Awesome DIY advice from Star Tips and Chizzy

So, what are you doing to save money during the recession? I certainly hope you haven’t been cutting back on being fabulous! But, just in case, “Star Tips” proves you don’t have to.

I haven’t been able to sort out what magazine these images are from, despite a full forty-five seconds on the Google. (Maybe Chat, but maybe not. If you know, please leave it in the comments.) The premise seems to be that readers send in their own money-saving tips. And, if your tip is awesome enough, Charlie and Lizzy (plural: “Chizzy”) will take a photo of themselves trying it out.

You should view the whole gallery, but here are a few of the choicer tips.

Plus, when you duck out of the “posh do” to freshen up in the ladies room, you can exfoliate!

Would make nice earrings, too!
 
In mine, every third post-it would say “Recalculating . . .” and would take five minutes to pull off the steering wheel.

Or, encourage your guests to eat lots and lots of mints, and enjoy the ensuing unicorn vomit.
Plus, is toothpaste really cheaper than mints? Really?

This is just one of many alternative uses for sanitary towels featured by Chizzy.  Others include shoe inserts, fake neck braces for frivolous lawsuits, and dressing like a terrorist to get cheap action from TSA. I assume.

This is my personal favorite. Sally Thomas of Stoke-on-Trent, we are all thrilled with your 3D hat picture!

Star Wars!! The Director’s Uncut!!

So, here it is, the crowd-sourced, full length remake of Star Wars. That’s two full hours of action figures, paper starships, pencil drawings, and dudes dressed in Star Trek uniforms. It has been lovingly spliced together from scenes hand-picked from the fan-filmed bits uploaded at Star Wars Uncut.

It’ll renew your faith in the Star Wars of your childhood. That magnificent jewel of genius extruded inexplicably from the gaping chasm of despair in the spot where you had, perhaps, naively assumed George Lucas’s soul would be.

Oh, and, of course, there’s Legos.

The Day the LOLCats Died

So, you’ve probably heard about, or may already be experiencing the partial internet blackout to draw attention to and protest SOPA/PIPA, the MPAA/RIAA lobbyist written and funded sibling bills that aim to fuck up the internet for everyone by basically handing censorship authority over to corporations in the name of protecting intellectual property.

Enjoy this. Then call your damn Senators!

Read more from the Electronic Frontier Foundation here.

The Ronin Blog welcomes a new contributor

So, the blog over at the Ronin Institute is honored to have its first two posts by Viviane Callier. Viviane got her PhD from Duke, and is currently doing a postdoc at Arizona State University. In her first post, she discusses the actual value of attending scientific meetings. Here’s a taste:

Meetings are a place where you meet new people, and catch up with people you already know. It’s where you meet someone you think you want to work with, and discover that that person is kind and enthusiastic and supportive, or alternatively is a slave-driving egomaniac. And that enables you to make a better-informed choice. It’s also where prospective employers meet prospective employees. After all, I don’t think I would have been hired in my current job, had I not met my employer at a conference a year ago (and that was before I had started looking for a job).

In her second post, she discusses a critical, but often underappreciated, skill in academia (and life, for that matter): asking for stuff.

Her advice came down to: ask for what you want. Most people are happy to give you what you want if they are able to, and if they know what you want. She also advised to practice asking for things – for example, negotiating a free dessert at a restaurant – sometimes people will be happy to give what is asked for, but it is also important to learn that it’s okay when people say “no”.

Drop by and read the full posts, and join in the discussion!