on either side of the coffee table.

2) Kids pulling them apart?  Use some scrap wood and a few screws to hold them together.  I put 3 screws into each side and it’s sturdy and invisible unless you're underneath.

A few screws and a 5"x10" piece of plywood make it toddler tough.

Bottom Line

1 $20 coffee table + 2 $10 side tables = $40 for a 76” x 22” x 18” TV stand.

The door on the front was another baby-proofing step, and the topic of my next post!

Find iPod's Serial Number (no iTunes backup required!)

After a recent break-in/theft, I had an iPod Touch stolen from my apartment.  Unfortunately, it was locked with a passcode, making trying to find it with Apple's "Find My iPhone" app nearly impossible as it needs WiFi to find itself.  Anyhow, I thought it would be nice to at least be able to tell the police a serial number in the astronomically low chance they find the scumbag culprit.  Problem: I did not know the serial number, and as it was my wife's, I did not have a backup on my computer (it was on hers, which was also stolen).  BUT!!! I had connected it to my computer before for charging and such, and despite iTunes's lim ited memory, the information lives on in your computer.

Finding the Serial Number Without iTunes

Your Mac keeps a record of all iPods it connects to.  I mean, it must to remember which ones to automatically sync and which ones not to, right?  The file can be found at:

Macintosh HD > Users -> [your user name] -> Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.iPod.plist

If you open the file in TextEdit or something it might get messy.  Just do the quick view by pressing spacebar and you should see lots of stuff that looks like this:

< key > SomeKey < /key > 

< string > Cool Technical Jargony Thing < /string > 

Look for the line after "< key > Serial Number < /key > ", and it should look like this:

< string > [your serial number here] < /string >

example:  < string > G8312CO150D4 < /string > 

And that, my friends, is your serial number.  There will be a separate entry for every iPod you've connected so if you own more than one, keep looking until you find the one that doesn't match the ones you have.

Not sure if this will ever actually help anyone recover a lost device, but happy hunting!

Amazing Discounts at the BX

Screaming Deals at the BX out by the Air Force Academy