How To: Things to Do on WonderHowTo (02/22 - 02/28)

WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects.

Thanks to all of our active moderators and contributors from this past week: Christopher Voute, Jomar Fernandez, Ben Cusick, Cerek Tunca, Rex Gordon, Leinad 0716, and Ryan Glasspiegel.

As always, we would like to remind lurkers on site: WonderHowTo is a community effort, and the site belongs to all of you. The more knowledge we can pool together, the more we can learn from each other. With that said, join in. Write a tutorial. Post to a World. We are a curious bunch, and we want to see what you've got to share!

Below, this week's highlights: A crazy new weekly photo challenge, tips for disguising yourself, a 'flamethrower' BB machine gun, an elaborate static electricity shocking prank, and more.

Challenges and Workshops

• WTFoto Weekly Challenge — WTFoto is a new World devoted to hilarious photos and web meme sensations. Run by admin James Carr (who could just be a meme himself), there will be weekly photo challenges every Tuesday, with a simple infographic explaining all the gory details. This week marks his first challenge—finding the craziest, most absurd stock photo out there that everybody's never seen. Post your submissions to the WTFoto community corkboard by Monday, February 27th, 11:59 PM (PST) for you chance to win... bragging rights. More details here.

• Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop — Join our official Minecraft server this weekend for a step-by-step tutorial with Kendra and the rest of the community on building a piston-activated movie theater. If you already know how, then come help everyone else out on the server. Make sure you're there on Saturday, February 25th at 2 PM (PST). More details here. If you still haven't joined the server, see how to get whitelisted.

• Minecraft World's Weekly Challenge — If you can't make the workshop, at least participate in the weekly server challenge! This week's theme gives you a little freedom of choice. You're presented with three packages containing a variety of blocks. Pick one and see what you can build using only the package's contents. Post your creation (could be anything) to Minecraft World's community corkboard for a chance to snag some server perks. More info here.

• Astronomical Observing News — Stay current on what's going on in the skies above with Cerek Tunca's weekly Astronomy World feature, AON. This week, make sure to catch Garradd before it's too late. And check out all of the conjunctions. Click here for a full rundown of the stargazing events for February 21st through February 27th. And join the World to share your astrophilic knowledge.

• Community Byte — This week, Null Byte will not be holding any community coding sessions. Longtime admin Alex Long has stepped down to focus on his studies. But don't worry—newbie admin Allen Freeman is getting a firm grasp on everything and hopes to bring back the weekly projects ASAP. Stay tuned on Monday for what's in store for the following Friday's workshop.

• Weekend Homework — Just because Null Byte has a new admin, doesn't mean you're free from your weekly homework assignments. Hackers around the world need your help! Continue checking in every Friday for the Weekend Homework. This week's topics include things like how interrogations work, making flashlights with dead computer batteries, batch image conversion in Python, and more. Share your knowledge! Simply message Null Byte admin Allen Freeman or post your article directly to Null Byte's community corkboard.

How-To Projects

• Want to step outside without someone you know noticing you? Or are you looking to escape those dreaded paparazzi? Yumi of Secret Tips from the Yumiverse has the info you need for effectively disguising yourself and staying low-key. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

• Next time you find yourself stranded in the middle of the woods with no water, you can relax, because you know these easy tips for securing drinking water from the wild. It's amazing what you can do with a little plastic. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

• Haven't been keeping up with Christopher Voute in the Fear of Lightning World? You should be! This past week, he continued his electromagnetic weapon series with a post on building basic flashlamp lasers. He also shocked us (literally) with a clever how-to on making your own static electricity and zapping people with just the touch of a finger.

• Ben of NightHawkInLight returns with an ingenious followup to his soda bottle BB machine gun. In this article, he gives us a nice mod that can turn that plastic BB gun into an airsoft driven "flamethrower", complete with backpack tank and all. Also, he offers an even cheaper version of the original gun, involving just a bottle and brake line. Click through to see them in action. Join his World to keep updated on future projects.

• Missed last Saturday's Minecraft Workshop on building redstone elevators? Don't fret. Kendra posted a detailed followup on how to build a redstone-activated elevator, so those that weren't involved can still reach the skies (if you dare build one that tall). Contact admin Kendra if you're interested in co-instructing a future workshop or taking on a topic of your own.

• Even though Alex Long relinquished his admin rights of Null Byte, he still pushed out a ton of helpful articles, which included knowing your rights for unlawful police stops, making homemade pepper spray, revealing the secrets behind brainwashing, and more. Check out the blog roll for a full rundown.

• Allen may be a newbie to the Null Byte world, but he's already written two very helpful articles on using the GNU Privacy Guard for encrypting and decrypting files and messages with 4096-bit encryption and then sharing those files with your friends. Make sure to keep an eye on the blog roll to see what Allen (and the mods) comes up with next.

• Need a little help multiplying numbers by 11? Jomar Fernandez, a newcomer to WonderHowTo, schooled us a neat trick to multiplying 2- and 3-digit numbers by 11 without a calculator. No longer will that first double-digit palindrome number be the culprit of a failed math test.

• Need a ticket to the next big game, but they're all sold out? Ryan Glasspiegel of Sports Rapport gives us the lowdown on scalping the scalpers and coming out on top. Next time you need a ticket for a sold-out sporting event or concert, consider these five steps to success.

I Made It

• As always, the folks in our Minecraft server have been diligently working on their builds. There are way too many projects to show off, but we'll showcase a few posted over the last week to Minecraft World's community corkboard below. Want to get in on the action? Join the server. Also, don't forget to start building your freestyle creations for the Minecraft challenge this week.

Got Something to Share?

If you've got a relevant How-To, a source of inspiration, or a finished project, post it to the corkboard in one of the applicable Worlds above. If your project is unrelated to these areas, you can publish a How-To article directly on WonderHowTo, or you can start your own World if you've got the passion—or just post directly to the WonderHowTo company corkboard.

Got a question? Comment below or email jmeyers@wonderhowto.com.