Smart Idea Search Results

News: Hands-Free Steampunk Cell Phone Bracer

Need your hands free, but still want to use your cell phone? Tormented Artifacts has the solution for you, with their Communication Bracer. It's a custom-made leather bracer which fits standard smart phones and covers them with an easy-to-open leather flap so that you don't have to ruin the illusion of your steampunk outfit but still have your phone in easy reach.

News: Foldschool

Foldschool offers free download plans to create 3 different cardboard chairs. Each chair is designed by Swiss-based architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli. Design conscious & cheap, folding-it-yourself is a fun, cheap alternative to a trip to Ikea.

News: Oops, New York Times... Why Is Your PayWall So Easy to Hack?

When the New York Times paywall first went up, there was a whole lot of balking. The idea seemed egregious to most, and the digerati's overwhelming conclusion was that the system would fail. But interestingly enough, there is speculation that the NYT is actually experiencing an increase in their print subscriptions, which according to Business Insider founder Henry Blodgett, is due to users feeling less guilt over buying the print media if, after all, the digital version is no longer free.

How To: Use imageSynth plugin for Photoshop

Developed in conjunction with the smart people at Allegorithmic, the imageSynth plug-in is a powerful ally to Adobe Photoshop for anyone wanting to create seamless tiling textures. The plug-in is simple to use and rewards experimentation. See how to get started using imageSynth for Photoshop in this two part tutorial. Use imageSynth plugin for Photoshop - Part 1 of 2.

News: Building a Bonafide Solar Death Ray Sounds Too Easy

Eric Jacqmain is one smart cookie. Borrowing from the same principles of Archimedes’ mythological death ray, the Indiana teenager used an ordinary fiberglass satellite dish and about 5,800 3/8" mirror tiles to create a solar weapon with the intensity of 5000x normal daylight. The powerful weapon can "melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant."

How To: Auto-Toggle Your Android Device's Wi-Fi On and Off When Near or Away from a Hotspot

Whether it's using precious data or wasting battery power, switching between Wi-Fi and cellular service on your Android device can be a hassle. If your Wi-Fi is off, you may not know about free hotspot networks in the area you're in, leading you to waste network data (which more than likely is not unlimited). If your Wi-Fi is on all of the time, this leads to quicker battery depletion. There are already a few Android apps, like Auto WiFi Toggler, that combat this problem, but they just period...

How To: Choose a Speech or Writing Topic

Whether you're a student, a toastmaster, just writing, or making articles on WonderHowTo, you will have to come up with a topic. The topic should be able to guide you to some of the things you want people to know about. Here are some ways that you can can come up with a topic.

Extreme Frugal Living: Tips For Living In Your Car

Whether you really need to pinch pennies for a long road trip or are really at the end of your rope with your financial and living situation, desperate times call for desperate measures--and sometimes that involves living in your car for an extended period of time. It is certainly not easy, but with the right equipment and know-how, making your car your abode is certainly possible if you make the continuous effort to keep things clean, be smart about where you park your car and avoid arousing...

Filter Photography Challenge: Los Angeles and Portland Shots

Ok. My Cell Phone isn't cool like everyone else's. I still wanted to post up some images though. These are my attempts to make something look like it was taken using a filter app for a smart phone. These were inspired by the picture Swell of the Frank Gehry concert hall in downtown LA that was in the post on 50 amazing shots taken using instagram. I had some pictures of it that I thought were pretty cool. So there's two of them here and then a another downtown artsy pictures of Los Angeles, a...

News: Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop: Mob Traps

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Long ago some smart folks figured out how to make water, lava, and some blocks do the mob killing for them. More recently, with the addition of redstone, these mechanisms for resource collection have gotten rather complex.

News: 41 Inches Tall and Completely Street Legal

Perry Watkins' clownish mini car, "The Wind Up", is officially the world's smallest street legal vehicle, standing at 41 inches high, 51 inches long and 26 inches wide. The wind up mechanism is purely cosmetic; the car operates as a regular-sized car does, with a tiny engine that can go up to 60kph (37mph).

How To: Patent an Idea (Creating and Selling Your Concepts)

Want to know how to patent an idea, but you just don't know how to go about doing it? It doesn't take a lot of money to get a provisional patent. The real thing you want to know is the process of taking an idea that you have all the way up to getting it patent. I will take you through each step from the beginning when you have that great idea all the way to getting your invention marketed.You Need an Idea (Obviously)Your idea doesn't have to be earth changing. It just needs to be something pe...

How To: Make an animated movie

Hey, want to make an animated movie, but you don't know how to start? First of all, you need a good idea. Good ideas are hard to find, but you could always steal one from someone more talented than you. Found a good idea? Very good. Now take good care of it, over time that idea will turn into a story almost by itself.

News: FakeTV Keeps Burglars Away by Mimicking Television Light and Scene Changes

In the last decade, burglary rates in the United States have fluctuated little with over 2 million burglaries each year. In 2009, nearly three quarters of all burglaries were from residential properties, with over sixty percent being forcible entry. But we all know burglars don't like confrontation—they prefer breaking into apartments and houses when its owners are away. And that's why it's a must for apartment dwellers and homeowners to be on the defensive, even when they're not home.

How To: Improve reading for people with low vision issues

Low vision therapist Diane Michels share tips on how to improve what you can see for people with low vision challenges. Ideas like improving lighting by using lighter lampshades or dusting light bulbs, shields for your computer monitor to reduce glare, and contrasting colors for up close work are among the ideas shared. Improve reading for people with low vision issues.

How To: Use Smart Shapes in Fireworks 8

With Smart Shapes you can easily create complex objects like arrows, stars, rounded rectangle, and even 3-dimensional objects with click and drag ease. In this Fireworks 8 video tutorial you will learn how to use smart shapes. Make sure to hit "play tutorial" in the top left corner of the video to start the video. There is no sound, so you'll need to watch the pop-up directions. Use Smart Shapes in Fireworks 8.

News: Welcome to Party Time!

With New Years Eve parties on all of our minds, I though it only fitting to launch an all-things-party world. After all, who doesn't like a good party? This will be a place to share party ideas--from baby showers and first birthday party ideas, to frat parties, bachelor parties, weddings.

How To: Even 8 More DIY Gift-Wrapping Ideas for Christmas Presents

Want to wrap your Christmas gifts in a memorable way? Give your gift recipient a DIY super-secret book safe, and while you are at it, hide a small gift inside the the secret safe. Or, if you plan on giving a gift card, create a snow globe out of a mason jar and water and glitter, and insert the gift card at the bottom of the jar so that it is held upright by superglue.