fun

Build A Nintendo Arcade To Get Your Old-School Game On

7:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Playing old-school NES games is reassuringly awesome, but playing them in emulation at your computer is inauthentic and sometimes kludgey. Check out this awesome homemade Nintendo arcade system and consider the possibilities. More »

Learn To Throw A Knife

5:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | You won’t ever actually need this skill, hopefully, but learning how to throw a knife and hit your mark definitely leaves you with a feeling of action hero accomplishment. Here’s how to do it the right way. More »

Google Maps Mashup Shows Opposite Points On Globe

1:30PM Angus Kidman | It’s tough to claim this is productive, but on a Friday afternoon it might be just what you need: a tool that uses Google Maps to show you the exact opposite of any location on the globe, forever answering those childhood “can we dig our way to China?” questions. More »

Use Spaghetti To Paint Like Jackson Pollock

5:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Adding some abstract colour, à la Jackson Pollock, to your living or working space doesn’t have to cost you a year’s rent. It’s nothing resembling authentic, but using spaghetti to paint is a seriously fun project. More »

Harmless Geek Pranks For A Little April Fooling

4:30AM Adam Pash | It’s April Fools’ Day, which means we should all brace ourselves for the inevitable, widespread prankage. If you haven’t prepared your own pranks, we’ve already got ten ready-to-go geek pranks for your perusal. More »

Spoof Magazine Covers And More At WriteOnIt

5:00PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Your mother always told you you’d never sell enough gold records, or fall hard enough from a high enough office, to make the cover of a magazine. Prove her wrong with spoof site WriteOnIt. WriteOnIt it is a web-based application that allows you to make spoof magazine covers, insert captions into photographs, and put your picture into other State-Fair-esque fake backgrounds, like billboards and in art galleries. There isn’t any interface for tweaking font sizes or special effects, so you’re stuck messing around with the length of sentences with trial and error. Still, for making some silly pictures without having to hone your Photoshop skills, it’s a fun site. For more fun creating photo mashups, check out PhotoFunia to paste your picture into more scenes and situations, and MorphThing to blend your face with a celebrity’s. Photo by HiggySTFC. WriteOnIt [via WebWare] More »

eBay Launches AFL And NRL Footy Tipping Comps

10:30AM Angus Kidman | Spending time working out the week’s footy tips hardly qualifies as a productivity boost, but the new footy tipping site launched by eBay does have one advantage over the traditional office sweepstakes: a top prize of $5,000. eBay is running tipping competitions for both the NRL and AFL; you need to be a registered eBay user (and have PayPal to get the prizes), but that isn’t likely to cut out very many of your colleagues. If you’ve got a preferred site for setting up the office tipping frenzy, share details in the comments. eBay Footy Tipping More »

Fancy Yourself As A Monopoly Champion?

4:00PM Angus Kidman | OK, we know that gaming is really Kotaku’s bag, but here at Lifehacker we’re great believers in games and puzzles to enhance your mental health. And while we’re not sure that perennial board game favourite Monopoly quite qualifies, it’s certainly good for your basic arithmetic skills. Registration for the National Monopoly Championships has just begun, with six regional championships scheduled in January and February throughout the country to find a contestant who will represent Australia at a global showdown in Las Vegas later in 2009. Get rolling! Monopoly Australia Championships [via OzBargain More »

Can your browser history reveal your gender?

8:41PM Angus Kidman | Here’s an interesting twist on browser history: a Web-based calculator which looks at the sites you’ve visited, weights that against whether those sites have a larger male or female readership, and then makes an educated guess on whether you’re male or female. I came up as 92% male, which sounds about right. How do you score? Using your browser URL history to estimate gender  [Mike On Ads] More »