Basically Competing Search Results

How To: Remove Those Annoying Image Previews on the Updated Twitter Apps for Android & iPhone

Twitter is now forcing you to look at pictures that you might now even want to look at with their newly implemented Image Preview feature, which automatically displays image and Vine video thumbnails directly in your timeline on the updated Android and iPhone apps. That photo of your friend's baby that you don't want to see? It's there.That video of a stupid cat doing something stupid? That's also there.

How To: Use Background Noise to Stop Procrastinating and Increase Your Creative Productivity

Have you ever tried to do work in a completely silent room? Not only is it nearly impossible, but it also makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. The headline might seem counterintuitive, but it really does work. Background noise is a friend to those looking to concentrate. Music is usually my go-to when I am trying to get a bunch of work done and want to be super productive. It's kind of like a poor man's Adderall. But many people, myself included, can become distracted by lyrics, esp...

How To: Keyless Entry Remote Not Working? Try This Quick Fix Before Buying a New One

Most cars made in the last ten or fifteen years can be unlocked with a keyless remote, and once you get used to them, unlocking your car with a traditional key feels like a pain. The most common reason they stop working is just because the battery needs replacing, but when they're broken for real, a new one can cost a small fortune. So before you go out and buy one, try this quick fix that worked for Redditor diggalator, and cost absolutely nothing. Basically, he pried the remote apart and to...

How To: Use Internet Explorer? Install the Latest Version to Avoid the Newest Zero-Day Exploit

If you're one of the people who make up the nearly 24% of Internet users on Internet Explorer, now is a good time to click on 'Check for updates.' Researchers have found yet another Metasploit Zero-Day exploit that leaves IE 7, 8, and 9 vulnerable for Windows users. Brought to us by the same group as the Java 7 exploit a few weeks ago, this one uses a malicious site to install the Poison Ivy backdoor trojan while unsuspecting users browse. Once installed, it basically gives the attacker the s...

News: Solar Bag Lets You Fashionably Purify Water On-the-Go Using UV Rays

Water purifiers are already portable, but not as portable as this crazy invention. Created by Marcus Triest and Ryan Lynch, the Solar Bag can be worn like a shoulder bag and holds up to 2.5 gallons of water. In a feat of ingenuity, the bag is designed to use sunlight to purify the stored water, allowing you to filter drinking water on the go. The bag is made from two layers of polyethylene—a clear, high-clarity layer on the outside and a black layer on the inside. The top layer allows the max...

How To: Take the Perfect Nap

When that midday fatigue starts hitting you, sometimes the best solution is to just give in to sleep and nap it off. But how long should you sleep? Nap for too long and you often wake up feeling even worse than before, and it could be hours before you finally feel fully awake. Australian researchers conducted a study that back up this idea. They found that not only is a very short nap perfectly fine for recharging your brain, but that longer sleep sessions can cause a period of impaired alert...

News: The Crash Test Dummy

Simple as the title, someone will particpate as a crash test dummy. The funny part of course the prank is the "particpate" will not know he is a crash test dummy. Its kinda like the prank that was pulled on Ryan Dunn in the addtional footage in the DVD of Jackass Number Two where an airbag was suppose to go off in his face. Well i hust thought of the same concept but add a 30 or if you want to go crazy, 40 mph crash into wall or whatever it may be. You would tell the person being pranked that...

News: 10 Peculiar Game Rules for Competitive Scrabble Tournaments

The 2011 Toronto International Scrabble Open (TOSI) took place last weekend, with former World Champion Adam Logan beating out all of the human competition for the $3,000 grand prize. But when it came time to take on the Quackle program in the Human vs. Computer Showdown, he lost his first two games and won the last two, ultimately losing with a measly 28-point differential of the combined total scores. But he still came out three grand happier.

News: office chair jousting

Basically go into a random office in a random building somewhere. Walk into a office where people are working and Have two guys dressed up in medevil jousting gear sitting in office chairs being pushed really into each other:) And hopefully shocking people, making them laugh or really pissing them off.

News: A New Ink & Paint!

Ink & Paint was originally intended to provide a place for the sharing of graffiti and street art related news and the spreading of the street art culture. However in recent months I have noticed a distinct lack of "lowbrow" art in the WHT community. Don't get me wrong though, I'm a HUGE nerd. I love null byte, I love the Minecraft world, and all the tech posts that are becoming increasingly more common. It's awesome. However the nerd in me and the artist in me both want to see more comics, s...

News: The Amendments

How many of you know all the amendments of the Constitution? Do you even know how many there are?? Well, many of the people I speak to don't. And let me tell you, that's a bad thing. Knowing even the basics of the Amendments can have a profound effect in your lives. Ever got pulled over by a cop? Did you know you can deny his request to search your car (unless he sees something 'suspicious')? If you own a gun, you sure know about the Second Amendment. Here's a neat one: a public phone booth i...

Master the Power: How to Shock People with Your Fingertips

In this article, I'll be showing you how to make a simple yet effective static electricity generator. Basically, this device allows you to carry a constant static charge on your body and discharge it on anything grounded or of opposite polarity. The electricity generated is around 8-10 kV, at a very low current. The shock is enough to startle your friends, just like a static shock from a trampoline or carpeted room. You'll need a little experience in soldering and circuit design to build the ...

Xbox LIVE Achievement: How to Earn Free Microsoft Points with Social Engineering

Sometimes, paying for the whole Xbox LIVE service might seem like a waste of money. You're constantly experiencing lag, you've got people modding and cheating, kids are being loud and obnoxious over the mic, and your kill-to-death ratio is getting dumped on. Basically, the whole multiplayer experience just isn't cutting it anymore—you want to go back to the classic world of single player. Well, there's always downloadable content—simply known as DLC.

How To: Send SMS Messages with Python

In this article, I'll show you how to send SMS messages with Python. You'll need Python 2.7 or later, urllib and urllib2. The code basically uses an online text messaging service to "POST" html data, as if a person was entering the data themselves. The uses for something like this are unlimited. For example, I modified the basic code so I would receive a text message letting me know every time someone rang my doorbell. The program could interface with Arduino through a serial port, and send d...

How To: Encrypt And Decrypt Text In Python

In this article, I'll show you how to create a simplistic AES python based text encryptor. You'll need python 2.7 and PyCrypto (found here). The code is fairly simple, a user enters an encryption key (which basically tells the program how to scramble the text, using an algorithm), then the text to be encrypted. The program takes the key and text and inputs it into the "cryptograph" or code-based algorithm from PyCrypto. PyCrypto can use 16, 24, or 36 character encryption keys, but for the sak...

News: 5 Bourbon-Spiked Christmas Cookie Recipes

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without cookies. Besides the gifts, it's the one thing that keeps the family (not to mention Santa) coming back each year. As with any family gathering, there's bound to be some chaos this holiday season, but as long as you've got a good supply of Christmas cookies, there should be peace and harmony.

Scrabble Challenge #18: Can You Win at Scrabble Rack Attack?

As touched upon in the past, knowing all of the possible words you can play is key to being a better Scrabble player. If you don't have the vocabulary, then you can't compete against the best of the best, and you'll never even get the chance to spar against professionals such as Nigel Richards, Joe Edley, Andrew Fisher, and Wayne Kelly.

Scrabble Challenge #9: Can You Win the Losing Game on the Last Move?

The end game is a very important aspect of playing Scrabble. If you have just a few letters left on your rack and there are none left in the draw bag, but you're currently losing the game, you still might have a chance to win if you play your cards (er… tiles) right. No matter if you're playing a casual game at home with a friend or competing against diehards in club or tournament games, the scoring process at the end provides the same results.

News: Scrabble Showdown Game Show a Disgrace to Competitive Scrabblers Everywhere

Scrabble has invaded just about every medium out there. It started as a mere board game, but has since spawned numerous board game spinoffs and variations, an electronic version, mobile apps for just about anything (Android, iPhone, iPhone, iPad and Kindle), games for both PC and Facebook, and video games for handheld consoles like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Heck, it's even on the PlayStation and Xbox 360 gaming consoles. And it hasn't forgotten about film. You can see Scrabble featured in...

News: HP TouchPad Tablet Discontinued – Get One Now for Just $100

In a recent announcement, Hewlett-Packard announced that they're considering spinning off their PC hardware business, but even more recent was the decision to completely off webOS devices. Though they aren't eradicating the once popular Palm platform altogether, they are liquidating all of their HP branded smartphones and tablets in a fire sale, including the Pixi, Pre and Veer phones and TouchPad tablet, which is less than two months old.

Jonathan's Starbucks Card: A Social Experiment in Sharing Ends

Last month, mobile application consultant Jonathan Stark unleashed his Starbucks Card to the public as an "experiment in social sharing of physical goods using digital currency on mobile phones." Basically, he purchased a Starbucks Card and registered it via the Starbucks Mobile App for iPhone (there's an Android one, too) which allows caffeine addicts to pay for coffee and baked goods with their mobile device. He then took a screenshot of the barcode and let anyone on the web download it for...

News: PixelProspector Returns in Style with 75 Free Indie Games in 5 Minutes

After a decent amount of downtime, one of the best indie game sites on the internet has finally relaunched! PixelProspector is a one-man gaming blog and YouTube channel devoted to the weird and beautiful world of indie games. In the first half of 2010, it received a huge boost in popularity from its video 235 Free Indie Games in 10 Minutes, a hypnotic montage of the best indie games the site had to offer at that point. And to celebrate the relaunch of the blog, which now has an improved desig...

News: The Perfect Hack for Enabling NFC Credit Card Payments on Your iPhone 4

Remember the good ol' days when you actually had to swipe your credit or debit card to make a payment at the store? Now all it takes is a flick of the wrist to purchase goods with your card, thanks to RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology from Chase (blink), Visa (payWave) and MasterCard (PayPass). But soon "contactless" payments will be made by an entirely different beast—NFC, which stands for near field communication.

News: Revolutionary "Light Field Camera" Lets You Focus After the Picture Is Taken

Focusing has always been a problem with photographers, and even with today's digital cameras it's not easy. The most obvious problem is trying to accurately focus on the subject before exposure. Next, you have to choose the correct aperture size in relation to the depth of field, and make sure you're using the correct exposure. Then there's lens aberrations, where a certain ray of light does not converge to a single focal point in the desired image, resulting in some light leaking away from t...