Whether it's because you're too startled from a sudden awakening or you're elbow-deep in cake batter, turning an alarm or timer off on your phone can be annoying. So why not simplify the process by eliminating the need to even touch your phone? With these free apps by Augmente ...more
We've all been there. Channel surfing lazily whilst reclining on the sofa—then all of a sudden, the remote stops working. Out of frustration, you hold the remote up higher, press the buttons harder, or maybe a even give it a good smack hoping that will fix it. Right around thi ...more
Two wonderful, wonderful things converge! Minecraft Forum's rushone2009 introduces the Bladecraft Project, a melding of Blade Runner and Minecraft. The current texture pack and map downloads contain no adventure or goal, just exploring and discovering movie references. Downloa ...more
I have an absolutely wonderful time making projects and writing articles for all of you mad scientists! Today, I will bring you behind the scenes for a look at the workbench, tools, and software that make the Mad Science World possible. Above is my beautiful workbench! My who ...more
A dislocated shoulder results when the head of the humerus pops out of the socket joint. This is not a gradual event, but rather a sudden even where the shoulder moves out of its normal location. Learn how to treat a dislocated shoulder and stay fit in this sports medicine how ...more
My JO was watching The Simpsons on FOX the other day, like she wholeheartedly does every evening, and I joined her, much like I always do— though I must admit, I'm not as obsessed with the cartoon family as much as she is. Just like she isn't as obsessed with SCRABBLE as I am. ...more
Running low on power steering fluid could put you in real danger, causing hard steering, a sudden loss of control to the car and fatal car crashes, but here's a way to steer clear of that situation. Watch this automotive video tutorial to see how to check and add power steeri ...more
It's September 1st, 1859, and the Earth looks more or less like something out of an apocalyptic movie or Sci-Fi novel. All communications have failed, it's so bright outside at midnight that people are getting up and making breakfast, and people all over the world are seeing a ...more
Everyone's been in the following situation. You're sitting there at a nice bar, chatting up a smoking hot member of the opposite sex when all of a sudden they drop this bomb: "Can you engrave on wood in Photoshop?" The next thing you know, the night spirals into blackness and ...more
These days you can get a car tailored with special gangster rims, headlights, and sound systems, but one of the features of a standard car we all take for granted is power windows. Before those, all we had were frustrating crank-up windows that always got stuck if we didn't ad ...more
Have the sniffles? Yes. Does your head hurt? Yes. Coughing? Yes. Could you have influenza? Yes. How do you know the difference? With these symptoms, you could also have a cold. In the US right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that flu season is ...more
It is always a bittersweet moment to find yourself looking back on the fond memories that seem to have taken place in the distant past. When your favorite song from 10 years ago comes onto the radio, or when a sudden scent reminds you of the summers you spent as a child—these ...more
As government officials scramble to contain the new coronavirus outbreak with bans on large gatherings, travel restrictions, and school closures, the rest of us have to worry about how we're going to safely purchase water, toilet paper, groceries, and other household goods dur ...more
It's happened to all iOS users: You're talking to a friend or watching TV, and all of a sudden, you hear "I'm not quite sure what you've said." Apparently, your phone heard something that resembled "Hey, Siri," and activated the assistant. But now, thanks to a new patent from ...more
Firstly, let me say a few quick things: Once built, this is a lazy (one button) way to harvest melons, but this is going to be a complex and lengthy build. This is a skeletal build, so covering things like the wiring is at your own discretion. Some materials can be replaced b ...more
A vulnerability in the design of LiDAR components in driverless cars is far worse than anything we've seen yet outside of the CAN bus sphere — with a potentially deadly consequence if exploited. The hack is also going to be hard to fix, researchers Hocheol Shin, Dohyun Kim, Y ...more
The Nexus 6 came with a hidden kernel module that allowed for double-tap-to-wake functionality, essentially letting you turn your screen on just by tapping it. A simple root app allowed us to activate this feature, which meant we were always two quick taps away from waking our ...more
Once the laughing-stock of the navigation app market, Apple Maps is now a powerful, reliable travel companion. Apple rebuilt the platform from the ground up, placing the app in league with Google Maps. That said, there's always room for improvement, as demonstrated by its impr ...more
There was once a time when everyone scoffed at the turmeric tonic tea sold at the coffee shop I work at. Funny, because as of recently, we seem to be selling out. How can this be explained? Beyoncé must have been spotted buying turmeric beverages on the cover of some celebrity ...more
Potato peels are largely misunderstood creatures. They're shucked away from every mashed potato dish like some icky rag that has no business in your kitchen. PS: Quit it. By ditching the peels, you're not only missing out on fiber and large amounts of potassium (even more than ...more
The HoloLens is the world's first untethered holographic head-mounted computer, which Microsoft has been rather proud of—and they have every reason to be. Of course, as soon as we developers get adjusted to the idea of keeping the scope of our projects inside the bounds of the ...more
Apple released the sixth beta for iOS 11.3 on Friday, March 16. It comes as a surprise, considering the company released the fifth beta only four days ago — an unexpectedly short time between updates. This new beta, much like beta 5, appears to bring minor patches and bug fixe ...more
A new study has found that up to half of people who think they have a penicillin "allergy" can still receive the drug, and other antibiotics with similar structures, without any negative reactions to the meds. Why? Because they're not really allergic, doctors say. In truly pe ...more
Where in the world did it come from? All of a sudden, one day, someone had an infection with flesh-eating bacteria. It captured headlines and worldwide attention because it was such a severe, strange, uncontrollable, and really disgusting condition. We still might not know wh ...more
Our brains do a magnificent amount of work to process visual stimuli, but they aren't difficult to fool. Optical illusions can trick our minds into believing what we're seeing is real, even if it's not—and virtual and mixed reality technologies take advantage of this little lo ...more
There's an adage that says "Every plan, no matter how great, goes out the window as soon as you're punched in the face." While our lives are (hopefully) not violent, that saying can easily translate to our daily living. That punch in the face can come in various forms, mainly ...more
If you're one of the lucky people who received the gift of terrible eyesight from your parents at a young age, chances are you ate an awful lot of carrots growing up. Though carrots are one of the top vision-boosting foods, they don't offer fast results. Rather than risk turn ...more
Hello y'all! I apologize if this question has been solved somewhere else, but I have looked around on Google, Yahoo, and Null Byte and have not been able to find any working solutions. I've been trying to set up my first ever virtualbox guest (Kali Linux 2.0), but I'm having ...more
It took many months of cries from all around the internet—and a particularly large groan from an ex-Lifehacker editor-in-chief—but Apple has not only acknowledged the existence of its iMessage problem, it's promising a fix. Update: Apple has finally fixed the issue by creatin ...more
A new study confirms that antibiotics can prevent surgical intervention if your child's appendix becomes inflamed, potentially saving his or her life. Attached to the large intestine, the appendix is a finger-shaped organ about three to four inches in length. When inflamed by ...more
Joe McKenna died when he was 30 years old. A young married man with his future ahead of him, he was cleaning up the station where he worked as a fireman. Struck by a piece of equipment fallen from a shelf, Joe complained of a sore shoulder. Over the next week, Joe worsened and ...more
Google is working on something so big they had to name it after an entire galaxy: A new operating system that merges Android and Chrome OS into one unified front. Android and Chrome meet to form "Andromeda," which, coincidentally, is a nearby galaxy that is currently on a col ...more
In late 2012, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom made a sudden and controversial change to his social media service when he removed Twitter Card support. This was seen as a move not only against Twitter in their supposed "feud" against competitor Facebook (who bought Instagram earli ...more
Collodion—it's one of those things that you probably never heard of before, but have actually come across many times in life. It's used for all kinds of applications, from photography to special effects, and it even has a few medical uses. So, what exactly is collodion? Photo ...more
Dreaded are the days when you're working on a masterpiece, then all of a sudden, your Windows computer crashes, loses power, or an app just gets up and quits. Well, now there's an app for that. According to MakeUseOf, with an app called AutoSaver, you can automatically save t ...more
The beauty of southern Europe won't protect it from invasions of disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes—in fact, the Mediterranean climate and landscape may be part of the reason the bloodsuckers are expanding there, bringing unique and terrifying diseases in their wake. Arthr ...more
Everyone loves grilled cheese sandwiches! They're delicious, portable, and evoke images of your childhood. They really are the ultimate comfort food. What happens though if you're traveling and get the sudden urge for a grilled cheese, but your hotel has no stove? What if you ...more
So, you're solving your Rubik's Cube, like the speedsolver you are, and all of a sudden... clink, its center cap falls off. What do you do now? Well, this video tutorial will show you how to prevent your Rubiks Cube center caps from popping off. These DIY cubes have never bee ...more
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it. It's one of the more odd stories ...more
Learning to "dig" squash shots out of the corners can be puzzling for beginners. This video shows you how to approach the ball, and how important it is to keep away from the walls when playing shots close to the wall and corner. Squash is a racquet sports game, seemingly sim ...more
Austrian composer Peter Ablinger has created a "speaking" piano. Ablinger digitized a child's voice reciting the Proclamation of the European Environmental Criminal Court to "play" on the piano via MIDI sequencer. Apparently, the computer is connected to the piano, which ana ...more
Using Netcat to backdoor a macOS device has its short-comings. If the compromised Mac goes to sleep, the Netcat background process will occasionally fail to terminate correctly; This leaves Netcat running infinitely in the background and the attacker with no new way into the d ...more
Two new and radically different ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) have burst into the news in the last week, and illustrate the very best of an innovative phenomenon: the commercial tie-in ARG, and the public service ARG. After video games grew beyond "fad phase" and entered the ...more
Besides Wikipedia and teachers (in that order), textbooks are the go-to source of information during our school years. Today, we take a look at what happens when the people writing these voluminous tomes get attacked by a sudden bout of ennui. Forward Fellow Feeling Frisky I ...more
You're in the middle of the fight for your life in your favorite iPhone game when all of a sudden, that critical move you tried to make activates Control Center inadvertently, throwing you completely off track. Instead of fuming, do something about it — block Control Center wh ...more
In general, we never really put much thought into fonts, but they comprise a huge portion of our online experience. A whimsical mood can easily be set by using something like Segoe Script, but switch it up to Sentinel and you've got a more sophisticated feel all of a sudden. ...more
This is a short video to help in identifying a fatwood stump. Fatwood is what happens when a tree dies a sudden death, and the roots continue sending resin to the rest of the tree, which creates resin-rich fire starting fatwood.
I noticed the neon yellow sign at the new location of Pho Bar in Chinatown right away. The sweeping cursive yellow letters spell out "Crazy Rich Broth"; the same phrase printed on the back of servers' shirts. It's the kind of minimalist but colorful design feature that is espe ...more
The still-unfolding story of China's Nreal augmented reality startup continues to develop, with each turn uncovering another unexpected wrinkle. Now, in a new filing with the courts in its legal battle with Magic Leap, the company has revealed a sudden name change, as well as ...more
Everyone loves the beach, but some like driving, too. The best thing is to only drive on the sands where it's legal. And you may need a permit to do beach driving. But driving on the beach is a hoot. Getting stuck in the sand – not so much. Keep moving forward with these tips. ...more
This video will show you how-to crochet a super cool head wrap. These head wraps are all of a sudden really popular so if you get on it, you'll be done making yours while the craze is still hot. If not, at least your ears will still be warm. Crochet a head wrap. Click through ...more
Systm is the Do It Yourself show designed for the common geek who wants to quickly and easily learn how to dive into the latest and hottest tech projects. We will help you avoid pitfalls and get your project up and running fast. Search Systm on WonderHowTo for more DIY episod ...more
When I heard that a man wearing a pink wig and matching PVC dress won the 2010 National Scrabble Championship yesterday, I wasn't that shocked. After all, it was Halloween. But it turns out that it wasn't just a Halloween costume. In fact, it's a way of life for this champion ...more
Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, in the sudden whirlwind that was Pokémon GO, it was hard to go anywhere in public without seeing someone attempting to catch Pokémon. Now, thanks to an upcoming platform called Motive.io, from the Vancouver company of the same name, loca ...more
The tech world was taken by surprise this week with the unexpected unveiling of Snap's augmented reality Spectacles smartglasses. So far, the reaction has been incredibly positive, partly due to the fact that Snap has been underpromising the delivery of AR smartglasses for se ...more
A recent pathogen outbreak in Illinois is just one of many outbreaks of an underappreciated, but serious, viral infection passed from rodents to humans. These hantaviruses have been cropping up more frequently in the last decade or so, giving us more reason to clean out our du ...more
One of the latest home-improvement gadgets out there today, smart lighting, has become more popular as prices come down. That being said, its still quite a penny to shell out. In this article, I'll go through a few of the top products out there today, including the Philips Hue ...more
So, there you are, walking along a mountain range in the beautiful game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, when all of a sudden a vampire attacks you. Oh no! Now you've caught Sanguinare Vampiris, otherwise known as the vampire disease. That's horrible for your goody-two-shoes chara ...more
Most people are familiar with the decline of honeybee colonies around the world. Among other threats, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is eroding the capability of honeybees to maintain their hives and provide their services to human farmers. Not usually discussed as major driv ...more
Squash is a racquet sports game, seemingly similar to tennis, but played on a small indoor court with hollow rubber ball, much small than a tennis ball. Squash is an intense, high impact sport. This squash tutorial demonstrates a squash solo drill: backhand drive. Driving dow ...more