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A study compares LoseIt! with one-on-one nutritional counselling, finding similar results.
The post Study shows health app Lose It! does help patients with weight loss appeared first on iMedicalApps.
via iMedicalApps
Study shows health app Lose It! does help patients with weight loss
If you’re planning on selling a home soon, you might want to consider hiring a professional photographer or improving your photography skills. Doing so could be worth over $10,000.
Brokerage firm Redfin Corp looked at listings to compare those with professional photos versus amateur ones. It found that for homes listed between $200,000 and $1 million, photos taken with a DSLR sold for $3,400 to $11,200 more relative to their list prices. They were also more likely to sell within six months and up to 3 weeks faster than the listings with amateur photos.
Although the analysis was done in 2013, it repeats a previous study the company had done in 2010 with similar results. It might sound obvious that better photos make your home look better, but it’s interesting to know just how much of a difference this one thing can make.
Look Sharp: Professional Listing Photos Sell For More Money – Research Center | Redfin via Apartment Therapy
via Lifehacker
Better Photos Can Sell Your Home Faster, for Thousands of Dollars More
Vornado’s excellent, attractive series of fans blew away the competition to grab the title of best fan.
As you probably expect, Vornado has a fan to fit every need, including:
If you’re not willing to pony up for a Vornado, the Honeywell took a distant second place, and is the #1 best-seller in fans.
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As unnerving as it is to hear, air traffic control has always been pretty piecemeal. Relying on a combination of instrumentation—namely, radar, radios, and GPS—as well as good old fashioned eyeballs, pilots do a pretty good job navigating the sky. But they’re about to get a lot better with a new satellite-based system.
Appropriately named NextGen, the new system being deployed widely this year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) promises to improve every single air traveller’s experience. The key is constant connectivity to precise satellite technology that gives all aircraft and controllers in flight towers access to real-time-data from the time the plane leaves the gate until it arrives at its destination. This means weather problems are more easily spotted and avoided—which is a huge deal since weather causes 70 percent of all delays. Beyond that, the entire air traffic control system is becoming more automated and modernized. The FAA already has a list of NextGen success stories, too.
The NextGen system will get even better as more planes use it, too. “All you need is one aircraft to land and the benefits begin,” said the FAA’s Warren Strickland in a statement. “With connections, the benefits are exponential.” Heck, even an incremental benefit would be nice at this point!
via Gizmodo
Thank God the FAA Is Switching to Satellites for Air Traffic Control
A childhood spent building everything from castles, to spaceships, to monsters is all one really needs to remind themselves why Lego is the ultimate toy for everyone from toddlers to seniors. But check out the trailer for Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary for even more reasons to love all those colorful plastic pieces.
The documentary actually premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, but it’s finally getting a U.S. release on July 31. And even though you probably don’t need much convincing to spend two hours in a theater watching a documentary all about Lego, here’s a clip from the film that the Wall Street Journal posted last year to help further whet your appetite.
via Gizmodo
The trailer for Beyond the Brick reminds us why we love Lego so much
I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with Netflix on my AppleTV and other iOS devices from home. On Apple TV, the most common outcome of launching Netflix was the dreaded “Netflix is currently unavailable” screen. It has gotten so bad that my kids keep asking to just watch Netflix on Roku! Obviously if […]
Visit What’s on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!
via Apple TV Hacks
Disabling IPv6 fixes Netflix and AirPlay issues on Apple TV
Forgot your Master lock combo? Or want some incentive to not use a Master padlock? There’s a website for that.
The video above from Samy Kamar shows how you can crack any Master combination lock within eight tries. It’s a bit long, but here’s Ars Technica’s explanation if you don’t want to sit through the video:
The exploit involves lifting up a locked shackle with one hand while turning the combination dial counterclockwise starting at the number 0 with the other. Before the dial reaches 11, there will be three points where the dial will resist being turned anymore. One of them will be ignored as it is exactly between two whole numbers on the dial. The remaining two locations represent locked positions. Next, an attacker again lifts the locked shackle, this time with less force, while turning the dial clockwise. At some point before a full revolution is completed, the dial will resist being turned. (An attacker can still turn through it but will physically feel the resistance.) This location represents the resistance location. The two locked positions and the one resistance position are then recorded on a Web page that streamlines the exploit.
The page responds with the first digit of the combination and two possible digits for the last digit. By testing which of the possible last digits has more “give,” an attacker can quickly figure out which one is correct. By eliminating the false digit from the Web form, the page will automatically populate the eight possible numbers for the second digit of the combination. Now that the attacker knows the first and last digits and knows the second digit is one of eight possible numbers, the hack is a simple matter of trying each possible combination until the correct one opens the lock.
We’ve previously seen an illustrated guide to cracking a Master lock, but the online tool makes it much easier and in many fewer tries.
Break open any Master Combo Lock in 8 tries or less! | YouTube via Ars Technica
via Lifehacker
This Calculator Helps You Crack Any Master Combination Lock in 8 Tries
Look, we all know that Master combo locks, which go for $4 a pop, are not paragons of security. But damn, this looks easy. In a new video, hacker Samy Kamkar demonstrates a dead simple trick that he claims can break into most Master combo locks in just a few tries.
It’s so easy because Kamkar has done all the hard work for you, reverse-engineering the lock to narrow down the possible combinations to just 8. All you have to do is go to input 3 numbers into Kamkar’s algorithm. Here’s how you get the numbers:
You type in these three numbers, and the algorithm spits out the first and third digits of the combination along with 8 choices for the second. Now it’s just a matter of trying them all. Doesn’t that make you feel great about your high school lock security situation?
Go forth and do no evil. Let us know if this trick works for you.
[h/t Digg]
via Gizmodo
The Trick to Cracking a Master Combo Lock in 8 Tries or Fewer
PixelsPerSecond pokes fun at the problems just about anyone who’s ever tried to do a video conference have encountered, only this time, it’s the fate of the world that depends on a decent broadband connection.
via The Awesomer
Avengers: Age of Technical Difficulties
When you are ready to up your woodworking game, it’s time to start buying wood straight from a distributor instead of the big box retailers. You’ll have a lot more hardwood options to choose from, and you’ll save money in the process.
Visiting a lumber distributor can be an intimidating process for the uninitiated. For starters, the terminology and pricing is different from what you would find at Lowe’s or Home Depot, as well as the sheer amount of wood options in regards to species, grade, thickness, and type of cut. This guide will take you through these options in hopes that your first visit to the lumberyard isn’t your last.
Hardwood thickness is measured in quarters, not inches, when buying from a distributor. A 1-inch thick board is written as 4/4 (stated as “four quarter”), a 2-inch board is written as 8/4 (stated as “eight-quarter”).
Lumber can also be found in less common thicknesses like 5/4, 6/4, 12/4, and 16/4.
Keep in mind that lumber is often pre-milled and then dried, so the board that started out 4/4 inches thick will be closer to 3/4” to 7/8”.
No matter what the actual stated thickness is, you’ll be charged at the max rate being 1″ thick for 4/4 stock and 2″ thick for 8/4 stock. There is no discount because the wood is thinner.
Wood from a distributor is sold by volume which is measured in “board feet”. This makes it easier to determine pricing across hardwoods that are cut at various lengths, widths and thicknesses.
The basic formula is length (in inches) x width (in feet) x thickness (in inches) / 12 = 1 Board Foot (BF). The above illustration from Popular Woodworking visually explains this measurement well.
In case you forget your calculator on your trip to the distributor, keep this tip from the Wood Whisperer in mind: a 4/4 board that’s 6″ wide and 8′ long is 4 board feet. Since many boards are cut to this approximate size, you can easily estimate the board feet on the fly by multiplying your number of 4/4 boards by 4.
A sawmill will cut a log in three main ways that yield lumber with different characteristics: plainsawn, quartersawn, and riftsawn.
Plainsawn is the most common cut you will encounter, yields the most wood per log, and is the least expensive cut. Roughly 90% of lumber is cut plainsawn.
Quartersawn is cut when the wood species and grain is more attractive and is mostly used for tabletops, cabinets, and flooring. Riftsawn is similar to quartersawn but cut at a slightly different angle which shows very uniform lines and like quartersawn is popular for flooring.
You can get deep into lumber grades, which is the amount of usable material in a board. The higher the grade of wood the less imperfections, such as knots, it will have.
FAS and Select boards are the highest grade, followed by #1 Common and #2 Common.
Your wood grade selection will depend on the type of project you are doing. For a general DIY project, you could get away with “cabinet grade” #1 or #2 Common and save a lot of money. If you are building furniture or installing molding, you’ll want to a higher grade of wood.
Rough lumber is rarely straight, so it must undergo a milling process that evens out the thickness and straightens the edges. If you have your own thickness planer and jointer, you can save some money and do it yourself, but a distributor can offer these services for a small fee.
In the video above, The Sawdust Maker shares his recommendations for lumber milling. He does his own milling and states why he feels that’s the best option for him.
If you’re ready to make your first trip, contact your local woodworkers guild or association and ask them for recommendations for distributors and hardwood dealers. Avoid general lumber yards and building supply stores, as they cater more to the commercial construction crowd and will have fewer wood options.
For more information and tips on buying lumber from a distributor, visit the Hardwood Distributors Association and Popular Woodworking.
Photos from Clarkmaxwell, Popular Woodworking, and Core 77.
Workshop is a new blog from Lifehacker all about DY tips, techniques, and projects. Follow us on Twitter here.
via Lifehacker
How to Save Money Buying Lumber from a Distributor Instead of a Retailer