Fun on the Web

#composting Worms can compost kitchen scraps and shredded paper much faster than the aerobic compost process utilized in most commercial backyard compost bins. A vermicomposting (worm composting) bin can be built with a couple of stackable totes, a small piece of window screen, and a drill. More »

#taxes If you get a tax refund most years it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking of that refund as a windfall and blowing it on stuff you don't need. Instead use that money to kill a debt, bulk up your emergency fund, or invest in your future. More »

• I'd really like to start developing games for Android, but I don't know a thing about coding. I'm simply an artist/graphic designer who has some ideas. Do you know where or how I can get started?
• Is there a way to post something of Facebook, but not allow anybody to make comments?
• Should one always believe the Internet blindly? The Internet is huge and is filled with all sorts of information, So, is it always right? Can I, as a reader, rely on it?
• I'm thinking of using my shop vac to suck up small landscaping stones for reuse elsewhere; the stones aren't that heavy- my leafblower can move them. Would it survive this kind of use?
• Is it better to centralize all of my online accounts/aliases with a service like Google and then use something like a Chromebook for my work outside of the house, or to decentralize all of my online accounts/aliases across multiple service and use something else outside of the house?
• I've been getting into genealogy lately, and I'm trying to do it for free, so I am avoiding sites like ancestry.com at all costs. Any tips on free resources?
• While in the grocery store the other day, I noticed several varieties of cooking sprays claiming to be olive oil based. Are these sprays legitimate, or am I just better off smearing a dollop of olive oil in my pan or using a spray bottle loaded with plain olive oil?
• Can anyone recommend a good scanner to digitizing your own books? Short of chopping your books up and scanning the pages, all I've been able to find is some insanely priced archival equipment for libraries (in the $70,000 price range!). Surely there's something out there more practical for home use.
• I am interested in finding traditional music from Japan, Korea and China. I am not interested in pop or rock, but either traditional instrumental or traditional with vocals. Any suggestions?
• I can code just fine, but when it comes to creating images I suck. Besides hiring a graphics designer, I was wondering what most developer use to create image, such as icons, custom buttons, backgrounds for 2d games, etc?

More »

#downloads Android/iPhone and Windows/Mac: Many Flash-based games would work better with a retro controller than a keyboard and mouse. The free app WanderPlayer turns your iPhone or Android phone into a controller that already works with 100 popular web games right now with more on the way. More »

#weekendproject If you enjoy spending time in the outdoors skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, or enjoying other snow sports and don't like wearing a full ski-mask you can protect your face by sewing a fleece insert into a bandanna that you wear on your face. More »

#foodhacks Some people end up buying and peeling an onion and a head of garlic when they only need a portion of that for their recipe and end up tossing the rest, only to need it again a few days later. Freezing a puree of garlic, onion, and olive oil means that not only do you avoid this wasteful routine, but you can prepare several months worth when the ingredients are on sale. More »

#hivefive Whether you're looking for a way to catch the big game this weekend when you're away from your living room, or you just like to catch live television when you're trapped somewhere without either cable or a television, you have plenty of options to help you catch a broadcast on your mobile phone or your computer. Here's a look at five of the best ways to tune in when you're on the go. More »

#superbowl Perhaps you've realized that all your friends are busy and no one you know is throwing a party except that one guy from work you don't want to hang out with. Or just maybe you don't know a football from a volleyball and want to have an excuse for a party. Either way we've got you covered. More »

• Radioactivity Counter Turns Your Android Phone into a Geiger Counter (Android) Getting one step closer to turning your phone into a tricorder, Android app Radioactivity Counter uses the CMOS camera sensor on your phone to record radiation levels.
• Use Colorblind Assistant to Identify Whatever Color Your Cursor is Pointing At (Windows) If you're colorblind or just need to constantly know what colors are on your screen the free program Colorblind Assistant might be for you. The program tells you whatever color is displayed at the current location of your mouse/trackpad pointer.
• CCleaner for Mac Comes Out of Beta, Adds New Browser and Disk Cleaning Features (Mac OS X) CCleaner for Mac has been in beta for awhile, but now Mac users can enjoy the final version of our favorite Windows utilities. If you're a little starved for disk space or just want to engage in some early Spring cleaning on your Mac, CCleaner is now finished, stable, and ready to help you out.
• Waze for Android Updates, Adds New Maps, Driver-Friendly UI, and More Social Features (Android) Waze, our pick for the best turn-by-turn navigation app for Android, updated today to include an entirely new UI that minimizes buttons and tools so they're all accessible under one spring-out on-screen menu, easier-to-navigate maps that you can now easily spin around and navigate with one hand, and new location-based information from services like Yelp and FourSquare.
• Belvedere Updates, Can Now Automate Your Folders and Automatically Send Files to iTunes (Windows) Belvedere, our automatic file management tool for Windows, has updated with a few new features, like the ability to move folders around and add tracks to iTunes.
• Simplify is an All-In-One Desktop Controller for iTunes, Spotify, and Rdio (Mac OS X) Mini-player apps like previously mentioned Bowtie or GeekTool are great, though they usually only support one or two media players-which isn't great for music junkies that might use multiple programs. Simplify is a simple desktop controller and shortcut customizer that controls iTunes, Spotify, and Rdio.
• PacApt Brings Arch Linux's Amazing Manager to Other Linux Distributions (Linux) It's no secret that we love Arch Linux, and one of Arch's best features is the simple, easy-to-use package manager, Pacman. Here's how to get Pacman's simple command structure in other Linux distributions.
• Cobook Powers Up Your Mac's Address Book with Social Networks, Mouseless Navigation (Mac OS X) Cobook is an Address Book app for Mac that sits in your menu bar, offers quick mouseless navigation, and lets you add a lot more to your contact cards, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.
• Syncly Automatically Uploads Every Photo You Take to Dropbox (Android) Syncly keeps watch over your Android's SD card, automatically uploading new photos to Dropbox as soon as you take them-so you don't need to do anything to keep everything synced to the cloud.
• Dashlane Securely Manages Passwords, Form info, and Even Purchases For You (and We'ev Got Invites) (Windows/Mac) There are plenty of services that promise to keep your passwords safe, secure, and synchronized across devices behind a single master password that you can remember, but Dashlane is a new service that does that, audits those passwords for strength, saves your form information for quick entry on new web sites, and even keeps track of the purchases you make with that information so you can see it all in one view-one that's only available to you, not even DashLane employees.

More »

#mealplanning If you try to plan advance monthly or bi-weekly menus it can be difficult to balance variety with the staples that everyone enjoys. Parenting weblog Simple Mom recommends establishing a theme for each day of the week such as pizza day or crock pot meals day. That way you know what type of meal you need for all of your open slots and your family knows what to expect at most meals. More »

#windowsdownloads Windows: Sure the default web client for Pandora is nice, but some of us want to have a desktop version to not take up a tab and memory in our browser of choice. The open source desktop client Elpis does a good job of keeping the essential functions of Pandora active while not using as many resources. More »

#grilling Many grilling aficionados don't try grilling large fish such as salmon, tuna, or shark as they're afraid the fish will stick to the grill. Culinary site Chow.com recommends using the 70/30 rule when grilling fish: cook the flesh side down first for 70% of the total cooking time, then flip the fish over to the skin side for the last 30%. More »

#cleveruses If you use rubber gloves for washing dishes or cleaning and have sharp nails, you run a chance of your nails puncturing the gloves and causing leaks. Household simplicity site Real Simple recommends adding a cotton ball to each finger of your gloves to provide a cushion that should keep your nails from puncturing the gloves. More »

#snowleopard We noted yesterday that the new Snow Leopard Update Breaks Rosetta and that a group of high-schoolers had released a third-party fix. Fortunately, the wizards of Cupertino have either corrected this problem themselves or used the third-party fix—either way, the newest version of that update (Security Update 2012-001 v1.1) is now available on Apple's site or using the Software update function. More »

#androiddownloads Android: We've covered the free Aviary online image editor several times—it is robust enough to work for most people who want to tweak their photos but don't require a full version of Photoshop or GIMP. They've just released a plugin for Android that brings the same functions to your phone or tablet so now you don't have to transfer the image to your computer before editing. More »

#lifehackertop10 A vacation can range anywhere from a dream to a nightmare. While some of that depends on circumstance, there's plenty you can do to make your travel easier, more efficient, and more fun. Here are our top 10 favorite tips, tricks, and hacks to help make your next trip really great. More »

#repairs If you break the handle on your favorite kitchen knife you will probably either look forward to shopping for a new knife or wish you could give your trusty knife a new handle yourself. For those who'd rather fix what they have, you can remove the pieces of the old handle with a hacksaw and then you can cut and attach a new handle. More »

#weekendhacker It's a sad fact of life that over time, all of our computers get a little bit slower. Before you start shelling out for a new machine, take some time this weekend to perform some maintenance tasks, upgrade a single piece of hardware, or even overclock your machine for a little speed boost. More »

#forwhatitsworth Poland thinks twice about passing ACTA, Google will no longer use CDMA devices as developer units, and a new study begs the question, "Do iOS apps crash more frequently than Android apps?" More »

#learning Wired's Garth Sundem sat down with the Robert Bjork, director of UCLA's Learning and Forgetting Lab, to discuss how you can best "[pack] things in your brain in a way that keeps them from leaking out". What he learned? A lot of our basic assumptions are wrong. More »