They still have malls on Blarnak VII? Wow, we need photo proof to validate. While they’re sending pictures, I’d personally like to see what a ‘BK Whopper Bar’ looks like.

Nope, just ‘Planet LA’ and the NYC Galaxy. Most have closed in towns under 100,000 population.

Uh, yeah. We’ve got two of these restaurants within 40 miles of where I live. It may be nice to live in a megatropolis, but then again, it doesn’t take rocket science to call Dominos and have them deliver a pizza, matching it with a cold-one out of the refrigerator, either. Comfort is knowing that I can grill a steak…

As for ‘computer privacy’, I think most of America has pretty much been ‘sheepled’ out of demanding it. If you explain it to them another way, they’d revolt in one singular loud voice (but it won’t happen, sadly). The next time you feel like saying, ‘who cares about privacy, when computer customization is the focus?’…

Now wait a minute, while this article sounds ‘informed’ on the behalf of the government (the same one that brought you ‘Butter is bad for you eat more margerine’ and ‘700 calorie lunches for growing children’), while it is obviously seeking grants to prove what is actually already known; Vitamin D is a virus-killer,…

Not really sure where dieticians ever came up with 3,500 Calories equaling a pound came from, anyhow. Speaking as an engineer, they need to take a Physics 101 class at their local community college. There, they will learn that it requires 1 Calorie (KCal) to heat 1-gram of water 1-degree C, and this measurement is the…

From the structural engineering perspective, chances are that your wall studs are insufficient for the tension you are placing on them, and as a result, when you hang that hammock on some curtain-wall framing that wasn’t designed to take a load (especially at mid-beam), don’t be surprised when you realize 3-years from…

There are negatives to synthetics, too, though. Synthetics have ‘lower friction coefficients’, so they are ‘slicker’. This actually is bad for new or ‘tight’ motors (as in new rebuilds), where you need friction to seat seals, rings, etc. The worst thing you can do is run synthetic oil on a new engine, as it will leak…

Yes, just more justification for WEARING APPROPRIATE CLOTHES. Tanning until you become another ethnicity is actually nothing more than a billboard for how much radiation you have let your epidermis absorb. For anyone infatuated with tanning, I tell them to come out here to the Chihuahua Desert for a while and spend a…

Funny, the major problem with this ‘system’, is that it is not durable (and I say this from decades of outdoor experience). While this would work for a 1-day or 3-day ‘outing’ for you and a couple of your other 170-lb friends, this just doesn’t cut it for big guys, long trips, or much of anything else. If you REALLY…

The BEST solution is the commercial cleaner known as ‘CLR’ (calcium, lime and rust). As it is considered an ‘environmentally friendly’ cleaner (for this type of cleaner), it’s about as ‘friendly’ as it’s going to get, and it will remove almost ALL lime-scale and rust stains almost immediately. Why experiment with a…

I retired from the Marines. For years, I ran my physical fitness test (3-miles) in under 18 minutes. As an infantry Marine, we ran AT LEAST 30 miles a week, with an average 7-mile morning run after moderate stretching and calisthenics. Normally, I would go into bad abdominal wall cramps on days over 85-degrees about…

Before ‘Pipes’ was ‘YPipes’, it was more affectionately (and GUI-friendly) known as Y-Customizable-Home-Page’ (which they killed in 2007-8, about the time that ‘Pipes’ came out. The week they killed the GUI-customizable home page deal, was the same week I went to PROTOPAGE. Free login, then set up your desired feeds…

A hammer can also be used to drive a screw, but it is not designed to, nor is the ideal tool to do this with. There’s a reason you have bandsaws, lathes, routers (and thus, router tables), and various other tools to create round cuts. A table saw is not designed to do this, and there is a specific reason that NO…

Actually, this statement is false. Rooms are static, and depending on the structure, often act as heat collectors. If you have ever went into a barn, shed or simply an ‘unopened house’ that did not have air conditioning and where the windows were closed, you have seen this effect as a higher ambient temperature…

Actually, while most traffic laws are STATE laws (not federal), which implies that you’d have to check each state to validate ‘it’s not illegal’ (and obivously, some was driven enough, pardon the pun, to check about driving barefoot in each state), you CAN be cited for ‘other’ dangers (such as ‘reckless driving’,…

Actually, not only does America not have ‘an official language’, but other nations, like Canada, don’t speak ‘Canadian’, they speak both ENglish and FRench. Technically, since French is defined as ‘Canada’s Official Language’, then English would be their secondary. As Mexico doesn’t truly speak ‘Spanish’ to start…

Thorin, great idea. In reality, responsibly knowing how a cylinder lock works, and being able to pick one, is a great idea for a solid survival skill. Everyone should understand, ‘locks only keep honest people honest, anyhow’.

The next time you intend to 'fake it till you make it', just remember one thing - how would you feel if your doctor or lawyer did this to you?

3 Knives, a sharpie and zip ties, complete with iTunes. Seriously, I saw this in the movie SAW.