You can grow bamboo where you live. This exceptionally clear guide deals with the nitty-gritty of bamboo cultivation and propagation and covers about 200 varieties suited to temperate regions. Lots of color photos help identification. Great book. The bamboo in our garden won't stop. Long live bamboo!

Oh, it's an ancient yearning. I lived on a houseboat once; you definitely need more than a log raft. But you don't need a million dollars more. The techniques here rely on modern materials (barrels and composting toilets), and cover all aspects of building and maintaining a floating cottage, mindful of the constant threat that constant water presents. In my experience, however, the main hurdle is not construction, but finding a place to dock. If you have a location, you can build it.

The most global of all magazines. This previously rarified academic backwater is now the frontline forum for debating the form of the global village. Bold, brash, and intelligent. There are more Big Ideas per issue than anywhere else.

The wisdom held in this brief book now informs most of what I do in life. Its key distinction--that there are two types of games, finite and infinite--resolves my uncertainties about what to do next. Easy: always choose infinite games. The message is appealing because it is deeply cybernetic, yet it's also genuinely mystical. I get an "aha" every time I return to it.

The venerable Mouser catalog should be on your list of recommendations. Mouser provides electronic components with no minimum purchase required. I don't know why Mouser is seldom a hit in Google searches. But if I want anything from neon indicator bulbs to video cabling, Mouser is my first and usually last stop. Their complete catalog is searchable online and is viewable as PDF pages. They offer a huge range of shipping options (using five different carriers) and charge only the actual shipping cost, no "handling." Until relatively recently, you had to telephone one of their operators to place an order, but they now have online ordering in place.

--Charles Platt

Mouser Electronics

Cooler than shoes, warmer than sandals, and ready for water.

-- KK

Keen sandals have a solid shoe-like toe covering that I've never seen in Tevas-like amphibious sandals. This covering keeps the sand out and eliminates stubbed toes. They're warmer than Tevas and almost not sandals at all. I think of them as very sturdy water shoes. They have arch support and sturdy, gripping soles. They lace with an elastic gizmo that fastens easily and securely. Best of all, water runs right out of them and they dry very quickly. No more dreading the wet footwear as I head off on my daily trek on the beach. I've put about 300 Miles on the current pair and they show little sign of wear. My beach has some steep vertical climbs that I traverse without fear of slipping. They seem to carry me easily between the water and the land. It took a little while to adjust to the idea that I could wear socks with them.

-- John Sumser

I've searched for years for give-me-everything sandals and after trekking with my pair of Keens through Europe and a hot New England summer I actually ordered another pair of them, just in case I can't find them again in ten years when my current pair wears out. My Keen sandals are easy to slip on and off, and provide that cooling breeze as I stroll along. If I want to run, bike, hike, or climb a wall, I just use the handy cinch, tighten them up, and go. They are waterproof and quick-drying, which makes them beach-useful as well.

-- Scott Walker

VersaLaser is a desktop "printer." However instead of printing on paper, this 20-watt laser device etches marble and ceramic, and precisely cuts thin sheets of wood, plastic, fabric, paper, glass, leather, and rubber, etc. (but not metal). For less than $10,000 you can fabricate complex parts in your shop based on a computer drawing. So now instead of struggling with a Dremel to carve out pieces for a dollhouse, I can compose my artwork on an ordinary drawing program (we're using Corel Draw), then select "print" and the type and thickness of the material, and the magic begins. VersaLaser's VL-200 can transform material as large as 16 inches by 12 inches. Their printer driver for Windows leaves a lot to be desired, and you'll have to work around it until a better one comes along. Optional, but very wonderful, is the powerful base unit that vacuums away smoke or dust created in the laser burning process.

It is easy to recall how few people had desktop scanners only two or three years ago. Today, desktop scanners have dropped in price to a mere $100 or less and have become ubiquitous. It seems clear that in the near future, as more of these laser devices evolve and decrease in price, many people will be printing their own products at home!

-- Dan Dubno

This device works wonderfully on thin sheets of non-metallic material, but its $10,000 price tag obviously makes sense only for someone doing frequent small part fabrication, serious engraving, or prototyping functions. It's become a hit in architectural firms which need very detailed models, and for businesses personalizing almost anything -- you can etch a logo, name or design onto almost any object. One very creative use was a stencil artist who uses it to create exact and complicated stencils. Because of its current high price this machine might be a co-op purchase for a model making club, or a cool addition for a school shop.

-- KK

It is simply impossible to make a genuine straight, right-angle cut on paper using a scissors, or even a razor blade and straight edge. The old guillotine paper cutter could deliver a clean cut, but at the risk of taking your fingers away. Fiskars, the scissors makers, invented a tiny blade mounted on a hinged holder that zips through material without any possible harm, even to the youngest children. It's fast, accurate, and crisp.

Sometimes, despite all pressures toward normalcy, people are compelled to construct their own worlds. The old lady who over the years arranges broken bottles into a house, or the man down the road covering his barn with tiny quotes from a channeling spirit--each glues raw symbols into a whole that makes sense for them. This happens all over the world. I've collected an entire stack of books about self-made worlds, and this one is the best for sheer exuberance, geographic inclusion, and variety. Science fiction author William Gibson says these worlds remind him of elaborate personal Web sites--and vice versa, Web sites are really self-made worlds; to me they are distant lands, with their own cultures.

The Ethnologue is one of the most satisfying and evocative global snapshots I've ever come across. Compiled by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a global Bible-translation organization, the Ethnologue is an attempt to inventory and describe all extant (and many dying) languages around the world--in two fat, complete volumes. Open up to the "Language Family Index" and you can test your knowledge of the relationships between ethnic groups in your favorite part of the world. How about the various writing systems for Batak Toba, or the total number of languages in Papua New Guinea, or the population of Swahili speakers in the United States? I often find myself roaming through it, wandering imaginatively across the tangled pathways of evolutionary, political, and economic history that these 7,000 languages represent.

To change your perspective on things, go up and look down. This volume has a portfolio of aeriel views similar to the Georg Gester classics, Grand Design and Below from Above, but without those books' lyrical elegance. There's wider variety here, blunter politics (clear-cutting, ugh!), and more of the Earth's bioregions covered.

-- KK

Earth From Above
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
$30
Harry N. Abrams
Available from Amazon

Excerpt:

Village of Koh Pannyyi, in Phangnga Bay near Phuket, Thailand. Koh Pannyyi is a fishing village floating on bamboo shoots.

The Intellitouch Tuner is an electronic tuner for string instruments which I have found to be reliable in almost all conditions. I've used mine with guitars, mandolin, and mandola for several years and have had nothing but great success.

Intellitouch Tuners don't have microphones, like most electronic tuners do, or patch cord inputs (for electric guitars). Instead they clip onto the headstock of just about any stringed instrument and give a readout of the exact pitch of a note by reading the vibrations through the neck of the guitar, bass, violin, mandolin, or whatever. The benefit of these tuners is that they can be used in noisy environments, like bluegrass sessions or stage performances, whereas conventional tuners are completely scrambled by a noisy environment. Since you can leave them clipped onto the headstock for any length of time you like, you can stay in perfect tune without having to step back and use your ears or try to get a good reading from a microphone-driven tuner. They are chromatic, reading all the accidentals and natural notes, and displaying them with three arrows on either side that tell you whether you're sharp or flat. And best of all, they're backlit and easy to read.

At the weekly bluegrass session I drop in on now and then, it appears as if everyone has one of these clipped to their instrument. But the result is terrific -- even if not all of us can quite keep up with the tempo or remember the words to a song, at least we're in tune. The company that makes it looks to be introducing a similar tuner for brass and woodwind instruments, perhaps helping high school bands actually sound -- uh, better?

The classic GI Can Opener is an excellent tool. Small enough for a key ring, or worn on a lanyard around the neck, it has been of assistance in repairing a fuel pump, tightening screws, and yes, opening cans. All for ~99 cents. It is sold at many locations online, as well as most Army/Navy stores. In years past I have given them as gifts. Invariably I have heard similar stories from friends, of truing pins on cell phones, adjusting fishing gear, stripping wire, etc. The URL below gives its extensive history.

Mark Elbroch is a young tracker quickly gaining a reputation for his obsessive devotion to craft and comprehensive style of seeing. He once spent a whole New England winter tracking a single red fox -- which wound up tracking him! More than stories, Elbroch offers an astounding encyclopedia of observed animal signs and visualizations that are the most helpful I've ever seen. Pages and pages of life size paw prints, a whole long chapter of diverse specialized burrows, dens, nests, and cavities -- many in life size -- and all photographed. Elbroch is not only an ace naturalist, but a fabulous communicator. He must sleep with his camera because he captures every nuanced disturbance on film. There's distinguishing scat, urine and other secretions, by species. And most wonderful of all, several hundred pages on feeding patterns left by each mammal on vegetation and prey. This immense guide (almost 800 pages of full color illustrations and images) is by far the most ecological of any tracking guide ever written. It shows you how to see animals through their effects upon the other living organisms around them. The amount of knowledge, respect, and insight packed into this brick of a book is stunning. I'm sure it will become a classic.

Equally astounding is a companion book on bird signs. Imagine going birdwatching without looking at birds. All you inspect are the ripples each bird makes as it disturbs the environment in its daily routine. At first the ripples are faint, but soon with practice they swell in size and plenty until they seem a wave that all but shouts out the bird's identification. That's the Elbroch way of seeing.

These fat books, lovingly published by Stackpole Books, will change the way you walk in the woods.

-- KK

Mammal Tracks & Sign
A guide to North American Species, by Mark Elbroch, 2003, 792 pages
$30
Amazon

Bird Tracks & Sign
A guide to North American Species, by Mark Elbroch adn Elearnor Marks, 2002, 464 pages
$24
Amazon

Excerpts:

Negative space. The spaces between the toes, between the toes and palm pads, and between the individual interdigital pads form shapes that are incredibly useful to track detectives. I often look for an X, H, or C shape to help distinguish feline and canine tracks. The front tracks of gray foxes and domestic dogs tend to show an H, while those of red foxes and coyotes show an X. Look for a C in the front tracks of cats.

*

Finding a hair. This is an exercise I have practiced over the years to help myself look deeper. Whenever I sit down in the woods, I won't allow myself to stand until I've found a hair within approximately an 8-inch-square patch of earth. When I'm relaxed, it's a short exercise, but when I'm tense, it may last 30 minutes. When I'm struggling, it's usually just after I've proclaimed that I've finally found the first piece of earth devoid of animal hair that I find the first one. The second one is easy.

*

A great horned owl has swooped and picked up a mouse.

Design is hip these days. Long before it was hip, Charles and Ray Eames pioneered the design approach to life. Nowhere is their legacy so well represented as in this single-volume exhibit covering every project in their life's work. The Eameses were probably the tech-friendliest designers ever, without ever being hi-tech. They certainly were the first on the frontiers of exhibit, museum, and informational film design. They designed types of things that had never been designed before. This book, together with the multi-volume DVD of their brilliant short films, makes it clear that the Eames pursued their passions first. As design goes commercial in a big way, theirs is a mighty inspiring stance. This is the most comprehensive and graphic record of not only their work (3,500 images) but perhaps of any designer's work. I use this book to expand my notions of what can be designed.

Excerpt:

Young viewer watching a Mathematica Peep Show. These films were called "peep shows" because they were first shown in devices designed to accommodate one viewer. They were intended for a short attention span; each two-minute film explored one mathematical concept and could be seen as many times as a viewer needed to understand the idea.

The Moebius Band with its traveling red arrow. The arrow is started on its path by pushing a button. 1961.

A large drum made in the Eames Office demonstrated how calendar years and feast days are determined. The drum was divided into horizontal strips, each of which represented one solar year, with the succession of days and full moons marked. The drum charted certain seasonal celebrations--Christian Easter, Orthodox Easter, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Ramadan, Islamic New Year, winter and summer solstices, vernal and autumnal equinoxes, Thanksgiving and leap-year day--and showed how their dates change from year to year.

A tapeless tape measure! I really like this Zircon ultrasonic measuring tool because as a restoration contractor I can walk into a room that is wet, or fire damaged, or very large, and get accurate measurements of its size without having to lay out a tape. I don't need a second person to hold the "dumb end' of the tape, and the device will automatically calculate perimeter, area, and volume as needed. It is fast, and best of all, it is accurate to the inch (or centimeters if you prefer).

-- Stephen Seitz

Dimensionator
Manufactured by Zircon
408-866-8600
$33
Tyler Tool Company

The long view. Or rather, views. Geological time and biological time run at such different paces that the two perspectives are not easily brought together. This crisp chart joins them with extraordinary clarity. It lays out the chronologies of continents skittering around the globe, of comet and asteroid impacts, and of life's increasingly diverse groups of living creatures and how they fit into geological time. And more. Ordinarily, combining such staggering amounts of information would yield mush and muddle. But this exquisitely printed, laminated poster manages to present 4.5 billion years of geology and biology as the unified whole that it is. Like a good map it teaches something at two feet away, or you can get out a magnifying glass and read down for details.

-- KK

A Correlated History of Earth
Pan Terra
1999, 28 x 38 inches
$25 postpaid
Pan Terra Inc., PO Box 556,
Hill City, SD, 57745
605/574-4760

From the chart's Web site:
"Included are plate tectonic maps, mountain building events (orogenies), major volcanic episodes, glacial epochs, all known craters from asteroid and comet impacts, over 100 classic fossil localities from around the world, fossil ranges of plants, invertebrates and vertebrate life forms, and major extinction events as revealed by the fossil record. Also evident on this chart are the "Cambrian explosion" of animal phyla and the juxtaposition of reptiles and mammals across the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. Hundreds of illustrations add a striking visual dimension to the data."

The ultimate lightweight backpacking camp light. A tiny 4 gram chip sits atop a regular alkaline 9-volt battery which acts as body, handle, stand and power source. Two modes: high (75 hours) and low (600 hours). High mode produces about as much light as a candle, only steadier, harsher and whiter. The Pak-LIte is an ideal tent light. You can set down and let it burn hour after hour, night after night. I once ran mine for 48 hours continuously and found no drop off in power. One battery should last the longest thru hike. You can make it last years by substituting a 9-volt lithium battery (200 hours on hi, 1,200 on lo). It's easy enough to grab it and use it as a torch or map reader as well. Since the 9-volt battery has a long shelf life it makes a pretty good hurricane/emergency light too.

As a dog owner of many years, I've trained my own dogs to walk nicely at heel. I've escaped receiving that "are you walking that dog or is he walking you" look from passerbys. Enter Maroon, my housemate's dog. He is 85 lbs of pure force pulling on the leash. On weekends, when I have the choice of whether or not to take him on an outing, I find myself declining to have him along because I just didn't want to fight him the whole time. Out of desperation, I finally decided to try the Gentle Leader Headcollar. I'd seen them frequently on other dogs, but they looked so wimpy. I was wrong ...this leash is unbelievable. It has changed our lives.

The headcollar uses a nose loop and a neck strap. The nose loop encircles the dog's muzzle in the same way a "pack leader" gently but firmly grasps a subordinate's muzzle in his mouth, giving the dog a clear signal that you are the leader. The neck strap puts pressure on the back of the neck, working with the dog's "opposition reflex," the natural instinct of dogs to push against pressure rather than move away. Thus the dog instinctively leans back against the pressure, putting an end to leash pulling. The literature that comes with the collar claims that most dogs respond with a dramatic change in behavior in less than 10 minutes. I can attest to this. Maroon gave a few good tugs, bucked a few times and then began walking calmly beside me, not once pulling.

I'ts been a couple of months since we started using the Gentle Leader. Maroon is pulling a bit more than he did at first, but I'm convinced that is due to inconsistent and sometimes incorrect handling techniques that arise when more than one person in the household share in dog walking duties. And even with a slight amount of pulling he is easily managed and controlled and no longer a source of unhappy person or dog. The main thing is I no longer dread the nightly walk, and Maroon is now welcome on special outings. The pet store owner who raved about it and sold it to me said, "A happy person makes a happy dog."

Most mice are a pain in the neck to use on uneven surfaces when you are traveling with a laptop, but this sweet black tiny USB mouse is a simple pleasure. $29 bucks gets you a terrific, small, well designed optical mouse you can take with you, sporting every feature you would expect from a full size mouse. What more can I say: it works wherever you need it and it's so much better than the feeble pointing devices built into the laptop that I find awkward and largely impossible to use.

Jupiter is a weather know-it-all. It's a genius that knows the weather for any city on earth, including local 3-10 day forecasts. All you do is call Jupiter on the phone anytime day or night and ask him your weather question, in plain conversational English. He'll then tell you the answer in his computer voice. While Jupiter is currently an experiment in practical speech recognition at MIT, and your call is helping to teach it, its toll-free number is actually quite handy to have stored in your cell phone. While on the road you may need to know: What's the weather in Chicago? How about Shanghai on Saturday? Can you convert that to Fahrenheit? Will it rain tomorrow in London? The bot is smart, quick, and usually right. Even with the web in front of you, it is often easier to speak than to surf. [Suggested by Dan Dubno]

-- KK

Jupiter
1-888-573-8255

I'm convinced by Don Lancaster's (and others') arguments that patents makes no sense for a small-time inventor or technical genius. Patents guarantee you nothing but the right to fight for your idea. Fighting takes a full apparatus, lots of time, negotiating assets, lawyer fees, and emotional surplus. The same results from fighting (ineffectually 99% of the time) can be had by moving fast and staying nimble. Patents are a corporate game and should be avoided by anyone trying to work outside of that framework. Here's a lot of encouragement and support from a master non-patent inventor.

Chronicle of the World

A timeline of history, delivered in headlines. USA Today-style front-page stories and color photos debrief each year since 1000 (or each decade in the first millennium). Rather than being corny, this brevity and intimacy quickly gives context.

-- KK

Chronicle of the World
Derrik Mercer, editor
1996, 1,175 pages
Limited availability at Amazon
This book is currently out of print, so if Amazon does not have a copy, try one of the used book sellers listed at Books & Book Collecting

Excerpt:

Five years ago we moved our video habit from a tiny 13-inch monitor that was hardly bigger than most laptop screens to showing DVDs on something a little bigger -- like a wall-sized movie screen. It's been pure joy since.

What we had in mind was an assemble-it-yourself home theater.

I considered big TV screens and large flat panel displays, but in the end choose a projection system as the most reasonable way to go. Finding an inexpensive screen was not difficult; you can try eBay for a real bargain. I bought a new one that was 6 feet by 8 feet. Yep, it's big. We hung our huge screen on a wall; it rolls right up and disappears when not needed.

To project the DVD image I bought the cheapest, smallest, computer projector I could find, the kind of portable conference projector you see advertised in airline magazines. You can get a good one now for around $800-900 (see below).

In addition to the small projector we also added surround sound to the room using five strategically placed Bose speakers, each no bigger than a softball, and one woofer hidden beneath a table. The result: With a good DVD offering 5.1 surround sound, the experience is as about as good as our rinky-dink local half-plex theater.

Is it perfect? No. Our cheap home theater quality does not match the experience of viewing a good print on a large screen in a good theater. Also, because of the large windows in our room, we use the theater mostly at night. With a projector of 2000 lumens you can watch during the day, but you don't get the full theatrical experience unless the room is dark. The projector has a fan in it so it is not as silent as a TV or a flat panel, but in a large room with the surround sound cranked up you won't notice the hum at all.

Our set-up includes our trusty old VCR that also plugs into the projector. The quality of a lot of tapes projected on this scale is, let me put it this way, less than one desires. But the total effect is still better than on a small screen. DVDs on the other hand are crisp enough. Another down side is that the expensive bulbs in the projectors are rated to have a lifespan of several hundred hours; however after 5 years of running a couple of movies a week we are still on the original bulb. It is, of course, possible to run a TV signal onto the screen, too, say, for sports events.

When I first researched this idea I discovered a couple of things. First, salesmen of the projectors report that a lot of other people had the same idea: this was the low-rent way of making a home theater, even though the manufacturer's literature and the home theater publications have ignored this use because the cheap projectors aren't optimized for TV. But the cheapest "home theater projectors" I could find started at $6,000, and these monsters needed expert "set up." Forget it.

Secondly, all you need is the cheapest projector. Essentially the quality of even the low-end projectors exceeds the quality of video. It's not necessary to get super-duper res, because while this will improve a computer display's image, it won't do much for a signal from a DVD or VCR.

Five years ago the cheapest projector was the Sony VPL-CS1. It still works fine for us. We have also used the Sanyo ProX-III, a little larger box, slightly more money, same result. I have not tried it, but Epson is now selling a portable projector, the PowerLite S1 for $800 street price. It is being sold as a home theater projector. The main distinguishing feature at the low end is lumens -- the brightness. The difference of a few hundred lumens will not be noticeable; the level has to double before you can perceive the increase. If you show at night, a lumen level of 1000 is probably all you'll need.

We combined our Sony with a Pioneer Dolby DVD player and receiver with the aforementioned Bose 5.1 surround sound speaker system. Our screen is a Da-Lite model; I picked a mid-range quality screen (not flat white, but not the highest reflectivity either). From about 12 feet away the projector will completely fill a 6-foot high by 8-foot wide screen. This size screen is large enough that wide-screen mode (which doesn't fill the screen) is still plenty big.

All the electronic gear sits compactly hidden beneath a tiny end table, on the floor. (By design the projector angles upward slightly so it fills the screen from the floor perfectly.) Most visitors to the room don't have any idea that it can transform into a serviceable home theater in the time it takes to roll down the screen.

Now that most films can be rented or bought on DVD, we only venture into a movie house a couple of times a year, primarily when we want to see something early, while everyone else does. The rest of the year, the home theater is more than adequate.

And if you do need to project a computer, you've got a fine unit at your service. Just unplug and carry.

These are zip lock bags made from especially thick plastic with a special seal that guarantees waterproofness (and odor-proofness). They are good for separating clothing and food for camping and traveling. We keep everything from socks and underwear to cameras and passports in them. In monsoon season in Vietnam they held up quite well and kept our gear dry and tidy.

The very first stop on the Web for anyone newly diagnosed with the big C should be the non-profit ACOR site. Home of 200+ support groups for cancer, the life-changing advice on this clearinghouse is supplied outside the view of search engines, so you probably won't encounter it by Googling.

Talking with survivors of your type of cancer is the best place to start. It normalizes the experience, provides vital information and support, directs you to the other resources you will need, saves you many wasted hours on the Net, helps you make sure that you're getting the best available medical care, and plugs you into a continuing network within which you can both ask for help and be of help to others.

About half of the ACOR communities are composed of patients and family caregivers concerned with a specific type of cancer, e.g., the Lung Cancer Online Support Group, the AdenoCarcinoma of Unknown Primary Online Group, and the Prostate Problems Mailing List. Other groups focus on topics of interest to patients with cancer, e.g., the Cancer Patients Christian Online Support Group, the Cancer and Fertility Discussion Group, and the Complementary & Alternative Medicine Clinical Trials Discussion Group.

ACOR was established in 1995 by New York artist Gilles Frydman to host his wife's breast cancer mailing list. It then opened it's virtual doors, offering to host any noncommercial cancer-related mailing list. It now hosts nearly all such lists, and Frydman (gfrydman@acor.org) and his ACOR colleagues are always happy to help patients, family caregivers, or medical professionals start new cancer-related lists on needed topics. They've made a special effort to develop new support groups for rare cancers. And their Rare Cancers Discussion Group can be a godsend for patients with extremely rare forms of cancer.

To find the group you need, click on the Mailing Lists/Online Communities link at the ACOR home page, then search or browse till you find the group you're looking for. You will then be prompted to enter your e-mail address and to choose a password. ACOR will immediately send you an e-mail message confirming your request. When you click on the link in this e-mail, your password will be activated. (This procedure protects users from search engines and spam.)

Once your password is activated, you can browse or search the list's archives of past postings. You can also sign up to receive future postings. For active lists, the once-a-day "daily digest" option is strongly recommended.

Since ACOR blocks search engines and links for privacy protection, the group you're looking for may not show up on a Google (or other search engine) query for general terms. So if you know anyone with cancer, do them a favor: Send them a copy of this review.

For those with a true yearning for adventure travel, nothing beats a touring motorcycle. Unlike the cocooned isolation experienced by those in a 4-wheeled vehicle, motorcycles immerse you in the environment - smells, sounds, climatic conditions and noise are all immediate and accessible. In addition, motorbikes are a fuel and space-efficient means of commuting or travel. They add a huge fun factor to getting from point A to B.

I've owned about 30 motorcycles. Of all the models available today (new or used) , none beats the BMW R1150GS or its "butch" sibling, the R1150GS Adventure, for sheer versatility, capability and reliability on and off the road. The GS handles well enough in the city to be a commuter bike, yet it is capable of surviving off-road on unpaved tracks when the goal is to do some exploring. It handles as well as many sport bikes when canyon carving or dialing it up in the twisties. And, it has a shaft drive (no chain), which means it's essentially a "zero maintenance" bike. I suppose the only category it doesn't fill is the Harley/cruiser one. I've never understood that crowd anyway....

At over 86 inches in length, with an operational weight of 590 pounds plus, this BMW bike seems heavy and unwieldy to the uninitiated. But, the length and unique suspension make for a controlled and supple ride, whether you're super-slabbing it, or pounding along a dry river bed. The weight powers you through the rough stuff, and a torquey engine with plenty of grunt through the entire power-band makes the bike feel lighter and more nimble than specs alone would indicate. Superb ergonomics make snaking though city traffic a breeze, while keeping you comfortable and upright in the saddle.

In the last two years alone, I've toured over 50,000 miles in over 22 countries, countries as diverse as mainland Mexico, Turkey, the Balkans, China, and Namibia. Properly outfitted, the big GS ("Gelande" and "Strasse", loosely translated German for "off-road" and "street") has carried me, all my gear, and at times, my riding partner, over everything from dry autobahns to rain covered loose-traction surfaces of frightening disrepair. The bikes are reliable, rugged, and designed to sustain minimal damage.

Parts availability world-wise is surprisingly good. BMW has en extensive dealer network, and, their car and motorcycle parts systems/warehouses intersect. If you have a part number, you can order through any BMW car dealership. Outside of the US, many BMW care dealers also sell and service the bikes. But, mostly, you don't need to worry - rarely does anything break!

Technology and features abound, consider: a 1150cc engine keeps center-of-gravity lower than any other engine configuration. Has electric starter. Full electronic fuel-injection. Catalytic converter for
super-clean emissions. Heated handgrips to keep those fingers nice and toasty in frigid conditions. Dry-cell/gel battery, no maintenance. Electrical accessory outlet for heated jacket, tire pump, or
GPS navigation system. A unique, patented driveshaft and rear suspension, which eliminates hobby-horsing. Rear tire removal is a no-brianer.

In the particular category of a multi-continent capable world-class adventure/touring machine, this motorcycle is in a class of it's own. Harley makes nothing like it. Neither do Honda, Yamaha or Kawasaki. Nothing out of Italy. A small Austrian company called KTM has just introduced a large displacement V-twin motorcycle (also called the Adventure, oddly enough!) in an attempt to unseat BMW. However, it's a totally new, unproven design, and their dealer network, outside of Europe and the US, is very limited. BMW has owned this category for over a quarter century.

Many dual-purpose products fail to meet the mark. However the BMW GS series of motorcycles are the proof-of-concept for a multi-function -- road/off-road -- vehicle that just plain works. The next time you see a motorcycle driving along the Haul Road in Alaska, or through the otherworldly red dunes of the Namib desert, take a close look, chances are, it'll be a BMW GS motorcycle. No one does the swiss army knife of two wheels better!

-- Mike M. Paull

BMW R1150GS and R1150GS Adventure
New $14,500 to $15,200.00
Used $8,000 up

Manufactured by
BMW Motorcycles

Years ago Apple figured out it doesn't need to write manuals for its products because David Pogue will, and he'll do it much better. Pogue, the New York Times computer columnist, is among the worlds' best explainers. His Missing Manual for the Mac OS is legendary; his Missing Manuals for the iPod, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie are likewise behavior changing. I've found managing the iPod a pleasure once I had the Missing Manual in hand -- easing the chores of downloading books on tape, or sync'ing backups. Likewise attempting to make an actual movie on iMovie was near impossible without the aid of the Missing Manual, but an amazing joy once this book was in hand. There is a tendency to view the iApple applications as elementary because their interface is so minimal, but as these manuals show, that simplicity masks tremendous capabilities -- which are fully revealed in these pages.

It's not uncommon for a deep program to need guidance. The Missing Manuals are a thrill because they reverse the usual formula for guidebooks. Most manuals assume you have some knowledge, but no intelligence. Pogue assumes you have some intelligence, but no knowledge. He reminds constantly rather than assumes you remember. That shift makes a huge difference. Pogue knows you are entering the book at random and have not read all previous chapters, so he will always explain things from the bottom, not assume short cuts, and he does this without being pedantic, verbose or repeating himself. That systematic attention is the ultimate consideration for the perplexed. It helps of course that his knowledge of the all tips, cheats, hacks, and workarounds for each product is encyclopedic.

The Missing Manual series is simply the most intelligent and useable series of guidebooks on any subject. I only wish there was one for all the other tools on my desktop.