Category: technology

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This Guy Made a “Glitter Bomb” that Blows Up in Amazon Thieves’ Faces

YouTuber Mark Rober has a pretty impressive engineering background, having worked on the Mars Rover for NASA. Needless to say, when you steal a package from a guy like that, he’s going to start finding creative solutions to the problem. Guys like Mark aren’t content with just calling the cops and getting just regular old revenge against them. Nope, he spent six months building a glitter bomb that would self-detonate when the thieves opened the package.

To be fair, Mark had no choice! The local police told him they didn’t have time to investigate the robberies, even though Mark had captured the whole thing on his home surveillance camera.

Photo Credit: YouTube, Mark Rober

“I just felt like something needs to be done to take a stand against dishonest punks like this,” Mark explained.

“If anyone was going to make a revenge bait package and over-engineer the crap out of it, it was going to be me.”

The glitter bomb also included four cameras to capture the thieves’ reactions, which took a good deal of ingenuity. There was also fart spray!

As a hint to any would-be thieves, Mark wrote a fake return address using the names and location of Home Alone. Luckily for viewers at home, it didn’t deter the thieves.

The glitter bomb package completely worked, as you can see in the video below.

Thankfully, the same bait package can be retrieved and used more than once. Genius.

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No, You Really Don’t Need to Let Your Smartphone Die Before Charging It

Is there anything quite as anxiety-inducing as seeing the little “1% icon on the battery bar of your cell phone? Every time I see my battery icon going red, I go racing for the charger because yes, I am addicted to my phone and it needs to never die, thankyouverymuch.

Some people are not like me, apparently, and believe that you shouldn’t charge your battery before using up a full 100% of the previous charge. But according to science and Apple and, well, just about everyone, that’s not necessary.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Here’s why.

What people are concerned about is helping their device’s lithium ion battery last as long as possible, but the battery itself doesn’t care whether your status bar says 10% or 80% – plugging it in at any point in the charge isn’t going to degrade it faster.

From Apple’s website:

“Charge your Apple lithium-ion battery whenever you want. There’s no need to let it discharge 100% before recharging. Apple lithium-ion batteries work in charge cycles. You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used (discharged) an amount that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity — but not necessarily all from one charge. For instance, you might use 75% of your battery’s capacity one day, then recharge it fully overnight. If you use 25% the next day, you will have discharged a total of 100%, and the two days will add up to one charge cycle.”

Another battery-protecting practice is to not leave your phone plugged in overnight because constantly charging a full battery – aka trickle charging – is hard on it in the long run.

Is this one true? Maybe more than the first.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

From Samsung’s website:

“Technically you should not be charging your phone for extended spans of time so overnight phone-charging is a big no. Though most chargers are designed to curb charging once your phone is full, you should avoid charging it to 100 percent and then leaving it connected to a charger. Overall, and for optimal long-term results, you should keep your phone charged between 40 and 80 percent at all times.”

And here’s what USAToday has to say about it:

“Chronically letting a battery go all the way down to zero puts unneeded stress on the materials inside. Believe it or not, the same goes for letting it sit on your charger overnight, because being continually juiced up quickly — and to the max also leads lithium-ion batteries to corrode faster than they otherwise would.”

And PCMag.com:

“Plug the phone in when you go to sleep; if you wake up sometime in the night, unplug it to prevent constant trickle-charging. If you don’t wake much, plug your phone into a outlet that you put on a schedule so it turns off.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Apple admits that the capacity of your lithium-ion battery “diminishes slightly with each complete charge cycle,” so letting the battery run all the way down probably does more harm than good. So, stop doing that. And if you think about it, stop letting it charge all night, too.

But you know. Prepare yourself for still having to buy a new phone (or battery) every couple of years. It’s inevitable no matter what.

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Fed-Up Dad Creates App That Forces Kids to Respond to Parents’ Texts

Parenting has always been a tough gig, and each generation has had its own unique challenges.

For millennial parents, the challenges come from the realm of technology. We’re faced with the dilemma of how much screen time is too much for our young ones. That said, we also live in an age where kids need cell phones at a certain point. Sadly, while cell phones were supposed to be a way for us to stay in constant contact with our kids, they’ve become yet another way for our kids to ignore us altogether.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

As a parent, few things are more frustrating than your kid refusing to respond to your texts.

So, one dad decided to do something about it.

Nick Herbert couldn’t stand it when his son continually failed to reply to his texts.

Photo Credit: CBS 11 Dallas

“My son has an iPhone, but I still can’t get hold of him very easily as it’s always on silent because he is playing games or has been at school and forgotten to turn the sound back on. There didn’t seem to be a solution out there that allowed me to send a message to him, that would override the silent function, appear over whatever he was doing and tell me when he had seen it.”

He created an app in response to this problem, calling it ReplyASAP. It works by taking over your iPhone when you get a message, not allowing you to ignore it or go back to playing a game or using social media. It also sounds an alarm, and tells the person who sent the text that it has been read.

Your child might be resistant to it at first, but chances are they’ll eventually see the use for it – it helps them remember that their parents are wondering whether they’re still alive.

Photo Credit: CBS 11 Dallas

In Herbert’s experience, this works out well.

“It is key to discuss with the child that they understand the reason for having it. It is not a punishment or a tool for tracking them, nor will it remotely lock or freeze their phone. It is simply a means of allowing them to carry on using their phone however they want, but giving a means of getting them an important message when you need to.”

You’ll probably want to also come to an agreement with your child on when and how you’ll use the app. For instance, it shouldn’t be something you employ every single time you send a text (especially if you know they’re in the middle of class). They should learn to associated ReplyASAP messages with something important and/or timely.

Communication is key in all relationships, so don’t skip on the chat and just download the app.

It’s currently only available on Android, but will be coming to iOs soon.

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Twitter Asked Elon Musk to Make a “Dog Mode” for Cars… And He Did Not Disappoint

Here’s something that all dog lovers can surely get behind: Tesla just rolled out a “dog mode” for their vehicles. When activated, it keeps the air conditioning running at a comfortable temperature for your pup and also lets anybody walking by your car know that your furry friend is doing just fine.

Photo Credit: Pixnio

The idea actually came about from a person who tweeted at Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Musk and Tesla responded and the results are pretty great.

This is how Tesla instructs owners to use “dog mode.”

“To enable Dog Mode, tap the fan icon at the bottom of the touchscreen when your car is parked. Set Keep Climate On to DOG, make adjustments within temperature limits, then leave knowing your pet will stay comfortable. Dog Mode will stay on after you leave your car. If you your battery reaches less than 20% charge, you will receive a notification on your mobile app.”

Tesla also recently announced its “sentry mode” that essentially protects your vehicle when you’re not around. External cameras on the car monitor its surroundings and if someone even leans against the vehicle “alert mode” is activated that warns a potential thief or vandal via the center screen that cameras are recording their movements.

If a window is broken and someone attempts to steal the vehicle, the alarm goes off, the car’s audio plays at maximum volume, and the owner is alerted through an app.

Photo Credit: Twitter

I think it’s safe to say we are now living in the future.

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Here’s Why You Should Reconsider Heating up Your Car in Cold Weather

For those of us in the United States, this year has been a particularly cold, wet winter. As I write this, there’s a major snowstorm blanketing the East Coast, and seasoned natives of these cold parts know that warming up your car is an important step for keeping your car running smoothly throughout the winter. A 2009 study showed that most Americans believe that, when temperatures drop to below freezing, you should let your car idle for at least 4 minutes before driving off.

Unfortunately, it turns out there are several reasons why starting your car up and letting it run isn’t the best idea. Read on to find out why you shouldn’t make it a habit.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

According to Stephen Ciatti (whose credentials include drag racing and a PhD in mechanical engineering), newer model cars don’t need to idle to “warm up,” and the practice can actually lead to a shorter lifespan for your engine.

Older car models relied on carburetors, and frigid weather did pose a threat to their performance because the cold temperatures made the gasoline less likely to evaporate. That could lead to carburetors failing to get the right mixture of air and fuel to the engine, which could cause cars to stall out.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Since the 1980s, however, most cars have been made with electronic fuel injection. That means your car is aware of the colder temperatures and can adjust automatically by introducing more gasoline to compensate. So if you let your newer engine idle, you’re subjecting your engine to more gasoline-rich fuel than necessary. That could lead to trouble, says Ciatti.

“Gasoline is an outstanding solvent and it can actually wash oil off the combustion chamber’s walls if you run it in the cold idle conditions for an extended period of time and can have a detrimental effect on the lubrication and life of things like piston rings and cylinder liners.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Once your engine reaches a temperature of around 40 degrees, the car switches back to its usual fuel mixture, but “warming it up” doesn’t help it reach that point any faster. The fastest way to heat up your engine is to just drive.

Bundle up, though, because it will take your engine between 5 and 15 minutes to climb to a normal temperature from the time you hit the gas.

Spring is coming though, y’all. The groundhog says so.

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In 1982 Xerox management watched…

In 1982 Xerox management watched a film of people struggling to use their new copier and laughed that they must have been grabbed off a loading dock. The people struggling were Ron Kaplan, a computational linguist, and Allen Newell, a founding father of artificial intelligence.

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In 1982 Xerox management watched…

In 1982 Xerox management watched a film of people struggling to use their new copier and laughed that they must have been grabbed off a loading dock. The people struggling were Ron Kaplan, a computational linguist, and Allen Newell, a founding father of artificial intelligence.

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10+ Technological Advancements We Really Should’ve Made Already

Do you ever go have an idea for an invention that you just know would make millions, if only you knew how to actually invent/build it? I get like that all the time, and I also wonder how someone else hasn’t done it either. There are definitely a lot of everyday problems that really should have been solved by now.

I know we’ve come a long way, but maybe we should be farther ahead in some ways? These AskReddit users agree wholeheartedly.

1. Fix it!

“My biggest thing I want advanced is our monitors on ambulance. Doing a chest pain call you have ten wires for the ECG, a blood pressure cuff, spO2 monitor and maybe a capno. It’s a hell of a wire mess that gets caught and rips off the sensors and it’s super frustrating. Make them all Bluetooth! If my furnace filter can alert me that it’s at 75% capacity I’m sure we can fix this.”

2. Glare problems

“Some kind of film/treatment on windshields that completely eliminates sun glare. There have been so many times where I’ve been momentarily blinded and had to let Jesus take the wheel and just hope for the best for a few seconds.

Also whipped cream caps that don’t fall off if you even think in their direction. how is this still a problem??”

3. Not a bad idea

“Glow in the dark or light up lines on the road for when it is difficult to see in the rain at night.”

4. Just that easy

“It’s almost 2019 how the f*ck do TV remotes not have a built in page button. Can’t find the remote? Walk to the TV hit the page button the remote starts beeping. It’s just that easy guys.”

5. Gimme those numbers

“Why is there not a toll calculator implemented into online maps? It seems like it shouldn’t be hard for Google or whoever to get the toll data and just display it when you have tolls on your route.”

6. We need this

“Reverse microwaves so we can cool sodas and beers really fast.”

7. Primitive

“I can’t believe no one has figured out how to get rid of cavities without drilling out your teeth. It’s so primitive.”

8. I can’t hear you

“A cure for tinnitus.”

9. GPS

“I drive for a living. GPS tech, including Google Maps and Waze, is amazing and works beautifully the majority of the time. But why in the HELL does it not know which way I’m facing when I take off? In a big truck, it is a MASSIVE pain in the ass when I don’t know which way to turn when I take off because the GPS doesn’t know which way I’m facing. Making a wrong turn in a big truck costs a lot of time and trouble, and sometimes causes very unsafe situations.”

10. A lot of people would be very happy

“A cure for baldness. I can remember watching Captain Picard on ‘Star Trek The Next Generation’ back in the day and thinking “they haven’t cured baldness hundreds of years in the future yet?!?” “

11. Just an fyi

“Improving technology has actually probably been the cause of shorter battery life. These days smartphones are mini computers, and their processors are more powerful than any computer 10 years ago (probably even more recently than that, I’m just being conservative). A lot of that is due to the rapidly increasing amount of transistors we can fit in a given area.

More transistors running means more power consumption, so despite the fact that battery technology has actually improved over the years, it has kept up with the rate the power consumption has increased to allow us to do all the cool shit we can do with our phones now. The reason old phone batteries lasted longer is not because those batteries were better, but because those phones didn’t do sh*t.”

12. Need a cure

“A cure for migraines. Sometimes it seems more like voodoo rather than a scientific discipline. They can’t even tell us why my wife gets them. She just does, and these two medicines that normally treat totally different conditions, when taken together, seem to help for some reason.”

13. No more coughing

“A cure for allergies/the common cold.”

14. Calm down

“A f*cking machine that will fold your f*cking laundry.”

15. Unreliable

“Printers that actually f*cking work when you need them.”

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10+ People Who Fell for Dumb Scams

Sadly, scams are all too common in this world of ours. The online revolution has only made it easier to take advantage of someone, because it can be hard to tell when someone is for real and when they’re not. Needless to say, most of us have probably fallen for a scam at some point in our lives (even if we didn’t realize it at the time). Thankfully, these 15 people are ready to admit which ones totally fooled them so the rest of us can be warned.

#1. They fooled me

“I was part of a legitimate challenge in college that I knew was being sponsored by Target, and I knew that the final prize was a thousand dollars. Partway through the contest I got a text with a url and a message that I had won a thousand dollars from Target. I would have never fallen for it otherwise but the coincidence (or maybe they knew who was part of this challenge?) fooled me. I did manage to wise up when they asked for a deposit, but not before I gave them my contact info and was signed up to all sorts of call lists.”

#2. IRS

“Almost fell for the IRS scam. I didn’t know that scam existed and I was scared about the irs sending me cops.”

#3. No way of cancelling payments

“Immediately after watching the Kony2012 video, 18yo me signed up to donate $5 monthly. A day or two later I learned more about it and the organisation itself.

The website itself had no way of cancelling the payments, I had to get my bank to block them.”

#4. Obviously fake

“Not me but my friend literally yesterday. Fell for one of those “put x amount in, get y amount back” scams.

Got messaged by an extremely attractive girl with an obvious fake name, pic, everything. He was extremely convinced it was real until they started refusing to give it back..”

#5. Three hours to close

“Working at Taco Bell. Constant “we will give you a raise for closing and take you off of closing”. I was in high school and would work until 3 or 4 am on week nights a few times a week. Never got as raise. Couldn’t play baseball anymore. Scam part was the manager would clock everyone out 30 minutes after closing to hide the fact that that it was taking 3 hours to close instead of one.

Got into it with a manager one night and quit. District manager liked me and would talk with me giving me like a hour break. She when she came around. She called about me quitting. I kinda unloaded all the bullshit. I went to pickup my last and the manager I got into it was working. She said she didn’t have my check. I knew she did and started yelling at her during the lunch rush. DM put a ton of extra hours on my check and as OT. Check was twice what the manager made.”

#6. My sister’s name

“I was invited to do a free “makeover” at a makeup party thrown by one of my friends. Me being stupid didn’t realize it was a Mary Kay party.

I was asked to write down contacts so my friends can come to another party. Each contact got me entered into a contest for free makeup. Wrote down my sisters name. Won some nail polish. She became a consultant.”

#7. Rocks for weights

“I had just purchased a brand new TV and I loved it. Games looked great, TV looked great, just a nice TV.

I went to the mall with my best friend one day just because we were bored. We were 16 at the time.

As we’re leaving (we had no items) a brown pickup truck pulls up and the guys who were driving it asked if we were shopping or what. I tell them no, just came to look at some stuff. They then tell me they got this brand new Surround System in there truck they were going to return but the store wouldn’t take it.

At this point I should have seen the multiple red flags, but I was hypnotized by this surround sound system.

I don’t recognize the name, but it seemed legit enough IMO, so I offered a little less than what the asked for (they asked $250 I offered $200).

As I’m pulling my money out of my wallet the scammers see I have more than just $200 and start berating me to pay more. I should have backed out there, but I was spineless and obliged.

They gave me the sound system and left. I get home still a little excited even though I had a gut feeling so just lost $250. I open the sound system and lo and behold…

There’s actually speakers wow. I pull everything out, subwoofer, and speakers…then I realized there was not a single cable. Wtf? I open the speakers because now I’m upset. They aren’t speakers, but wooden cut outs, with rocks for weights.

Now I’m checking the packaging closer, it was the worst photoshop I’ve ever seen. Lost $250.

Haven’t fallen for a scam since then…one and one only.”

#8. All my birthday money

“Once bought a PS3 on the craigslist of the netherlands. Turned out the mailman was fake, the package was filled with 2 juiceboxes. And it cost me all my birthday money back then. Asshole never got caught, he still is active to this day.”

#9. I don’t think they’re coming back

“I was at a car boot sale and watched two guys in a back of a van promissing to sell iPods and iPads for a ridiculous low price, and you could see the apple boxes stacked up towards the back of the van. This started to attract some attention and a crowd soon formed around the back of the van. However before they started to sell the desirable apple products they began to flog some other obscure things into what I can only describe as a goody bag. They would be throwing a pen sets in the bag that would cost £20 in shops (so they claimed), and then some perfume that was £30 in shops (so they claimed).

This went on for a while, and all time they kept mentioning the iPods and iPads would be coming out next. Eventually they had created these “amazing goody bags” with various random things in and were claiming the contents would cost well over £100 in the shops, but they just want £30, and if you had a bag you will be first in line to buy a iPod or iPad. They stirred up such as frenzy that people were screeming to by one of these bags. As soon as they floged as many bags as they could, the van doors slam shut and they drove off quickly.

People just stood there staring at these goody bags they had just bought for £30 and they were just full of cheap knock off items you can get from the pound shop. Thats when I saw my then girlfriend walk over to me with a goody bag looking confused and wondering if they were going to come back to sell the iPads. “No darling I don’t think they’re coming back”.”

#10. I waited for years

“Someone once called my house when I was 10 years old saying he was from a research company conducting an experiment to see how long it takes a person to sneeze if they sniffed pepper. If I agree to the experiment, they would mail me 5 dollars. It took me three sniffs, and i waited for that damn 5 bucks for a couple years.”

#11. She broke up with me

“when I was 10-11 I online dated a girl on habbo hotel and after I gave her my furniture she motherfucking divorce/broke up with me”

#12. Don’t be ridiculous

“I actually got “sucked into” a pretty classic scam, but I was too honest for it to work.

Chick shows me a “Stradivarius” violin she supposedly got donated by a wealthy patron when she was playing in some Orchestra back east (Jersey maybe? Philly?) needs cash, wants me to buy it from her for a thousand or something…

I tell her, don’t be ridiculous, I’ll drive you over to the city and we’ll get it appraised and you’ll get more money…”

#13. “Helpful people”

“TLDR scammed by one of those “helpful people” in Italy. Ignore people at train stations unless you’re sure they’re officials

During my first year of university overseas in the UK, I took a trip to Italy with some friends. We had a great time and travelled between each city using trains. Got scammed at the Florence train station.

What you will notice at many Italian train stations is a bunch of official-looking people standing around the platforms. They wear hats and clothes that look like uniforms. When you enter their vicinity, they will ask to see your train tickets, and as a young, inexperienced and hapless traveller I do just that.

What they will immediately tell you is that you are late for your train, and grab your luggage and tell you to follow them, as they run towards your carriage. Once you’re in, they start placing your luggage on the rails for you….and then demand an obscene tip. We were in a group of five and the person demanded 10 euros for each of us- no matter how you cut it, that’s a very steep price to pay for some very simple help. With great disgust I forked over 10 euros, because I didn’t want her to pester my friends, and she eventually took it and ran.

It preys on your inexperience with the transport system and tries to make you panic, then proceeds to guilt trip you. Looking back it would’ve been really easy to just ignore her, I doubt anyone would come to her aid anyway.”

#14. I better Google this

“I almost got suckered into primerica.

I got halfway into the process then went hmm I better google this.

Most of the first page of results was how they are a scam/mlm.

I couldn’t run away faster.”

#15. My first set

“… I gave away my first set of rune armor to have it trimmed.”

Be smart out there!

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Brilliant Map of Indigenous Lands Shows Whose Property You’re Currently Occupying

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, along with the way we teach colonization of the Americas in general, have all come under scrutiny over the last few years, and not without reason — the true roles of indigenous peoples is almost entirely glossed over and watered down. One effort to amend that has been for some communities choosing to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day on October 8th instead of Columbus Day.

But there’s much more we can all do to educate ourselves and our children about the people who populated North America before European settlers arrived.

Enter this pretty cool use of Google Maps, created by a company called Native-Land. It shows you which Indigenous tribes resided in what parts of the country over the centuries.

Photo Credit: Native-Land.ca

But the maps include more than the Americas.

Hold onto your hats, Aussies and New Zealanders.

Photo Credit: Native-Land.ca

Canadian developer Victor G Temprano started the company in 2015 during a time of a lot of local development projects, according to the company’s website:

While mapping out pipeline projects and learning more about them for the sake of public awareness, I started to ask myself whose territories all these projects were happening on. Once I started finding the geographic data and mapping, well, it just kind of exploded from there.

Photo Credit: Native-Land.ca

Controversial development projects like the Trans Mountain and Dakota Access pipelines not only helped him to be more culturally aware, it made him wonder where else modernization might be infringing on native lands.

He continues to explain on the site:

I feel that Western maps of Indigenous nations are very often inherently colonial, in that they delegate power according to imposed borders that don’t really exist in many nations throughout history. They were rarely created in good faith, and are often used in wrong ways.

Photo Credit: Native-Land.ca

The maps are not part of any academic project and feature input from users that causes them to change constantly, but Temprano did recently announce that he’s hired a research assistant to ensure all of the information is as accurate and complete as possible.

It’s a great site to visit with your kids around the holidays or anytime you want to discuss cultural appropriation and western civilization.

As one does.

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