David Weiberg handed down his childhood set of Star Trek: original series action figures to his eight-year-old son, and then the two of them built a fantastically detailed, correctly scaled replica of the original Enterprise's bridge to go with them. Read the rest
What a gem was released upon the internet today! This video of Bob Ross: A Walk in the Woods, was Season 1 Episode 1 of his long-running “anyone can paint” television HOWTO show.
Many more tips on Ian Fleggen's classic "Professor Shoelace" site.
When your scorn cannot be contained in the anatomy of a bilaterally symmetrical life-form. Baffle your enemies! Win the admiration of your friends! Improve your manual dexterity! (via Super Punch) Read the rest
Read the restFind a Subject You Care About
Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.
I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way — although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do. Do Not Ramble, Though
I won’t ramble on about that.
Keep It Simple
As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. ‘To be or not to be?’ asks Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long. Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story ‘Eveline’ is just this one: ‘She was tired.’ At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.
Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred.
Ilana is an Israeli makeup artist who loves her Siberian Husky so much she decided to make herself look like her beloved animal companion. Read the rest
AKA, how to win parenting forever. Read the rest
I wanted to make my own dancing cane. All you need is a drill, some magicians thread, and a far lighter cane than mine.
Making a dancing cane is pretty simple. As the video above says, just drill a tiny hole about 1/2" above the balance point of your cane and tie on a piece of high strength, nearly invisible magician's thread. Make a loop on the other end of the thread for your thumb, and let the fun begin.
I tried this on a regular walking cane. It is far too heavy to manipulate without lots of practice, and will bruise or break things when mistakes are made. I suggest making your own from doweling, as suggested in the video.
Making the loop slightly over-sized makes changing hands easier.
The wax that comes with this magician's thread is useful for making other, very light objects dance. Like a dollar bill!
Magic Makers Magician's Wax and Invisible Thread via Amazon Read the rest
Enjoy the edible lo-fi sounds of "Jarabe Tapatío," aka "The Mexican Hat Dance." Over at Instructables, learn how to make your own tortilla record! Read the rest
Imgur user PapJ06 created these interesting Lichtenberg figures by electrocuting wood blocks with a modified microwave transformer, then applying glowing powder and resin. Read the rest
On The Intercept, Micah Lee follows up on his great primer on NSA-proof passwords with a soup-to-nuts tutorial on encrypting your laptop. Read the rest
Mike Harrison has been experimenting with tiny flexible LED filaments found in LED bulbs that mimic incandescent bulbs. He came up with this cool light cube and a very bright clock display. Read the rest
