Need something to keep you busy this weekend? Look no further. The Weekend Workshop is our weekly column where we showcase a badass DIY project that you can complete with minimal skills and expertise. We’ve dug through all the online tutorials on the Web, and gone the extra mile to pinpoint projects that are equal parts easy, affordable, and fun. So put on your work pants, grab your tool belt, and head to the garage — it’s time to start building!
Few things scream “21st-century kitchen” as much as a proper magnetic knife strip; an innovative accessory adept at creating valuable counter space, preserving the quality of cutting knives, and just looking downright stylish. Thing is, who actually remembers to pick one of these up on those day-long excursions to IKEA? Certainly, not us. Moreover, the closer you look at these classy kitchen additions, the more you start to realize just how spendy a halfway decent strip actually costs. Bottom line is, it’s better to put one together yourself.
Thanks to some clever handiwork by an Instructables member known simply as tzny, building your very own magnetic knife rack takes nothing more than a few basic tools and materials, an old t-shirt, and a collection of knives. Okay, so the exact process tzny posted is a bit more comprehensive than this, but don’t underestimate how easy it is to construct one of these kitchen add-ons yourself. Moreover, the walkthrough doesn’t require users own any power tools (even if it would make it easier) and shouldn’t cost much more than about $40 or $50 to put together. Tzny clearly lays out the required method on Instructables, however, we’ve gone ahead and listed the exact tools and materials needed. Here’s everything you’ll need before beginning:
Note: it wouldn’t hurt to get more wood than what’s listed here in the event you make an errant cut or some other issue arises. Also, have fun with the types (or color) of wood picked out for this build.
After securing the required tools and materials, it’s time to start constructing your own magnetic knife rack. Simply follow the step-by-step walkthrough published by tzny over on Instructables and you’ll step your kitchen’s style game up in no time. Happy building!
The full instructions on how to build this magnetic knife rack can be found here.
San Francisco startup Dimensional advertised for people to walk robot dogs through city streets. The New York Times reported that the job could include carrying a roughly 33-pound robot back to the office if it overheated. A lift home is an awkward requirement for a labor-saving machine.
Keeping the hardware running is only one challenge. Anthropic's robotics tests found that language models mostly failed when controlling joints directly, but did better when directing trained controllers. Giving an AI agent a body doesn't teach it to handle ordinary household objects.
Soon, a mattress protector may be more than a bed cover. Australian medtech company Sleeptite and researchers at RMIT University have received a US patent for FlexiSense, a smart bedding technology that tracks body position and posture to help caregivers identify when older residents may be at risk of falling.
The technology is being developed for Sleeptite’s in-bed monitoring system, REMi, and was recently on display at The MedTech Conference in Boston. A peer-reviewed study in Flexible and Printed Electronics says the sensors can also be made at scale without sacrificing performance or durability.
AI companies spend enormous amounts of time convincing us their technology is safe and secure. But what happens when those same companies become targets of increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks? Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is now facing that question. According to a Washington Post report, cybersecurity startup Cathedral discovered vulnerabilities that let its researchers access sensitive information in Anthropic's internal systems.
The researchers used AI agents to identify potential entry points in less than 12 hours. Interestingly, they didn't need to crack Claude itself. Instead, they exploited weaknesses in third-party business applications that Anthropic uses for everyday operations. Anthropic's security testing program disclosed the findings, which allows outside researchers to identify and report vulnerabilities.