DIY Life

Everybody knew those guys in high-school or college who would crush cans on their heads in some pathetic attempt to prove how cool and tough they were.

Maybe you were that guy? If you were, I suspect that there was very little technique involved, and you probably just built up your pain tolerance.

If you've moved past the self-torture stage, but still think it would be fun to impress your friends (and make them cringe), then take a lesson from this can crushing technique.

The trick is to have finger pressure pinching inward at the same time as your palm and head are crushing it from top to bottom. Instructables contributor suggsugg takes us through four simple steps to painless can crushing.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy your new party trick.

We've heard our fair share of warnings about Coke and the health issues that accompany too much consumption of any cola product. Some of them are pretty shocking. We know that one can of Cola has 100% of your daily recommended sugar intake, causing a urinary excretion of calcium and other necessary vitamins and minerals. I get emails about twice a year, telling me that coke is strong enough to clean the toilet or dissolve corrosion from car batteries. I'm disgusted for a few days but eventually make my way back to that tempting can of Coke, despite all the warnings.

So how do they make that distinct recipe that so many of us love? Store brand imitations pale in comparison. I never would have guessed that a home brew would be possible, but it is. The brewing process takes months, and is far too intensive to do with any regularity, but it would be a neat experiment. Check out the full instructions if you're interested in becoming a cola-chemist on your own. Just think about how impressed your friends will be when you offer some home-brewed cola. Hold a blind taste test and see how good you are.

As shown in this cool Metacafe video, you can strengthen your wimpy wi-fi signal with the help of a soda can, some tin snips, and a hole punch (better wear work gloves for this one, too). It's a nifty way to recycle.

All you're really doing here is cutting the clean, empty can in half (on a top-to-bottom axis), cutting off the top, punching a hole in the bottom, and sliding the resulting curved surface over a wi-fi antenna via the hole. Because there are still sharp edges on the can, I'd consider avoiding this one if you have kids or curious pets. You could also try taping up the edges carefully, or using a product like Plasti-Dip to put a rubbery coating on the edges.

My guess is that it works by redirecting the signal, to keep it from dispersing as much in a circular area and by bouncing it specifically to where you want it to go. Think of it as something like the concave surface of a satellite dish. If you read the comments on the video, you'll find that someone suggests that you look up "parabolic antenna" formula on Google to figure out exactly where you should point the open side of the can.

[via Apartment Therapy Home Tech, thanks Farrah]