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How to Build Your Own Fast-Action Vise, Table Saw Tips for Beginners, a Crazy Experimental Sawmill & More

Sword in a Cane

This one is nuts! Jimmy DiResta not only fabricates a kris-style blade from Damascus steel, but then fabricates a spring-loaded brass mechanism that allows him to pop it in and out of a cane/scabbard:

Bandsaw-on-a-Dolly Sawmill

Prior to this video we never heard Matthias Wandel say he’s nervous, but here he has good reason to be: He’s attempting a rather unorthodox method of using a bandsaw as a sawmill. I almost bit my nails while watching this:

Improvements to the DIY Fast-Action Bench Vise

Now that he’s had a few months to live with it and abuse it, Izzy Swan shores up the design of his innovative fast-action bench vise and demonstrates it in use:

5 Table Saw Tips for Beginners

Izzy lays out safety, efficiency and maintenance tips borne from years of experience. I hadn’t thought of the baseball cap issue:

Wood Bowtie to the Auction

Frank Howarth attends the auction where his wooden handprint art piece is on the block, first fabricating a bowtie for himself from the original piece’s cut-offs:

How to Build a Picnic Table

Still no shop, but April Wilkerson’s making do working off the back of her truck. Here she knocks together a picnic table at her folks’ property:

Improving Dresser Drawer Clothes Storage

Steve Ramsey has become Kondo-ized after reading Marie Kondo’s Decluttering Bible. Here he comes up with a simple contraption to make her prescribed method of T-shirt storage work better:

Harbor Freight Drone Case

Bob Clagett repurposes an old hard plastic toolcase, kitting it out to carry all of his drone gear with protective foam fittings:


Obama’s photographer will never be done trolling Trump

Attention, internet: The newest edition of our favorite series of presidential shade has arrived, and it’s probably the only good thing that came from today’s press conference.

In case you’ve been missing out, Barack Obama’s official White House photographer Pete Souza has turned his Instagram into the universe’s premiere source for Donald Trump shade. This week — between #MicrowaveGate and a painful press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel —Souza’s content has been extra shady (and we’re here for it).

After the president refused to shake Merkel’s hand and the chancellor made horrified expressions throughout the pair’s press conference, Souza decided to reminisce on the kinder, less cringeworthy days of yesteryear — when Obama was still our commander-in-chief.

Here’s a picture of Donald Trump and Merkel from their meeting today:

Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock (8523309l) United States President Donald J. Trump answers a German reporter's question about wiretapping as he and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany conduct a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House German Chancellor Angela Merkel visit to Washington DC, USA - 17 Mar 2017

And here’s a photo Souza posted from the first time Obama and Merkel met:

And another he posted from 2011 — just for good measure:

 The shade is real.

WikiLeaks shows us, once again, just how shady it is

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It looks like WIkiLeaks’ promise to work with tech companies to fix their security vulnerabilities may come with a few strings attached after all.

In a move that’s surprising to exactly no one, WikiLeaks has reportedly told Apple, Microsoft and Google that it won’t share details related to the CIA’s hacking techniques until the companies agree to a “a series of conditions,” according to a new report in Motherboard.

What those conditions are is is unclear. Motherboard reports one of its sources said one condition may be a 90-day disclosure deadline, which would require companies to patch vulnerabilities within a three-month timeframe.

It’s not clear if any of the tech companies plan to comply with Wikileaks’ demands.

Either way, the demands are somewhat of an about-face from comments Julian Assange made last week when he promised to work with the companies in the interest of protecting users. “We have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out,” he said during a Facebook Live press conference last Thursday. 

Microsoft and Mozilla both previously confirmed they had received emails from WikiLeaks last week but have not provided any update about further contact.

Apple and Google have said many — but, importantly, not all — of the vulnerabilities have already been patched.

What happens next is less clear. Corporate legal departments are apparently wrangling with WikiLeaks’ demands — details around the security vulnerabilities stem from a trove of CIA documents leaked earlier in the month — but may not have other options to find out the full extent of the CIA’s hacking techniques. 

Your Favorite Hoodie Is the Flint & Tinder 10-Year - Barely

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Flint & Tinder 10-Year Hoodie

Your two favorite hoodies share an $89 price tag, and look basically identical, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this was our closest vote in history. It was back and forth until the very end, but Flint & Tinder’s 10-Year Hoodie edged out the American Giant Classic Full Zip by a mere four votes.

Flint and Tinder 10-year hoodie. Well made in the USA, handy interior pocket for your phone, very comfy. - Seattleish

Came here to post this. Excellent hoodie, just the right weight, raglan sleeves and a well-sized hood. It’s the consumate adult hoodie. - Felonious Drunk


Angela Merkel’s powerful side-eye at Ivanka Trump is asking the question we’re all wondering

Angela Merkel’s powerful side-eye at Ivanka Trump is asking the question we’re all wondering

Why are you here again?
Why are you here again?

Image: UPI POOL/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Ivanka Trump gatecrashed Angela Merkel’s ill-fated summit with Donald Trump Friday, the latest in a line of questionable appearances at gatherings where she probably doesn’t really belong.

The reality TV star, businesswoman and jewelry vendor had a seat next to the German chancellor, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and speaks fluent Russian, for the roundtable discussion with German and U.S. business leaders. Twitter was quick to spot a theme in the photos that emerged from the encounter.

In some of them, it looks a lot like Merkel is chucking serious side-eye at Trump’s daughter and wondering inside just what she’s doing there.

For some, the photos spoke for themselves.

Ivanka, for what it’s worth, was honored to be there for the robust discussion.

But she faced another barrage of questions on Twitter, mostly on a common theme.

It’s worth noting that other photos of the pair show them having a better time. But those pics don’t help us answer the central question here. Which is why was she there in the first place?

Sorry Trump, even Fox News thinks your wiretapping claim is BS

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Not everyone at Donald Trump’s favorite news network is gobbling up his latest piece of red meat.  

Fox News anchor Shep Smith countered Trump once again Friday, this time aiming his measured, declaratory tone at the president’s outlandish claim that his predecessor was wiretapping him.

“Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way,” anchor Shep Smith said during a Friday broadcast. “Full stop.”

Smith’s “full stop” comment, which was spread widely on social media, comes after analyst Andrew Napolitano claimed on Fox & Friends Tuesday that “three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command” and requested British intelligence officials spy on Trump.

But that wasn’t the case.

“Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary,” Smith said.

Looks like Smith’s continuing his journey to become the most viral fact checker on the network. 

Toyota Is Building The Ultimate Racetrack Driveway In Texas

Bring these! Photo credit: Toyota Motorsport GmbH

Toyota’s somewhat troubled new HQ in Texas includes an executive retreat that will have something special: a private racetrack right by its 12,205 sq. ft. Tudor-style chateau.

Toyota’s most private racetrack sits is under construction on a 75-acre ranch just outside of Argyle, Texas, which lies just north of Ft. Worth, per the Dallas News. You can see photos of inside the house as well as the race track they’re building on-site on their website here. Toyota bought the ranch shortly after deciding to move its North American headquarters to nearby Plano.

Facilities include Japanese gardens, a private auto museum and fishing ponds. The existing house itself is just as extravagant, featuring seven bedrooms and and 12 bathrooms, plus a wine cellar, movie theater and swimming pool, according to the Dallas News. The Denton County tax office values the property at $11 million. Toyota has been buying it in chunks, with the largest piece purchased in 2014.

Toyota spokesman Aaron Fowles told the Dallas News that they’ll try to be good neighbors, and not constantly hoon on the track until the cows get mad:

We have facilities like this all over the world. It’s not going to be a ranch we have constant events at. We will have people that live on the property and take care of it.

In other words, they won’t be hiring me as the caretaker. Bummer.

Lotus takes even lighter touch with new Elise Sprint

The Lotus Elise Sprint

Despite new materials and efforts to improve fuel economy, most cars are significantly heavier now than equivalent models from a few decades ago, due to a greater focus on safety and luxuries modern buyers now expect. There is, of course, one notable exception to the rule. Lotus doesn’t sell many cars, but its whole range adheres to the simplify, then add lightness philosophy of founder Colin Chapman, and the Elise Sprint is no exception.

.. Continue Reading Lotus takes even lighter touch with new Elise Sprint

Category: Automotive

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ABOUT ME

I am bold, daring and fearless, I make no effort to stand out from the crowd, this sort of thing comes naturally to me. I am the pattern on a plain canvas from which excitement springs. I am guilty of being different and make no effort to change. I am basically like Neo from the Matrix.