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SUBMIT: Holiday-Themed Cell Phone Photo by December 26th. WIN: Silly Photobooth Props

The holidays are here and all of us here at Phone Snap hope you're spending them under a nice warm roof with some yummy food and great company! For this week's Phone Snap challenge, we want you to utilize your cell phone to capture some holiday spirit. Whether it be the gifts under the tree, stockings hanging over the fireplace, Christmas lights outside, or everybody gathered together wearing their favorite holiday sweaters—we'd love for you to share with us!

How To: Find a Dinosaur in Battlefield 3

What started off as a meme, has turned into a near reality. When the E3 trailer for Battlefield 3 was released this summer, it started off with a soldier holding up a dinosaur statue. Obviously, this means that DICE (the developers) should release a DLC pack where you're fighting dinosaurs. This is the next best thing, I guess. DICE, if you're listening, I've got loads of ideas for the dinosaur DLC.

How To: Make a Mini Cannon From a Lighter

I love this project. It involves fire, projectiles, electricity, and is easy to put together from commonly available parts. This mini cannon fires airsoft pellets, is fueled by alcohol, and is made almost entirely from parts found in a standard BBQ lighter. The total cost is under $5. About half of the BBQ lighters out there have a divide in the gas reservoir which makes them not work for this project. In case you have trouble finding a suitable lighter, the exact one I use in this video is a...

SUBMIT: A Photo with a Nostalgic Theme by December 19th. WIN: JOYSTICK-IT Arcade Stick

It is always a bittersweet moment to find yourself looking back on the fond memories that seem to have taken place in the distant past. When your favorite song from 10 years ago comes onto the radio, or when a sudden scent reminds you of the summers you spent as a child—these types of moments tend to trigger the fondest of memories. For this week's challenge, we'd like to see a photo that captures a nostalgic feeling, whether it be your favorite childhood food, meaningful memorabilia you've s...

SUBMIT: Your Best Double Exposure Photo by December 12th. WIN: Paper Pinhole Camera Kit

Using an analog camera to create multiple exposures is a technique that has long been in practice throughout the history of photography. Pressing the shutter button twice will superimpose the exposure of two different images onto the same piece of film. Sometimes done in an artistic manner, sometimes by accident—you never know what you'll get until you develop your roll of film.

News: First MXC. Then Ninja Warrior. And Now… Retro Game Master!

Japanese game shows are legendary for being more extreme (and absurd) than their American counterparts. Chris Farley immortalized the concept in a classic SNL sketch, and MXC and Ninja Warrior have both achieved great success dubbed and subtitled on American television. A big part of their appeal is how demanding they are compared to U.S. game shows. Only a few people have actually won Ninja Warrior in its 23 seasons on the air, and MXC is a constant comedy of failure and pain.

News: X-Men - Shot with Technicolor Cinestyle

I shot this X-Men: First Class Spoof with the new Technicolor CineStyle picture profile (it was a 5d, as well). I had done some initial testing, when the profile first came out, but never shot a real project on it. This X-Men short is my first real world experience with the profile.

News: The World's First Teensy, Weensy 3D Printed Bikini

For the hefty price of $200 and up, you can be the proud owner of the world's first 3D printed bikini. And not just the first bikini, but reportedly the first functional and affordable item of ready-to-wear 3D printed clothing on the market. Created by Continuum Fashion, the N12 3D printed bikini is revolutionary because it addresses the technical challenge of creating flexible "textiles" with 3D printed material. The bikini is made of a material called Nylon 12, which is entirely waterproof.

News: Temporarily Disable Android Lockscreens with DelayedLock App

For those who need security on their Android devices, the standard swipe lock screen just isn't enough, so it's necessary to install applications like GOTO and WidgetLocker to enable either pattern, password or PIN protection. This protection is great overall, but when you're frequently using your smartphone, having to keep unlocking the lock screen becomes quite an annoyance. You could be in a heated text conversation, following directions on a map or compulsively checking the news feed on F...

Classic Commodore 64 Reborn: Get a 2011 PC in Retro Skin

Back in 1982, the Commodore 64 home computer was released by Commodore International for $595 (which would now be close to $1,300). It featured an 8-bit microprocessor, 16-color video microchip, awesome sound chip, parallel and serial capabilities, and a whopping 64 kilobytes of memory, all of which helped make it the best selling home computer from 1983 to 1986. It surpassed anything IBM had out at the time. Its greatest competitors were the Apple II and Atari 8-bits, 400 and 800. And it had...

News: Transform Your Android Home Screen into a 3D Environment with the SPB Shell 3D Launcher App

Fed up with the standard Android home screen, but don't want to root your smartphone? Then a launcher app is what you're looking for. It's nothing new, with past home screen launcher apps like LauncherPro, HelixLauncher and any from ADW Things, which transform your home screen into a customizable experience. But one thing missing from these Android home screen replacements is 3D, something the new SPB Shell 3D app nearly masters.

News: Android App Solves the Unfathomable Mexaminx (Think Rubik's Cube on Steroids)

The Android Megaminxer is mind-bogglingly elaborate, impressively combining multiple geeky mediums to solve an incredibly complex puzzle. ARM, the genius behind the stunt, uses LEGOs (a Mindstorms NXT kit to be exact) to build a robot responsible for the mechanics; they then employ an Android app as the brain, which solves a Rubik's Cube—oh wait, not a simple Rubik's (that would be too easy), but a Megaminx, which is a dodecahedron with 12 faces, each face containing 5 edges. Like the classic...

How To: Ikea Makes Beautiful (Not Quite HowTo) Cooking Videos

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.

How To: Control a Movie Plot with Your Emotions

Not in the mood for a sappy ending? Well, strap in because "Emotional Response Cinema Technology" lets your own body physiology control the movie music, the special effects, and even the movie ending. A collaboration between BioControl Systems, Filmtrip, and the Sonic Arts Research Center at Queen's University Belfast, the technology was recently showcased at the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX, where the newly minted horror film Unsound interacted with the audience through wires connected t...

News: EL Wire Basics

EL Wire is a bit tricky if all you want to do is glow. But there's a lot to know about the technology, as well as helpful information to get you addicted to it. EL Wire is a thin copper wire that gives off a beautiful glow when an electric charge is applied. There are 10 colors of EL Wire, and each wire has it's own unique characteristics. Typically EL Wire is used for safety as well as costuming. It has such a low power point that it can run off as little as watch batteries to make it glow!

Photo of the Day: Meanwhile, in Afghanistan...

From Boston.com's The Big Picture, what a real-life version of the Green Hornet's gas gun might look like. Taken in Afghanistan in February of this year, an Afghan army recruit is pictured shrouded in a cloud of shocking green smoke as he participates in a graduation parade after an oath ceremony at Ghazi military training center—an American effort to strengthen Afghan forces so they can fight against Taliban strongholds.

News: 6 Hours of Sleep Not Enough Say Scientists

Scientists have good and bad news for hard-driving people who boast they need only six hours of sleep a night. The good news is a few may be right: Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco have identified a family with a genetic mutation that causes members to require only six hours sleep a night. The bad news? The gene is vanishingly rare in humans, found in less than 3% of people.