This is the best capo on Earth. The unique one-way cam lets you adjust tension in tiny increments with a squeeze. Unlike every other capo I've used, it can apply enough tension to cleanly fret the string without bending it sharp. Works on acoustic and electric instruments equally well. Build and finish quality is absolutely superb. The G7th capo is a brilliant piece of gear for the discerning guitarist.

-- David MacNeill

G7th Capo
$38
Available from
Amazon

CarMax is a great source for when you are in the market for a certified, warranted, used vehicle. I don't know of any other dealership where you can test drive a used car, in excellent condition, and not have to go through a hard sell sales pitch, or a torturous bargaining phase when you decide to purchase it. The no-bargain price is right on the vehicles, and is often quite a bargain (with notable exceptions, so you have to do your independent price-point research ahead of time). The salespeople have no incentive to make a hard sell because of the way their commissions are set, and the fixed prices (so don't bother bargaining). Additionally, if you decide within five days of your purchase that it was not the right car for you, you can return it for a full refund, regardless of how much you drove it (and yes, I have actually tested this out) with no reason needed beyond simply that you didn't like the car. They also make a similar no-bargaining, no-low-balling offer for your trade-in, and let you know with 30-45 minutes exactly what they are willing to pay you for your car. And, as it should be, the two transactions don't have to be tied to each other. They also have a decent website that lets you find the car you want nearby, or sign up to be notified via e-mail if a car matching your criteria shows up in their lots. Their Service Centers also seem to be squeaky clean and very impressive. They seem to be the elusive Car Dealership with a Conscience. My advice to anyone looking to buy or sell a used car, it behooves you to at least see what CarMax has to offer before making your final decision.

-- Surkhab Niazi

CarMax
(locations in about half of the US states)

Bloody Butcher Corn (Seedsavers Exchange)

Gardening catalogs are the very epitome of dreambooks. Some are quite beautiful, all ripe with the promise of fulfillment in a slightly other universe, but here are the three that make late winter in the heartland a little less bitter:

Seedsavers Exchange puts out a gorgeous catalog and promotes Earth-respecting attitudes with no preaching or guilt-laying. Their online version is, to my mind, among the best designs of its kind. Their descriptions usually include a few words about the histories and sources of their heirloom varieties -- makes it hard not to feel involved with the ancient epic of how "weeds" got turned into the exquisite diversity of crop plants we take for granted these days.

Johnny's Selected Seeds is a commercial version of a labor of love. It's a real working catalog with limited color photos but a large and well-selected inventory of standard, heirloom, and organic veggie, herb, flower, grain, and covercrop seeds. What makes the catalog special is its generosity with information. If you need a tomato that resists some particular kind of rot, you'll probably find it here. You'll probably find it in other catalogs, too, but won't necessarily know it. There's extensive cultural, climate, and harvesting info that makes me resent almost all other catalogs for their lack of same. Johnny's really wants their seeds to grow strong and prosper.

Gardens Alive is a southern Indiana seller of products for organic/"environmentally responsible" gardening and growing. Natural fertilizers, biocontrols (they grow critters like parasitic wasps and nematodes themselves), natural lawn magic, redworms, composting accessories -- a fairly thick little catalog with basic graphics and all kinds of dreams for the garden geek. Dozen-page guides to plant diseases, nutritional lacks, bugs. I get the same kind of thrill pawing through this jammed volume that I used to get with Edmunds or American Science and Surplus or the fireworks spreads, or, well, Whole Earth Catalog -- It just makes my hands itch to get out there and tinker.

-- David Walker

Sample excerpts:

Cupboard Moth Trap. Signature Product. Our easy-to-use traps stop Indian meal moths from ruining food in your pantry. As low as $6.95 each (Gardens Alive)

Black Prince Heirloom Tomatoes. New last year! Mahogany brown with flavor. Unusual mahogany brown shoulders become orange-red at the blossom end. Color will be deeper and more pronounced in sunnier locations. Distinctively rich, fruity, tomato flavor. Relatively smooth, 3-5 oz., 3" globes show less cracking than typically seen in most heirlooms. This is an heirloom from Irkutsk, Siberia. Indeterminate. Organically grown. Mini: 40 seeds. $2.70. (Jonny's Selected Seeds)

I weld, build, and purposely tangle myself up in lots of computers/servers. I discovered two surplus stores that not only provide material fuel for all of the aforementioned activities but at a great discount no less. Both stores are open to the public and offer everything from large precision machinery to fiber optic cables to airplane leather by the roll (!). I spotted a Herman Miller Eames molded office chair at the Boeing store (sold tag on it) while I was walking out with my $15 in purchases, an IBM M-series (clickety) keyboard, and a portable DIGITAL anti-static electronics workspace circa 1970. If you are a grade school science teacher with a dwindling budget for demonstration instruments, or an art teacher in need of found objects for your class on sculpture or still life drawing, these places might be useful. Perhaps you're just in need of milling equipment, pneumatic tools, safes, drafting tables, powered work carts, or raw sheets of aluminum, mild and stainless steel, titanium even. It's there if you ask. Oscilloscopes are often for sale at less than $50. I recently acquired another Sun Microsystems Ultra-x, which was one too many, and I saw that the laser printers which I ought to have bought instead were on sale for $10 that day.

Too good to be true? Sometimes. While there are online listings, there is no online purchasing so one is bound by geography and you have to go often as the good stuff rapidly departs. Take your time on a nice day to explore both the inside hanger and outside lots for things. Bring a truck and some friends to help you move the stuff. The large equipment goes quickly and the electronic and computers/peripherals are usually untested. Drill bits and calipers are plane- and submarine-building size, though great candidates for creative adaptive reuse reincarnations into your latest robotics project. The best finds are sometimes boxes of widgets that, when asked what they are, the staff smirk, shrug, and tell you they can't remember. Respect that most of the people there, at P&W certainly, seem to know what everything is to insure that the stuff gets priced accordingly and, more importantly, to make sure nothing whose purpose was previously classified, is marked or misplaced.

The Boeing store is the larger of the two and Pratt & Whitney is only open 3 days a week. I'm sure there are more of these shops around but I've only just found these.

-- Shin Ae

Boeing Recovery and Surplus Sales
Kent, Washington

Pratt & Whitney
400 Main Street
East Hartford, CT
06108
(860) 565 6850
Tues, Thurs, Sat 8-4:30pm
860-557-1255 fax
[There is currently no website for the P&W Surplus Store]

There are indeed other great surplus stores. Ebay is great for everything, but sometimes you just need to wander around a huge warehouse full of old junk just to see what's there. The most comprehensive listing of large and unusual surplus gear stores state-by-state can be found below. (If there is a better national list, please let me know.)

Also, a tip I heard: Almost any college or university has a place for getting rid of old stuff. A well-known sculptor who was often asked to lecture at various schools across the country, always made sure he requested to see the school's surplus facilities while he was visiting. At one university where he had just given a paid talk he found his usual request led to a large closet filled with steel balls that NASA had rejected after testing, but were ideal for sculpture. "Needless to say I spent my whole paycheck there."

-- KK

National listing of surplus stores by state

A substance that, once applied to any caulk, softens it to the consistency of butter in about 4 hours. Comes in a squirt bottle, and is slightly thinner than common glue.

-- Matt Havard

3M Caulk Remover
Model 2153
$5/ 8 oz.
Available from Home Depot

Also from Amazon

Unlike "traditional" delta-style stunt kites, where the steering is slightly non-intuitive (you let out rather than pull in), this kite drives intuitively. And, since they are parafoils, you don't worry about breaking expensive carbon fiber spars if you crash.

Apparently, the inventor has had trouble getting dealers to market the kite as a stunt kite: dealers tended to classify it as a "power kite" for pulling loads, or as pocket kites.

Anyway, these kites are only sold directly online. The website is a nightmare to navigate, but check out a few choice video clips.

-- David Chin

Video clips of kites in action

Seattle AirGear WindDance Parafoil Stunt Kites
$100 and up
Available from
Seattle Air Gear

I've used this little gizmo from Radio Shack for 20 years now. It's the cheapest way I know to record a phone conversation. I use it for doing phone interviews. Some folks use it to record teleconferences, or some to archive their voice mail. (The laws about recording on the phone vary by state in the US.) You can buy expensive gadgets that do the same, but no better than this one. Radio Shack still makes it, and it is still cheap at $26. You can plug it into a tape recorder, or digital recorder, or even your computer -- anything that will take a standard 1/8 inch input plug.

-- KK

Recorder Control
$30
Available from Radio Shack

Yep, we are headed into the bio century. In this brave new world a basic level of genetic literacy will be essential. That was a problem for me because I couldn't tell one gene from another. But recently I discovered that the quickest route from the theory of genetics to the practice of it is to inspect my own genes. And the best motivator and context for that is that old fussy hobby of genealogy.

I have near zero interest in the path-names of my ancestors (and with a common surname like mine, near zero chance of unravelling it) but the puzzle of deep ancestors turns out to be a fantastic way to get comfortable with the sprawling vocabulary, concepts and techniques of genetics. You plumb your own genes for clues about your ancestry and in the process all genes become less strange.

About half a dozen companies offer a paid service to test your genes, taken from cells in the cheek, and provide a rough analysis of where you fall in the 100,000-year migration of humans across the globe. These outfits only sequence a very few points in your DNA, called markers. In general the more markers they check, the better. If you are willing, you can then submit your genetic marker results to the rapidly growing database of other folks who have tested their DNA. Some databases (and testing) specialize in African-Americans, some in Native Americans, and some try for a more general catch. All are quickly adding more markers, more sophistication, more crosslinking of results. In short, this is a fabulously fast-moving frontier that obeys the law of increasing returns: the more people that join, the more valuable and attractive it becomes for others to join.

It is also pretty geeky. Whereas traditional genealogy is nearly literary, steeped in anecdotes, names, and human drama; this new craft of genetic genealogy or "genetealogy" is primarily numerical: it is a flood of statistics, databases, algorithms, and the stuff of computer science. For better or worse it is also a ferociously technical, heavily quantifiable, gnarly hobby, and the early adopters are sprinting ahead rapidly. In fact so much is happening so fast in personal genetealogy that it is quite easy for almost anyone to become the world's expert in a particular domain.

So how do you get started?

The easiest way to launch into the world of ancestral DNA is to enroll in The Genographic Project. This innovative program, run by National Geographic and IBM, will test your DNA with 12 markers (a decent benchmark in 2005). In addition you'll get a great National Geographic map of genetic geography and a fantastic National Geographic documentary (The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey) on our deep genetic roots and early human migration on this planet. This informative film, full of surprising news, is based on the work of Spencer Wells, who is both innovative scientist and enthusiastic host. He and crew scour the world for indigenous people with deep roots in one place, asking for samples of DNA to test, in order to piece together our "big family" genetic tree. The best parts are when they return with results and we see the diverse ways in which people and tribes react to the news of what science says about their arrival and relations. When you join The Genographic Project you fund this tree. A portion of the $100 fee for your test goes to Wells's and other's work, and you get your own DNA tested (anonymously) and the results in a form which you can share with others if you are inclined to. Since the fee is similar to what a commercial service would charge, it's the way to go. You can graduate to more comprehensive and specialized testing as you progress.

But as helpful as the Genographic supporting material is, you'll need a master guide to help you decipher the meaning of genes. By far the best orientation to this exploding universe is the new book Trace Your Roots with DNA. Written for avid family-tree fans, this is a great layperson's introduction to personal DNA testing. It illuminates the complexities of such concepts as haplogroups, snips, alleles, mtDNA, and diminishing genetic relationships -- all crucial genetic knowledge even if you are not into genealogy. If you ARE into family roots, this book is will provide you with tons of concrete advice on how to persuade relatives to get tested, where to post your results, and how to correlate genes with traditional genealogical research.

The authors are smart. They realize that news in this area will appear first online and only slowly migrate to paper books or magazines. They wisely direct you to preferred websites throughout their chapters. But their book offers a comprehensive overview of a frontier that no website currently offers. It is a wonderful portal to this coming century.

-- KK

My son gets his cheek swabbed for DNA

The Genographic Project
$100 per kit

Trace Your Roots with DNA
Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak & Ann Turner
2004, 272 pages
$10
Available from
Amazon

Sample excerpts:

*
But for now, you have all you will need to know if you grasp one fact: Y chromosome tests cannot prove that you share a particular common ancestor with another person, only that you share a common ancestor at some point.

Please don't make the mistake of testing in the hope of stumbling onto something interesting! In the future, when large numbers of people have been tested and accessible DNA databases are exploding with samples, the odds will improve that a random person could get tested and discover something interesting, such as a surprise match with a stranger. But we're not quite there yet.

In one tome, a glorious collection of visual trickery, the best I've seen. Optical illusions of the most ingenious types -- using mirrors, type fonts, murals, globes, junk, and of course paint. It is a grand demonstration of nerd art.

-- KK

Masters of Deception
Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusion
Al Seckel
2004, 320 pages
$25
Available from
Amazon

Sample excerpt:

"Lunch with a Helmut On," welded forks, spoons, 1987, 73 x 31 x 42 inches

Knowlton's portrait consists of 945 inch-long multicolored spools of thread alternately oriented vertically and horizontally. They give the impression, from intermediate distances, of woven fabric. This artwork, therefore, has three levels of interpretation: a portrait, a woven fabric, and spools of thread.

My bet is that future generations will consider Michel Gondry an original genius on the order of M.C. Esher and J.S. Bach. Gondry is a French filmmaker of music videos and amazing clever shorts. He specializes in radically playful creations, many of them which point to themselves in the recursive manner of the best creations of Esher and Bach. His films circle around in strange loops, mess with paradoxical perspective and POV, and explore the edges of linear reality with the spirit of a 12-year-old boy. He's recently made feature films (one is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but his best work is still showcased in these 27 brilliant short films and astounding music videos collected here. They are utterly arresting, even now long after they were made. I am reminded of a Annie Dillard quote that says (paraphrasing) that when a creation refers to its form as well as its content, then it refers to art.

-- KK

From Kylie Minogue's music video "Come Into My World." She circumnavigates a city block, while additional copies of herself join on top of multiple layers of background jokes. It's as if a snake with its tail in its mouth begins to unroll into a larger more colorful dancing dragon.

The Work of Director Michel Gondry
2003, 400 minutes
$15
Available from
Amazon

or from Netflix

It isn't often an author gets to herald the biggest news in the last 10,000 years. But you'll get the full, uncensored, mind-blowing report here in this entertaining and surprisingly deep book. Meet soldiers who don't sleep, animals controlled with joy sticks, computers controlled by merely thinking, the blind driving cars, and parents designing their kids -- and that is just what is happening right now. Veteran scout Joel Garreau prepares ordinary readers for the ultimate question of this century: Who do you think we should be? He makes it clear that as of today, human nature is now under the control of humans, and we ARE doing something about it -- but we aren't aware of it. To guide you through this boggle Garreau offers astonishments, conundrums, and sanity.

-- KK

Radical Evolution
The Promise and Peril of Enhancing our Minds, our Bodies -- and What it Means to be Human
Joel Garreau
2004, 384 pages
$17
Available from
Amazon

Sample excerpt:

The first telekinetic monkey that DARPA funded is named Belle. Belle is a cute monkey -- an owl monkey, tiny, with huge brown globular eyes framed in white ovals two-thirds the size of her head. Her fur is russet and gray. Belle is astonishingly quick. One of her accomplishments is her prowess at an electronic game. She intently watches a horizontal series of lights in her lab at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She knows that if a light suddenly shines and she moves her joystick left or right to correspond to its position, she gets a drop of fruit juice. Treats may not matter now, though. She's gotten way into the game.

The demographic lag between those who use the Internet in developing countries and those who use it in the United States was about five years, the Canadian researchers reported. This technology is getting to the masses a lot faster than did electricity, radio, washing machines, refrigerators, television, air conditioners and automobiles.

I've had one version of this poster on my wall for years. Its creator, a maniacal Swedish photographer, spent years uncovering letters hidden in butterfly wings and collected more than one full alphabet from his quest. To make the challenge more difficult, all his snapshots are from live butterflies (better color). He now has a small cottage business selling posters of his work, including alphabets and numbers found in other realms of nature. They are beautiful yes, but for me the enduring attraction of his work is his fanatic amateur over-the-top enthusiasm, which this poster emblemizes.

-- KK

Butterfly Alphabet #2
$20
Available from
Butterfly Alphabet

I have always suspected computers had a secret history, and here it is: sex, drugs and rock and roll. This outlaw culture birthed what we now call personal computers. Not VCs, not the military, not universities, but hippies, activists, bums, and outright visionaries with visions. A story this strange you could not make up. The surprising countercultural roots of our essential technology is not only an amazing hither-to untold tale (laid out with fast-paced charm by the New York Times' chief technology reporter), it also remains a pertinent lesson to anyone hoping to use technology to remake society: First, feed your head! The money will come. What a wonderful story!

-- KK

What the Dormouse Said
How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer
John Markoff
2005, 336 pages
$17
Available from
Amazon

Sample Excerpt:

[Stolaroff] returned to California a zealot, a convert to the new LSD faith. He had decided that experiences like the one he had had in Canada were the answer to the world's problems. LSD would give society a new set of powerful tools to advance human development. Like Engelbart, Stolaroff set off on his own grand quest to augment the human mind.

For an hour, Evans took the system through its paces, showing the writer how it was possible to manipulate text, retrieve information, and collaborate with others. At the end of the demonstration Kesey sighed and said, "It's the next thing after acid."

I haven't tried the Russell Executive reviewed earlier, but I found a similar mesh chair for even cheaper.

The arms are attached to the base and screwed on, but I personally have no need to ever remove them, and the height adjustments are easy. It has tilt lock, adjustable tilt firmness, height adjustment, and an up/down adjustment on the lumbar support.

I managed to pick one up on sale, but even at the standard $180 with free shipping, I think this is a pretty good deal. I can't speak for its longevity, having just purchased it recently, but it does come with a 15 year warranty. I'm happy so far.

-- Adam Fields

Situations Mesh Manager's Chair
$180
Staples

Getting quotes from Get Used Parts is nice and all but for the more hands-on "just give me the info" approach, Car-Part.com is a better fit. It actually gives you a list of all the places that have your part, their prices, condition etc with contact information for the seller and you can filter the results by area or state. A lot of parts are too big/heavy to ship or cost prohibitive so it helps to find nearby sellers. They even have a handy tool to help you figure out what a part is called if you don't know.

The prices quoted online have been accurate and the parts are almost always available when you contact the seller. Most places have 800 numbers so its no big deal to call a few if need be or to find the best shipping prices. My dad has found several items to repair our family's cars and has been happy with them. Of course the shipping costs, accuracy of item descriptions, etc will vary depending on the seller, but we haven't had any issues to date.

-- Isaac Good

Car-Part

It looks like only a simple odd shaped piece of plastic -- which it is! -- but it is fantastic used as a pot and pan scraper, pocket or purse sleet scraper, snow ski boot and binding scraper, paint or tar scraper, lawn and garden-digging utensil, putty knife, vinyl remover. Effectively scrapes any surface you don't want to mar or scratch. It is light, small, inexpensive and almost indestructible. It is often given away as a promotional gift; however you can purchase them for as little as twenty five cents or as much as $4.00. They can be found online, and at craft, hardware, office supply, and paint stores.

-- Larry Zibilich

Lil Chizler
$0.61
Available from among others
Worldwide USA

I've raved before about Brian Eno's wonderful creative boost called Oblique Strategies. It's a set of cards you use to get unstuck when you confront a design standstill. You follow the advice on a card picked at random. Surprisingly the action (or inaction) it suggests is usually just the right thing to do to get you going again. The cards are slick, well-crafted but expensive. This Mac OS Tiger dashboard Widget implementation of Oblique Strategies is the most handy yet I've seen. It sits right there only a click away. What to do? Let's see, it says "Abandon normal instructions."

-- KK

Oblique Strategies
Free from
Apple

And for the rest of you, here is a site linking to Palm and Windows versions;
AcquireStrategies

For the past year and a half I have become fascinated by feet, their function and potential, particularly. I explored the "barefoot running" scene, and found a wealth of information regarding footcare and advice for those who wished to traipse 'round unshod. Unfortunately, without the proper sensitivity and calluses, it's near impossible to walk/run in urban areas unafraid.

Thus, I went looking for a shoe that would emulate the foot as closely as possible. I tried the famed "ninja" tabi-boots as well as Nike's much hyped "Air Rift" running shoe, without satisfaction. I wondered, what would be the most effective material to construct a sole that would make for a thin, yet durable shoe...and hit upon the jackpot: kevlar. I googled "kevlar sole", and came across a mention of the company "VIVO barefoot" in a podiatry forum by the CEO and creator. Upon further investigation, I found that the only locations peddling them were Terra Plana in NYC and their headquarters in London, and while they were available online, I was wary of that route after having been foiled before... I asked a friend of mine living in the Big Apple to swing by their store and give 'em a try. He did and was blown away. Upon his coming to visit me, I slipped 'em on, and knew my search had come to an end.

They are without a doubt the most lightest and most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. Their lack of "arch support" and elevated heel is actually a boon, as it allows you to walk/run normally and regain natural posture. They also have a wide toe-box, to accommodate your feet without crunching, even have a zippered sole so that you can just replace them when they wear out, instead of buying a new pair! While the zipper tab does have a tendency to snap off, (a design flaw I hope will be remedied in future runs) I've never felt any discomfort from wearing them, and surprisingly enough, they even kept my feet darn warm in the most recent Maine winter time with their removable "insulated sole insert". They also come in a variety of designs from slip on loafers to casual tennis shoes and look like totally normal shoes. While they generally run on the more expensive side ($120, give or take) I managed to find a pair on eBay for fourty-five bucks.

-- Josh Samuels

VIVObarefoot Shoes
$115+
Available from Amazon

Also from Terra Plana

Two months ago I bought a pair of those new Nike Free shoes that are marketed as a sort of anti-shoe for training how to run barefoot, or closer to barefoot, which supposedly helps strengthen your feet and legs in some manner. I wasn't interested in this benefit since I already run barefoot on the beach and am not a serious runner anyway.

I bought the shoes because they squish nearly flat and hence are easy to carry in my rollaboard.

Normally I just go to a fitness center when I travel and the Free are just fine for that, but recently I found the lightweight and minimal Free just as comfortable running on concrete as my regular big, structured running shoes.

The two Free squish down to about 3-1/2 thick, which is half the thickness of my conventional running shoes. They are also lighter. Nike doesn't mention these benefit on their website, which seems otherwise quite comprehensive. The price is $85 for a standard color combination, which I bought, or you can customize your colors for $95. Pretty slick.

-- Steve Leveen

Nike Free
$45
(men's, 5.0 version)
Available from Amazon

Or $70 for women's 7.0 version from Amazon
href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UI0A92/ref=nosim/kkorg-20">Amazon

Manufactured by Nike
Nike

The easiest-to-set-up wiki I've ever found. (PB = set it up "as easily as a peanut butter sandwich"). And it's true. I'm using it for my to-do list and to collaborate on a document with my friends. Not too fancy and not bloatware. It's just simple, free, and it works!

-- Ramit

PB Wiki

A great compliment to "Sketchup" is a handy little product from Japan, "Pepakura". This tool creates a printable, origami-like pattern from which 3D models may be translated into paper "reality".

Here at the University of Texas, I write 3D games that deliver educational content for middle-school children. I use Sketchup as the starting point in my workflow for all the 3D buildings and many of the other objects that the kids move through, as they navigate within their virtual world. For $38, this gadget allows me to push my models through a color printer -- I fold the output and paste a few ends together with a gluestick, and I have something to hand to the kids as an incentive when they finish the program. They think it's neat to hold something in their hands that they had just been interacting with in the virtual world.

Nearly anything that you can model can be printed and brought into this world, in all of it's 3D glory.

-- Charlie

Pepakura
PC Windows
Free (Shareware)
Available from Tamasoft

I like to cook outside. Besides the usual barbeque I like to stir fry -- which requires very high heat. I've found the the best, highest temperature outdoor stove. It's called the Patio Wok and it puts out 49000 btu's, more than sufficient for the requirements of the sustained high temps of stir fry.

-- Joachim Klehe

Red Dragon Patio Wok-1A
$155
Available from
Amazon

Manufactured by
Flame Engineering

This is a Playstation 2 "game" (but available on other platforms such as the XBox and PC) that is actually an interactive fitness program. It starts by conducting a physical assessment (measuring your heart rate before and after aerobic activity, seeing how many crunches, push ups, & squats you can do and gauging your flexibility.) Next a personal trainer named Maya appears and suggests your goals (building strength, losing weight, whatever) and coaches you through setting a workout calendar and setting a weight loss goal, if appropriate.

Then the fun begins. You show up for your workouts and are given choices of music, locale and optional equipment if you own it. You set the time and go. The workouts are fun - Maya is animated and picks routines based on your fitness level. You never know what she'll throw out! It's different every day.

I'm 50. I've been using Y!F for a month and have lost 8 pounds. I feel like I'm addicted to exercise now. I loved Body for Life but hated dragging my tired overweight body to the gym. I'm able to do Y!F in the privacy of my home and am now feeling like maybe I could face the gym again.

There are some glitches in the program. Occasionally Maya stutters, chooses a piece of equipment you don't own and gets her beat mixed up for a few seconds. I'm not sure every move she shows is safe but there is no problem adapting her routines to fit your own space and situation. In the end, I'm responsible for my own health and I apply common sense. I guess I have the most problems with high impact moves (I modify to low impact) and some of her jumping over a step (I just do the basic step move when jumps and hops on the step.)

I love it and look forward to future releases as I'm sure it will only get better.

-- Mary Mcavanaugh

Yourself!Fitness
$30
Available from
Amazon

Manufactured by
Yourelf Fitness