June 2005 Archive
If you are ever even remotely near Nazareth, PA, go visit the Martin's Guitar factory. It's one of the best factory tours I've ever been on. And I don't even play the guitar. Most "tours" these days are perfunctory tours (or not even a tour at all). This is detailed and you get right next to the people who are handcrafting these instruments. It makes you really appreciate how they're made.
-- Jeff Gates
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Two-inch diameter concave mirror from Edmund Scientific magnifies your face when you look into it, and the shorter the focal length, the more magnification you perceive. While this mirror is intended no doubt for high school students conducting optics experiments, I use it to examine my own eyes. Why, you ask? Because when I am traveling, there is a small but tangible chance that I may get a particle of foreign matter in one of my eyes at a time when there is no one around to see it and remove it. (I once paid $200 to an emergency room, merely for removal of a tiny piece of soot adhering to the underside of an eyelid.) I don't use contact lenses, but I am imagine this problem is more acute for people who do. The downside of transporting the mirror is that it is fragile, but I have managed to avoid breaking mine for a couple of years now, and recently I was glad that I had it when I was in Florida on my own, everything was shut down because of a hurricane...and I got something in my eye.
-- Charles Platt
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Dumond Tech is designed as a bicycle chain lubricant that goes on wet and then dries, leaving a long-lasting polymer coating behind. It's great for lubing all sorts of things around the house. The only down side is that this stuff is hard to find. I bought mine at REI's flagship store in Seattle. You may also be able to find it at full-service bicycle shops.
-- Brian Grutzius
This makes filtered cigarettes at a fraction of the cost of manufactured cigarettes....I got it and all my supplies at
http://www.StuffYourOwn.com
-- T. G.
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What's worked for me in keeping dogs away from my bike is a simple squirt gun filled with plain water. Maybe the dogs in my area are all sissys but they now stay out of range of my squirt gun. I bought some ammonia in case the dogs stop fearing the plain water in the squirt gun. If needed I would only add a bit to the water, mostly for the smell, hopefully not enough to be blinding like pepper spray, but so far I haven't needed to escalate to this form of mild chemical warfare.
-- James Bowlin
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Sheldon Brown's website is a treasure trove of bicycle information. He has articles from how to mount a bike to how to build a tandem out of two old frames. I have pretty much read every article on his site, and built a tandem bicycle and a fixed gear (one speed, no coasting) bicycle with his help. Most recently I have enjoyed a collection of responses by Jobst Brandt on a variety of topics. (As Sheldon says, Brandt is best known in the bike industry as the author of The Bicycle Wheel, the definitive text on the theory and practice of building spoked bicycle wheels). Sheldon's bicycle glossary is also very useful for describing different bicycle related terms. It can also give a bit of history.
-- Sam Johnson
Mercedes-Benz
Here is one of several great cars you can't get in the U.S - the Mercedes A series. This is my preferred alternative to the Smart. The Smart is toylike, very useful for a single person or couple to get around the very heart of the city. I wouldn't like to travel a couple of hundred miles in one. Mercedes, the builders of the Smart, have another model series, the A Series, which is small on the outside and big on the inside. Really. That's because they put the flat engine under the passenger compartment. Inside the car is at least as big as an E Series Mercedes sedan. Outside, it's smaller than a VW Golf. Its ride is sedan-like, even luxurious, not choppy. It's peppy, even. I'm sure others will have their favorite candidates of great cars you can't get, too.
-- Louis Rosetto
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I have to give proper respect where due: Mayor Bloomberg's New York City communication system 311 works and works well. So many of our needs from the government are simply needs for information and this handles it beautifully. I've used it several times and have always been satisfied. So simple and so effective: talking to someone who knows the city infrastructure.
-- Stephen Turbek
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The replaceable filter on my large shop-vac is nearly $20. But I can extend its life significantly if I clean it every now and then with my old vacuum (the one with the bag). It cleans out the crevices and pores of the shop vac filter and makes it nearly as good as new.
-- Durwin Sharp
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I've been trying to figure out what to with our 401k funds and have found the best discussions are on Morningstar.com, especially on the "Vanguard Diehards" board, even if your 401k plan doesn't offer Vanguard. These people are serious, conservative investors, which is useful even if you're not conservative in approach. The boards are free, even though Morningstar charges for other premium information.
-- Elizabeth Logan
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Penny Alcohol Stove
A very simple, efficient, ultra light backpacking stove, that one can build with only a few tools. Created by Mark Jurey.
-- Eagle
I saw your recommendation for engineer's scales, and thought I'd pass along a little Adobe Illustrator tip. Whenever I move into a new apartment, I measure each room, door and window so I can lay out the furniture without straining my back. I draw the rooms in Illustrator, using the graphic design standard (my field) pica scale, which works like this: 12 picas to an inch, 12 points to a pica. In this way, I'm able to type in 12p4.125 (shorthand for "12 picas, 4.125 points") for 12' 4-1/8". If I need to scale it up, I type 150% or 200% in the Page Setup dialog to increase the drawing size/decrease the page size, which makes it easier to jump to a fullscreen view of my drawing by pressing Cmd-zero. Hope that's helpful to you in your endeavors.
-- Todd Patrick
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With a pair of scissors, a small slit can be cut to make the velcro strip stay on one end of the cable. See the third picture on this
page
-- Adam Beson
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St. Claire Inc., a technical communications company, has a FANTASTIC web page where you can register for free, and by clicking away (picking a heading, symbol and typing in text) you can generate .pdf files of safety signs of all kinds. You can certainly customize safety signs VERY specifically for any kind of local condition or situation.
-- Tony Prudori
St. Claire Inc.
Most "single use" cameras have a single AA battery inside, which many film developers save. You can go to a film development shop and ask for a box of batteries. And they will give them to you for free. We are told not to recharge regular AA batteries because they are supposed to explode. I have a surge protector and a charger and put both in a bucket (just in case) and recharge many AA's for an hour or 2. No boom yet.
-- Alex Zavatone
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Visual Thesaurus
This is a thesaurus done in flash. It has an intuitive interface that's fun to use. You just type any word in the search box and your word appears in the center connected to related words and meanings. It all is sort of floating/hanging on the screen. It features audio pronunciations and spell check. I found this on the web 4 years ago as an experimental flash project, at the time it was free. Now you can now try it for free. They offer an online and a desktop version at a very reasonable price.
-- Jade Assassin
[also suggested by Danny Flamberg]
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I have a typical "fishbowl" manager's office. Unfortunately, the furniture layout precludes the use of a whiteboard in my office. Instead, I use standard dry-erase markers to write on my office window. I get lots of strange looks from folks walking by, but many have commented on the practicality of the idea. Straight windex and paper towels to clean.
A few other whiteboard tips: Cleaning whiteboards can sometimes be a problem. The little "pop-up" wipes that Expo sells are completely useless. They seem to make future writes on the surface stick even more. Also not recommended is expo's spray-pump cleaner. Both seem to clean the surface so well, the future writes require more cleaning solution to remove, instead of a standard eraser. I did a bunch of testing, and found a product called "Plasti-Kleen" which does an awesome job of cleaning the surface, but most importantly, preps it for future writing, so only a dry-write eraser is needed. Awesome stuff.
The Suppplies Room
-- Gregory Winer
[Window writing also suggested by Duane Morin]
Buy a disposable camera (with flash) and put it in your glove compartment. The batteries last for several years and if you end up in a collision, you can reach over, open the pouch and document the whole thing. No need to kick yourself for leaving your digital camera at home, leaving your digital camera in the car (and getting it stolen), or having to discern the damage and argue your case based on some crappy 40kb cameraphone jpeg.
-- Tim Noble
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This looks to be a pretty cool service. They will check your site on all known browsers and then provide the pages. $20 for a day. You can get 200 captures for free as a trial. Is there anything similar out there?
Browser Cam
-- KK
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If you only own one refrigerator magnet, make it this one:
Elsewares
Also available from Amazon
-- Ryan
Heavy duty flip-flops
I've worn several pairs of Reef sandals for more than 10 years now, and they are simply the most solid "flip-flops" I've owned. I've tried other brands, but they fall apart in stressful conditions or delaminate after a few months of wear. Reef consistently holds up, and I usually wear mine until the rubber is paper thin on the bottom. Right now I'm wearing the "Leather Smoothy" in black - the leather top seems to hold less odor. They have many different styles and colors to choose from for guys, girls, and kids.
-- Camron Assadi
About $35
Available from
Reef
Also from Amazon
Cold tool
I have been doing a fair amount of research into a portable fridge for an vehicle expedition I am planning on doing from Baja to Alaska. The problem lies in the Peltier thermoelectric technology used in the new cheap coolers; they just don't make really cold temperatures.
To my knowledge there is nothing great in the sub $100 range, but there are excellent efficient cold fridges made for expeditions. These will actually freeze stuff. Unfortunately the cheapest is about $350. They are the ones with the sealed Danfoss compressors. These portable fridges/freezers are marketed by Waeco, ARB, and Engel and are all basically exactly the same products. You can pick which one you think has the better customer support; I can't say which that is yet. I would probably go with ARB, as they have a very high rep in the 4x4 community. But the Waeco USA site also has a 'factory reconditioned' section that is worth keeping an eye on for the right model.
-- Alexander Rose
$400
Engel
$500
Waeco Coolmatic Series
$750
ARB
Assist for kids for long rides
I love bicycling, but it is tricky with kids 5-10: too old for bike seats, too young for tandems (which are also expensive). For $90 the Pathfinder Bike Trailer provides a way to bring the kids along, give them exercise, and be able to talk with them during the trip. Because I have three kids, we hook a Burley Trailer to the Pathfinder so someone can rest on long trips. Alternately the older one rides on a tandem with me or my wife. This device turns bicycling into a group activity and has instilled a lifetime love of bicycling in my kids.
-- James Tierney
InStep Pathfinder Bike Trailer
$80
Available from
Amazon
Quick-sealing thermos mug
 
I had been looking for this travel mug for ages. I like to be able to toss a mug into the side pocket of my bag, but still easily grab a sip. Most travel mugs have openings in the top, making the bag-toss impossible and the bus ride extremely messy. Most Thermos-type mugs solve this with an actual closed top, but it's hard to just take a quick sip in class without going through the rigamarole of unscrewing all the parts. This mug solves all of those problems. It keeps a beverage warm or cold for a decent amount of time, there are no tops to unscrew and drop, and there is no spill. I've recommended it to all of my fellow grad students.
-- Stefibles
OXO Good Grips LiquiSeal Travel Mug
$20
Available from Amazon
Also from Oxo
Serious off-road survival
This great book is unfortunately expensive and difficult to find. However it is the most stunning collection of vehicle expedition lore anyone is likely to encounter. It lists everything from how many Land Rover Defender 90's you can fit in a cargo container, to what socks to wear while driving in the desert. It is extremely detailed, does not shy away from product names, and is rife with real-world life-saving data. It includes tons of information on planning, visas, customs, shipping, survival, vehicle set up, driving tips, GPS and traditional navigation etc. On top of all that the writing style is matter of fact, the book is very well organized, and the photos and examples are inspiring. The most surprising fact that I learned from this book was how much weight matters, just like backpacking and mountaineering, it is the single most important thing to minimize in vehicle expeditions. Weight adversely affects handling, fuel efficiency, acceleration, braking, and your ability to traverse sand, mud, or steep grades. The $150 spent on this book will save anyone thousands on any offroad trip or expedition they are undertaking.
-- Alexander Rose
Vehicle-Dependent Expedition Guide (2nd edition)
$200+
Available used from Amazon
Amazon
Previously available for $130 from Earth Roamer
Also previously available for significantly less from its UK publisher
�35.00 for delivery within UK. �40 for delivery within Europe. �60 rest of the world
Royal Geographical Society
Best screws
 
If you do carpentry work, cabinet work, deck work, fence work, or whatever requires something to be connected to wood or concrete or brick, the square-drive screws from McFeely's are incredible. The pay-off is that they have a wide selection in stainless (two grades) and other rust-proof finishes. Your hand or power screw-driver bit will never slip out of the slot. McFeely's also has innovative ideas like self-drilling screws with a small augur built into the tip. I use two old Makita 9.6 volt drill-drivers, and it is no lie that I can drive fifty to sixty #10 by 3-inch augur tips into pressure treated wood on ONE charge.
Recently, I converted a basement into a one-bedroom apartment for a friend. I never drove one nail in the whole project. Outside of the dry-wall screws I bought at Home Depot, every piece of framing, trim, dropped ceiling and hardware is anchored with square-drive screws from McFeely. If I were ever to build another house, I would use their screws exclusively (they sell dry-wall screws, too).
Superior product and superior service (average three days between order and delivery via UPS Ground), plus they CALL you to advise of back-orders or any possible order changes. I have only a few companies I have dealt with over these years which have truly impressed me, I'll rate McFeely's right up at the top. I've never been disappointed with one of their products or their service.
Home Depot now carries some square-drive screws. But I started buying from McFeely's 20 years ago since they offered stainless steel screws (very unique at that time). What McFeely's has going for them is their immense variety of metal types of screws and bolts, including a superior galvanized steel finish, called "No-Co-Rode". Four years of southern sun, gully-washer rains, snow and ice, and not the first "No-Co-Rode" screw I've used has rusted.
They have a lot of other "cool tools" on their web-site besides screws. Look at their "BITZ" holders that stick to a drill or their orange velcro straps that I have used for years to tie up my electrical cords. Generally very high-quality stuff at reasonable prices.
-- Jim Stagg
Square drive screws have been a trade secret among woodcrafters for years. They've just about replaced Phillips heads in Canada. Many manufacturers make them, although most hardware stores in the US don't stock them (yet). But no one can match the variety of square drive screws from McFeely's. They also sell screws with a "combo" drive which permit a Phillips driver to work in a pinch. Also the McFeely's website has the best tutorial on screw types and materials I've seen, and a decent FAQ on why square drives are superior.
-- KK
McFeely's Square Drive Screw Assortment
1,200 assorted screws
$70
McFeelys
100 Black Oxide Flat Heads
$2.50
Square Drive FAQ
More...
Cheapest portable sewing machine
In my search for a dependable household sewing machine I considered used classic models, and new fancy computer-guided gadgets, but in the end bought this no-frills boring machine from Brother. It's a great buy. This model is very compact (almost tiny), lightweight, and reliable. It doesn't take up much room so we can leave it out, always "on." It performs basic sewing chores plus other fancy stitches we've never used. Its handy removable lower "free arm" makes hemming cuffs a breeze. Best of all, at $70 new from discounters, it was cheaper than well-used heavy-duty models for sale on eBay. (I avoid garage sale machines because of a string of lemons we had that always needed tweaking, and because they are usually bulky.) This one just goes and goes, and weighs only 15 pounds. If there is a thriftier bargain for basic sewing machine, I'd like to know about it.
-- KK
Brother LS-2125
$100
(previously $70)
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Brother
Brother
Global woven technology
Anything with a global perspective wins extra points for me. This is the world's best book on the world's textiles. In a single volume you get a taste of all the varieties of weaving, dying and cloth-making on this planet, now and in the past. It's yummy, and stunning. The book is very intelligently designed, logically organized, and magnificently printed (full color). No how-to, but a whole library of inspiring patterns and traditional loomed, tied and knitted methods from all over the world in one portable tome. There's no single volume comparable to this book. Great source material for weavers, of course, but also artists, designers, craftsmen, and anyone who makes stuff. Here are what threads can be!
-- KK
World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques
John Gillow and Bryan Sentance
1999, 240 pages
$22
Available from
Amazon
Sample excerpts:
Lace
Lace is a European invention, made by the poorest of women to adorn the clothing of the rich. Probably the most recent traditional textile-making technique to come into existence, it seems to have originated in Italy or Dalmatia (the coastal region of of the Former Yugoslavia) in the 15th century, but the technique and the fashion for its use spread rapidly to countries as far apart as England and Russia.
Stripweave
It is a widespread practice to sew two separately woven pieces together to make one textile which is too large to be woven in one piece on any available loom. This is the method of construction, for example, of rugs made by the Balouch in Afghanistan or of hinggi mantles woven on Sumba in Indonesia. In a very few places textiles are made by sewing together a large number of very narrow strips. Apart from the ghudjeris, or horse blankets, of Uzbekistan virtually all stripweaves are to be found in West Africa. The best known is the kente cloth of Ghana.
Untying wefts for weft-ikat cloth at Sukarara, Lombok, Indonesia. The pattern was resist dyed into the wefts before they were woven. This may involve tying, untying, and retying the yarn several times to dye different parts of the pattern in different colours.
Women, from Uzbekistan, wearing ikat fabric known as abr or "cloud" cloth. On their laps are the tied bundles of threads for abr after dying, which they will unravel.
Extreme Pogo Stick
When the guy at the bike store first told us about the Flybar, he said "Man, that thing bounces twenty feet!" It doesn't, but I understand why he exaggerated. The Flybar has an amazing Boing Factor. Instead of a standard spring, it uses rubber-like bands which make the bounce feel more like a trampoline and can give you a real workout. It's bulky, but sturdy. You can adjust to handle adult or kid weight. My 13-year-old son saved up for months to buy one and he's never been sorry, because when he takes it to the local park, the little kids stare at him open-mouthed and the big kids try to keep their mouths closed and hide the fact they're staring. It's expensive, but until everyone has one, you will be the most awesome novelty on your block. Yeah, it's dangerous. You should wear a helmet. Pads would be a good idea. But skateboards, mountain bikes, trampolines, and see-saws can be dangerous too. And fun!
-- Jay Allison
Flybar 1200
$300
Available from
Amazon
Manufacturer by
Flybar
Roombot for lawns
This robotic lawn mower has saved me time and kept my lawn looking great for two years now. It keeps the lawn healthy because it only cuts a little bit of grass each day and it turns into fertilizer very quickly. Once the mower is set up, it comes out as programmed to and returns home to be charged when the programmed time is up or the batteries run down. It even has a rain sensor to send it home when it starts to rain.
-- Wes A.
From the website:
Smart Spiral - When the mower senses long grass it automatically enters spiral mode and mows grass in immediate area in more efficient spiral mode. When long grass is no longer sensed it returns to random operation to seek out more long grass.
Ambrogio Professional
$1,400
Available from
The Robot Store
Easy, secure hollow wall mounts
Over the years I have tried every type of wall anchor and toggle bolts on the market. The best product I have come across is the Toggler Hollow Wall Anchor. They are quick and easy to install and very strong. They work equally well in both drywall and plaster walls. These anchors are also translucent (many other anchors are color coded to designate size) which is nice if your object is small and doesn't cover the anchor completely, such as a coat hook. You can get a sample kit from their website.
-- Scott Darley
Picture hook variety
Toggler Wall Anchors
$10
Available from
Home Depot
Manufactured by
Toggler
Special effects by mouth
Not everyone appreciates the thrill of making weird, silly or rude sounds with your mouth. All the better, then, if you know how to throw up a fake a cell phone ring, or present a first-rate chicken cluck. This great book teaches you how to create those and 200 other special sound effects with your mouth only. It comes with a CD, which you really do need to get these sounds correct. Your master guru is Fred Newman, the guy on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion show, who produces an entire symphony of sounds live in front of a mike. Besides being a how-to manual for audio gags, this book is also a very funny, and most importantly, one of the best classes I know of for opening up, training and exploring your voice, even if you don't want to make amazing noises.
-- KK
MouthSounds: How to Whistle, Pop, Boing, and Honk for All Occasions...and Then Some
Fred Newman
2004, 245 pages
$10
Available from
Amazon
Sample excerpts:
Screech 'N' Skid
Instructions
1. There's no shortcut to the Screech 'n' Skid. It has to be done like you're a six-year-old. First, load up with air, and hold your breath.
2. Now squeeze hard and let the sound squeak out in your highest falsetto voice. If it's rough and gravelly, so much the better. (If your face gets red and you pop a button, it's your own damn fault.) Let the screech rise and fall in pitch and volume.
Uses
The Screech 'n' Skid is the perfect response when someone makes a profoundly dumb suggestion, asks an inane question, or proffers a really bad idea such as "Let's wash the cat" or "How 'bout a double for the road?" or "Why don't we bungee jump out of this hot-air balloon?" The Screech 'n' Skid is the ultimate reality check.
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Gummy Cheeks
Gummy cheeks is a juicy, abstract sound that slips past "mildly unpleasant" on the gross-factor rating scale and slides straight for "downright filthy" - in the way that stirring tuna and mayo together in a bowl has a disgusting sound, but you're not quite sure why. Gummy cheeks does not simulate any one sound in particular, but rather suggests a whole host of offensive goings-on.
Instructions
1. Relax your face completely with your mouth closed loosely.
2. Pinch your cheek lightly with the thumb and crook of the index finger.
3. Pull out and push in the relaxed cheek very rapidly. You will get a repulsive, gooey, slurpy sound - a misdemeanor in Florida.
Uses
If you are fortunate enough to have large jowls, your Gummy Cheeks can make grown men squeamish. You can double the indignity by making Gummy cheeks simultaneously on both cheeks for a sort of slushy, surround-sound effect.
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Awesome Party Tip #38
"Talk under the din." If you are at a loud party and find yourself shouting louder and louder just to talk to people, begin speaking "under the noise." What is happening is that the voices in the room are competing in the same frequency range - so that people raise their volume and their pitch when they feel they can't be heard. They shout in high voices. All you have to do is not compete. Talk in a quieter, deeper voice, and you will be heard easily. Try it. You will be shocked at how easy it is to talk under the din.
Special metal working tools
Eastwood is primarily an auto-body parts and tools supplier, but oh what tools. For example, welding equipment. You might not need TiG welding equipment, but you might find use for the gloves (fireplaces) or the jeweler's torch. Or painting equipment. You probably don't need to powdercoat brake calipers, but you *could* powdercoat your grill, lawn furniture, whatever.
Or maybe you need shop tools. Specialty tools like garage wheel alignment on the cheap, or your own garage lift (user-installable!). Wheel dollies for moving cars in your multi-car garage laterally. I first encountered the catalog because I needed tracer dye for a head gasket leak; I ended up buying hard-to-find 3M abrasive pads for removing the old gasket material as well as the dye and the UV lamp. Best thing about it? Buy something once and you get the catalog for well over a year. There's always something in it if you're a handy kinda person....
-- Christopher Wanko
Eastwood has long been one of my favorites. I have found their stuff to be just what they say it is, and their service all one could ask. I have especially liked their lineup of tools that are very hard to find elsewhere. Many times, just seeing items in the catalog has enabled me to come up with design solutions, and let me make the parts I need. Yummy Yum.
-- J. Baldwin
Eastwood catalog
Sample item:
Best of the world
I've slowly clued into the fact that there is a network of "World Heritage" monuments, sites, and natural parks throughout the world--places that are deemed unique enough, or endangered enough, to deserve funding by UNESCO. A cultural site can be a monument, a group of buildings, or an entire city. But to be granted a World Heritage designation, it must "represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; or bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared."
I like to think of these creations as the Best of Civilization.
Almost every country has at least one site, and sometimes many. Some places are justifiably famous, but many are mysteriously overlooked. Heritage sites are always among the most interesting destinations to visit in any country, well worth going out of your way to see. The sites range from ruins like the famous Inca Machu Picchu, to the less known ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri, India, to preserved towns like Visby, Sweden, to unspoiled wilderness areas like the Galapagos Islands. In total UNESCO lists 788 sites in 100 countries, which also include about 150 natural sites, deemed "areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance" or outstanding bio-diversity.
In my travels I've learned to seek them out.
-- KK
For a full list, and criteria, see World Heritage List.
BULGARIA (Year added to list)
1979 Boyana Church
1979 Madara Rider
1979 Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
1979 Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
1983 Ancient City of Nessebar
1983 Srebarna Nature Reserve
1983 Pirin National Park
1983 Rila Monastery
1985 Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari
Old City of Lijiang, China. A trading town in the highlands of southwestern China. A World Heritage site.
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