Charlie, Willy Wonka and Grandpa Joe's soul-stirring ride in the Wonkavator (Wonka's glass-bottomed elevator) was one of the most magical moments of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you can't recall, here's the scene (ride begins at 3:15): Wonka: An elevator can only go up and down, but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways...
Every day of the week, WonderHowTo curators are hard at work, scouring the web for the greatest and most inspiring how-to videos. Every Friday, we'll highlight our favorite finds.
Nine-year-old Azura of Middle Road, Worcester (England) inadvertently pranked her whole neighborhood (and whoever else happened to be browsing the area on Google Street View) when she dropped "dead" to the pavement.
Shiny, pretty touchscreen vending machines have finally gone mainstream in Japan. My only question is... what's taken so long? The vending machine business can be quite lucrative (location, location, location), so all the more reason to make the interface as aesthetically appealing and user friendly as the iPhone AND as smart as a robot (read below). Features (translation via YouTube):
A tomato and basil salad sounds like a simple delight, right? It is, and the only thing that can make it even better is a mousse with a delicious blend of mascarpone and bleu cheese. Eric Brennan, Executive Chef at Post 390, created a tower of garden-fresh tomatoes with layers of basil and a decadent and creamy mascarpone-bleu cheese mousse. No slaving over a hot stove here and a real crowd pleaser.
We all remember the controversy of SCRABBLE Trickster back in April. SCRABBLE + Mattel + Proper Nouns = BLASPHEMY!
This is probably the funniest video I've seen this year, they really don't hold anything back. Things you'll see in the video, based on real events:
This weekend in a jungle estuary, the DEA and local Ecuadorian police seized a prototype narco sub that may be the most sophisticated one yet. Complete with air conditioning and periscope, this 100 foot creation would have carried a more cocaine tonnage than any previously captured narco sub. To give you a perspective on the resourcefulness of these outlaws, consider this. A U.S. Navy Virginia Class attack submarine will run around $2.8 billion. But a drug lord in Cartagena would make you one...
Oscar the cat is one lucky feline. After losing his two hind legs in a combine harvester, his loving owners had Oscar outfitted with two prosthetic paws, or metallic pegs to be more specific. This revolutionary veterinary procedure is nothing to scoff at - biomedical engineering experts and a neuro-orthopedic surgeon were both called in to create the world's first bionic cat. Via BBC:
Love folk art but could do without the folk? Prepare to have your heart stolen by a self-folding origami automaton.
DRUM! Magazine — the leading magazine for drummers and percussionists worldwide — has announced the biggest drumming event ever to take place in Northern California. On Friday, August 13, drummers will descend on the San Jose Repertory Theatre in the heart of Silicon Valley to witness three of the world’s most exciting drummers — extreme drumming sensation Marco Minnemann, Tower Of Power funk master David Garibaldi, and former Mars Volta wunderkind Thomas Pridgen — for an evening of mind-blow...
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.
This article aggregates a lot of things that have been said about the World Cup experience this year (South Africa's infrastructure, low scoring games, uninteresting first round match-ups, etc). I've noticed in a few broadcasts that upper seating areas are not filled to capacity and maybe the vuvuzelas make up for this. I think this will change once the Knock-out stages begin, but Nick Webster has a point:
The contenders: PS3: Singstar Dance
25-year-old Chen Jinmiao of rural China dreamt of one day owning his own Lamborghini. But the truth is, it was highly unlikely he would ever be able to afford one. The lorry driver then undertook an impossibly difficult project- figuring out how to build a replica for considerably less cash. A year and approximately $3,000 later, he achieved his goal.
Creepy crawlers. I'd say I'm not an extremely girly-girl. But (much to my embarrassment) bugs still have the capacity to make me shriek. Solution? A new study suggests that augmented reality could be used to cure cockroach phobia.
Via WonderHowTo World, LoadSave: Rock Band 3, coming this Fall, was revealed at none other than USA Today. Fully functional 25 key keyboard, 80+ songs including The Doors and Bohemian Rhapsody, Pro mode, updated guitars, and a kitchen sink are included in this new sequel. USA Today:
By Camilla Cicconetti
The Illusion Contest of the Year recently announced their top ten finalists, and the overwhelming crowd and jury favorite is Impossible Motion: Magnet-like Slopes by Koukichi Sugihara of the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences in Japan.
A British prisoner was recently caught with a tattoo gun rigged from a Sony Playstation. The crafty D.I.Y.er broke down the Playstation and attached the console motor to a finely sharpened ballpoint pen.
LEGO Technic builder Peer (Mahjqa) Kreuger has constructed the incredible Stilzkin Bridge Launcher, a vehicle modeled after real life ALVBs (Armoured vehicle-launched bridge).
As silly as it may seem, Loews Resort's annual dog surf competition is indeed real. These pups aren't just props on a surfboard, they actually DO ride waves.
New Mexico native Amelia Coulter grew up amongst the rich creative community and natural beauty of Santa Fe. After attending SUNY Purchase as a sculpture major, Amelia settled in Brooklyn and decided to merge her love of patterns, architecture and design with her passion for food. Thus SUGARBUILT was born. Amelia seeks out the best ingredients available to create wonderful and unusual recipes. Starting with the basics of a tasty sugar cookie dough and royal icing, she transforms the classic c...
IslandGirlzJewelry over on Etsy has transformed ordinary SCRABBLE tiles into elaborate jewelery that both SCRABBLE fans and Avatar fans will appreciate. If you're the crafty type, I'm sure you could use this as an example to create your own earrings or bracelets using some old SCRABBLE tiles. If not, you could always just buy theirs. But it seems like all the fun is in doing it yourself!
Researchers Hiroto Tanaka and Isao Shimoyama (of Harvard University and University of Tokyo) have constructed a tiny replica of the swallowtail butterfly. The crudely made model uses just balsa wood, rubber bands, and a steel wire crank. The goal is to better understand the biomechanics of butterfly flight. Via Wired,
We've seen several examples of light graffiti on WonderHowTo (1, 2, 3), but this one is truly eerily beautiful. Australian photographer Denis Smith pushes the envelope with his project Ball of Light.
Centerfold Hope Dworaczyk Will Jump Off Page Via AP
David Wang of the iPhone Dev Team has achieved what is considered quite a jaw-dropping hacking feat. Yesterday Wang posted a video of Google's Android operating system up and running on an iPhone. Via CNET:
Progression, isn't it great? It used to be that video games only rewarded you with game scores. The satisfaction was always at the end, and all that mattered was getting there.
The Apple iPad hits the streets today and fans have been lining up to purchase the much hyped product since last night (and for some, even earlier - see 5th video below).
Gardening is difficult, in the best of times. I was very inspired by this post from You Grow Girl about how she's not a perfect gardener, either, and no one is. Truth is, I forget to water, forget to trim, and am terrible at weeding. I don't even feed the compost properly. Nevertheless, I keep trying, and I'm amazed when the plants actually show up and flower.
SCRABBLE is taking the world by storm. It's everywhere. You can play it on Facebook, iPhone, iPod, Nintendo DS, PSP, mobile phones... you name it, it's there. And you can even gamble online, like with SCRABBLE Cubes on WorldWinner.
MacGyver. How can he not be a WonderHowTo hero?
Facebook games have become a worldwide, web-wide addiction. Just take a look at all the tutorials on WonderHowTo alone. For most of us it's just fun and games (literally), but some have an addiction that merits the attention of the (perhaps officious) Dr. Phil. In a recent episode, Trends for 2010: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Dr. Phil takes on a mother with a serious Farmville addiction.
IP Hider masks the real IP of a user, allowing him to browse all kind of pages without ever worrying that the ISPs or any other marketing tool is monitoring your surfing habits or spammers are attacking your computer. The simplest way to do this is to have traffic redirected through anonymous proxies.
Checkout this helpful interactive tutorial for learning acoustic or electric guitar. See how to learn chords for acoustic and electric guitars. The Guitar Chords section allows you to choose between electric or acoustic guitar, find any number of chords and hear them played on the virtual guitar.
This ten-part video tutorial series covers all the new features and uses of Fireworks CS4. This is a great introduction to any user new to Fireworks in general, or wanting to learn what changes have happened from Fireworks CS3 to CS4.
Need practice tips for your monologue? Learn how to tap into your real emotions on stage in this free video clip from a professional theater director. Rehearse for monologues - Part 1 of 15.
We all know the stress that a ringing phone causes these days. Should you pick up that unrecognizable number? More often than not, it's a bad decision. You hear the automated message and hang up. Or worse, a real human asks you about your day before trying to sell you something.
Something entirely new for many people is where the future of navigation is headed — gestures. Gesture navigation not only gives you more screen real estate, but it allows for a seamless experience without needing to lift your finger as much. OnePlus knows you want to tap less and do more, so they added a quick camera gesture you should be aware of to make your experience that much better.
