DIY Life

Back in the 1964 Winter Olympics, my uncle won the only gold medal for the US team. Even though it took place before I was born, it's still something the family is so proud of. We're a family that gets pretty excited about the Olympics... because we know that it's a dream that can really come true.

You can get your family geared up for the Olympics with some of these simple crafts:

• Use some red, yellow, and orange tissue paper to create an Olympic torch. If you have kids, this is a great time to teach them about the history of the torch relay.
  
• Have a family gathering during the Olympics. Set up some fun games such as relays, swimming, soccer, basketball and so forth. Then hand out home-made gold, silver, and bronze-painted medals to the winners.

Aaahh. The cool breeze of the ceiling fan is absolute heaven here in Tallahassee, Florida, where the summers are swelteringly hot and humid. In fact, this fair town -- Florida's capital -- was just voted 3rd sweatiest city in the country. A dubious distinction if ever there was one....

Anyway, when it's this hot, ceiling fans really help cool you down. Plus they help save you money: the more you rely on your fans, the less electrical juice you'll need running the a/c. Anyway, to get the best from your fans, make sure they are set to rotate counter-clockwise in summer.

Most ceiling fan-light fixture combos can be easily adjusted by flicking a small switch on the electrical housing somewhere on the unit. For example, the switch on one of my ceiling fans is clearly visible in the above photo.

Want more ceiling fan advice? Check out Dan's post on how to silence a noisy fan. For tons of helpful info on choosing and installing ceiling fans, click over to Kelly's post, 'Install a ceiling fan now!' or this one from Bill: 'Ceiling fans: how cool are they?'

[via Lifehacker.]

Summer's here and the mercury is rising. That means air conditioning, and if you're like me, you've got that central A/C unit humming along and sucking up the dollars. But some areas in my home don't have A/C. My shop is a good example. OK, it was meant to be a two-car garage, but what a waste of space that would have been.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this site that shows how to construct a home- made air conditioner. The one featured here uses a small table-top fan, but I can envision one that uses a big box fan instead. More bang for your buck.

To build one of your own, here's what you'll need:

• A fan
• Ice chest
• Copper tubing
• Aquarium pump
• Ice
  

This set-up is actually quite similar to what I rigged up a few years ago when I used to brew beer. The wort had to be chilled quickly when emptying the brew kettle. Maybe I could rig it up to do both things at the same time. Hmmm...

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Shindaiwa Corp, has announced a voluntary recall of about 23,000 Shindaiwa Backpack Blowers, models EB8510 and EB8510RT. Shindaiwa is aware of 13 incidents involving broken propellers, including one incident involving a minor head injury and minor property damage to a nearby automobile.

A laceration and impact hazard is posed to consumers when plastic pieces are blown out of the machine, if the blower's impeller (fan) separates from the base of the machine and breaks apart. The flying pieces can also cause property damage and injury to bystanders.

Manufactured in Japan, and sold by Shindaiwa dealers from September 2005 through January 2007 for about $600, the backpack blowers weigh approximately 24 pounds and include serial numbers through February 2007. Please see the CPSC press release for more information on the black and blue blowers.

Consumers are advised to stop using the backpack blowers immediately. To find the closest dealer to schedule a free inspection and impeller replacement, contact Shindaiwa at (800) 521-7733, or visit their website at www.shindaiwa.com.

FYI: The Shindaiwa Backpack Blowers were previously recalled due to a fire hazard.

I don't know where you live, but here we're already getting spring weather, which means a blistering summer isn't far off. What does this mean in my home? A constantly running air conditioner. To help out with the energy bill, we have ceiling fans in every room but the kitchen and the bathrooms. This allows us to run the thermostat a bit warmer and the savings on the electrical bill really build up.

If you aren't already maxed out with ceiling fans yet, this is the time to do it. Although I'll provide you with this link for installing a new ceiling fan, let me go over some of your choices when you go shopping.

Ceiling fans are a lot like sinks or faucets – you can spend as much as you want to depending on the fanciness and the bells and whistles. I just recently retired the fan in the living room and installed a new one. I bought a model that has lights bundled with it. That old "killing two birds with one stone" thing. I also bought an extra down-rod since we've got a vaulted ceiling. Don't do what I did, though. I relied on the chart on the wall at Home Depot telling which length to use. I had to go back for a shorter one; the first one would have guaranteed me a haircut!

So, get ready for the summer now. There are many models out there so you won't have any problem finding one to fit the your room's motif .

My husband has bins of random old computer parts, and I've begged him repeatedly to get rid of them. He has always said that you can never be sure when you might need one of those parts. I'm sure he's got useless stuff in there, though, like maybe a broken CD drive. Who needs that kind of junk? Well, apparently a broken CD drive isn't necessarily junk after all.

This instructables tutorial teaches us how to make a USB cooling fan for a notebook with a old CD drive. If you've got a bin like ours, you probably already have everything you need for this project.

It's ironic: the target audience for this article may never know it exists. See, if you didn't notice -- it would have been nearly impossible for anyone who owns a TV and watches networks other than NPR, let alone those of us who spend a lot of time online, not to notice -- Halo 3 came out on Tuesday.

How many gamers planned their vacation days for this week? How many living rooms are slowly filling up with empty pizza boxes and spent Mountain Dew bottles, as the inhabitants frag, frag away? (If not Mountain Dew, insert favorite over-caffeinated beverage -- er, I mean, "beverage with just enough caffeine to keep you going!" -- here. Gamer fuel!)

I'm assuming the number is massive... as massive as this game launch. Which means that those people probably aren't spending too much time browsing the Web. Nevertheless, we have some awesome Halo-based DIY projects for everyone. When the people who would appreciate them most finish the game, or at least come up for air, this article will still be here.

Join us after the break to get your Master Chief on. You know you want to.

We use our smallest room as an office. My husband and I each have a computer and so do each of our boys. This little space quickly becomes the hottest room in our house and is almost unbearable to be in. To top it all off, our clothes dryer is right outside the door, so the heat from that probably adds to the problem. I think you get the picture, but this is a very hot room. While there isn't a whole lot that can be done, there are a few good tips on keeping computers from putting out too much heat. Overclock.net answers this common question How can I cool my room down from my computer heat? This short article talks about lowering the amount of heat certain parts generate by lowering their voltage or frequency, which although technically possible is probably pretty extreme for most people.

In a room like ours, it helps to make sure that any computer that isn't in use is powered down, by setting the power management settings appropriately. It helps, a bit..

I would rather work on a laptop under a shaded tree in some quiet park, but for now, this is my workspace and it sure needs cooling down. If your office heat is getting to you, try some of these tips, but don't forget the obvious; leave the door open, and add window and desk fans, they go a long way too.