So by now, we've moved on from the fear of breaking our newly purchased device, and we're ready to dive in. Or are we? Every hack should involve a certain amount of research before going into it. If anything a little bit of planning is nice to have at the start... before something comes along that causes you to throw it all out the window.

With every hack there are going to be snags and pitfalls. Things are guaranteed to never go right the first time, and your first cut will be about as straight a line as the Alaskan coastline. It's alright, that leads to a good rule of hacking and prototyping: "Whatever you think you're going to need to finish this project, double it."

Nothing will have me tossing my hands up in the air faster than multiple hardware store trips on the same day. By the third time I'm reaching for the keys my wife keenly observes the rising temperature of my temper and advises that I take a break and not worry about it for a while. Sometimes I'm smart enough to take her advice, and other times I rush onward. But sometimes pressing on is really what it takes.

Spending an eternity to plan out a build or a hack will only have you second guessing everything. Sometimes you just need to get out there and start cutting some wood. Draw a sketch on the back of some plywood and get to it. Adapt as you go, that's half the fun of the creation process. It may look ugly, but who cares. It's yours. Build it first and pretty it up later.

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