Arrrrghh... my PSP is dead!!!

You were trying to play Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix on the PSP, while actually skating, and now you're left with a broken PSP. This hack will walk you through what can be done with your shattered PSP, as well as how to recoup as much of the original cost of the PSP as possible.

You're past the denial stage where you sat rocking back and forth in the corner of your room, cold and alone for hours, clutching it close to your chest, repeatedly switching it on and off, removing the battery, replacing the battery, plugging it in, hoping that suddenly your PSP would turn back on. You've followed all the recommendations in PSP troubleshooting in this blog. You took it to a friend skilled in the art of soldering. He opened up your PSP, gently reconnecting all the aged connections, perhaps even replacing the USB port. You tried new batteries and even an odd voodoo ritual that you discovered online. Nothing has worked. You've finally come to grips with the dreadful reality of it all: your PSP is dead.

Although everything has seemed hopeless during your futile attempts to resurrect your PSP, don't throw that PSP away in frustration. There are several different things you can do with it, and this blog will discuss some of the possibilities.

What to do with a dead PSP?

Here's a short, no-frills list:

• Use your dead PSP as a stylish paperweight.

• Or a stylish doorstop.

• Gut the PSP, seal the case with a watertight adhesive like the silicone used in fish tanks, fill it with water, and add Sea Monkeys. Watch 'em grow!

• Gut it and seal the case with a watertight adhesive. Cut the screen section out of the faceplate and leave the space where the screen was out and open. Drill small holes in the back of the PSP for drainage. Fill your deceased PSP with soil and the seeds of your favorite small flower or grass. Water and watch 'em grow! Voilà! Your own stylish Manhattan apartmentsized garden!

• Three words: PSP hockey puck.

• Use the dead PSP to test the moral fiber of your friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Leave it lying around and watch to see whether anyone nicks it!

• People repellant: sure, it may be broken, but nobody else has to know. Put those earphones in and walk around town ignoring people as you please, pretending that you are in your own little portable music world, impervious to their intrusive "Can I interest you in taking a brief survey?" types of questions. This is also a good way to listen in on unsuspecting suspects when you start up your own private detective agency.

• Find a really small, portable color TV. Remove all of its insides. Gut the PSP. Squeeze the TV's innards into the gutted PSP's case. Cause a media storm with your announcement that you hacked the first TV tuner for the PSP!

Think of your dead PSP as a craft project waiting to happen. Be creative and have fun! The important thing is to make sure that you aren't focusing on your recent loss. Life goes on