Month: January 2014

via Gizmodo
Witness the Real Life Apollo 13 Disaster As It Actually Happened

We’ve already tried and tested beer cans to figure out how to stop them from fizzing over when shaken, but what about large soda bottles? According to the King of Random (Grant Thompson), a ninja swipe is all you need.

This is a hard one to explain, so watch the video above to see it in action. Basically, you start with your middle finger(s) on the side of the cap and you jab forward quickly while maintaining pressure. If you don’t stop until you get to your wrist, you’ll cause the cap to rotate enough to fly off the bottle. This fast departure doesn’t cause the soda to explode out, but rather a lot of vapor to release from the top. As a result, you don’t spill sticky liquid all over the place and have a really cool party trick.

Soda Bottle Blaster! | The King of Random

via Lifehacker
Prevent Soda Bottles from Fizzing Over with a Ninja Swipe

(NSFW: Language/Gross) So much went wrong in the news last year that News Be Funny just couldn’t fit all of it in one video. Here’s more news bloopers, including the world’s best infographic, a Ron Burgundy cameo and a rapping weatherman.
via The Awesomer
Best of 2013 News Bloopers 2

As people’s waistlines increase, so does the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Now scientists have a better understanding of exactly what happens in the body that leads up to type 2 diabetes, and what likely causes some of the complications related to the disease. Specifically, scientists have found that in mice, macrophages, a specific type of immune cell, invade the diabetic pancreatic tissue during the early stages of the disease.
via ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
More evidence suggests type 2 diabetes is inflammatory disease

If you don’t want your computer tampered with, or you want to be able to tell if someone’s been fiddling with your gear, a little glittery, shiny nail polish may be the perfect solution. A pair of security researchers presented the idea at the Chaos Communication Congress, and it’s surprisingly effective. Here’s why.

Security researchers Eric Michaud and Ryan Lackey got to thinking about the issue when they started looking over ways to make sure your laptop wasn’t tampered with when you travel with it. Security seals and screws are easy to remove cleanly and reattach by just about anyone, or even break and forge if you have to. The solution? A dab of glitter nail polish. The nail polish effectively creates a randomized pattern that’s only established once it’s set and dry—one that’s easy to apply, look at and memorize (or photograph), and then tell if it’s been altered in some way (or reapplied later to try and mimic the original look).

Other metallic paints, or even crappy stickers, can have the same effect, they say:

Some travelers affix tamper-proof seals over ports or chassis screws. But these seals can in fact be replicated or opened cleanly in minutes by anyone with even minimal training, Michaud and Lackey said. They instead advise borrowing a technique from astronomers called blink comparison. Here’s where the glitter comes in.

The idea is to create a seal that is impossible to copy. Glitter nail polish, once applied, has what effectively is a random pattern. Once painted over screws or onto stickers placed over ports, it is difficult to replicate once broken. However, reapplication of a similar-looking blob (or paint stripe, or crappy sticker) might be enough to fool the human eye. To be sure, the experts recommend taking a picture of the laptop with the seals applied before leaving it alone, taking another photo upon returning and using a software program to shift rapidly between the two images to compare them. Even very small differences – a screw that is in a very slightly different position, or glitter nail polish that has a very slightly different pattern of sparkle – will be evident. Astronomers use this technique to detect small changes in the night sky.

By taking the picture with a cellphone that is kept with you at all times, you can be reasonably sure the original picture hasn’t been tampered with or replaced.

The researchers go on to suggest that a two-factor authentication system using two correctly shot photos of the same glitter in the same pattern could be used to gain or deny access to the system—like a smartphone app that has the original photo on it, and is then used to take a photo of the current state of the glitter before you can log in. It’s unlikely to ever happen, but it would be effective.

In the interim though, if you’re worried someone’s going to crack open your case and modify your system, or you can to seal off your USB or other ports on your laptop, a sticker with a dab of glitter nail polish is just the trick you need to make sure no one’s fiddling with your devices.

Don’t Want Your Laptop Tampered With? Just Add Glitter Nail Polish

via Lifehacker
Use Glitter Nail Polish to Make Your Laptop Tamper-Proof

Dear Lifehacker,
Every now and then I crack my knuckles and sometimes my other joints creak and pop too. I’m not even that old, really! Should I be concerned? Are my noisy joints bad?
Signed,
Creaky

Dear Creaky,
Cracking sounds on your joints can definitely sound—if not feel—alarming. It’s probably happened to all of us, though, whether from cracking knuckles on purpose or just hearing popping sounds when stretching. I talked to a few medical experts to find out what’s going on and whether or not all this noise is a sign of a medical issue. Here’s what they said.

It’s Usually Harmless

The common misconception that cracking your joints will cause arthritis is just that—a misconception. Dr. Levi Harrison, an orthopedic surgeon and the author of The Art of Fitness, says he’s often asked this question. He explains:

Commonly, joints make an audible cracking sound when the joint is stretched or manipulated due to gas inside the joint fluid or synovial fluid. Common gases in the joint are O2 (Oxygen) and N (Nitrogen). When you flex and stretch your fingers in order to "crack your knuckles", the capsule around the joint which contains this gas filled fluid causes the bubbles to burst which causes that sound. The sound may be loud or dull. Often, you have to wait a period of time before the sound can be heard again, if you manipulate the joint. It takes time for the gas bubbles to reform in the joint.

Dr. Michael Haley, owner of Agape Chiropractic, offers a few more insights—and strange medical terms (joint mice? crepitus?!) that describe the issue:

Sometimes the sounds are coming from muscle bellies. Other times they are coming from the deeper joint structures – tendons, ligaments, and discs. Sometimes the sounds aren’t "cracking sounds" at all, but rather, inflammation in the joints that is "squishing around" with movement. These are the noises someone might hear continuously when they turn their heads side to side. Ideally, turning your head does not make any noise. Joint mice may contribute to the sounds. These sounds are collectively usually referred to as "crepitus".

Based on clinical experience, it seems that tension builds up and allows for the joints to "crack" or release. Inactivity seems to increase the need… whereas frequent movement and stretching seems to not only decrease the need, but also even the possibility of of cracking the joints.

An interesting observation is that humans learn to disobey their need for movement. Cats and dogs seem to stretch out their bodies, with an emphasis on their spines, after every period of inactivity. Kids seem to stretch after inactivity too. But adults tend to get up and go about their sedentary days. No wonder their joints crack… or need cracking…

In other words, it’s a good idea to fit more movement into your day, if you’re not already doing so.

When You Might Want to Consult a Doctor

Those assurances aside, there are times cracking joints is more ominous. If you experience any pain with the cracking, it could be a sign of a medical problem. Dr. Harrison says:

Individuals who have painful grinding and creaking joints that started after an injury or trauma to their joints may have arthritis. This is not a good thing. Arthritis occurs when the protective cartilage lining of a joint has been damaged or eroded. This can occur from an injury, age, or an even inflammatory condition like rheumatoid arthritis.

If you have had an injury, for example to your hips or knee and experience significant hip and or knee pain, as well as popping of your joints, you may have arthritis in these areas. I recommend an evaluation by your healthcare practitioner. After an appropriate history and physical exam, they may order the necessary radiographic tests to evaluate the joint. Arthritis is common and pain with creaking and popping in any joint warrants proper evaluation by your doctor.

In the absence of pain, though, you probably don’t have to worry (but can check with your doctor if you’re still anxious about this). Dr. Harrison doesn’t recommend cracking your knuckles, neck, or anything else, but it’s still probably harmless. Consider this research noted by Dr. Amy Baxter, CEO of MMJ Labs (which makes a really cool pain blocker, Buzzy):

One really fun paper was what we call an "n of 1" study – some guy (Dr. DL Unger) decided to only crack one hand his whole life, and see what happened. He then published the result. Bottom line: the cracked knuckle was bigger, but none the worse for wear.

I also asked my sister, a family physician in Arizona, about this, and she said she gets this question a lot—strangely from young teenage patients. Her advice? It’s probably nothing…but if it bothers you, stop cracking your knuckles or neck. So there you go.

Love,
Lifehacker

via Lifehacker
​Is It Bad If I Crack My Knuckles or Other Joints?

If you’ve resolve to learn to code this year, one of our favorite Lifehacker U courses is just starting up: Harvard’s CS50X. It’ll teach you the beginnings of computer programming from the ground up. You can audit it online or even try for a certificate for free. It’s happening now, so if you want to get involved, don’t wait.

Here’s what Harvard has to say about this course:

CS50x is Harvard College’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development. Languages include C, PHP, and JavaScript plus SQL, CSS, and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. As of Fall 2013, the on-campus version of CS50x was Harvard’s second-largest course.

Be sure to check it out soon (since you’ll miss it otherwise) and Lifehacker U for more ways to learn for free.

CS50X: Introduction to Computer Science | Harvard edX via Reddit

via Lifehacker
Learn to Code at Harvard for Free

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via Strobist
50 DIY Projects for Lighting Photographers