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you’re able to add tons of features to yourAmazon Echowith little apps Amazon calls Alexa Skills. Most of them are garbage. Weve sifted through the mess to find the best ones that are actually useful. If youve never added a Skill to your Echo, its pretty easy. Here, you could search for Skill names and enable them with your phone. Alternatively, you could browse Alexas Skillson Amazons site here. WeMo:Belkins Wemo product line includessmart gadgets like security cameras, but most of their devices are switches....

Homer Hadley Floating Bridge and Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. It carries the traffic of State Route 520 and is 4,750 meters long. But why floating bridges? The answer lies in Lake Washingtons tricky geographical location. The lake bed is too soft for piers of a conventional bridge. The idea of a floating bridge across Lake Washington was first proposed by engineer Homer Hadley in the 1930s. Hadleys floating bridge was such a success that Washington State adopted the concept for future bridges....

Youre on the job hunt and you should probably get yourprofessional referencestogether. And that means reaching out to a certain former boss who would be the perfect person. Theres just one little problem. Youre not exactly in touch. This post originally appeared onThe Muse. Its been monthsor is it years?since you last contacted him. Briefly, you dismiss him and begin racking your brain for other strong contacts. Inconsistent contact isnt the end of the world....

Even ifyouve used it from day one, here are some excellent features you might have overlooked. Open it up and tap the search bar. The first search suggestion will read Identify whats playing. Tap this and the app will start listening to the music playing in the room. Once it identifies the song, it will pull it up in search results. If you want to watch the music video for the song youre listening to, its probably on YouTube....

They swung in the wind and made a horrid creaking noise that both terrified and offended wayfarers. But the gallows at Londons infamous Execution Dock would remain for nearly four hundred years. This was a time when Britain was expanding its empire. The crown traded extensively with its colonies. A replica gallows by the River Thames in London. But Queen Elizabeths successors did not support the hiring of mercenaries. Privateering was abolished, and many privateers, used to the life of crime and riches, became pirates....

But it carries a dark legacy. Its the house where Adolf Hitler was born. The leader of the Nazi party was born here on 20 April 1889. When Adolf was three years old, the family left the town for good. All it did was changed owners. After Adolf Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the propertys value quadrupled. But the lease ended in 2011, and since then the building has been lying vacant....

These pictures, by photographer Timo Lieber, document the phenomenon. Ive always had a passion for the ice, Leiber toldThe Guardian. Id been to Iceland seven or eight times, to Arctic Norway and to Greenland. Greenlands contribution to global sea-level rise is about three times that of Antarctica. I saw how fast the landscape was changing and wanted to put it into a body of work. Photo credit: Timo Lieber Timo Lieber flew over Greenlands vast icescape in a twin-engine plane....

Heres a little exercise for you to try out. Take out your latest credit card bill from your most frequently used credit card. This post originally appeared onThe Simple Dollar. Now, go through each item and ask yourself a couple of simple questions about each one. Was this thing a necessary purchase? If it is, put a little + beside that item on your bill. Easy enoughthese expenses should be obvious....

Growing up, our familys rice cooker was a staple, like the refrigerator or the kitchen sink. It never occurred to me tonothave one. As an adult, I noticed friends cooked rice in a pot on the stovetop. Theres nothing wrong with that, but lets see which approach gets you the easiest and consistently best rice. The Contenders Okay, so cooking rice isnt exactly difficult. Cookersrange quite a bit in priceand utility....

Everything inside the paper house is also made of paper. Stenman built chairs, tables, bookshelves and even curtains and a clock out of newspaper and magazine pages. Photo credit:Danielle Walquist Lynch/Flickr No one is sure what motivated Stenman to use newspapers. Even the glue is home-made, made out of flour, water and apple peel. Stenman might also have been experimenting in recycling, or he might have just loved paper. After all, he designed the machines that make paper clips....

The damaged fresco of Ecce Homo on the left, and the restored version on the right. By the time she returned, her disastrous efforts had been discovered and Gimenez became a global laughingstock. The botched effort became the talk of the internet, inspiring a slew of memes and jokes. Journalists likened the restoration to Rowan Atkinsons Mr. Bean defacing Whistlers Mother. Some compared the painting to a blurry potato and a monkey....

You dont need to wait four years before you get your next say in how the government is run. Heres how you could make your voice heard before election day rolls around again. Three of those congresspeopletwo senators and one representativework for you personally. You and your neighbors elect them, which means youre their boss. And you’re free to tell them what to do. After all, they have to like their constituents if they want to hold on to their jobs....

Whether youre headed out in support or dissent, you should know what youre getting into before you go. Here are some tips to prepare before you go out to have your voice heard. This article was originally published in 2011, and has been updated. Unless your goal is to get arrested, pick your words and your battles carefully. You may be better off complying with police direction first and arguing your rights later....