Lifehacker's "Evil Week" tips aren't necessarily evil, or even unethical. They are all a bit sneaky, though, but could come in handy under the right circumstances. For example, if you have to make a phone call and don't want to get stuck talking to the person tell them your phone's battery is almost exhausted. Instead of buying new plants, snip cuttings from plants belonging to others. If you want to get a better deal on your credit card (like getting points or skipping the annual fee) call and say you want to cancel your card. The credit card company will usually give you a retention offer so you change your mind.
Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash Read the rest
For those times when you are short a nickle, it's nice to know you have one stashed away.
The replies to the tweet are amusing, because more than a few people seem to think this is a joke and not a valuable life hack.
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You can still buy an Ames Lettering Guide! They are cheap, too. I used one in college drafting classes and also when I drew comics for bOING bOING. I think I still have it around somewhere. In this video by our friends at Cartoonist Kayfabe, Jim Rugg uses an Ames Lettering Guide as part of his excellent comic book hand lettering guide. Jim is one of the best letterers around. Most cartoonists use computer fonts, so it's a treat to see Jim letter with an ink pen. Read the rest
In this beginner's guide to whetstone sharpening you'll learn how to give a cheap knife an edge so fine you can split atoms with it (or at least slice paper). The idea is to have different whetstones of varying grit (size of abrasive particles) and start from the coarse stones and move to finer ones. It's important to keep a fairly consistent angle as you draw the knife over the stones -- you can do this by matching the edge that the manufacturer put on the knife to begin with.
This is the knife used in the video, and these are the two whetstones. Read the rest
"And there we go, we've created Minecraft." Read the rest
Project Farm is one of my favorite YouTube channels. They thoroughly test different products and methods for solving common problems that farmers, and just about everyone else, have. In this video, Project Farm tests a bunch of different brands of masking tape to see which one is the best at keeping paint from seeping under it. The bottom line: Frog Tape is the best in almost every circumstance.
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In a recent issue of my Recomendo newsletter, I wrote about how I clean the earwax out of my AirPods:
It's really hard to clean earwax from the speaker meshes in Apple AirPods and EarPods. I've assembled a kit of 3 tools to make the job easier. 1) OXO Good Grips Deep Clean Brush Set -- use the smaller of the two brushes and the silicone wiper to loosen up and wipe out as much wax as you can; 2) Poster Putty -- press this into the opening and it will pull out a surprising amount of residual gunk. Resist the temptation to press the putty too hard, or you'll push the earwax through the mesh; 3) Handheld Illuminated Magnifier -- this will help you make sure you've thoroughly cleaned the mesh openings. My AirPods now look great, not grungy.
Melissa Kirsch, the editor-in-chief of Lifehacker, read my tip and came up with what sounds like an even better way to clean AirPods:
Save a couple bucks on the brushes and use an old toothbrush to loosen the wax, then go to town with the poster putty. There is little more satisfying than lifting loosened earwax from a mesh screen with a gummy -- but not so gummy it gets caught in the screen! -- wad of putty that you then throw away. (Suffice it to say this is a project best done in private, kind of like zit popping.)
Instead of the magnifying light, which is nifty but not essential if you've got decent eyesight, I-d recommend taking a cotton swab and dampening it ever-so-slightly with 70% rubbing alcohol and running it gently over the plastic parts of the buds and the top crevices of the case to remove whatever's built up there.
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Mental Floss put together a list of useful tips for everyday tasks like threading a needle, opening pistachios, and picking up bits of broken glass. My favorite is the tip for shredding a cooked chicken, which I plan to try soon.
Shredding chicken with your fingers for a salad or taco is time consuming and can be tough on your fingers if you’re pulling it apart while the meat is hot. But if you have a stand mixer, there’s a better, faster way: Put the cooked chicken into the mixing bowl, add the paddle attachment, then put the device on the lowest setting and let it work its magic. In about a minute, you’ll have shredded chicken.
Photo by Tim Bish on Unsplash Read the rest
Also applies to everyone else, as it happens. [via] Read the rest
Here's a good tip for threading a needle, especially if you're traveling and need to reattach a button and the hotel sewing kit doesn't come with a threader: use a toothbrush as shown in this video.
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If you are annoyed by YouTube clickbaity thumbnails this Chrome extension, called Clickbait Remover for YouTube, is for you.
This extension replaces thumbnails with a frame from the video, effectively removing any clickbait while still showing a high quality thumbnail so you can still get a good idea of what the video is about.
It can also modify titles to stop partial or all caps titles.
It works everywhere on Youtube including the homepage, trending page, subscription page and channel pages.
All functionality of the extension is customizable by clicking on the icon on the top right, you can see the effect of different options have right away if you have a youtube tab open, no need to reload the page.
This extension might help people who have a Youtube addiction or anyone who just doesn't want to be distracted by flashy thumbnails and all caps titles while trying to find some quality content.
[via Lifehacker] Read the rest
In this video, a FedEx delivery driver demonstrates the proper form for hurling a television set over a 6ft fence. Read the rest
Step 1: be small enough to fit in a trashcan.
(Protip: recycling cans smell better) Read the rest
Adobe's trailing price hikes for its now subscription-only Creative Suite applications. Comic artist Michael Sexton (Patreon) made this handy at-a-glance chart so you know what pay-once apps can replace each one. I've been in Adobe Jail so long I haven't even heard of some of these! I will definitely be getting myself a Fire Alpaca, for starters. Read the rest
Thieves in Dungiven, Northern Ireland, figured out a clever way to get cash at an ATM without having to install skimmers and wait for punters to come along: tear the entire thing out with a fourteen-ton digger.
The footage shows the digger driving through a security gate then tearing the machine from the wall. ... The cash machine was lifted into a Citroen Berlingo car which had part of its roof cut off. A number of masked men are seen in the footage. The raid lasted just over four minutes. Afterwards the car was driven away with the cash machine sticking out of the roof.
The Komatsu PC130 Hydraulic Excavator is 25ft long and 9ft wide, with a maximum reach of 26 feet, a digging depth of 18ft, and 85hp of gross power provided by a 4-cycle, water-cooled, direct-injection turbocharged Komatsu S4D102E engine. I'm afraid if you want to get one delivered from Amazon Prime you'll have to upgrade to the Komatsu PC210. Read the rest
In the extremely unlikely event that you end up piloting a Boeing 737 MAX jet and it decides to nosedive, here's a 20 minute tutorial from Mentour Pilot on how to turn off MCAS.
Don't forget your duty free! Read the rest
Keith Axline at The Tools We Need, writes that if you haven't already, switch to Firefox and install Privacy Badger, HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock Origin, Decentraleyes, CanvasBlocker and Smart Referrer. Use 1.1.1.1 as your DNS and change your default search engine. He explains why: A Few Simple Steps to Vastly Increase Your Privacy Online. Read the rest
