Pass Or Fail: Watch 30 Popular Internet Life Hacks Get Tested

The Internet is filled with thousands upon thousands of little tricks that supposedly make everyday activities better, easier, faster or safer. Unfortunately, many of these apparent tips are hogwash. So, how does an intelligent person separate the mind-blowing solutions from the frustrating fails? He or she watches this episode of Mental Floss, of course.

This week, host John Green and company decided to tackle thirty of the Internet’s more popular life hacks to give each a completely unbiased proof of concept test. Think of it like an episode of Mythbusters without such a large scope. From opening bottles of wine with a hammer and a nail to slicing cheese with floss to stemming a strawberry with a straw, a very wide range of topics were covered, and fortunately for observers looking to save time or energy, more than a few of the little tracks actually did work, some quite well.

I love Mental Floss. I’ve seen every single episode, but this is the first time I’ve ever watched one and thought this precise idea should be expanded into a show. Think about how many stupid/ ingenious Internet tips there are out there. Ten could be crammed into and tested on every single show, and younger people would watch the hell out of that. After all, many of these tests are far more important to my everyday life than anything involving cannonballs, and yet, I’ll still watch the hell out of Mythbusters.

If you feel like sitting through some more Mental Floss, try this clip covering acronymns and initialisms.