Wiretaps, which have increased almost tenfold since data was first reported in 1969, are only the tip of the surveillance iceberg. In 2011 federal and state courts approved a total of 2,732 wiretaps; but government agencies made over 1.3m requests for data to mobile-phone companies. That figure includes wiretaps and pen/traps, but it also includes requests for stored text messages, device locations and tower dumps, which reveal the presence of everyone—suspects and not—within range of a parti...
CITY OF ANGELS by: Luis Rodriguez Somewhere out there, lies the city.
There really are depths of dumbth up with which I will not put, so I won’t be spending nine coins to build a Detective Agency in FrontierVille.Historically, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was started 1850 but came into its own working for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War (1861 to 1865, for foreigners and the home-schooled) catching Confederate spies and running their own networks in the South. The US didn’t have a national police force until the Bureau Of Investigation started up...
Up for auction at Heritage, JFK's crusty old birthday cake, presented to him at his 45th birthday party in Madison Square Garden back in 1962. Marilyn Monroe performed her legendary “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at this very event.
Sometimes going ghetto is the best route, especially when you can save about $1200 big ones. Just ask the guys over at 1 Block Off the Grid. When they needed a fancy Mac to run Adobe After Effects, they decided to Hackintosh it. Meaning they built a Mac in a box -literally (a cardboard Amazon box acts as the "case").
Wish you had $1000 to throw down for a projector? Well, if you have an old laptop lying around instead, here is a simple way to cheaply build your own digital projector. Lifehacker posts a HowTo excerpted from DIYer Randy Sarafan's 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: (And Other Discarded Electronics).
Using copper pennies (be sure they are older than 1983), lemon juice, paper towels and sandpaper, you can construct your own DIY battery that generates enough juice to light up an LED.
Want to attract more birds into your backyard for your viewing pleasure? With a simple household objects and bird seeds, you can easily turn your backyard or outdoor balcony into a bustling destination for your neighborhood birds.
Sick of the same boring, holiday-printed, gift wrapping paper for packaging your presents? Using spare cardboard, make a pyramid-shaped gift box for your unusually-shaped item. Or, transform your spare empty cereal boxes into fancy custom-made gift boxes.
If you are like most people, you probably have a discordant mess of cable and computer cords in your workspace or living room snaking all over the floor or against your desk. Though you can buy various cable organizers at the computer store, you can also organize them the DIY way with bread twist ties, binder clips, cardboard tubes, old credit cards, Velcro tape, or even your old hair clip.
Wax paper, a moisture-proof paper commonly used in the kitchen to keep food from sticking, can also be used to preserve maple leaves, keep bathroom fixtures spotless, line your refrigerator bins, funnel spices into small spice containers, and make re-corking unfinished wine bottles a cinch.
Everyone has taken a photo that didn't turn out quite right because of bad lighting or a flash that produced too much or too little light. A flash can make your subject look washed out, or even downright creepy with bright white skin and red eyes. But with a bounce wall, you can redirect the light to make it less harsh and reduce the shadows. It also means less demonic-looking cats. Bounce walls can be expensive, but David Hobby of Strobist made this DIY version that uses a wire hanger, some ...
What can you do with your egg cartons after you are done using up all the eggs? The compartmentalized spaces used for storing eggs are also perfect to use as seed starters, DIY candle makers, paint palettes, and for storing similarly fragile or round objects like Christmas ornaments and golf balls. The sturdy, lightweight material of styrofoam egg cartons are also ideal to use as cheap packing material and an alternative to packing peanuts.
Papercraft guns are the new origami. The new origami for boys, that is. WonderHowto and YouTube are chock full of paper gun tutorials. Many models are simple, but some are impressively realistic, not to mention functional. My personal favorite (unfortunately no tutorial) is the homemade Desert Eagle .50 cal by YouTube user Changmobile.
Pachinko originated in Japan as large casino machines that were similar to video slot machines. Players gambled on them for prizes. They were then adapted and became popular in the US as handheld kids' toys made of cardboard, a couple of BBs, some plastic and a rubber band.
If you are a pet owner, going on vacation can be stressful. Usually, you need a friend or neighbor to come over everyday and feed your pets. However, by enslaving robots you can keep your pet happy and enjoy a stress-free holiday.
Bikes are a great form of transportation. They use human energy more efficiently than any other machine. You can keep it in your closet or hallway. You can even take it on the train in a pinch. However, this portability is also the bike's biggest draw back. If you own a bike in the city, chances are it will be stolen. Locks barely deter thieves armed with bolt cutters and crowbars. Throw the bike thieves for a loop and make a tilt-sensitive alarm. It will hopefully startle your bike's assaila...
Fads, Fiascoes and Good Stuff in FrontierVille This Week The second in a series of weekly columns.
Living Life- everyone knows how to do that right? Right everyone does know how to live life, but not everyone knows how to live life to it's fullest. Living Life to its fullest can be hard, when there is all these other obstacles in your life. But with a little guidance, motivation, and self confidence anything you set your mind to can almost magically happen. Ok now that that has been said; your wondering how can I get more guidance, motivation and self confidence. Well to do that you must g...
In this how-to video, you will learn how to build a mini skate park quarter pipe for your tech-deck. First, you will need a hot glue gun, a coat hangar, cardboard, a manila folder, and scissors. First, cut the frame for the pipe. Next, glue a support for the bottom of the three supports. Now, glue the card on top. Next, cut a length of coat hangar the width of the quarter pipe. This is used for the coping. Glue this coping on to the top edge of the card. Now, cut out a rectangle that will fit...
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to fix a wobbly toilet. Steps:
Ron Paul Republicans take over Nevada GOP
As discussed earlier, there are many ways to view the upcoming solar eclipse, whether it be with actual eclipse glasses, welder's lenses, eclipse-approved filters, or a solar telescope. If you can't get your hands on any of those, the safest way to view the solar eclipse this Sunday, whether it be annular or partial, is with a projection method.
News in a nutshell: US to announce aerial blockade of Syria
Ogilvy & Mather are no amateurs when it comes to Scrabble. They may not play the game, but they sure know how to promote it. The prestigious advertising and marketing agency has created several video commercials for Mattel, not to mention over 60 amazing print adverts that are funny, hip and sometimes salaciously naughty.
With social photography, geo-location and iOS gaming apps on the rise, the latest addition is a hybrid of all three: AppySnap is a social location game that requires participants to complete photography "missions" in order to cash in on prizes and special offers.
When images of a rumored Ikea cookbook surfaced through the blogger grapevine, foodie and graphic design fetishists alike grew ecstatic. The leaked images from the 140 page coffee-table baking book presented pristinely assembled, OCD patterns of ingredients and the resulting desserts for 30 classic Swedish baking recipes. Forsman & Bodenfors, the Swedish agency behind the project took a different approach to the typical organization of the standard baking cookbook.
Matt Reed, a web developer at Nashville interactive ad agency Redpepper, built a massive, real life Facebook Like "button" out of Legos, which lights up whenever someone clicks Like on his Facebook page. The programmer loves LEGOs, and draws an affinity between the legendary building blocks and engineering: "[Legos] are great for prototyping physical objects. I don’t manufacture things, but I do click blocks together. Plus, most things I deal with on a daily basis are pixelized. Legos are som...
World Cup World asks: "How'd North Korean fans get to the game?" Fair and valid question. It's seeming IMPOSSIBLE for any North Korean citizen to get a visa to leave the communist regime (not that they could afford it, anyway) to attend this past week's game. After much initial speculation on whether these fans were the real deal, the mystery has been resolved by multiple news sources.
Steam for Mac lets you Instantly Play Portal Check out this article on Gizmodo about how you can instantly start playing REAL games on your Mac.
Move over NASA— SpaceX is taking over. Well, not really. But today, the privately funded spacecraft company broke all expectations when their Dragon capsule fell to a soft landing in the Pacific Ocean, completing an undoubtedly successful demo flight of nearly two full trips around Earth. It was the first re-entry of a commercial spacecraft ever, bringing commercial space transportation closer to reality.
Sometimes the demos for Apple's ARKit are so good that it almost looks like magic. A recent demo, in particular, shows exactly what kind of magic tricks you can perform using the ARKit.
A large number of the greatest musicians to ever shape the history of sound first learned to play on cheap, dirty, and often times even homemade instruments. There is a very unique atmosphere that comes about when creating music with something made by your own hands—out of what was no more than garbage at the start. There is a sense of accomplishment that inspires the maker, and gives motivation to learn the limits of their creation. Those who have the desire to build an instrument are often ...
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
What would happen if a working disposable camera were to travel from Massachusetts to Hawaii via first-class mail, with explicit instructions for its handlers to take photographs?
Area 51 is the most secretive military base in the United States, a base that U.S. government officials to this day still barely acknowledge because of its top secret development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. But a slew of Cold War-era documents have finally been declassified, and National Geographic has discovered a rather low-tech method the military used to hide its high-tech prototypes.
Kudos to student Tim Wheatley, who came up with this incredibly nifty DIY animation using a bicycle wheel, cardboard cut-outs, and wire to create a magical reinvention of the classic zoetrope, Earth's earliest form of animation (it first surfaced in China around 180 AD!). Simply give it a spin, and the animation comes to life. Inspired to make your own? First, learn the basic principles of the zoetrope here or here. Next, take a little advice from Tim to add the "cyclo" element:
Katie's Pinkachu (Pink Pikachu) Costume and Farmville Costume Contest entry!
