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You know you want one. Now learn how to make your own, in 15 easy steps!

(The last step — “Display proudly — Enjoy your elephant!” — being, of course, the best.)

(WikiHow: “How to Fold a Towel Elephant”)

Me neither, but thanks to This to That, now I know the answer. (Answer: Hot glue.) And you can find lots more practical joinings, too.

(via LifeHacker)

Because, I don’t know, you needed a refresher on lock-picking, or you’ve been looking for the Cheshire Catalyst (”What?” “Exactly.”), or it’s too much effort to find your cell-phone manual on the manufacturer’s web-site?  Maybe pdf.textfiles.com has what you’re looking for, and maybe it doesn’t.  Deal.

Online!  Flow-charts!  Boxes!  Arrows!  Lines!

Make diagrams online with Giffy, then share ‘em online or whatever.  Floor plans, generic diagrams, flow-charts, whatever you want, Giffy can help you make it.

Handy, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Because, truly, what do you need more than additional ways to tie your shoes (and other stringy things)?

(via BoingBoing)

Or maybe it’s just a table of animal noises in different languages…

But just think, what if it weren’t…?

(link [though not the graphic] via, probably, some other blog I’ve forgotten all about; just imagine the actual citation is right here)

No, I didn’t think so. Neither do I. The First Amendment Center has answers, with information on most anything you could want to know about the Freedom of Information Act.

(via MeFi)

Watching America collects (and, by the looks of things, translates) articles from publications based in different countries around the world, the focus of these articles being America.

Seems similar to World Press Review, if somewhat less professional.

• MCZ Type Database! Well, no, of course you aren’t supposed to know what it means. The MCZ is for Museum of Comparative Zoology (at Harvard), and the database is of insects. This might not warrant mention, if not for the fact that a fair portion of the entries have accompanying photographs. Be sure to check out the greatest hits.
• Playing with knives. The reasonably titled “How to cut” provides instructions for what you might expect (as long as you’re expecting fruits and vegetables), with right-handed and left-handed instructions, fully illustrated.
• LexisNexis AlaCarte. $3 a pop.