How To: Things to Do on WonderHowTo (02/15 - 02/21)

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, Ben Cusick, Cerek Tunca, Rex Gordon, Leinad 0716, and Cory Poole.

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: Freezing a beer in two seconds flat, a negative ion generator that produces beautiful electrical discharges, a powerful airsoft soda bottle gun, and more!

Challenges and Workshops

• Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop — Need to revamp your redstone elevator? Or learn how to make one? Join our official Minecraft server this weekend for a step-by-step tutorial on building a redstone elevator that will work with multiplayer mode in the 1.1 update. Make sure you're there on Saturday, February 18th at 2 PM (PST) / 5 PM (EST). 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 is a complete reversal of the last few, trading ancient structures for futuristic ones. Post your visionary infrastructure 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 while it's peaking. Also, check out Cerek's moon pics taken with his phone. We think they're pretty great for an iPhone camera. Click here for a full rundown of the stargazing events for February 14th through February 20th. And join the World to share your astrophilic knowledge.

• Community Byte — Both newbie and veteran programmers are welcome to join Null Byte's weekly community coding projects. Coding sessions instructed by Sol Gates take place every Monday and Wednesday at 5 PM (PST) / 8 PM (EST). HackThisSite missions instructed by Alex Long take place every Friday at the same time. This week's mission—hacking a telemarketer's email list to bring back privacy to everyone! Meet up in the Null Byte IRC at the appropriate time! More details here.

• Weekend Homework — Looking for another way to get involved with Null Byte? Then check in every Friday for Alex Long's Weekend Homework. This week's topics up for grabs still: Making a potato launcher, coding a batch image convertor in Python, clever social engineering tips, and more. Share your knowledge! Simply message Alex or post your article directly to Null Byte's community corkboard.

How-To Projects

• Locked your keys in your car? We've all been there before, but some of you lucky drivers can finally skip the locksmith. Yumi of Secret Tips from the Yumiverse shows you how to break into your own vehicle using only your shoelace, but you've got to have those pull-up lock knobs on your door. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

• Show off more than just your beer-chugging skills at your next alcohol-fueled gathering. Amaze partygoers by combining magic and science to freeze beer in two seconds (not counting prep time). Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

• Christopher Voute's been pretty busy in his Fear of Lightning World this week expanding his  Making Electromagnetic Weapons series. This time, learn about directed microwave energy weapons, along with CO2 and flashlamp lasers. He also gives us three shocking how-to articles on jolting doorknobs that keep intruders out, a wireless energy transfer array for powering light bulbs, and making beautiful corona discharges with negative ion generators.

• And that's not all Christopher's been up to. He also gave all of us Null Byters a way to gain access to those faux-free wireless internet connections around town. You just have to bypass the local network proxy with a little exploit. Check it out.

• Ben is back to his ingenious inventions at the NightHawkInLight World, and this week he shows us how to transform a simple two-liter soda bottle into an air-driven super machine gun. You won't believe how fast the BBs penetrate. Click through to see the airsoft gun in action—and learn how to make your own! Join his World to keep updated on future projects.

• Missed last Saturday's Minecraft Workshop on building hidden passageways? No worries. Kendra posted a detailed followup on how to build a hidden passageway, so those that weren't involved can still hide their loot. Contact admin Kendra or mod Andrew Osborne if you're interested in co-instructing a future workshop or taking on a topic of your own.

• Null Byte admin Alex Long continues to teach hackers everywhere a thing or two. Over the past week, he's shown us how to sneak past web filters and proxies for free internet, how to save your wet smartphone from water damage, how to get free Microsoft Points for Xbox LIVE, and more. Check out the blog roll for a full rundown.

• 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, so stay tuned for more. And don't forget... feel free to ask any robot-related questions in the forum!

I Made It

• Cory Poole showed off some of his astrophotography skills with a striking image of two bright nebulae in Orion's Sword. He made this great composite image from photos he took using his Panasonic GH2 camera with a 300mm lens. If you've taken any space photos with your digital camera, make sure to share them on the Astronomy World corkboard.

• All of the folks on the Minecraft server has been working hard and building some really amazing creations lately. There are too many projects to show off here, but we'll showcase a few of the ones recently posted 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 futuristic 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.