Redstone and electricity have much in common. They both have what's called resistance. That is, they only travel a certain distance before the signal degrades to the point where it's unusable, and they take a certain amount of time to get there. With electricity, that time is nearly instantaneous because electricity is extremely fast. Redstone, on the other hand, is pretty slow.
When you start involving repeaters and redstone torches, that speed slows down to what can seem like a crawl.
Well, no more! With this design (showcased as a video on our corkboard by Nicholas), you can stack these
No More Redstone Delay—Transmit Power at the Speed of Lightning!
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How to Terraform Your Minecraft World with Natural-Looking Mountains
Last weekend we had a fun workshop (not the redstone workshop from yesterday) in which a bunch of people got together and built mountains! Well, small mountains, at least. The workshop was only an hour, after all.
There are three techniques that you want to consider when constructing a mountain in Minecraft, and when you combine all three of them, you'll end up with great-looking terrain!
Technique 1: Irregularity
In this case, regular doesn't mean 'normal', it means 'symmetrical'. Real mountains only have partial symmetry... if you make them too regular and symmetrical, they look entirely
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Coding Fundamentals: An Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms
What is a Data Structure?
When we think of a "structure" we often think of architecture, but data also often has structure. There are many different types of data structures: arrays, graphs, queues, stacks, and so on. We use these structures in order to be able to effectively store and access the data. Sometimes one data structure will be very effective, while in another situation not so much. Knowing and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the most common data structures will help you more easily decide which to use, according to a given situation.
What Is an Algorithm?
An
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Things to Do on WonderHowTo (06/13 - 06/19)
Today, we're pleased to announce that WonderHowTo is getting a major site-wide update to make it easier to follow the subjects you're passionate about and to share your creations with people who will give you the kudos you deserve!
We Built You a New WonderHowTo!
In preparation for the update to the new and improved WonderHowTo, we'll be performing some maintenance starting around 3pm PST today (June 13th) that'll require us to disable commenting, submitting, and editing for a few hours. Of course, you will still be able to browse the site in read-only mode until the new version of
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How to Build Your Own Mini Altoids Guitar Amp for About $5
I love making beeps and bloops with the Arduino pitches library, but sometimes archaic 8-bit tunes just don't cut it. Whether you want your robot to terrify your enemies with a demonic synthetic voice, you just need a pocket boom box on the go, or you want to a miniature guitar amp, a simple LM386 amplifier can crank up those signals loud enough to play through any speaker.
Materials
LM386 chip
9 volt battery
Perfboard
10 ohm resistor
10K potentiometer
.047uF ceramic capacitor
Old headphones
Breadboard the Circuit
As always, breadboard your circuit before soldering any components together
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10 Unusual Uses for Discarded Eggshells
Many foods do not come in natural packaging that is as useful and versatile as its content. Eggs are an exception. So, the next time you buy a carton of eggs, be sure to hold onto the eggshells after you are finished cooking with them.
In the kitchen, you can use eggshells to clean your teapot, help keep your kitchen sink unclogged and take the bitterness out of your coffee. For your gardening needs, eggshells make for great compost material and can keep slugs and other garden pests away. Eggshells can also be ground up into fine powder and added to your dog's food. They can even be mixed
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Things to Do on WonderHowTo (06/06 - 06/12)
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most popular communities. Users can join and participate in any World they're interested in, as well as start their own community.
Thanks to all of the active World moderators and contributing members from this past week, including, but not limited to Physics Anonymous, Matthew Herman, Nicholas Ng, AMelia silverbug, Bird
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12 Tips for Quitting a Bad Habit
Quitting a bad habit is not as straightforward as simply quitting cold turkey and getting it right the first time. So what to do if you really want to quit doing something that isn't good for you?
First of all, focus on quitting one bad habit at a time. While it's admirable that you want to quit smoking, stop biting your nails and avoid eating sugary snacks after midnight, trying to quit all three habits simultaneously will definitely stress you out and probably not work.
Anticipate the initial difficulties but trust that it will get easier. Enlist in the help of friends. Be extremely
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How to Bypass Common Windows Restrictions, Activate God Mode, and More
A lot of different places have computers with controls on them for several things; some have controls for installing software, some for running software, blocking websites, opening certain file formats, etc.
Obviously, not all places use the same methods, and not all of the methods I mention in this article will work on every computer or operating system. Remember that these controls are probably there for a reason, so if you do discover ways to bypass them, then don't attempt to cause (too many) problems or tell anybody how to bypass the restrictions if they might attempt to cause problems
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PortalElf's Vacation House of Horrors, Winner of Last Week's Redstone Trap Competition!
Hey, Nicholas1413 here! Here are the winners of last week’s Redstone Competition, the theme of which was Diabolical Traps! There were many good entries, but the ones below were top-notch.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Winner of RS_Master rank in game + DisguiseCraft: Your choice of ANY creature!
So, here it is! The winner is...PortalElf!!!!
This trap was amazing in every way! He not only made it look beautiful, but as a redstoner, his wiring was also amazing. You did a great job PortalElf! Here are some photos of the inside...
Not only was his redstone wiring amazing, but he made the whole desert
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Master Minecraft Storytelling with Signs and Settings in This Saturday's Workshop
Minecraft is more than just a building program or a survival game—it's a storytelling medium. What makes this so compelling is that users are able to walk amongst their own creations, and with the ability to make any sort of landscape whatsoever, many users want to create stories that go along with them.
Telling stories via Minecraft is a difficult thing, because as a builder you're limited to signs as the only direct method of interaction between you and your viewer. However, there are many indirect methods of interaction available to the discerning Minecrafter.
In this week's workshop
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Married in Minecraft: Fall in Love with This Week's Staff Choice Award Winners
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of witnessing the most adorable thing I've ever seen in Minecraft—a wedding. Granted, it wasn't a real wedding. The two people involved, Freakje118 and DaVengefulSniper, have never actually met in person and aren't even really dating. However, therein lies the tale!
Cathedral of Love by Freakje118 and DaVengefulSniper
Some of you may know that we have a ranking system on our server. As players win contests, they gain ranks and gain access to certain in-game abilities. DaVengefulSniper is a relatively recent addition to our server, and while he's made a
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How to Display Text in Minecraft Using Redstone
Ever wanted to display text in Minecraft? It's actually not overly difficult. In this tutorial, I will endeavor to guide you through the process between storing and displaying text from memory. To do this, we will examine two different methods of displaying and storing text in memory.
METHOD 1 - Binary-Free (The 5x5 Array)
This method is for those who don't understand binary or how it works. Binary is not overly complicated, but it can go over peoples heads, so I developed a binary-free version for someone who is just starting out to be able to produce the same kinds of things as those who
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How to Fake Confidence
Do you feel like you need a confidence boost in social situations? Fake it 'til you make it—and in the meantime, try incorporating a couple of body language and posture tricks to appear confident before others. Appear verbally confident by speaking only when necessary, acting decisive, and make a point to say the other person's name.
Got your own tips for faking confidence and appearing confident before others? Share with us by commenting below!
Click on image to enlarge.
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How to Make Surface-Mount Electronics at Home for Smaller, Cheaper DIY Gadgets
Whenever we make a homemade circuit, we use what are called through-hole components. Any components with long metal leads is a through-hole component. They are great for soldering to, but it's tough to fit enough through-hole resistors and capacitors into a smartphone. To get those last microns, we have surface-mount components for SMDs (surface-mount devices). These are all of those teeny, tiny things you see when you crack open your digital camera or laptop case.
Today, we go through the steps of soldering our own surface-mount components!
Materials
Solder paste
Syringe
Circuit board
SMD
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5 Amazing Tips for Making a Killer Roller Coaster Ride in Minecraft
Minecart rides primarily serve two different functions—transportation or entertainment. We rarely see minecart-based transportation systems in Minecraft these days because most servers support warps or allow users to set multiple homes that they can simply teleport to. That leaves the primary purpose of entertainment.
Honestly, I've lost count of how many boring minecart rides I've been on, and they all seem to do the same sets of things. So, let's examine those things and discover the recipe for making a great minecart ride!
Roller Coasters
Inevitably, people will make minecart tracks that
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Bigheadasian's Winning "Planet Minecraft" Build Soon to Become a Reality!
Our two-week long free build challenge was an amazing contest! Everyone was competing hard to win the special prize—a free, 3D-printed version of the winning build, courtesy of the Mineways program that can convert Minecraft builds into 3D-printable files. It was humbling to see so many new and old members of the community pouring their time and energy into these builds.
But ultimately, there can only be one winner.
So, despite some really impressive entries, one build stood head and shoulders above the rest...
Planet Minecraft by Bigheadasian
This build was stunning. Generally, I prefer
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Impress Tourists by Creating Our Next Spawn Point in This Week's Minecraft Challenge
Before getting to this week's challenge, first let me say that the 3D-Print winners from the last challenge will be announced tomorrow, due to the extended deadline. Now...
Here on WonderHowTo, we try to keep our server free from griefers. This can sometimes be a pretty trying task, because while there are many signs at the spawn location in our world which detail exactly what one should do to be granted building rights, those signs are almost always ignored.
See all those signs in our spawn location? Totally ignored.
The next problem is that our current spawn location, pictured below, is
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DIY Lab Equipment: Build Your Own Reflow Oven Out of a Toaster for Precision Temperature Soldering
Ever wonder how all of those tiny chips and components can fit inside your laptop or smartphone? If you tried to squeeze them in there yourself, your laptop would quickly become too heavy for your lap, and your mobile phone would need wheels to stay mobile.
The secret to miniaturization is surface mount soldering. Surface mount soldering is peformed in a temperature controlled oven so that the components solder themselves to the circuit board. Today, we make a surface mount soldering (or reflow) oven using a regular countertop toaster oven and an Arduino.
Materials
Toaster oven
Arduino
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11 Exercises to Do While Sitting at Your Computer
If you are sitting in front of a computer all day for your work, make the most of it by exercising your different muscle groups even while you are finishing a PowerPoint presentation or filling out cells in an Excel worksheet.
Stretch your upper body muscles to keep your neck and back from going stiff. Do regular wrist rolls to avoid getting carpal tunnel syndrome. And if your boss allows it, sit on an exercise ball instead of a regular desk. You might look a little goofy, but at least you will have a better chance of achieving a perfect six-pack than if you sit on a regular desk chair with
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