All Hobbies & projects Articles

OK, it's official. There's yet another stupendous reason to learn to knit and crochet. Of course, it's not really news to those of us who have been producing stuff with needles all these years. We already know that when we are camped in a favorite chair knitting socks or crocheting an afghan we are in the zone of la-la land. Now it's a scientific fact: Knitting and crocheting reduce Read more...

Aspiring authors have a new resource that will make online publishing more accessible and affordable than ever before, according to Cindy Grady, managing director of WriteLife.com, a unique website that caters to fiction and non-fiction writers. "WriteLife.com is a new, interactive way for writers to create, share, publish and market their work," said Grady. She said the Read more...

You finally have that garden time you've longed for. Too bad pests are proving more troublesome than expected. Don't be so quick to reach for the insecticide, though, says gardening expert Anne McIntyre. Instead, she suggests reaching for herbs. McIntyre, author of The Complete Woman's Herbal (Gaia, 1994), says some herbs are natural insecticides and should be made an integral part of any garden. Read more...

For many, retirement is a chance to finally do the things they've wanted to do all their lives. However, few people who haven't cultivated authentic interests during their middle years are able to do so after age 65. As a result, many end up bored and disappointed. Have you engaged in a new interest or hobby, or even returned to an old one? To transition yourself into retirement, you should Read more...

Spring has officially arrived. It's time to turn mind and hand to making things bloom and the experts at GardenGuides are eager to help design that dream garden, advise on what grows best when and where, and share the advantages (and disadvantages) of producing your own vegetables for next winter. GardenGuides offers advice on annuals ranging from African daisies to zinnias, and perennials Read more...

I had nearly completed the alumni questionnaire when I came to a question containing a word I haven't thought of since high school. An ancient word. A word that calls back an amazing time when days lasted 24 hours and weeks lasted seven days ... The question was: What are your hobbies? I reread the sentence. Hobbies? I tried to think of something I do just for the sheer joy of doing Read more...

Want to give him or her something straight from your heart this season? Artists, crafts teachers and others suggest making these easy and intriguing romantic gifts. Visual artist Colleen Kelly of Albuquerque, N.M., creates handmade cards with rubber stamps that she carves out of erasers using an X-acto knife. "You can carve simple images such as candles, trees, stars, your loved one's Read more...

Remember the movie "Top Gun"? You can recreate the hot love scenes after flying your own fighter aircraft for real. Air Combat USA Can make your dreams of being a fighter pilot come true. No pilot's license is required to fulfill your ultimate fantasy, or that of your partner, to fly a real fighter jet. Each mission begins with ground school, where you will learn tactical Read more...

You remember that day well -- the day you got a load of the new "Compusurdo XJ2000" with the plug 'n' play Internet connection at your local "Best Deals" store. "Five gigabytes of hard drive," you muttered to yourself, looking at the sales sheet. "How do you use up five gigs of memory?" Well, you found out, didn't you? Your fabulous new XJ2000 hadn't Read more...

Americans age 50 and older scored the most gains in Internet access over the past two years. The Commerce Department reports that Net usage by Americans over 50 rose 53 percent from December 1998 to August 2000. That compares to a 35 percent growth rate for individual Net usage nationwide in the same period. The Falling Through the Net report says 51 percent of U.S. households have access Read more...

In the cyberspace smorgasbord of text, graphics, streaming video, audio and invitations to interact, words matter most among Web surfers seeking news online, research suggests. A joint study by Stanford University and the Poynter Institute in 2000 relied on small cameras to watch the every move of news readers' eyes as they browsed through sites. And the findings surprised researchers, Read more...

Most Americans believe the Internet has improved communication with family and friends, says a 2000 study, dismissing the idea that the Net leads to social isolation. The survey, released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, also found the gender gap is quickly closing, as nine million U.S. women went online for the first time within the six months prior to the study. The Pew Read more...

Finally have the time to tackle those projects around the home but hesitant to shell out big bucks at the hardware store and lumber yard? Click to the Natural Handyman for advice on sane home repair, how to avoid common pitfalls and bone up on a range of topics. The Natural Handyman comes with a drop-down list to give you access to dozens of articles dealing with do-it-yourself projects Read more...

Radio, modern and old-time, is on a new roll thanks to that most eclectic of all mediums, the World Wide Web. An array of specialty programming, including old-time thrillers and line-dancing tunes that can't always be found easily -- or clearly -- are out there, which often can't be found on standard terrestrial radio. For eclectic broadcasting on the Net, the California-based WebRadio has Read more...

Feed your plants Meatloaf and they'll thrive, according to a University of Sussex study. British botanist Dr. Peter Scott says the plants he worked with showed a particular fondness for Meatloaf's hit "Bat Out of Hell." Wallflower seeds, for instance, sprouted fully two days earlier than they did in silence. Dr. Scott says his work centered on 10 plant species, including Read more...