Hi, I'm John Green. Welcome to my salon; this is Mental Floss Video, and we ordered some pizza! Oh, they put minion cookies in my pizza. This is a terrible terrible development. But we don't want to wash a bunch of dishes. Luckily, the internet tells me that I can rip off one side of this pizza box and then fold it in half and rip it into fourths, and then I'll have little disposable pizza plates.
Oh god. I mean, first off, this part isn't nearly as easy as the internet implied. There we go. OK. Perfect. I'm gonna say fail. Anyway, that's the first of many life hacks from the internet I'm going to test for you today, in this video brought to you by Geico. Hopefully some of them will be useful. I know that one wasn't, but I believe that we will get some real life hacks today.

(Intro)

Nothing goes with pizza like a drink out of a mason jar, but sometimes you want to take your mason jar to go, I guess. I don't know, people on the internet are weird. Apparently a to go coffee lid should fit perfectly atop this mason jar. Hmm, almost. But I feel like almost isn't that useful when it comes to lids. Fail.

Speaking of jars, I'm told that a rubber band will help open a tricky jar. This actually isn't a life hack from the internet; it's a life hack from my grandmother. This is a hard one to test, Mark, because I'm so incredibly strong that I could open the jar regardless. But, I'll see if it feels easier. Dah! {exhale) Pass.

OK so right before we started shooting, we stuck a few onions in the freezer. It's been about 15 minutes, so now I'm going to try to cut them, and apparently I won't tear up.
Meredith, thanks for um, thanks for picking this super sharp knife. I have found an improved knife. You know what, pass! 

There's another way to try this, which is to rub olive oil on the knife, and then cut the onion, which has the added benefit of, you know, olive oil flavored onions? Let's try that instead and see if it works better. Probably more olive oil than is strictly speaking, necessary, but that's okay. As you can see, I'm an expert in chopping onions. Oh my goodness. Meredith, where did you get this knife? Did you get it from the like, Knives That 4 Year Olds Are Allowed To Use section of the grocery store? Ahh! No that is worse in every way. That is much worse. Fail, fail, fail, fail! Freeze your onions!

Another vegetable that can be tricky to cut is corn. I'm gonna try to slice the kernels off of this cob, but I'm gonna do it balancing on the center of this Bundt pan. It should be easier, and then all the kernels will catch in the pan. You know what? This is something I would actually use in my life. I would rate that an astonishing success. In fact, now I have a reason to own a Bundt pan. Pass.

Alright, I'm over vegetables for now. Let's move on to fruit. Here I have a mango, a kiwi, and an orange. I'm also going to throw in an apple for good measure. And I'm gonna see if the internet knows something we don't about difficult to peel fruits. Starting with the mango, I should be able to slide it down this cup, removing only the top layer. This is a bit of an embarrassment. I've literally never eaten a mango. So, but can't I just do that? Like an avocado? No? No, no I, indeed I can't. Oh god. I mean how do you-- I'm peeling it my own way. By accident. *laughing* Look, it peels perfectly. Peeling is the least of the concerns of the mango.

Alright, let's try a different way to enjoy a kiwi. I'm told that the best way to do this is to slice off the top, and the bottom, and then scoop out everything in the middle with a spoon. Mmm, ah, pass.

OK, on to the apple. But instead of peeling it, I'm going to try to break it apart with my hands. I'm gonna pull the stem off, and then apparently I can just bust it open. Worryingly, I'm not strong enough to pull the stem out, so I'm going to cut it out. *Inhale* Focus, 1, 2, 3, hngggggh. Gahhhhh! Fail!

And finally the orange. I am going to make a shallow cut around the middle, and then see if I can remove a whole half of the orange with just my thumb. Ah, yes. And, well, I mean, it's not really what I was hoping for, but I suppose that I can eat from here, so pass.

OK, we're gonna move on from food for a while, to something that you definitely should not try at home. Please bear in mind, I am a highly trained life hacks testing professional, and there is a large crew behind the camera with, like, fire extinguishers and stuff. 
But I have something that takes AA batteries, but alas, I only have AAA batteries. The internet claims that I can make these work if I stick some tin foil into this. So you've gotta put the tin foil on the positive side. I shouldn't even be telling you that. This is a terrible terrible terrible idea. Oh my goodness. Pass, but don't do that.

So a paperclip can be used as kind of like a makeshift luggage lock. Pass!

Between that and the freezing onions thing, I feel like I've already gotten my money's worth, but let's move back to food, because you know, who are we kidding, this is the internet. We love food. 

Everyone knows it's impossible to access the Pringles at the bottom of the Pringles can. You just have to throw it away and start from the beginning. But no longer! I am just going to roll up this piece of paper, stick it underneath all the chips, and then pull them all out at once! Now I can eat them all in one sitting. Pass.

OK, Meredith has just handed me 2 eggs. One of them is cooked, and one of them isn't. I don't know which is which, but I should be able to tell just by spinning them, because supposedly, raw eggs wobble. I'd say there was low wobble on that one. High wobble, high wobble! That means this one's the cooked egg! Ohhh! Fail! Fail, fail, definite fail. 

You might be having a perfectly good day, but once you stick a spoon in an empty yogurt container, you're having a terrible day. But no longer, because according to the internet, if we just flip the spoon over, pass!

So if I go to the beach, I'm told that the best way to avoid a sandy phone is by putting it in a Ziploc bag, but I should still be able to use it efficiently while it's in the bag. Let's see, I want to-- Oh! Wow, it works! Oh, it says that I can't do anything on my phone because it's in airplane mode. Pass!

Speaking of sandwich bags, let's make a sandwich! Apparently the best way to make a PB and J is to add an extra bunch of peanut butter around the edge so the jelly doesn't seep out. I'm not a very talented sandwich constructor, but I think I can build a peanut butter wall. Aaand, jelly in the middle. Brrrmmmmmmmm. You know, I don't see any jelly leakage whatsoever. I'm gonna say pass. It's good too!

Now I have an open cereal box, which I will attempt to reseal using a pyramid shape. Okay, so I turn this into a pyramid shape, and then I just-- Would work if only I had a piece of tape. But then if I had a piece of tape, I wouldn't need to do this in the first place. Fail.

Okay we've gotten the mixer out, because it's so annoying when you're baking something and everything gets all over the counter when you start the mixer, but apparently if you just put a paper plate attached to the mixer it'll reduce mess. We're going to mix jelly and strawberry syrup. That looks delicious. You know, we got a little bit of splatter, but I'm gonna say pass. 

Mark also pre-cut this spoon for me out of a soda bottle, but does it work? I don't know, let's eat our mixed jam and syrup. Oh god, that's terrible. But, I mean, I guess pass.

Another baking hack: making whipped cream in an empty bottle. I'm gonna add some cream and some powdered sugar and shake, and whipped cream should be the product. Alright, take our old friend the spoon. It's actually a pretty good spoon, to be fair. Oh yeah, it's thickening. Nice whipped cream. No, that's a fail. Maybe if I knew more about baking, but not with my current level of skill.

So apparently the best way to open a pistachio is by using the shell of another pistachio to pry it open. You know, that was pretty easy, and I am not a particularly adept pistachio opener. I'm gonna say pass.

Speaking of prying things open, this glue cap is very stuck, but I'm told it will be easier to pry open with a crab claw cracker, which everyone has at home. Wow! That is a total pass. 100% pass. I gotta get a crab claw cracker now.

This chewed gum is stuck to the cloth, but according to the internet, rubbing peanut butter on it will help to remove the gum. I'm going to say that this is in no way improving things and in fact is making everything significantly worse. Fail.

To make sure it doesn't latch behind you, you can use a rubber band. And turn it sideways. What?! Definite pass. Alright, now let's go to the kitchen. 

Remember the gum I tried to remove with peanut butter? Well another trick is to put the whole mess in the freezer. And then it'll become much easier to get out apparently. Ah what? Pass. That is so much better than the peanut butter. 

So you know these granola bars, that are delicious but notorious for the crumbs that get everywhere? Apparently if you microwave them for 30 seconds, they will be less crumby. I don't like to predict how these things are gonna go, but I'm just gonna tell you right now that 30 seconds is a long time to heat 2 very small granola bars. Okay. Ow! Well, they're definitely warmer. You know, that is less crumby. Astonishing pass.

Now we're gonna heat some corn. Apparently corn husks are easier to remove after a slight amount of microwaving. I think 15 seconds is gonna be adequate. You know, it does come right off. I'm gonna say pass. 

Imagine if you will that you are stranded on a desert island with only half a watermelon and a quarter. Naturally you wanna cut this watermelon up so it's easier to eat. The internet tells me that I can make a small incision, with this quarter, into the watermelon, pull out the quarter, and karate chop the watermelon in half. Oh goodness gracious. Okay. I have made my small insertion. 1, 2, 3.. Oww! No! Fail! No, no, it wasn't even close!
Now we're thinking that maybe if we just roll this quarter through the watermelon the whole way, then maybe it's karate-choppable. Oh, it's gone. Meredith, we've lost the quarter. (Laugh) Meredith, let me ask a follow up question: do you have a second quarter? Okay, we've got a second quarter that is heroically gonna stand in for quarter number 1, which is now stuck deep inside the watermelon, which provides extra motivation to get the watermelon cut in half, because now there's a quarter on the line. Oh no, oh no! Oh no! A second quarter has been lost. I think it's time for me to attempt to re-karate chop. This is much larger than the small incision that the internet said was necessary, but I'm going to attempt to see if it works. Ready? Gah! Sort of! Yeah! This is actually more difficult to eat than if I had not-- oh there's the quarter though. We got our quarter back. I'll tell you what, if you've got a half watermelon, a quarter, and 45 minutes, then pass.

And lastly, we're gonna light something on fire, which we love to do here in the life hacks videos, obviously don't try this at home, but I guess if you run out of power, the internet recommends burning Crayola crayons one at a time. So, let's see how efficient it is. The paper is astonishingly fireproof, almost as if these are children's toys. Wait, wait! Okay, I have a candle. Pass! It's just a nice little candle. Don't do this at home. Ow, ah! Dammit, I knew that wax would hit me at some point.

So I hope you've learned something today, I know I have. Watermelons will eat your quarters! Thanks for watching Mental Floss Video which was brought to you by Geico and made with the help of all of these nice people. If you have a life hack that you'd like for us to try, please leave it in comments. As we say in my hometown, don't forget to freeze your onions.