A Pakistani lawyer who represents victims of U.S. drone strikes has been forced to cancel a trip to the United States after the U.S. government failed to grant him a visa. Shahzad Akbar was scheduled to speak later this month at an International Drone Summit in Washington, D.C. Akbar is co-founder of the Pakistani human rights organization, Foundation for Fundamental Rights. He filed the first case in Pakistan on behalf of family members of civilian victims.
Cakes. They're delicious and we eat them at birthdays, weddings, and wakes (that aren't ours). In the splendorous world of culinary creations, there is no comestible that allows for such decorative flexibility as the cake. It can be simple, it can be complex. It can be amazing, it can be disastrous.
Back in 1962, a Zambian teacher vowed that his country would beat America as the first country to put a man on the moon, and then they would go on to Mars. Unfortunately, his dream never came to fruition. The Zambians worked hard though. His "astronauts" rolled down hills in barrels to get used to traveling through space. They practiced walking on their hands, as their leader - Edward Makuka Nkoloso - assured them that was the only way to get around on the moon. "My spacemen are ready, but we...
Here we are at week three of Edit on a Dime, the community for free and inexpensive apps for video, audio and image editing.
Christmas is nearly here and you've run out of your holiday-themed gift tags. What do you do? Got old travel coasters or paint chips lying around the house? Punch a hole through them and thread a string or ribbon through the hole. If you have time to get a little crafty, the possibilities are endless—dig up old Christmas cards, leftover felt, card stock, and ribbons.
This was one of the most difficult achievements for me to get in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Mostly because I was never able to do something horrible enough to warrant a 1000 gold bounty. However, pms00 has a great video tutorial showing the easiest way to get the 'Master Criminal' achievement, which requires you to hold a bounty of at least 1000 gold in all nine cities in Skyrim.
TINTYPE 62 points (12 points without the bingo) Definition: a kind of photograph [n]
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
Remember last month when we introduced you to Trover? Well, now this great little discovery app for iPhone has completed its beta mode and has officially launched in wide release.
What would happen if a working disposable camera were to travel from Massachusetts to Hawaii via first-class mail, with explicit instructions for its handlers to take photographs?
Have you ever felt the desire to reach out and touch a galaxy? Or "feel" those stunning nebulas and planets you see in Hubble photos? As alluring as it sounds, it's safe to say the odds of your whim coming true are nonexistent. You'd have to travel about 6 earth years and spend millions of dollars building your own personal spacecraft to get close enough to actually wave your hand through one of Saturn's rings. But in an attempt to help the blind "see" what they're missing, some semblance of ...
Calling all curious minds—scientists, anthropologists, relentless tourists: Saturday, April 9th, is International Obscura Day, the day to "explore hidden treasures in your hometown," or so says Atlas Obscura, a website dedicated to public curiosities and esoterica. If you're the kind of person who appreciates public oddities every day of the year, tomorrow is icing on the cake. Celebrate Obscura Day in one of hundreds of locales—from Los Angeles to Sydney, from Berlin to Manila.
Owning a smartphone can be costly. But, then again, not owning a smartphone can be costly too! Take, for example, the tale of Sahas Katta, a driver ticketed by police for exceeding the posted speed limit by 15 miles per hour.
What do you get when you take a run-of-the-mill kitchen knife and add a simple synthesizer circuit? Behold, the Syntheslicer! Creator Jonathan M. Guberman writes:
Long Way Round (LWR) is a documentary television series documenting the 19,000 miles (31,000 km) journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York on motorcycles. They traveled eastwards through Europe and Asia, flew to Alaska and continued by road from there to New York.
Think you're more green by going artificial? Think again. The New York Times reports that the most definitive study shows you would have to use your artificial tree for 20 years before it has less impact on the environment than a real tree.
Some update notes that you should take notice to are:Celestian Furniture Yes you read that correctly! Celestian Furniture has come to the Spiral, as well as recipes for furniture from our newest underwater world! Keyboard Shortcuts
From Lifehacker's Tips Box, four short-cuts to life's small problems, urawaza-style: No Iron?
In January of this year, I went to Kuwait with director Fawaz Al-Matrouk to complete photography for the film "To Rest In Peace". We shot the majority of the film in Southern California, duping air force bases, homes, and beaches for authentic Kuwaiti locations. Because traveling was a significant theme for the film, we went to the small, nearly deserted island of Failaka (about 20km off the mainland). Captured by the Iraqi army and deserted by its citizens almost 20 years ago, this island wa...
China's latest futuristic project is a massive "3D Express Coach", a clever project proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co. as a solution to traffic in the extremely overpopulated country.
There is little design artifice to this device. This EMILY (Emergency Integrated Lifesaving LanYard is a $3500 robot-lifeguard purchased for Malibu lifeguards. Remote-controlled and capable of 28 mph, product testing confirms that EMILY just might be smarter than David Hasselhoff and more buoyant than Pamela Anderson.
The medical field has known for some time now that negative pressure (re: suction) can drastically speed up wound recovery time. However, the machines that are currently available are quite expensive, and not an option for third world countries. Enter MIT student Danielle Zurovcik. The doctoral student has created a hand-powered suction-healing system that could completely revolutionize first aid in developing nations. Her device goes for only 3 bucks a pop.
The folks over at Patently Apple have uncovered some very promising looking plans for a future iPhone app called iTravel. iTravel plans to cover ticket-buying, electronic check-in, car rentals, and possibly even Apple designed airport kiosks. Fingers crossed it comes out soon. Apple excels at making dummy-proof, intuitive, easy-as-pie user interfaces, and man, the airline travel process sure could use a little streamlining.
For those of you unfamiliar with Cometbus, I urge you to check out one of the many issues released since 1981 by Mr. Aaron Elliott... better known to his friends (and foes) as "Aaron Cometbus".
Google has caught a lot of flack for various privacy infringements over time. Google Buzz was the latest uproar, when lack of proper prior testing allowed the tool to expose a slew of information users did not necessarily want shared, resulting in massive complaints. A Harvard student even went so far as to file a lawsuit (read more).
Felix Baumgartner plans to leap a record 120,000 feet, breaking four world records. If all goes well, Baumgartner will set records for highest altitude freefall, longest distance freefall, highest manned balloon fight, and fastest speed freefall (he will actually break the sound of speed!).
The hip roll is great if you are looking to target the midsection. This exercise is used to target the oblique muscles, which occupy the sides of the midsection. The job of the obliques is to assist with rotation of the torso, as well as basic abdominal contractions.
The standing side bend is similar to the side crunch exercise. The only difference is that the upper body has to resist gravity in the side crunch exercise. Side bends require weighted resistance to resist gravity, but the movement is virtually the same as the side crunch. This exercise is supposed to target the obliques, but the lateral flexors of the spine (quadratus lumborum) are also involved. The obliques are commonly referred to as "love handles." They are used to assist with rotation o...
This exercise is great for shaping and strengthening the chest muscles. The chest is scientifically named the pectoralis. This muscle is used any time you push a chair up to the table, shut a car door, or push a shopping cart. There are two muscles that make up the pectoralis. They are the pectoralis major and minor. The pectoralis major is always the prime mover during chest exercises.
Gaming with augmented reality just keeps getting cooler and cooler.
We've seen some pretty cool space-related Apple ARKit demos in the past few weeks. One guy literally had the entire solar system rotating around the sun in his bedroom. Now, a recent demo shows that you can get up close and personal with our Earth, watching how it changes as it rotates.
For those who have never traveled abroad, you may not know that different carriers around the world use different bands of frequency to provide service to their customers. This means that a phone bought in the U.S. may be unable to acquire signal from a carrier in Europe.
Traveling can be pretty expensive, but your meals don't have to be. Though hot dogs made in the cheap coffeemaker of your hotel room probably won't be the best dinner ever, you can bet that it'll be oodles cheaper than ordering room service or going to a fancy restaurant.
If you've recently binged out on a can or two of Pringles potato chips, don't throw away those empty containers just yet. After cleaning the insides, you can transform your cylindrical chip canisters into uncooked spaghetti noodles holders, kaleidoscopes, pinhole cameras, sugar shakers, and even hot dog cookers.
When most of us are snowed in, typical activities include movie marathons, hot chocolate, and complaining about being bored. Maybe, if we're feeling ambitious, we'll build a snowman.
According to special relativity, if a twin leaves earth in a high-speed rocket, goes out into space, and then returns to earth, he will return younger than his twin who stays home.
A smartphone is pretty much useless with a dead battery. When you're out and about, it can be hard to find a place to plug in (if you remembered your charger, that is). But this DIY solar panel backpack made by electrical engineer Theodore Protasiewicz will help you use the scorching sun to your advantage and make sure that your gadgets are always ready to go. Theodore started with just a normal backpack, some solar panels, 18 gauge wire, and a USB port and hacked it into a traveling solar ch...
So is it possible to live with only 100 things or less? Blogger David Bruno has created sort of an online meme dare called "100 thing challenge" for people to live on 100 things or less. If you Google "100 thing challenge," you can see how other people who have taken on the challenge have whittled down their personal belongings to just 100 things.
Some think of Google as the ultimate Big Brother, and with good reason. If you use Google (and most of us do), Google potentially has your email history, your complete search history, your travel routes, your interests, and more. Maybe they've even snapped a picture of you out in the real world (via Google Street View).
The agents of empire do not always arrive with warning. When you are besieged, surrounded, and infiltrated, imagination is often your best weapon against the oppressors. If all you have at hand is some duct tape and a disposable camera, fear not, you have the makings of a powerful taser!
