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News: Post-TIFF Micro-Blurbs

Every year the fine folks at Row Three do a post-TIFF mega-wrap up, collecting the micro-blurbs of a bunch of attendees into a giant meta-analysis of what everyone liked, loved, hated, etc. etc.. We'll link to that post when it goes up on the weekend, but in the mean time, here's my contribution:

How To: Eat for Free at DragonCon 2012

If you're like me, you've already spent a ton of money on your costumes, your badge, and your hotel room, and now you're looking for ways to cut costs. There are all kinds of ways to save money at DragonCon, but many of them involve violating the rules in some way, such as not buying a badge, sleeping on the floor in a hallway somewhere, etc. However, the one thing you can do that is totally not against the rules is eat for free. It requires a little self-discipline and a willingness to eat w...

Becoming the Dark Knight: 8 DIYers Show Us How to Build Batman's Belongings

The final chapter of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is here, The Dark Knight Rises, and if you're anything like me, it made you want to immediately don a cowl of your own and run around punching criminals. Don't forget though, one of the most awesome aspects of Batman is his never-ending supply of crazy gadgets. Unfortunately for most of us, we don't have a billion dollars, nor Morgan Freeman, so we'll just have to make do with some good old-fashioned DIY tricks. Read on for a rundown of ...

News: Building-Sized Überorgan Emits Heavenly Music and Farts

Tim Hawkinson is an artist who truly inspires. The Los Angeles based artist creates complex, whimsical sculptures with simple mechanics and basic materials. One of his most notable pieces is the art-world-renowned "Uberorgan", a giant football field sized, fully-automated bagpipe, cleverly constructed with plastic sheeting and pieces of electrical hardware.

News: 18 Easy Exploits to Raise Spellcasting Skills in Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim set off a bang in the video game world this month. It will likely be video game of the year a few times over. Skyrim is another part to a series set in the fantasy world of Tamriel, a world filled with mystical creatures, folklore, and even its own history. It's quite the beatuiful and immersive experience. If you have not picked up the game yet, please do (my fiancée even plays!). Also, make sure to buy it new, so the hard working coders at Bethesda get the money ...

How To: Improve Life by Getting More Done

Sometimes a person can feel life is getting you down - you don't feel productive, or there's not enough hours in a day to do everything you need. You might not feel motivated to get up in the morning or to go to work anymore, and sometimes one might ask oneself "Is this all there is to life?"

How To: Hit a speed bag for boxing

The speed bag helps the boxer work on his eye-hand coordination. While not intended for power, the speed bag is an important aspect of the boxer's training. Learn how to hit a speed bag in this boxing video tutorial.

How To: Do the "Devil's Spin Reverse 12 23 34" pen spin trick

Interested in pen spinning? Want to pick up a few moves? Pen spinning is the skilled movement of a writing instrument or pen with one's hands. It is used as a source of self entertainment (often for students), but there is a great deal of pen spinning culture (competitions, websites, etc.). Watch this pen spinning tutorial video and learn how to perform the "Devil's Spin Reverse 12 23 34" move.

News: Does This Make My Butt Look Big!?

Ok, this prank is an idea I have for part of a comedy film I am writing a treatment for, and it is dedicated to pranks and pranksters!This idea is based on women always, ALWAYS, going nuts over their butts and how big they are! Women are always so self-conscious about their weight and their butts, and always putting guys on the spot asking how they look in clothes and if something makes their butts look big, so this is dedicated to all those women out there!We would need a guy, maybe a cast o...

How To: Survive and Thrive in the Victorian Era

I don't know how many of you had this experience in your youth, but when I was a kid, I used to actively think about what would happen if I suddenly woke up in a fantasy land, or were to pass through a portal into another space and time. I knew it wouldn't really happen, but when you're a kid, these can be important issues to you. So I slept with my glasses on every night, just in case. Photo from George Pal's The Time Machine.

How To: What You Need to Know Before Voting on Facebook's Proposed Policy Changes This Week

A few weeks ago, Facebook published a blog post called "Proposed Updates to our Governing Documents," which outlines a few changes in their policies and user voting system. These changes would essentially take away users' right to vote on future changes to Facebook's data use policy while also taking away Facebook's responsibility to alert users of those changes. If the new policy is enacted, the vote will be replaced with "a system that leads to more meaningful feedback and engagement," what...

How To: Saw logs

Dawn your flannel and grow out your beard, it’s time to do some log cutting. Put good use to unwanted trees or extra lumber by making proper logs. It may seem self explanatory but the correct form will create uniform, crack free logs and keep you with all your fingers.

How To: Organize a home library

How much time have you wasted, wandering around your home trying to find one particular book? Without a good system of organization, finding the book you're looking for can become a hopeless task. Organize your book collection at home by following this tutorial.

How To: Make a handmade beaded hemp necklace

Amy Kline shows us in this arts and crafts series, how to make a hemp beaded necklace. Yes, you’ve seen them around the necks of all of the coolest people in town. Now learn how to make your own with relatively little training or financial outlay. Our expert will show you how to measure the length of your necklace to match your body size, how to anchor the necklace as you’re making it, and two different knotting techniques to create two different designs for your necklace. So the next time yo...

News: Minecraft World's Ultimate Survival Guide, Part 5

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Part 5 in Minecraft World's Ultimate Survival Guide is, for me, the longest article to write. Since I squeezed out a lot of information from other areas to put into survivability, its going to be a fairly long read. Of course, you can just skip to your topic of choice.

How To: Find a Bunch of Easter Eggs for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The latest in the Legend of Zelda series, Skyward Sword, released a few short weeks ago to very little fanfare. I have no idea why that is, because the game is absolutely gorgeous and pretty darn good. Maybe it was the fact that Nintendo forced motion controls in to this one, or maybe it was because everyone is busy playing Skyrim/Modern Warfare 3/Battlefield 3. Whatever the reason, if you even remotely like the Zelda series, give this one a whirl.

How To: Create an Automatic Cobblestone Generator in Minecraft

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. No self-respecting Minecraft house is complete without a state of the art automatic cobblestone generator. But what does the average Minecrafter need with a bunch of cobblestone? To put it simply, sometimes you just need a bunch of blocks. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in the midst of a trap, animal pen, or basement only to find myself short on the second most common block of them all.