Fairly Reasons Search Results

How To: Run a Virtual Computer Within Your Host OS with VirtualBox

With the computer's rapid increases in power and efficiency, computer virtualization has taken the scene by storm. With virtualization software, and powerful enough computer hardware, your computer can run a virtual computer within itself. This effectively gives you multiple OS's on the host OS. This can be used for a lot of cool stuff that your computer would normally be limited by. Let's take a look at a few.

Secure Your Computer, Part 3: Encrypt Your HDD/SSD to Prevent Data Theft

Welcome to Part 3 in my series on protecting your computer from prying eyes (Part 1, Part 2). In today's segment, we will be going over drive encryption using the TrueCrypt program on Windows OS. Drive encryption is a technique that masks your data with a cryptographic function. The encryption header stores the password that you have entered for the archive, which allows the data to be reversed and read from. Encrypted data is safe from anyone who wants to read it, other than people with the ...

News: Nature Makes Jack-O'-Lanterns Way Creepier

I don't know what I've been doing in the past when it comes to carving pumpkins, but usually they last a little while. For some reason, the pumpkins we carved this year lasted only two days before they became almost completely engulfed in mold and pumpkin juice. Maybe our apartment isn't suitable for carved pumpkins. I was hoping they'd last until Halloween, but I got to say these pumpkins are way creepier once nature took its course. You may not see it just yet, but you can see the mold real...

How To: Make a Self-Watering Greenhouse

I've been hell-bent on complete self sufficiency for a long time now. There was a point where I was living in a self-sustaining community in the mountains in Colorado, and we had a very large greenhouse there. Dragging the hose around to water plants was a real pain, and that stuck in the back of my mind even after I left the place. It would have been much easier to integrate watering into the frame at construction time than doing that hose dance every day.

News: Portal Free to Download for a Limited Time!

Portal is game design milestone. Originally only available bundled in with larger cousins Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 in The Orange Box, its creators, Valve Software, changed what first person gameplay could be. It's been a stand alone product for much of the four years since its release, but never an expensive one, usually available for $5 on Steam (also created by Valve). If that barrier to entry was too high for you, or you just never got around to trying it, there are no more excuses....

News: The Epic Danny MacAskill's Greatest Hits

Danny MacAskill has been a cycling and internet god since the day he surfaced on YouTube back in April of 2009. A Scottish street trials pro rider for Inspired Bicycles Ltd., MacAskill has been practicing his stunt riding for over 12 years. He gave up his job as a mechanic to ride full time, and now appears in music videos and commercials.

News: Shadows of the Dammed Trailer

Remember Grindhouse, the Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez homage to B films? Well this game is just like that. It could literally pass off as the third feature in that movie. The action looks clunky, the acting is not the best, but it still looks like a fun ride. It comes out tomorrow (June 21st) and I'll have first impressions ready the next day.

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...

News: Eee Pad Sells Out on First Day—The Biggest iPad Rival to Date?

The iPad has established itself as "the" tablet computer for gadgeteers on the go. But Google is giving Apple a run for their money as Android tablets improve with each new release. Motorola XOOM and Samsung Galaxy are among the top dogs competing against the iPad, along with another from ASUS, which just became available yesterday in the United States—selling out in mere minutes.

News: Scientists Grow World's First DIY Eyeball

DIY is a far-reaching term—though culturally it tends to refer to hacks, mods, crafts and constructions, its meaning can also extend to the ongoing trials and tribulations of the evolution of mankind: astonishing developments in technology, desperate acts of self-preservation or as in today's topic, discoveries in science that truly move the needle.

News: The 5-Second-Rule Is BS, Say Scientists

There's no reason to waste a perfectly good Cheeto just because it dropped on the kitchen floor, right? The "5-second-rule" makes it fair game if you can swipe it up fast enough (this doesn't apply for liquids or foods with floor fuzz stuck to them.) But, is that errant piece of chocolate really safe after it's mixed with the bacteria-laden mud from your shoe?

UPDATE: The Secret Behind Why McDonald's Hamburgers Won't Rot

For some reason, McDonald's hamburgers are mysteriously unsusceptible to Mother Nature's inevitable toll of decomposition. Yep, you pretty much have to dip a McDonald's cheeseburger in acid if you want it to decompose. So we're left with the question: Why? Why does a McDonald's hamburger retain its original shape, color and texture after 12 years?

How To: Ask your Inactive Friends to Delete FarmVille

We all have friends and family who have added the FarmVille application at one point, played it for a while, then for whatever reason decided they didn't want to play it anymore. They may have hidden the feed posts and blocked the game requests, but we still see them on our gift lists and certain features still try to get them involved with posts that go ignored (like pregnant pigs or truffles).

News: Metal Isn't Flammable... Right?

Theo Gray of Gray Matter explains the principle behind sending steel up in flames- as long as it's steel wool, of course. The process is beyond simple. Spend 2 bucks and 2 minutes: purchase a steel wool pad, hold in pliers, light with a match. But the question is, why is steel wool flammable, while other forms of metal are not? Explanation below the video. Theo says:

News: No, It's Not an App. It's a Japanese Soft Drink.

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):

News: Brazil keeps getting away with more than two hands.

If you happened to be watching Brazil vs. Portugal, you might have noticed something weird in keeper Julio Cesar's back after he and Meirelles collided. It was some kind of steel rod support for his injured back. According to FIFA article 4, it's illegal for players to wear any kind of equipment that can be dangerous to the player wearing it or to others. This is the reason players can't wear chains around their necks, or rings in their fingers, since these things can get caught with other pl...

E3 2010: Kinect Workout Game

A demonstration of Ubisoft's Your Shape: Fitness Evolved for the Xbox 360's Kinect. This was probably the best demonstration for Kinect out of the whole conference. The game will come out around the same time of the launch of Kinect in November.

News: 48 HRs to Stop Monsanto! It takes 1 minute. Start Here!

Hi OLers. Take one minute out of your day and tell your congressman to get to work for you and Food Democracy NOW! Your congrassman has until the end of this week (48 hours) to sign the letter to ask Secretary Tom Vilsack to MAINTAIN the ban on Monsanto's genetically-modified (GMO) Roundup Ready™ alfalfa. You have the power to make the change, make your voice and theirs heard now. Send them this letter today asking them to do what they can to protect organics, farmers and the environment from...

News: Unconventional Edit in Mann's "Public Enemies" (DP: Dante Spinotti)

I watched Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" (DP: Dante Spinotti) last night for the first time and was struck by a very unconventional, yet effective (I think), cut. In the opening sequence (video below), Dillinger is driven up to the entrance of a prison and escorted out of the car. The scene is established in a long lens medium wide shot (probably 200mm from 150' away...Note: standard 35mm dimensions, not 2/3"). After a few steps/seconds, it cuts to a wide angle lens closeup (24-2mm from with...

News: Yogi Bear in 3D Dot Heroes

Yogi Bear in 3D Dot Heroes God I loved that cartoon. Who doesn't like that silly bear and his innocent child companion Boo Boo. It was so nice to see Yogi raise the young Boo Boo by himself in an unmarked cave in the privacy of the forest.

News: Winning with 2-Letter Words

When your opponent throws down "AA", you tell them no abbreviations, but alas... it's not. They build "ZA" on the board for 64 points, and you say it's slang, but it's in the dictionary. Next is "EF", and you let them know that spelling out letters is not allowed and ridiculous... but it's totally legit.

How To: Pull a truck

There are a number of unconventional training methods which can be used to improve strength. The truck pull is one of them. When performing this exercise, the speed at which the vehicle can be pulled is very slow. Thus, it is ideal for building strength in the lower body.