| How to Minimize Sound in an Apartment Posted: 24 Apr 2020 01:00 AM PDT The downside of living in an apartment is noise. You try to stay quiet to avoid disturbing your neighbors, and you have to deal with the noise they make. While common tricks to reduce noise include adding more insulation to the walls or replacing the doors and windows, you probably can't do these things if you're renting an apartment. Fortunately, there are plenty of little tricks you can use to block your own sounds and prevent your neighbors' noise from disturbing you. [Edit]Muffling Your Noise - Cover hardwood floors with area rugs or carpet tiles. Hardwood floors are a huge sound amplifier, especially if someone lives below you. Reduce the sound you create by putting some area rugs around the apartment. Focus on areas that you walk a lot to muffle your footsteps.[1]
- If your floors are very noisy, put pads under the carpeting for more noise insulation.
- Putting rugs on the floor works both ways, because they can muffle sounds coming from your downstairs neighbors as well.
- As an extra courtesy, take your shoes off when you're walking around your apartment. Shoes on hardwood floors are very noisy, especially if someone lives below you.
- Hang soft materials on the walls. Flat, hard walls amplify sounds coming in and leaving your apartment. Break up those sound waves with some soft items on the walls. Good options include canvas paintings, foam designs, or decorative fabrics. Focus on hanging these items on shared walls to prevent your noise from bothering your neighbors.[2]
- Just like with carpeting, this trick works both ways and blocks outside noise from getting in as well.
- Hard items like picture frames will also help, just not as well as softer items.
- If you don't have any suitable items, you could also hang blankets or sheets against the wall for a similar, though less decorative, effect.
- Point speakers away from shared walls or the floor. TV and surround-sound speakers cause a lot of vibrations that could bother your neighbors. Angle them so they don't face shared walls or the floor if you live above someone. Keep them focused towards where you'd be sitting to prevent the sound from spreading.[3]
- If your speakers are built to point down and you can't adjust them, put them on a rug or mat. This muffles their sound.
- You could also rearrange your apartment if the speakers aren't adjustable. For example, move the TV off a shared wall to a wall that points outside.
- Unplug your electronics when they're not in use to reduce hum. When multiple electronics are working in the same space, they can produce an ambient hum. Avoid the noise by unplugging all of your devices that aren't in use. If you're done with your computer, for example, unplug the charger.[4]
- You might not notice a hum from your devices, but it could vibrate your neighbors' walls and disturb them. You might even subconsciously turn the TV up or talk louder to drown out the hum.
- Add acoustic paneling to your laundry room walls if you have one. If you have a washer and dryer in your apartment, then doing laundry will make a lot of noise. Soundproof your laundry room by hanging acoustic panels in the room. Cover all the walls for the best results.[5]
- You can buy acoustic panels online or from hardware stores.
- Acoustic panels usually attach with sawtooth hangers, which require drilling some small holes. Landlords usually allow this, but check with yours to make sure.
- If you can't find acoustic panels, foam sections will also work. Look for pieces with ridges and face them towards the room to break up the sound.
[Edit]Blocking Noise from Neighbors - Place furniture against shared walls. If your neighbors are noisy, then you can block their sounds with furniture. Arrange your apartment so heavy furniture is against your shared wall. This will break up sound when it enters your apartment.[6]
- One of the best choices is a solid bookcase. If you can afford it, you can have a bookcase that covers the entire wall. A few smaller ones will also work.
- You could also place your cabinet or dresser along the shared wall. These solid pieces of furniture can block sound as well.
- Place plants along walls to muffle sound. If you don't have enough furniture to block your neighbor's noise, plants are an inexpensive alternative. Use leafy plants like anthurium, peace lily, or snake plants for the best effect. Arrange them along shared walls to muffle incoming sounds.[7]
- Place plants on your windowsills to block outdoor noise too.
- Plants will also block your sound, so they can prevent you from bothering your neighbors as well.
- Use heavy window drapes to block outdoor noise. A lot of noise comes in through your windows. The best way to block this out is with heavy drapes that can muffle incoming sounds. Hang these on all your windows and keep them closed at night to prevent noise from waking you up.[8]
- Many drapes advertise that they are noise-cancelling, so you'll have plenty of choices. Look for a product that matches your décor and has good reviews for blocking sounds.
- Install window inserts if the outside noise is very bad. If drapes aren't enough to block outdoor noise, thick window inserts can help. There are several types. Some are just rubber inserts that plug gaps between the window and windowsill, and others are full, clear sheets that cover the whole window. Look in a hardware or home goods store for your options and follow the installation instructions that come with it.[9]
- Some window inserts block the window from opening when they're installed. If you open your windows often, make sure you get a product that doesn't block them.
- A similar, more permanent solution, is adding a line of caulk around the window border. This requires a landlord's permission, so ask them first.
- Use a draft blocker to fill the space under your door. If there are any gaps in your door, noise will be able to enter. Use a door draft blocker to plug that opening and prevent more sound from getting in.[10]
- Look for a product made of foam or thicker fabric to block noise. For the best results, use one that stretches under the door and extends up on the other side. Door sweeps are less effective because they only cover one side of the door, but they're better than nothing.
- This will keep heat from escaping your apartment, so you won't have to turn your thermostat up. It also helps keep your apartment cooler in the summer.
- If there are more spaces in the door besides on the bottom, try hanging a sheet or drapes over your door to block the noise.
- Hang ceiling clouds to stop sound waves. Ceiling clouds are pieces of foam that block sound waves. They're usually used in theaters, but they can also help if you have noisy upstairs neighbors. Get a pack from the hardware store and follow the installation instructions for the best results.[11]
- Check with your landlord before hanging these tools. You may need to put holes in the ceiling to attach them, so don't do it without your landlord's permission.
[Edit]Warnings - Always ask your landlord before making any renovations that require drilling holes or marking up walls. You could lose your security deposit if you cause any damage. When in doubt, check with the landlord.
[Edit]References |
| How to Do Magic Tricks Posted: 23 Apr 2020 05:00 PM PDT Many magicians devote their entire lives to mastering the art of illusion, but you don't have to go to such great lengths to impress your friends and family. With the right know-how and a little practice, you can easily learn to perform a number of jaw-dropping tricks that are guaranteed to leave onlookers in awe! Start by perfecting a few simple beginner tricks, like making a pencil float in the palm of your hand or passing a cup through a solid tabletop. You can then work your way up to more difficult tricks, such as rubbing a coin into your skin and making yourself levitate, to keep your audience spellbound. [Edit]Pulling off a Few Simple Beginner Tricks - Make a quarter vanish into thin air. Place a quarter in the palm of your dominant hand and tell your audience that you're going to make it disappear. Make sure it's resting right in the center of your middle and ring fingers—this will allow you to secretly cup the edges using your index and pinky fingers. Quickly pass your dominant hand over your opposite hand as though you've transferred the quarter, then let your dominant hand, which is still palming the coin, fall to your side. Open your empty hand and savor the look on your audience's faces as they try to figure out where the quarter want![1]
- You can perform this trick using any type of coin, as long as it's big enough to grip in the finger-palm position.
- The disappearing quarter is one of the oldest tricks in the book, which means many people already know how it's done. If you really want to impress them, you may need to pull out a lesser-known trick.
- Bend and re-straighten any spoon instantly. Hold the spoon upside down with the head pressed against a table or similar surface and act like you're gripping the handle firmly in both fists. Instead of actually wrapping your hands around the spoon, loop the pinky finger of your bottom hand around the point on handle directly above the head and keep the rest of your fingers poised just in front of the handle, along with your entire top hand. Push both fists down towards the tabletop as though you're bending the spoon by force while slowly lowering the handle to a horizontal angle. Finish the trick by quickly reversing the motion and magically restoring the spoon to its original shape.[2]
- Try out this trick on your friends and family the next time you go out for dinner.
- Be sure to sit or stand head-on to your audience when performing this trick. If someone is watching from the side, they may be able to see what you're doing.[3]
- Make a pencil float in the palm of your hand. This one is as easy as can be—just clutch a pencil in one fist with the back of your hand facing the audience, then grab your wrist with your opposite hand like you're bracing yourself for a great effort. Without attracting attention, slowly outstretch the pointer finger of your support hand and use it to pin the pencil to your palm as you open your fist. When done correctly, it will look like the pencil is hovering in front of your hand.[4]
- If you really want to blow your audience's mind, you can perform a slight variation of this trick immediately afterwards. Hide a second pencil on the inside of your wrist under the band of a watch or bracelet and use it to hold the "floating" pencil in place as you slowly remove your support hand entirely.[5]
- You can carry out this trick either from the side or from a top-down perspective, so long as the inside of your hand isn't visible to your audience.
- Pass an ordinary piece of paper around your body. Bet your skeptical audience that you can cut a hole in a normal piece of typing paper large enough to step through. Fold the paper in half widthwise and cut a series of strips through the folded edge every or so, stopping about from the far end. Then, rotate the paper 180 degrees and cut along the midline of each strip you just cut from the opposite side, again stopping just short of the far edge. Finally, cut through each folded crease individually and open up the paper to reveal an impossibly-large paper portal that you can slip right through.[6]
- Take care not to accidentally cut all the way through the paper, or to tear it while you're picking it up. If you do, you'll end up losing your own bet!
- Though it may seem like genuine magic, this trick has a simple explanation: cutting the strips in such a careful way rearranges the surface area of the paper so that it's essentially one big outline.[7]
- Smash a cup through a table "accidentally." Explain to your audience that you're going to pass a magical ball through a solid tabletop using a small cup and a "cloak of concealment" (an ordinary piece of paper). Place the cup upside down over the ball, then mold the paper around the cup so that it covers it completely. Pick up the paper-covered cup to give your audience one last look at the ball. As you do, drop the cup into your lap inconspicuously and cradle it between your thighs. Put the cup-shaped paper shell back over the ball and give it a smack. Remove the cloak to show that the ball is still there, but the cup has rematerialized beneath the table.[8]
- Play up your "mistake" by saying something like, "Oh no! I think I hit it a little too hard. The ball is still here, but the cup went right through!"
- The key to this trick is to let the cup fall quickly and quietly into your lap without your audience seeing, and to make it look like you're reaching all the way down to the floor when you go to retrieve it.
- Spin a straw around the top of a bottle using only your mind. While no one is watching, take a paper-wrapped straw and rub your hand up and down its length a few times to generate static electricity. Be careful not to tear the thin paper wrapper. When you're ready to do the trick, lay the straw across the top of a bottle or another container with a narrow opening, with its center point directly over the mouth. Raise your hands over the ends of the straw and wave them forward and backward in a mystical manner. The static charge will cause it to rotate without you ever actually touching it.[9]
- Keep your hands close to the straw at all times. If they get too far away, the charge will be too faint to continue moving it.
- If possible, perform the setup for this trick while your audience is absent or distracted (such as when your dining companion excuses themselves to go to the restroom).[10]
[Edit]Making Yourself Levitate - Stand at a slight angle with your back to your audience. As casually as possible, make your way into a roughly diagonal stance with the heels of your feet pointed towards the audience and your toes pointed away from them. Place both feet flat on the ground, side-by-side.[11]
- To avoid drawing suspicion, try pacing back and forth slowly while setting up the trick, then stop and get into position after your final turn. This will make it appear like you ended up in your stance by chance.
- This trick works best when performed in front of a stationary audience, who won't be able to move around to get a better look at your feet.
- Caution your onlookers that levitating is an extremely difficult skill. Stress that you'll only be able to hold yourself up for a second or two, if at all. When you're ready, hold your arms out to your sides slightly and take a few deep breaths to convey how hard you're concentrating.[12]
- If you want, you can go as far as to throw in a couple "failed" attempts to lend an element of realism to the trick.
- Rock up smoothly onto the ball of the foot furthest away from the audience. Transition your weight onto the ball of your support foot fluidly while allowing the foot the audience can see to hover above the ground. Try to support yourself as far forward towards your toes as you can. If you do this just right, it will appear as though you've succeeded in levitating for a brief moment.[13]
- For added effect, wave your arms around like you're trying to maintain your center of gravity.[14]
- If you get good enough at finding exactly the right stance and foot placement, this trick will have even the most skeptical member of your audience questioning whether they can trust their own senses.
- Lower yourself back down to the ground before your audience catches on. The idea is to give them just a quick flash of what's happening and leave them reeling with surprise. By the time their minds begin processing what they've just seen, you'll have already moved onto your next trick or cleared the scene altogether.[15]
- The longer you "float," the more of a chance your audience will have to deduce the secret behind the illusion.
[Edit]Rubbing a Coin Into Your Skin - Explain your objective to your audience as you set up the trick. If possible, move into a seated position and make sure that there's no one on either side of you. Grab the coin in your dominant hand and announce to your onlookers that you're going to rub it right through the skin on your other arm.[16]
- A line like, "My doctor said my iron levels are a little low" can add some color and humor to the trick while also taking your audience's attention off of what you're doing.
- You can use any type of coin you like, but something larger, like a quarter or half dollar, will generally be easier for your audience to see.[17]
- Begin rubbing the coin into your opposite arm. Rest the elbow of your decoy arm against the table with your hand pointed straight up. Take the coin, press it against the fleshy part of your forearm, and start rubbing it back and forth.[18]
- Make sure your audience can't actually see the coin inside your hand once you begin rubbing. This will become important in the second stage of the trick.
- Pretend to drop the coin onto the table. After rubbing for a few moments, let the coin slip out of your fingers and land in plain sight on the tabletop. Sell the drop as an unintended mistake by making an offhand comment like, "Whoops! Got a little carried away there."[19]
- Leave the coin sitting on the table just long enough for your audience to see that it's the same one, and that you haven't swapped it out with a trick prop.
- This part is where the sleight of hand comes in, so you need to make it as believable as possible in order for the trick to be convincing.
- Pick up the coin with your decoy hand and fake a pass to your other hand. This is where the illusion comes in. While you're apologizing to the audience, snatch up the coin with the hand of the arm you were just rubbing and make a quick motion indicating that you're passing it back to your rubbing hand, only don't actually pass it. Instead, cup it in your palm and place your elbow back on the table.[20]
- Keep the fingers of your decoy hand open slightly so your audience doesn't suspect that you're holding the coin in that hand. Use the finger-palm position, pressing into the edges of the coin with the sides of your index and pinky fingers.
- It may take quite a bit of practice before you can fake the handoff without being obvious. Keep trying—it will eventually start to feel more natural.
- Resume rubbing your arm with your empty hand. Get the trick back on track and continue massaging the coin into your elbow. Let out a couple faint grunts or groans like the friction is causing you discomfort. If you like, you can even throw in a remark like, "I can feel it now! Just a little more pressure..."[21]
- Avoid rubbing so vigorously that you risk knocking the coin out of your decoy hand.
- Take your time with the second round of rubbing. The longer you rub, the more certain your audience will be that the deception takes place in this phase of the trick.
- Remove your hand to reveal that the coin has disappeared. When it comes time for the big payoff, stop rubbing suddenly and leave you hand glued to your arm for a moment longer. Then, peel it off slowly and turn it around for your audience to see. There, they'll be faced with a fistful of nothing.[22]
- If you want to add some extra flourish, carefully transfer the coin back into rubbing hand while your audience is exchanging amazed looks and produce it from one of your onlookers' ears, pockets, or shirt collars.
- Have a "magic" puppet so the audience gets distracted by it. It can also be your "assistant."
- Resist the temptation to explain how you pulled off a certain trick. Remember, a magician never reveals their secrets!
- If possible, practice your tricks in the mirror. That way, you'll get an idea of how they'll look to a live audience.
[Edit]Warnings - Never perform the same trick more than once in the same show. Doing so will make it easier for your audience to figure out how it works.
[Edit]References [Edit]Quick Summary |
| How to Grow Potatoes from Potatoes Posted: 23 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT The only thing better than one potato is two! Potatoes are tasty, multifunctional, and relatively easy to grow. All you have to do is plant a seeding potato in a sunny patch in your yard or in a large pot on your back deck and wait roughly five months for the potatoes to mature. Once they've grown, dig up, eat up, and enjoy! [Edit]Growing Potatoes in Your Yard - Choose a spot in your yard with lots of sun. Potatoes grow best with 8 hours of sunlight a day, but they don't do well with too much heat. Pick a spot in your garden where the plants will be exposed to sunlight but not baking in the heat. They prefer summer temperatures of roughly , but can handle slightly hotter temps, as long as they're not exposed to direct sunlight for more than 6-8 hours a day. Plant in late spring for ideal conditions.
- Expert gardeners recommend planting potatoes around the time of last expected frost, but that time can vary based on where you live.
- Buy seed potatoes from a garden supply store. The best way to grow potatoes is from potatoes, but not just any potato will do: they have to be specially-grown seed potatoes from a garden supply store. Regular potatoes from a grocery store are often treated with pesticides which can spread disease through your whole crop, so either order your seeding potatoes from a catalog or hit the garden store.[1]
- Seed potatoes come in every variation—russet, Yukon, fingerling, you name it. Your garden supply store will have options for you to choose from, and they can order you any type of potato they don't already have in the store.
- Allow sprouts to grow for 1 week before planting. Unlike most grocery store potatoes, seed potatoes grow little protuberances called sprouts. These sprouts, once planted, form the buds of new potato plants—they are essential to the growing process! Place your seed potatoes in any warm, dry spot (a bowl on your kitchen counter where the sun shines will do) and leave them for a week.[2]
- One week is ample time for your sprouts to grow between and in length. That means they're almost ready to be planted.
- Cut the potatoes into sections. Tiny potatoes are fine to be planted whole, but any spud larger than a golf ball should be cut into chunks about wide, each with at least two sprouts. Usually just cutting the potatoes in half "hamburger-style" will do. Return the cut potatoes to the warm spot where they've been sitting for the past week, and leave them an additional 2-3 days before planting.[3]
- Prep the plant site with fertilizer. Using a garden fork, rake compost into your chosen plant-site. Potatoes prefer loose, loamy soil, so work out any clumps until the dirt is airy and breathable. Make sure your fertilizer is covered by at least 2 inches of soil or it could damage your potato roots.[4]
- If you don't have compost, buy a balanced commercial fertilizer, superphosphate, or bonemeal, all available at the garden supply store.
- Plant the potatoes in holes apart. Place your halved potatoes cut-side down in -deep holes with the eye, or sprout, pointing up toward the sun. Cover with soil and water well.[5]
- You should generally provide your potatoes with of water per week, including rainfall. They prefer their soil moist, but not waterlogged.[6]
- Hill the potatoes after five weeks. To "hill" your potatoes, pile soil up around the stems to create a incline on either side. This will force new potatoes to grow above previously-planted ones. You can cover the entire plant with soil, or choose to leave the leaves exposed (this may be helpful later, as their changing color can signal the potatoes' growth).[7]
- Continue hilling about once a week: it will protect baby potatoes from being exposed to direct sunlight.
- Harvest your potatoes after 70-100 days. Somewhere around five months after their plant-date, your potatoes will begin to show signs that they've matured. The leaves will turn yellow and the foliage will die back, meaning it's almost time to harvest them. Leave them in the soil an additional 2-3 weeks, then dig them up with a pitchfork and gather them with your hands.[8]
- Many species of potatoes will grow into tubers large enough to eat after 10 weeks, but leaving them in the ground longer will yield the largest crop.
[Edit]Planting Potatoes in a Pot - Fill 1/3 of a large, deep pot with potting soil. The bigger the pot, the better (potatoes need lots of room to grow), but at a minimum it should be for 4-6 seed potatoes. If you plan to grow more than 6 seed potatoes, go for a barrel-sized pot.[9]
- Your pot will also need to contain a sizable drainage hole. Black reusable plastic pots from the garden store work well for growing potatoes, as the black color holds in warmth and the bottoms have built-in drainage.
- Plant seed potatoes apart with sprouts face up. Your potatoes should not be touching each other or the edge of the pot or their growth will be stunted. Once planted, cover them with of potting soil. Water until the liquid begins to drain from the bottom. Leave the pot in a sunny, temperate spot on your front or back deck, where it will be exposed to 6-8 hours of sunlight per day.[10]
- Don't overcrowd the pot: is the minimum amount of space in which your potato can still grow.
- Water your potatoes whenever the top of soil become dry. The dryness of the soil will depend on the weather where you live, so test if it's time to water by sticking one finger into the top of the soil. If it feels dry, it's time to water again. Keep going until water begins to drain from the bottom of the pot.[11]
- If you live in a hotter climate, your soil will get drier quicker and will need to be watered more often. Check twice a day.
- Add potting soil as your potato sprouts shoot out of the soil. Only about 1 inch of the sprout should be exposed at any point in the growing process, so continue to add soil periodically. Mix your soil with fertilizer (a 5-10-10 commercial mixture from the garden store will do) for healthy, fast-growing plants.
- Harvest your potatoes when their leaves turn yellow. After 18-20 weeks your potted potatoes will reach maturity. Dig them out of the pot by hand or dump it out and root through the soil to harvest your tubers.[12]
- Check the skin of each potato for white, mushy spots—these could signify fungus, in which case the potatoes are not safe to eat. They should be uniform in color with tight, firm skins.
[Edit]References |
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