Travel & Events

2016 Toyota Camry XLE V6 – Redline: Review

Posted December 21, 2015 by

Widely known for being a bland, transportation appliance; enthusiast often forget how a Camry can also be known as the hot-rod within the family sedan segment when equipped with Toyota’s potent V6, let’s drive the 2016 Camry XLE V6 and see if it still deserves a look within this crowded family sedan market.

The Co-Optional Podcast Awards Show Part 1 with. Danny O’Dwyer [strong language] – December 17, 2015

Posted December 17, 2015 by

This episode brought to you by http://crunchyroll.com/totalbiscuit – Sign up for your free trial today!

Download the audio version of this podcast: https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/podcast1712

Support Julian, the podcast animator: http://www.patreon.com/cooptionalanimation

TotalBiscuit, Dodger and Jesse Cox sit down with Danny O’Dwyer on this episode of the Co-Optional Podcast! Enjoy!

Original air date: December 15th, 2015

Timestamps courtesy of https://www.reddit.com/user/xylempl
Welcome to the Co-optional Podcast 00:00:30
TODAYS SHOW SPONSORED BY CRUNCHYROLL.COM/TOTALBISCUIT 00:01:50
Welcome to the Co-optional Awards show! 00:07:30
Best First Person Shooter 00:11:10
Best Multiplayer Experience 00:29:30
Best RPG 01:14:20
ARBITRARY MUSIC STUFF 01:32:50
Game you spent the most time on this year 01:33:40
Game that surprised you the most this year 01:39:10
Played anything on mobile that wasn’t rubbish? Talk about it! 01:52:40
Coolest written character 02:07:40
Character that had writing that you somehow liked in a way cos 02:08:40
Coolest looking character 02:23:50
What’s your comfort game this year? 02:32:00
Thank you for watching the Co-optional Podcast 02:36:20

———
Danny O’Dwyer
https://twitter.com/dannyodwyer
https://www.youtube.com/user/dannyodwyer

Dodger
https://twitter.com/dexbonus
https://www.youtube.com/user/presshearttocontinue

Jesse Cox
https://twitter.com/JesseCox
https://www.youtube.com/user/OMFGCata
———
Thanks for watching The Co-Optional Podcast!

Follow TotalBiscuit on Twitter: http://twitter.com/totalbiscuit
Follow CynicalBrit on Twitter for video updates: http://twitter.com/cynicalbrit
Follow our Facebook page for announcements: http://facebook.com/cynicalbrit

QC#89 – The “Styro-Slicer”

Posted December 17, 2015 by

A homemade, hot-wire foam cutter, is used to slice styrofoam into guns, swords, and 3D foam fighter jets .. for cosplay, decoration, and backyard metal casting.

Full project: The Hot-Wire “Styro-Slicer”: http://bit.ly/TheStyroSlicer

Next Video: QC#90 – Making The “Styro-Slicer”: http://bit.ly/QCMakeStyroSlicer
Previous Video: QC#88 – Bullet Shell “Brass Knuckles”: http://bit.ly/QCBrassKnuckles

Subscribe for new videos every 5 days! http://bit.ly/TKoRSubscribe
Join my email list! http://bit.ly/TKOREmailList

“Quick Clips” are clips of random experiments in a minute or less.

For other project videos, check out http://www.thekingofrandom.com

Endcard Links:

Spot Welder: http://bit.ly/SpotWelder
Popsicle Stick Bombs: http://bit.ly/ExplodingNinjaStars
Mini Metal Foundry: http://bit.ly/MiniMetalFoundry
Secret Safe: http://bit.ly/SuperSecretSafe

Social Media Links:

Google+: http://bit.ly/plusgrant
Facebook: http://bit.ly/FBTheKingOfRandom
Instagram: http://bit.ly/instagrant
Twitter: http://bit.ly/tweetgrant
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/pingrant
Tumblr: http://bit.ly/grantstumblr

Music by Scott & Brendo “One More Time” Instrumental
iTunes: http://bit.ly/ScottBrendoiTunes
YouTube: www.youtube.com/scottandbrendo

Project Inspired By:

The need to cut clean styrofoam models, for “backyard” metal casting projects.

WARNING: The electrified wire of the “Styro-Slicer” can reach temperatures well above 1,000ºF, which can cause burns, and potentially start fires. This project should only be attempted with adequate knowledge and training, and under constant adult supervision. Have fun, but always think ahead, and remember that any project you try is at YOUR OWN RISK.

Project History & More Info:

When I started casting aluminum, well over a year ago, I learned about a technique called “lost foam casting” from watching an online episode of a show called “Stuck with Hackett”.

Hackett made a foundry to melt aluminum, then buried a piece of styrofoam in the sand to make a custom part for a project he was working on. I didn’t quite understand how it worked, and it blew my mind!

I wanted to try some experiments of my own, but working with styrofoam was more than frustrating.

Scissors couldn’t cut it properly. Knives broke it into sticky styrofoam balls that clung to everything. And I couldn’t make anything useful, that looked very good at all.

In my moment of frustration, I somehow remembered back to an experience I had back in pre-school, or kindergarten, where there was some kind of machine we got to use a couple of times to cut styrofoam shapes.

I could only remember that it had a hot wire that sliced through styrofoam no problem, and left really clean cuts.

Inspired by that thought, I got on the internet and searched around for “hot wire foam cutting”, and found a lot of commercial devices from about $100 and up.

I also found a couple videos on YouTube of some DIYers showing their own variations using wood, PVC, or other miscellaneous items.

The common theme amongst all versions was that they were all basically just a thin piece of wire connected to electricity, that gets hot, and cuts foam. Everything else is just details.

I got some scrap wood, a piece of picture hanging wire, and in just over 15 minutes I had a crude wire-cutter of my own, powered by a transformer I ripped out of an old stereo.

Unfortunately the prototype was really crude and I didn’t have time to make a nice version for my metal casting videos, so I never did mention it. But it was the device I used to craft the styrofoam handgun in my styrofoam casting video. (http://bit.ly/StyrofoamCasting)

I’ve loved the wire foam cutter ever since, and used it so much and wanted to share it with the world, but I couldn’t do it until it was developed “King of Random” style.

My goals were to make it function like a commercial foam factory, take up as little storage space as practical, and do it for as close to $10 as possible.

It’s taken this long because I’ve been so busy with other projects, (mainly rockets), that it just sat on the shelf for over a year.

But I finally devoted a couple of days to prototyping, and came up with this!

The build is fairly easy, but also very technical, and the video is very long.

So I broke it up into segments. One video shows it’s features. The other video shows how to build it.

I don’t expect many people will actually build this foam factory, and I don’t expect many people will even watch the video. However, I do expect that anyone who is serious about making one for themselves, will find the information invaluable, and have unlimited amounts of fun and creation with their new “Styro-Slicer”.

As a side note, my 6 year old can’t get enough foam slicing. He uses my old prototype to make anything and everything, and it’s become one of his favorite hobbies.

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid – Redline: Review

Posted December 15, 2015 by

After a rather luck luster first effort into the midsize hybrid sedan segment, Hyundai looks to recitify the faults that kept the first Sonata Hybrid from being the top of its class with much improved fuel economy, better exterior looks, a roomier cabin, and smoother driving dynamics. Are the changes enough to warrant a look over Camry, Fusion, and Accord hybrids?

I will now talk about multiplayer only games for just under 40 mins.

Posted December 13, 2015 by

TotalBiscuit brings you a discussion video on the notion of games launching with no singleplayer campaign and the consumers’ grievances regarding the prices.

Gameplay courtesy of:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NukemDukem
https://www.youtube.com/user/DeusEx4Ever
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFabytm

How To Make Brass Knuckles, From Bullet Shells

Posted December 12, 2015 by

Transforming scrap bullet casings, into a custom pair of fancy, and “dangerously decorative”, solid brass paperweights.

Free Template: http://bit.ly/StyroKnucklesTemplate

Next Video: The Styro-Slicer: http://bit.ly/TheStyroSlicer
Previous Video: How To Build A Rocket (From Scratch): http://bit.ly/TheRandomizerRocket

Subscribe for new videos every 5 days! http://bit.ly/TKoRSubscribe
Join my email list! http://bit.ly/TKOREmailList

For other project videos, check out http://www.thekingofrandom.com

Mini Metal Foundry: http://bit.ly/PopCanMelting
Styrofoam Casting: http://bit.ly/StyrofoamCasting

Social Media Links:

Endcard Links:

Mad Science Minion: http://bit.ly/MadScienceMinion
Micro X-Box: http://bit.ly/MicroXBow
Magic Mud: http://bit.ly/MagicMud
Ninja Balls: http://bit.ly/SquishyNinjaBalls

Music By: TheFatRat – Licensed by Tasty
Song Title: Xenogenesis
Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nabH…
Label Channel: http://youtube.com/tasty”

Project Inspired By:

An indirect suggestion my dad made for me to try and make something practical out of brass. He didn’t expect I’d end up making these!

WARNING: Brass Knuckles are illegal in most countries, and metal foundries can reach temperatures in excess of 1,000ºC, which is well above the melting point of hobbyists. This project should only be attempted with adequate knowledge and training, proper protective safety gear, and in a fire resistant area with adequate ventilation. The heat from the foundry can easily burn, and inhaling excessive amounts of zinc fumes can cause metal fume fever. Use caution and common sense. Use of this video content is at your own risk.

Project History & More Info:

The weather has cooled off quite a bit, which has turned my interest back to keeping warm by casting metal.

This time round I wanted to play with higher temperature metals, like brass. So I made a trip to a local shooting range, and salvaged a whole bucket-load of spent brass casings.

Quite a few people have asked whether my backyard foundry can melt brass, and I was curious myself, so I threw a few handfuls of casings into a crucible and fired them up.

I tried using lump charcoal because it burns hotter and faster than briquettes, and a clay crucible purchased from the internet because it withstands heat better, and lasts longer than steel.

I was impressed that the brass melted down without hesitation, and I was able to easily cast mini brass muffins the same day.

A couple things worth mentioning are that the melting point of brass is around the boiling point of zinc. I noticed this in real-life when the metal started bubbling, and shooting out white flames. I wasn’t sure what it was until I looked it up, but it was most likely zinc oxide fumes being released.

Zinc Oxide can be toxic in large quantities, and although it’s never happened to me, claims are that it can cause metal fume fever, which gives flu like symptoms.

You should also know that brass is over 3 times heavier than aluminum, so expect the crucible to have a lot more weight to it, making it harder to handle.

Melting brass is cool, but at first I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I cast a “Mini Master Sword” that you can see how to make in another project video, but the sword was ridiculously heavy and impractical.

My dad was visiting at the time and confirmed my thoughts about it by suggesting I try making something more practical and useful. So I thought it would be fun to make some “Brass Knuckle” paperweights.

I looked online at different varieties of brass knuckles, then drew my own version in photoshop, and used the “Styro-Slicer” and the lost-foam casting technique to make a rough pair of knuckles.

I spent around 6 hours cleaning up the first pair with files and sandpaper, then another 2-3 hours playing around with a buffing wheel to see if I could get them any shinier. This was my first time trying to polish metal, and I was really amazed at how brilliantly they turned out. I can actually see my reflection in them.

I cast another pair the same way, and spent another 8 hours sanding and buffing them up to a mirror finish, then wondered how I could take them to the next level.

Spikes seemed like a cool idea, inspired by a picture I saw on a google image search, so I stopped at an alternative clothing store and picked up a spiked choker collar, and repurposed the spikes for my piece of metal art.

These are not designed or intended to be used as weapons. Possession of Brass Knuckles is illegal in most countries, (but not where I live), however I created these simply for artistic expression, and use them mainly as workshop décor. (paperweights).

The Co-Optional Podcast Ep. 102 ft. ProJared [strong language] – December 10, 2015

Posted December 10, 2015 by

Download the audio version of this podcast: https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/podcast1012

Support Julian, the podcast animator: http://www.patreon.com/cooptionalanimation

TotalBiscuit, Dodger and Jesse Cox sit down with ProJared on this episode of the Co-Optional Podcast! Enjoy!

Original air date: December 8th, 2015

Timestamps courtesy of https://www.reddit.com/user/xylempl
Welcome to the Co-optional Podcast 00:00:30
Now discussing: D+D games 00:11:30
Now discussing: Time Warner Cable 00:21:40
Now discussing: Overwatch 00:25:50
Now discussing: The Purring Quest 00:36:30
Now discussing: Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes 00:40:10
Now discussing: Dragon Quest Heroes 00:50:50
Welcome back to the Co-optional Podcast 01:07:10
Now discussing: The Game Awards 01:11:10
Now discussing: Moving on from Squeenix 03:03:40
Now discussing: New Releases 03:07:00
Thanks for watching the Co-optional Podcast 03:16:30

———
ProJared
https://twitter.com/ProJared
https://www.youtube.com/user/DMJared

Dodger
https://twitter.com/dexbonus
https://www.youtube.com/user/presshearttocontinue

Jesse Cox
https://twitter.com/JesseCox
https://www.youtube.com/user/OMFGCata
———
Thanks for watching The Co-Optional Podcast!

QC#88 – Bullet Shell “Brass Knuckles”

Posted December 7, 2015 by

Brass bullet shells are melted down and transformed into “dangerously decorative” paperweights.

Full project: How To Make “Brass Knuckles” from Bullet Shells: http://bit.ly/BulletBrassKnuckles

See more metal casting experiments: http://bit.ly/PopCanMelting

Next Video: QC#89 – The “Styro-Slicer” : http://bit.ly/QCStyroSlicer
Previous Video: QC#87 – Rocket Wadding : http://bit.ly/QCRocketWadding

Subscribe for new videos every 5 days! http://bit.ly/TKoRSubscribe
Join my email list! http://bit.ly/TKOREmailList

“Quick Clips” are clips of random experiments in a minute or less.

For other project videos, check out http://www.thekingofrandom.com

Endcard Links:

Christmas Life Hacks: http://bit.ly/ChristmasLifehacks
Business Bucket: http://bit.ly/TheBusinessBucket
Thunder Caps: http://bit.ly/ThunderCaps
Star Wars Gummies: http://bit.ly/StarWarsCandies

Social Media Links:

Music by Scott & Brendo “One More Time” Instrumental
iTunes: http://bit.ly/ScottBrendoiTunes
YouTube: www.youtube.com/scottandbrendo

Project Inspired By:

This project was inspired, indirectly, by a suggestion my dad made to try and make something practical out of brass. He never thought I’d end up making these!