I was just in my basement soldering some stuff when I thought about it. Everybody likes crafts, without exception… some people type it up, some people cut it and glue it, some put it together and paint it. I have not, even once in my life, seen somebody who did not like to create something with his or her hands. But when it comes to skill, not everyone is gifted for creating stuff, and looking back, I think that I fit into the latter category.

Remember the time when I had just reveived my laptop? Of course you don’t but I do. It was on the 24th of the August, or something like that, that I came home with the Gateway box containing the machine that I now affectionatly call Wifighter. Within the first week of my ownership, I made a shocking discovery: a laptop flat on a table will heat up lots when running games. What were I to do? Well! Pull out the jigsaw and make myself a cooler of course.

Then things started to go bad… Scrap material (I had no money to put on something like that at the time), ridiculously crooked cuts, symetrical pieces that didn’t match, clearence issues with the fans, everything that could probably go wrong went wrong. That’s the moment when I made a sad realization: I am not a handyman, at least not with wood.

But, I am not hopeless: with some help, maybe I could become the handyman that I want to be. What kind of help you ask? DIY.com! Along with their sister sister site HardwareandTools.com, they offer everything I would need to become better at crafting : rebuild a half decent laptop stand, help fixing various things around the house, hell even build a deck or something! DIY.com is more community orientated, offering a forum with competant authorities that can help out with your projects, as well as several tutorials and readings, from very basic to very advanced, which will help you become a better handyman. For you amateurs of instructional videos, hey even sell how-to DVDs at more than reasonable prices. Having known before, I would have bought one of these, and learned how to cut a damned straight line with a jigsaw!

In every departement, knowledge is power, and DIY is no exception. Check out DIY.com and HardwareandTools.com for the tips to make your home reno or crafting project a success.

.