Your attic is the most critical area of your house to be adequately insulated in order to keep you toasty warm in winter and cool as a cucumber in the summer. Since heat rises, a poorly insulated attic allows valuable heat from the living space of your house to escape during t ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to put a deck over a concrete step. Steps: 1. Cut PVC trim boards to wrap around stoop using circular saw. 2. Counterbore holes in PVC trim with ½-inch-diameter spade bit. 3. Apply foam adhesive to back of trim. 4. Run bead of ...more
If things are getting a bit stuffy at your desk, don’t fret. A cool breeze is just a USB slot away. Watch this video to learn how to make a USB fan. Step 1. Retrieve computer fan Look online or at your local computer-repair shop for a plastic computer-cooling fan. Or, disman ...more
In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple yet effective way of scaring off intruders. Of course, there are methods around this approach, but it's great for office pranks and general fun. The project requires a little background knowledge in electronics and circuitr ...more
Computer viruses are terrifying. They are undetectable, dangerous, and operate constantly right under your nose. For the average computer user, there are only a few repair options. You could buy expensive antivirus software that causes more problems than it fixes, you can wipe ...more
If you don't smoke, your car's ashtray is probably either unused or, if you're like me, full of loose change. And if your car is older, unless you've installed one, it probably doesn't have a place for you to plug in your phone. This quick hack by Jalopnik's Jason Torchinsky w ...more
For some reason, there's only ever one person in a group of friends that has a cooler. Every time there is a hangout or BBQ, that friend is called and has to lug his expensive, huge plastic cooler around for everyone. Not really fair, is it? What if you want to have a private ...more
So after being teased last Christmas with an email promising that the Meta 2 was shipping, nearly a year later, we finally have one of the units that we ordered. Without a moment's hesitation, I tore the package open, set the device up, and started working with it. To me, the ...more
This is a very exciting time for mixed reality developers and fans alike. In 2017, we have seen a constant stream of new hardware and software releases hitting the virtual shelves. And while most of them have been in the form of developer kits, they bring with them hope and th ...more
In our first part on software-defined radio and signals intelligence, we learned how to set up a radio listening station to find and decode hidden radio signals — just like the hackers who triggered the emergency siren system in Dallas, Texas, probably did. Now that we can hea ...more
When temperatures drop and hit new lows during the cold, winter months, it's hard not to crank the heat up. That means increased energy bills each month, no matter if you rely on gas, electric, or another fuel for heating. Instead of resorting to blankets, coats, and layers u ...more
This homemade hairspray-powered PVC rocket takes less than an hour to construct and only costs about 20 dollars to make. Check out my video below for the step-by-step instructions on building your own backyard rocket, and follow the written guide below for reference. Video: . ...more
Wall framing. How to frame a wall. Whether you're re-sheeting an old wall or building a new timber frame wall, before you install the plasterboard or drywall, take the opportunity to have a really good think about what services or insulation qualities you might want to have in ...more
Even though most phones don't have Oreo yet, Google has released Android 9.0 Pie. It's available on Google's own Pixel devices, and updates should soon be available to partnered devices from Essential, Nokia, Oppo, Sony, Vivo, and Xiaomi. We're already digging into it to highl ...more
I obviously do a lot of Steampunk projects, but there are a ton of things out there that I haven't tried yet. So, in an effort to broaden my horizons, I recently taught myself how to use Arduinos, which I plan to incorporate into some of my future Steampunk builds. Since ther ...more