Potato Raised Bed

If you want some easy to grow spuds, all you need are some old, forgotten potatoes from your pantry, unwanted jeans or khakis, lattice, staples, scissors, a light soil, and a circular saw or jigsaw. This whole project took me maybe 45 minutes from start to finish.If you do, don't toss them in your compost pile just yet. Select a few (or a lot if you have the space), pick a good spot to plant them, and plop them in the ground. Some peeps say to cut them up, but I have always plopped whole spuds in the ground and never had a problem with them. Then measure out the area around your fresh plantings, in a square or rectangle.

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DataMan Next Tracks Your Data Usage, Is Currently Free

iOS: If you've ever gone over on your iPhone's data plan you know the horrible amount of money you get charged. To keep track of that usage, we like DataMan Next, and it's currently free.

DataMan Next is probably one of the prettiest data tracking apps out there. With it, you can set up alerts so you don't go over on your data plan, set custom thresholds, and even track your WiFi usage. If you need a more granular view, DataMan Pro, which gives you info about which specific apps are eating your data, and maps your data usage geographically, is half off today at $5.

DataMan Next (Free) | iTunes App Store

Dataman Pro ($4.99) | iTunes App Store

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Stop Chasing the Perfect Credit Score, the Best Perks Come at 760

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Why ask a pharmacist when Internet has all the answers?

Great discussions are par for the course here on Lifehacker. Each day, we highlight a discussion that is particularly helpful or insightful, along with other great discussions and reader questions you may have missed. Check out these discussions and add your own thoughts to make them even more wonderful!

For great discussions any time, be sure check out our user-run blog, Hackerspace.

If you've got a cool project, inspiration, or just something fun to share, send us a message at tips@lifehacker.com.

Happy Lifehacking, everybody!

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Peel Off Window Art

My son and I have recently taken up the hobby of creating window art. We bought a kit that comes with peel of paint, a book with traceable designs and a tracing sheet. While a lot of the book designs are really fun, we wanted to create some pieces with some of our favorite things. This project is fun for both kids & adults!

I discovered that using the laminating pouches will secure your design in place, in case your hand slips. It 's way more kid friendly than the tracing sheet that came with the kit. The black outline paint is essential to creating this art. You should choose designs that have some element of black in them. The colors tend to bleed if you don't outline them in black first and try to fill them in with another color. 

Window Art Materials: 

Window Paint - available on Amazon

Laminating pouches

Print out of design

Create Window Art: 

To create your personal window art, print out a design from your computer. (I used a Dr. Suess book to create the Cat in the Hat). Place the design in the middle of the laminating pouch. Use the black outline paint to trace the outline of your design. Next, use the black outline paint to fill in the inside design elements.( eyes, mouth, etc) The colored paint is the last step to creating window art. Once you have finished with the outline paint, use the color paint to fill in the rest of the design.   

The black paint tends to dry rather quickly. You can also create a marbling technique with the colored paints by using a toothpick. The same marbling technique that is used in baking can be applied here. 

Happy Crafting! 

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How to Make a Swiss Army Key Ring

Most people have to keep track of at least a few keys. The easiest way to do that is to just keep them all on one key ring. But the more keys you have, the bulkier the ring is to carry in your pocket. Here's an alternate design for holding and organizing your keys that's a little more efficient. The design is very similar in construction to a Swiss Army Knife, with the keys arranged on two parallel bars. Each key can be rotated into the handle for compact storage and rotated back out for use.

Check out this video of steps 1-7 (complete details on each step below):

Two pieces of wood (about 1" x 3.75" x 1/8" each)Thin sheet metal (about 2" x 3.75")Two #8 machine screw lock nutsTwo #8 machine screws, 3/4" longTen #8 machine screw washersGlue that's able to bond wood to metal Wood stain (optional)Polyurethane (optional)

Tools

Drill and bit setTin snipsSand paper/sanding blockSmall binder clampsPencilRuler

Tip: Paint stir sticks are a good size to be used for the wood pieces. These are generally free at the paint section of most hardware stores. For the sheet metal, I used a baking sheet that I found at Dollar Tree for $1. This yields about 13" x 9" of metal.

Use whatever rounded object you have readily available to trace a semicircle onto each end of the wood pieces. Then using a saw or knife, cut along the outline. Trace the shape of these wood pieces onto the sheet metal. Using a pair of tin snips cut out two pieces of sheet metal that are a little smaller than the outlines.

Make a stack of the two wood pieces and the two metal pieces. Make sure all the pieces are centered, and hold them together with a binder clamp.. Mark the centers of the semicircle on each end. They should be about 2.75 inches apart. Using a 3/16 drill bit, drill through all four layers at one of these points. Insert a screw into this hole to help keep the layers lined up. Then drill the second hole. Remove the two metal pieces and re-drill the holes in the wood pieces so that the holes are wide enough to accommodate the head of the machine screw and the lock nut respective. You may wish to wrap the wood pieces in tape to prevent them from splitting when drilling larger holes. When you're done cutting and drilling, sand all the surfaces and edges smooth.

Insert the machine screws through the holes in the metal plates. Then add the washers and keys. Four keys and five washers will fit perfectly on a 3/4-inch screw in the sequence (sheet metal, washer, key, washer, key, washer, key, washer, key, washer, sheet metal). Using this sequence, two keys and three washers will fit on a 1/2-inch screw. Likewise, six keys and seven washers will fit on a 1-inch screw.

Alternatively, you can conserve space a little bit by eliminating the washers, but the keys will tend to stick on each other. If you have an odd number of keys you can fill the space with two washers. When you're done adding keys and washers, add the second piece of sheet metal. Then, tighten everything together with the two lock nuts.

Apply a thin layer of glue to the outside of one plate and press on the wooden panel. Do the same for the second panel, then use binder clips to hold everything in place while the glue dries. You may wish to add a layer or two of card stock to prevent the clamps from denting your wood panels.

Once the glue dries, your Swiss Army Key Ring is ready to use, but I chose to take it a few steps further by applying stain and polyurethane to make it look a little nicer. To apply the stain I just used a piece of cheesecloth. When the stain was completely dry, I applied the polyurethane with a sponge brush.

This design saves space in two ways. First, the keys are mounted parallel to each other and don't fan out. Second, the double folding design allows the blades of both sets of keys to fit within the space of the handle.

This design is also a better way of organizing keys. Because they're always in the same orientation, it's faster and easier to find the one that you need.

Swiss Army Key Ring | Instructables via MAKE

Jason Poel Smith is a contributor at MAKE.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

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3D Printed Vertical Ball Launcher

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#community-menu .btn {width:123px}#community-menu .bg-icon.groups {margin-top:0} Groups » Forums » Answers » Featured Groups let's makeLogin Sign UpLog Inshare what you make >#techshop-promo-tab {width:77px; height:30px; background:url(/files/orig/FX4/II5Q/HEI41J6P/FX4II5QHEI41J6P.png) no-repeat 0 -40px}#techshop-promo-tab:hover {background-position:0 0}#one23d-promo-tab {width:44px; height:30px; background:url(/files/orig/FAC/AR9X/HEI4FPWK/FACAR9XHEI4FPWK.png) no-repeat 0 -80px}#one23d-promo-tab:hover {background-position:0 0}#hub3dp-promo-tab {width:82px; height:30px; background:url(/files/orig/FYC/6RXX/HGZNX6IF/FYC6RXXHGZNX6IF.png) no-repeat 0 -40px}#hub3dp-promo-tab:hover {background-position:0 0}body.topic {background-color:#d44400 !important}div#propricing label {vertical-align:top}3D Printing123DTechshop 3D Printed Vertical Ball Launcher by hahvahdsquahVote!Contest Entry in:

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  Favorite video 3D Printed Vertical Ball LauncherThis video shows a prototype 3D printed "vertical ball launcher" printed in ABS plastic on an UP! 3D printer. It is designed such that when you push down on one side of a lever, a piston on the other side moves up and comes into contact with a ping pong ball, which is then launched into the air.

This was designed with the intention of working 3D printing, CAD and engineering design into a middle school science unit on force and motion with a very introduction-level, qualitative approach to topics like position, velocity, acceleration, gravity etc. At the basic level, the device provides a fun introduction to 3D printing for students and a cool way to launch a ball into the air (and then track its trajectory using a camera), instead of just throwing or dropping the ball. At a more advanced level, students who have been introduced to CAD can modify the source files to try and improve performance - for example, changing the lengths of the levers or the geometry of the piston section. Students can also experiment with different methods for driving the lever - for example, a rubber band or a solenoid connected to one end, or a motor driving the central shaft.

Note how using "puzzle piece" style connectors allows you to print much larger objects than would fit on the print tray in a single run (the UP! has a print volume of roughly 12x12x12cm). The design could be modified to laser-cut and snap/glue together the majority of the structure instead of 3D printing, especially the truss-like supports. With a little ingenuity you could probably laser cut the entire thing, although this would be more difficult for the round parts.

STL files can be downloaded from Thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:98130.

Tips for 3D printing: Cylindrical surfaces will generally come out the highest quality if they are printed with their axis oriented vertically. Some of the larger parts take a while to print on the UP (8+ hours) so it may be easier to start a print job before you to go bed and let it run overnight. You can put more than one part on a print tray at a time, just make sure they aren't overlapping. Note that you will need two of the "pin.stl" part, two "side.stl" parts and one of everything else. I can't guarantee that the tolerances for the snap-together parts will be perfect - this could vary on different printers. If your parts are too big to fit together, you can sand them down or shave off some plastic with a hobby knife. If they're too small and wiggle a bit, you can use glue to secure connections. I printed this on an UP! since I had access to one, but it should work on other similar consumer-grade printers like the Makerbot or Cube (no guarantees though).
This is more of an open-ended design challenge than a step-by-step Instructable. If you're used to 3D printing singular solid objects, this could be a good introduction to printing functional devices with interlocking, moving parts. If you're just looking for a fun physics or engineering challenge (for yourself, your kids or your students), then there is plenty of room for improvement in this design. Either way, have fun - and if you wind up making your own, be sure to post links to pictures and/or videos in the comments section!

Credits: this ball launcher was designed at the Cornell Creative Machines Lab in collaboration with the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.
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