How To: Things to Do on WonderHowTo (02/29 - 03/06)

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, James Andrew Marshall, JT Newsome, Mr. Unknown, Cerek Tunca, and Rex Gordon.

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 fan art challenge, how to make fake blood, creating a violent Jacob's ladder spark, Nmapping Matrix-style, stopping Google from tracking you, and more!

Challenges and Workshops

• WTFoto Weekly Challenge — Last week's inaugural challenge on WTFoto went pretty well, with a fire-dousing baby doll taking the winning spot. Instead of stock images this week, you're searching for the craziest fan art drawing you can find. Post your submissions to the WTFoto community corkboard by Monday, March 5th, 11:59 PM (PST) for you chance to win... bragging rights. More details here.

• Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop — Think you know Minecraft? No matter if you're a newbie or a pro, you just might learn a thing or two in this week's community workshop. Join Kendra on our official Minecraft server this weekend for some tricks that every Minecrafter should know. Be there Saturday, March 3rd at 11 AM (PST). Plus, immediately following this workshop, SaintJamez will be hosting one on redstone. 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, then try out the weekly server challenge! This week, you're playing God. Try building a living creature, whether it's a dust mite or a dragon, then post your creation 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 a glimpse of Mars while it's close to Earth. Click here for a full rundown of the stargazing events for February 29th through March 5th. And join the World to share your astrophilic knowledge.

• Community Byte — Allen Freeman, new admin of Null Byte, is still trying to get a handle on everything. So, this week the Community Byte has been postponed, but he's working on some ideas, so there should be one very soon! If you have any ideas for any programming and hacking community workshops on Null Byte, message Allen or post them in the forum.

• Weekend Homework — Hackers around the world need your help! Check out this week's Weekend Homework for your assignments, which includes an intro to Sqlmap, securing your Linux box, downloading torrents safely, 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

• Won't step out into the wilderness for fear of being eaten alive? Well, put on your hiking boots, because it's not as scary as you think—as long as you know the secret to surviving an animal attack. Yumi of Secret Tips from the Yumiverse shows you how to defend against bears, bees, crocodiles, mountain lions and sharks. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

• Struggling to get the blood color right in your low-budget slasher flick? Maybe you just want to add a small touch to your vampire fangs for an upcoming costumer party. Whatever your reason for blood, this is how you fake it—the right way. 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 showed us all how to power up fluorescent lights with our bare hands, a cool trick to making our Jacob's ladders better, and a killer bottle opener made from a bullet. He also shared Harrison Krix's amazing Daft Punk helmet.

• Looking to start coding, but can't quite comprehend what's going on? Then you should probably try out Python, a very simple programming language. And lucky for you, Christopher Voute took a break from Fear of Lightning to help Null Byters out with an introduction to Python, focusing on variables, input and output.

• Missed last Saturday's Minecraft Workshop on the working movie screen? Kendra posted her super-detailed followup on building a piston and redstone-driven movie screen, so those that weren't involved can still grab the popcorn and enjoy a good show. Contact admin Kendra if you're interested in co-instructing a future workshop or taking on a topic of your own.

• Allen may have only be at the helm of Null Byte for a week, but he's been pounding out the helpful guides, especially one particular series on Anonymity, Darknets, and Staying out of Federal Custody. Check out parts One, Two, Three and Four, with a followup on Tor vs. I2P. Allen also showed us how to root a Windows box by walking past it, how to use Nmap to find vulnerabilities, and an introduction to IP addresses. Keep an eye on the blog roll to see what Allen (and the mods) comes up with next.

• JT Newsome has just built a brand new World called Invisible Computer, and in it he's already written three really great articles on bypassing a Windows login screen, killing processes with a simple Java app, and browsing the web anonymously in Chrome using a Tor button. Stay tuned to his blog for more great tutorials. Want to see something in particular? Ask in the forum.

• Also new to WonderHowTo this week is Adam Velma, who wrote a great post on protecting your PHP website from SQL injection hacks. Find out what an SQL injection is, how to protect against it, and some recommendations on further security from malicious activity.

• Mr. Unknown is back in the Wire Storm Technologies World to bring you more great computer security articles. This week, he's shared a cool trick to hiding secrets in a password-locked folder in Windows 7, an easy way to assign a static IP address, and an important guide to safeguarding yourself from Google's grips when their new privacy policy takes effect.

• Interested in building old school robots? Then keep an eye on Rex Gordon and his Robot Realms World. He'll be detailing the entire process behind his ongoing robot build, Magnus, and he's promised to give us some detailed wiring diagrams, which he's in the process of doing, so stay tuned for more. And don't forget... feel free to ask any robot-related questions in the forum!

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 living creatures 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.