At DonorsChoose you can be a philanthropist for ten bucks (or more). Go to the site and choose from among thousands of projects submitted by public school teachers -- everything from books needed to technology to class trips. Once the project's been funded, DonorsChoose buys the materials for the teachers, and you get a package of letters and photographs from the students.

-- Mike

DonorsChoose

Sample request:

I am a primary grade Special Day Class teacher with 16 students. All of my kindergarten, first and second grade students are in need of enrichment for language and speech development. They also display very different learning styles and preferences.

We would like to continue adding to our library of "I SPY" books. We feel that this is an exciting way to learn all of the basic skills we need in math and language arts. We can reinforce our basic instruction in science and social studies as well, simply by admiring a little photograph!
My class and I would like to add more "I SPY" and "Can You See Wht I See?" books to our collection, with difficulty levels varying from preschool to second grade. Thank you very much for considering our proposal and helping us propel our learning into new areas of exploration! The cost of these "I Spy" Books for the Classroom Library is $193, including shipping and fulfillment.

Cuboro is they best toy I have seen since Lego. I recently purchased a set for my 3-year-old son, and we both have been having a blast with it ever since. The basic idea is simple: marbles and a track. The interesting thing is that the track is built out of individual wooden blocks with curves and channels cut into them, allowing the builder to create a track of whatever shape their imaginations can conceive. The marbles are moved along strictly by gravity, falling from one level to another and cutting back and forth through hidden tunnels. After starting out with some simple structures, you will quickly start to think of more complicated structures. I found the challenge to build more interesting designs quite addictive.

The company is based in Switzerland, but sets are available from several US retailers. There are several starter sets, plus add-on kits that allow you to build more complicated structures. I started with the Cuboro Standard, and recently added the Cugolino set. Although Cuboro is a bit pricey for a toy, the manufacturing quality is exceptional and you get what you pay for.

-- Kurt Thearling

Cuboro, Standard set of 54 pieces
$213
Available from Oh! Toys

Also available from The Wooden Wagon

Manufactured by Cuboro

Learning effect and therapeutical use: Cuboro encourages imagination (three-dimensional thinking) and creativity. Assembling requires care and patience. Due to elements with several functions (on different levels or in different directions), two or more crossing courses can be developed. Playing and planning in a group can be very interesting. Individual elements can be selected from the boxes and specific tasks can be placed, depending on the learning stage.

Vanity postage. This pretty-easy-to-use website will generate official US postage stamps featuring a photo or illustration of your choosing (works well with iPhoto for instance). When the service was first introduced two years ago it was abused by clever pranksters -- my favorite hack was a Unabomber postage stamp. The Post Office shut the program down. The service is available again but I don't know what the actual image limits are (vs. their stated policy). We made some silly faces and they made stamps from them. I've seen them used for wedding/party invitations. You can also put business logos on them, or other non-political messages. The cost is more than twice that of regular stamps (less if you buy them in bulk). A 20-stamp sheet of these makes a nice personal, utilitarian gift.

-- KK

Photostamps
20 stamps, 39 cents
$18
Available from Stamps.com

Two other sites offer a similar service for the same price. They offer mild design differences in the bar coded postage area.
PictureItPostage
Zazzle (integrates nicely with Flickr)

For Canadian Postage:
Canada Post Picture Postage

All three of the following English-speaking countries offer a photo stamp on a sheet next to a postage stamp:
For U.K. Postage:
Royal Mail Smilers
For Australian Postage:
Australia Post Personalised Stamps
For New Zealand Postage:
New Zealand Personalised Stamps

This cool flashlight doesn't need batteries and will charge itself -- and cell phones -- with a quick hand crank. One minute of windup gives 30 minutes of light. Most other windup emergency products I have seen have are bulky radios with a little beam for lighting. This product combines three high powered LEDs with a radio that has a rather loud speaker. This is also the only hand crank flashlight/radio I am aware of that has a built-in adapter outlet to charge cell phones. Combine that with a really sleek looking design, and you have a great flashlight.

Whenever the local power goes out, this is the product I want to have around. It allows me to communicate with people by charging my cell phone and it allows me to hear news from the radio.

-- Mike King

Electrilite Flashlight
$24
Available from Cool Stuff Cheap

Manufactured by Electrilite

Like many people, I've received a Kanchenchunga-sized pile of nylon conference give-away bags over the years. All very ho-hum. But after a recent conference I came home with a BBP bag. I was using an old Tumi bag, which I liked, but it was falling apart. This BBP bag turned up in the nick of time.

BBP makes a range of messenger-style briefcases. Their initials stand for "bum back packs" --- bags for people with bad backs, and they hang near your bum. They're thoughtfully designed, rugged, waterproof (ballistic nylon with rubberized interior), can be carried in a variety of ways (single shoulder, double shoulder like a backpack, slipped over the roll-aboard handle). Your laptop fits into a top-loading, well-padded, velour-lined outer pouch with a waterproof zipper, so the thing is super-accessible at airports and very well protected.

It's a better bag. And at $85 it costs about a third of the price of most of the Tumi bags (the Tumi nylon brief cases list for about $400 now, and $500-600 in leather). Actually, I kept the old shoulder strap from the Tumi, which has a leather ergonomic pad that has morphed to fit my shoulder. It works fine on the BBP. It is even better and cheaper than the popular Timbuk2 bags. To get your laptop out of the Timbuk2, you have to open the bag (two clips), then open the inner pouch (velcro). To get your laptop out of the BBP, you just unzip the shiny black waterproof zipper on the top of the outer padded compartment. And the Timbuk2 costs $115 (and more if you get little optional thingies, which you don't need on the $85 BBP as it has several extra pouches).

The medium size BBP holds my Apple 15" PowerBook G4 perfectly in the outside padded sleeve. In the rest of the bag I slide two batteries (there's a pouch just for those), power supply, dongle, a bit of USB stuff (like an indispensable 6" Treo HotSync/Charging cable, and my pen-sized radio remote controller), a power adapter, some paperwork, three books (quaint, but they're not available electronically), an iPod, cell phone, camera, wallet, keys, and bits and sundry pieces (my moleskine notebook, a couple pens, business cards, the usual). It's actually hard to make the pile much smaller. It all fits into the medium BBP.

-- Michael Hawley

BBP Hybrid Messenger/Backpack Laptop Bag
$95
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by BBP Bags

One way to carry it.

I've spied this book in the cluttered workshops of many amateur craftsmen, and it is frequently nominated as the best all-around introduction to light metal work. If you take an entry class in jewelry, this is often the manual. (Complete in this case does not include welding or blacksmithing; this guide is best for metal projects smaller than a bowl.). The reason I like this manual is that it is quick, succinct, clear, and dense -- sort of like metal itself. The author assumes you wield a certain level of handiness, and that you can kind of figure out things yourself if you get a general sketch of what needs to be done. It shows you with simple drawings (no fancy photos here) things you might want to do with small bits of metal -- different methods of shaping it, different textures or patinas to coat it with, ways to cast it in molds, how to set stones in it, what metals to even use. In other words, it's a quick tour of metal work possibilities. It also lays flat on the table with its thoughtful metal spiral binding. Be sure to get the revised edition.

-- KK

The Complete Metalsmith
Tim McCreight
1991, 208 pages
$11
Available from Amazon

Sample excerpts:

Drawing Wire
This simple tool will allow a craftsman to create the thickness and cross section of a wire as it is needed. It is an example of a tool whose shape and function has no changed since its invention 500 years ago.

Gold Solder
Gold may be joined with silver solder but to achieve a color match a gold-based alloy is usually used. Gold solders are available in many colors and melting points. When buying solder, specify the metal you are joining. 14 karat yellow solder refers, not to the quality of the alloy, but means it is used on 14K gold. In fact, solder will be a karat or two lower than the metal it will join. Any gold of a lower karat can be used as a solder. 10K will be a solder for 14K; 14K will solder 18K, etc.

I've had my OneSuite phone account for a few years and I use it to call friends in China (2.2 cents a minute) and Europe, quite conveniently. Onesuite is a prepaid "phone card" without the card. You get a PIN based on your phone number so it's easy to remember. You add funds to your account via the website. I like the feature that allows you to add "frequently called from" phone numbers to your account so you don't have to enter your PIN when calling.

There are several advantages OneSuite has over Internet calling systems such as Skype. With OneSuite you can use a regular phone, including a payphone -- you don't have to be connected to a computer. In all the times I've used OneSuite I've never experienced the distracting delays during the conversation which I have experienced with Skype and some other calling services (where you don't hear the what the other person says until 1-2 seconds after they've said it. OneSuite claims it does not use Internet telephony so I guess that's why.

Just as important, some, though not all, of OneSuite rates are often cheaper. I haven't checked all of them but the two I looked at -- China-Beijing and India-Hyderabad -- are cheaper with OneSuite. Italy is cheaper to mobile phones but slightly more to land lines.

There's no per-call surcharge and the per-minute rates are generally quite low. Your account "expires" after six months of non-use (where use includes adding funds). But you actually don't lose your funds when it expires--you just need to add $10 and you'll have your previous funds reactivated. (There's no excuse to let it expire, though, as you can make domestic long-distance calls with the service too--2.5 cents/minute.)

It's best calling from the U.S. to other countries, but they're starting to add additional countries you can call from. They also offer voicemail and other services which I haven't tried, but just the long-distance service is worth it for me. Basically, the prices are comparable and often cheaper than Skype, and you don't have the worry about the reliability of Internet telephony (and don't need a computer on the calling end).

-- Maria Blees

OneSuite

This tool is nothing more than a short fiber optic wire attached to a rubber hood, which goes on the end of a Maglite or equivalent. It completely gets rid of the problem of aiming a flashlight beam into a small hole. Just insert the end of the adapter and voila, the inside is lit up and you don't have to contend with all the glare from the light hitting the edges of the hole. Comes in 7" and 20" versions.

It's simple, inexpensive, and essential.

-- Mike Ginou

Nite Ize Fiber Optic Flashlight Adapter
20 inches
$10
Available from X-Treme Geek

Or Amazon for $13

For the straight dope on cooking ingredients, this is your one-stop compendium. Aimed at global foodies, it explains the differences between similar ingredients, and how they are used in cooking. Unravel your various pastas, cheese types, strange fruits and confusing meat parts. Over 1,500 ingredients are covered, so you get only a brief paragraph or two on each, plus a picture. The only source that comes close to the comprehensive range of this fat, affordable book is Wikipedia, but it lacks this tome's wonderfully informative photographs. Food likes to be seen. I use this book for both browsing and searching. (It's out of print, but you can get remaindered copies pretty cheap. The same information is sold in a larger format and much more expensive edition entitled The World Encyclopedia of Cooking Ingredients, but it is not worth it.)

-- KK

Cooking Ingredients
Christine Ingram
2002, 512 pages
$12
Available from Amazon

Sample excerpts:

Calf's and lamb's sweetbreads

There's no disguising the main constituent of this paste. The moment you unwrap it or lift the lid, the smell of rotten fish is quite overwhelming. Do not let this put you off, however. The odour vanishes when the paste is cooked, and this is one of those ingredients that really does made a difference to the food, adding depth, pungency and a recognizable South-east Asian signature. it should be used sparingly - a piece about 1-2 cm/1/2-3/4 in long is sufficient for most dishes.

Although it has been online for years, I only recently discovered this incredibly handy resource. Use this simple website to to find substitutes for cooking ingredients. Say a recipe calls for buckwheat flour, which you most likely don't have on hand; what do you use? Type in the term and presto, the links take you to an entry which will suggest alternatives. I also find the site helpful in quickly introducing myself to new ingredients. While not exhaustive, it lists about 90% of the ingredients you'll probably encounter, including many exotics, usually with a helpful photo and a short summary of its origin. (For the best on ingredients see below). This thesaurus of ingredients is fast, simple, and just right.

-- KK

The Cook's Thesaurus

Sample entries:

Pigeon Pea = goongoo pea = gunga pea = gungo pea = congo pea = congo bean = no-eyed peas = gandules Shopping hints: These are usually sold dried, but fresh, frozen, and canned peas also are available. They have a strong flavor, and they're popular in the South and in the Caribbean. Substitutes: yellow-eyed peas OR black-eyed peas

*

Jocoque = labin Notes: This is a Mexican product that's halfway between buttermilk and sour cream. Substitutes: salted buttermilk OR sour cream OR yogurt OR crema

Sharpie markers are well-known for being indelible, particularly on plastic, glass and metal surfaces. Folks in labs, movie sets, and hospitals who need to mark things permanently use Sharpies. If the ink goes on, it won't come off. What's special here is that the other tip of these pens is an ultra- fine point Sharpie, fine enough to write like a ball-point pen - but permanently -- when you need to. The "industrial" version of Sharpie ink will even resist chemicals and scrubbing. Since more writing surfaces seem to be plastic-like, I find we use Sharpies all the time now.

-- KK

Sharpie Twin-Tip Permanent Marker
$1.50
Available from Amazon

Following behind the juggernaut of high-tech industry is a trail of odd bits and stray leftovers. This surplus is a tinkerer's delight. One legendary source of cheap parts, weird stuff, cheap knockoffs, and plain junk is American Science & Surplus. They sell "closeouts, inventory overruns, mis-manufactures, and items whose time has not come. When a surplus item is gone, it is gone." It's the ultimate hacker's mail-order junk store.

They don't take themselves too seriously, either, often belittling the scrap they are selling. The items are illustrated with crude sketches on yellow newsprint paper in their crowded 95-page paper catalog. It's a cornucopia of irresistible bargains. Science fair motors! Chemistry kits! Craft tools. I dare you to open it without finding something you have to have. (AS&S's rustic tone is part of their "crazy cheap" schtick. On their website, in addition to the doodles you can also click to see a photo of an item as well.) While funny, their descriptions are always honest, and the stuff delivered will be entirely useable. More so than most catalogs, the bulk of the items listed are inspirational: " Oh, I could do that!" Prices are, as they say, incredible.

If you "make different," click here.

-- KK

American Science & Surplus

Samples from the catalog:

Got A Horse Of A Different Color?
Recycle old crayons. Now you can finally color him, with custom colors from the Crayola� Crayon Maker. You get the machine and (24) mix-and-match colors. (You've already got that whole box of broken crayons and leftover nubs the kids keep digging through!) Just start melting and molding completely new crayons. There are even (18) sheets of labels included, in which to wrap the new ones. The Crayon Maker measures 9-5/8" tall x 7-3/8" wide x 9-5/8" deep, with a 6-foot power cord and a power switch. It uses a 60W candelabra bulb (not included). It turns off automatically if it's tipped, and the lid locks until the crayons are cool, but it's still for ages 8+ only. UL.
37331
CRAYOLA® CRAYON MAKER
$9.75 / EACH

Chinex?
Rejoice, we have finally found a source of reasonably priced borosilicate lab glassware. This is the kind of glass in the trade marked Pyrex(tm) and Kimax(tm) labware. The stuff you can put right over the flame of the Bunsen burner, or directly onto the hot plate. This stuff is imported from China, and is considered student grade, which is good enough for anything but the most exotic applications. We have beakers, test tubes, graduated cylinders and flasks. Compare the prices below and you will see that they are around half the U.S. equivalent. Call us for larger quantity prices.
88984 BEAKER, 50ML $1.95/EACH
88985 BEAKER, 250ML $2.95/EACH
88986 BEAKER, 600ML $4.50/EACH

Better Grade Dental Tools
A variety of shapes and ugliness, but unbroken tips. Some single ended, some double.. Super for all manner of hobbyism, save do-it-yourself-dentistry. Excellent price in today's weakened dollar market. All stainless steel.
4358
DENTAL TOOLS
$3.75/PKG(3)

A working reverse dictionary (hosted by Onelook.com) is one of the most useful sites out there. We've all had those moments when we know there's a word for some concept, but we don't know what it is. We need something more than a thesaurus, because we don't know an equivalent word. Onelook.com's reverse dictionary helps. You can even enter wildcards, if you know what part of the word looks like.

I'm not a professional writer, but I write for fun. This tool is indispensable.

-- Kimball Robinson

OneLook Reverse Dictionary

I am an amateur digital photographer. I have a full size tripod, but rarely used it. It was too big and bulky to take on hikes along with my 2-year-old daughter and all her stuff. I ordered the Joby Gorillapod. This tripod has legs that can be strongly wrapped around poles, branches, or ledges, and can fit in a small pouch or a large pants pocket. I liked that I had a environmentally friendly packaging free option. When it arrived I was surprised at its lightweight and small size. But surprisingly, it is amazing. Both my camera and DVR stay upright and stable on most any surface.

-- Karl [Also recommended/reviewed by Fred Sobotka and Jeremy J.]

Joby Gorillapod
$20
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Joby

This year the father of micro-finance and founder of the Grameen Bank won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in inventing and promoting micro-loans in the developing world. A micro-loan is as little as a few hundred dollars invested into a one-person business with minimal qualifications. That tiny borrowed amount can launch a vegetable stand, repair shop, or bicycle taxi -- a living in other words. As each micro-loan is repaid (and most are), the effects of that small goodness are amplified and leveraged by being loaned out and invested again and again. Micro-loans are the world's only perpetual motion machines.

Previously I've recommended the micro-finance cool tools of Trickle Up, Opportunity International, and my favorite, Heifer International, as three ways to leverage small amounts of money for maximum global good. (Micro-finance programs are not a panacea. For a critique start with this article in Forbes.)

The news now is that it is there are many other outfits that offer individuals (like us) ways to leverage as little as fifty dollars via micro-finance programs online. Unleashing compounding good is only a few clicks away. Make a loan, or outright grant, using your credit card, or even PayPal.

Grameen Foundation
Inspried by the original Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Minimum contribution, $100. One of their projects is Village Phone -- cell phones that women buy on loans and then can rent to others for income. "The Village Phone program in Uganda, the first of GF's efforts to replicate the pay phone program outside Bangladesh, continued exceeding expectations in 2005. More than 3,500 microfinance clients have bought and now operate a Village Phone as "Village Phone operators." Besides the boost to operators' incomes, the program is creating a national telecommunications network. Of Uganda's 56 districts, 53 now have at least one Village Phone operator. Often, Village Phone is the first local telephone that villagers have. Having a quick means to communicate has contributed to higher levels of productivity, savings, and safety for entire communities."
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/get_involved/

Namaste Direct
This is one of the most direct person-to-person micro-lending programs. When you give to Namaste Direct, you are informed of the person who receives your loan, how they used the money, and their progress. ND can also arrange a visit to the lendee -- this will turn your loan into a life-changing experience for you as well. But because of this directness the giving area is limited -- currently to Mexico and Guatemala. No minimum contribution.
http://namaste-direct.org/

FINCA Village Banking
FINCA makes loans directly to the poorest villages. They aim their lending to 10-50 neighbors who come together to form a village banking group, and who in turn decide who should get what and how much. FINCA specializes in small loan amounts ($50-$500) for the very poorest. The minimum contribution to their program is $50. While a few hundred dollars is powerful, with only $5,000 you can start a whole village bank for micro-loans, thereby compounding the power of micro-finance to an entire small community.
http://www.villagebanking.org/donate-vbsponsor.htm

Unitus
Minimum contribution, $100. Since they accept PayPal, I found this program really easy to contribute to. (Get with it, others!) Unitus, like Accion below, funds other local micro-finance programs, rather than direct loans to individuals. "Unitus seeks to identify highest-potential emerging MFIs (Micro-Finance Institutions) and help them to achieve exponential growth."
http://www.unitus.com/sections/involved/involved_cu_main.asp

Accion
Accion is an umbrella institution providing technical assistant to local micro-lending institutions. Minimum contribution, $50."ACCION is leading the effort to make micro-lending financially self-sustaining. Micro-lending programs have the potential to cover their own costs. The interest each borrower pays helps to finance the cost of lending to another. In most poverty alleviation efforts, every person helped brings the program closer to its financial limits. Successful micro-lending programs, on the other hand, generate more resources with each individual they help. As a result, well-managed micro-lending programs generate more income than they spend. Once they become economically viable financial institutions, they have the ability to access a virtually unlimited source of lending capital - the billions of dollars invested in the world's financial markets. Several of ACCION's partners have already made the transition from nonprofit, charity-dependent organizations to banks or other regulated financial institutions."
https://www.accion.org/involve_make_a_donation_form.asp

My suspicion is that over time the inherent self-sustaining qualities of micro-lending will mean it won't need charitable support to keep expanding. But the idea is still in its infancy; billions of people are still out of its reach. That means that every dollar given today will not only cascade its blessings on many others, but funding micro-lending now will also greatly accelerate the time when anyone in the world will have access to a small loan.

God bless us all, everyone.

-- KK

Nintendo Wii
(But will you be able to order this game?)
$570
Available from Amazon

Garmin Street Pilot C340
(Real men use real he-man navigational systems)
$225
Available from Amazon

Sony Portable Reader
(Real electronic ink book thingie for e-books)
$225
Available from Amazon
Or $300 from J&R

Is there anybody who doesn't absolutely hate the daily ritual of face (or leg) scraping? Whoever invented this idea in the first place, anyway? I'm not going to tell you that this tool makes shaving a pleasure, but it sure takes away a lot of the misery.

Total Shaving Solution comes in a small, unremarkable container that belies its efficiency and beauty. It is made of completely natural components and, when used properly, makes shaving easy, fast and nick-free. I've been using it for more than ten years and have turned on all of my friends (and more than one girlfriend) to its wonder.

Just put 3-4 drops - no kidding... that's all it takes - into the palm of your hand and rub over your face. Wet generously with water throughout the shaving process and you'll find that the razor literally glides over your skin. Plus, because it's clear, you can actually see what you're shaving instead of needing X-ray vision to see (or guess) what's under the normal shaving foam. Nicks and cuts are gone until that occasional moment when I get carried away with the speed (it'll happen to you, too) that you can shave with a race around a bump or cheekbone a little too fast.

One 1.25-ounce bottle lasts for months of shaving. It's perfect for travel, too, because it's so small. Cost is $15 for the bottle and the company even offers a free sample from their site to turn your friends onto it, too.

Great stuff and a great stocking stuffer - it's a life-changing experience.

(You can get a free sample for $2 shipping.)

-- Scott Goldman

Total Shaving Solution
$15
Available from the All About Shaving

I've spent years looking for a clock radio alarm that I wouldn't hate, either because of poor design, lousy tuning, awful audio, or too much wood-grain. I finally found it in the Boston Acoustics Recepter Alarm Radio. This beauty is exquisite. Great sound. Every control is perfectly intuitive: knob-twist digital tuning and clock setting with built-in acceleration. The thing I like about the alarm-off button on this radio is that it's all by itself, right above the best-tuning-knob-ever. (Whether in a car or an aircraft, nothing beats a twist-knob digital tuner....) I've never had a problem threading my fingers through the various water bottles and night-table crap to stab the button, first try. It's even made with a tacitly pleasant more-rubbery plastic for good finger traction. The snooze button is an example of what makes the device so sweet. It's just the right size, well proportioned without being a Huge Snooze Bar. And get this: you tap it once and you have ten minutes of snooze. Tapping it again within three seconds adds five minutes. Each successive tap adds five minutes up to a total of 60. Then, once it's in snooze mode, it becomes a count-down timer! Hit the button and you see how much time you have left!

It is a gorgeous utility package. Ever buy something you like so much you want to buy another, and then another? I like waking up in the morning just to look at this little clock. Picks up NPR from the fringes too and the audio quality is shockingly good for its small size. There's nothing I would change about this little appliance.

-- Tom Parker

Boston Acoustics Recepter Alarm Radio
$150
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Boston Acoustics

Remember that greeting card company and famous-in-the-late-90s website Blue Mountain Arts? Well the extremely talented and philanthropic founders have started a learning-to-read website, totally free, called Starfall.com. My daughters, ages 6 and 7, have literally gotten more educational value out of this than their schools. And now their schools are using it in their classes once a week! Super site, makes the most out of flash and audio on a broadband connection, and really a treasure for young kids (aimed at first graders and below) who want to get going with reading (at no cost).

-- Jeff Blackburn

Starfall.com

I love works that are renewed and improved. Carl Franz and Lorena Havens have been exploring the hinterlands of Mexico and reporting back their travel suggestions in amusing detail since their first edition of this book in 1972. For four decades this venerable guidebook has been the best manual for visiting Mexico, getting better with each edition. It has just been released in its 13th. Franz and Havens are not going to be much help in keeping you up to date with the best hotel in the usual tourist destinations (your standard Lonely Planet-ish guide will handle that). Where The People's Guide transcends the usual guidebook is in its devotion to the blue highways and backlands, the off beat places and indigenous living.

This guide is best for those driving around Mexico in a vehicle, camping in its many parks, exploring its meandering dirt roads, hanging out on undeveloped beaches, sampling native foods and immersing yourself into the culture of our neighbor as much as possible. It's chock full of all the advice you'd expect from a couple who have been noodling around Mexico every year for thirty five years: how to live off the land, keep on the right side of the law, shop for strange and exotic foods, survive, educate yourself in local customs, and remain healthy and sane. It's a fat 600-page book with lots of great stories, and endless good counsel. (They run a supplementary website for updated tips.)

A lot of this lore is universal travel wisdom (the less money you spend the more fun you have). In fact The People's Guide to Mexico is one of the best travel guides I've ever seen to anywhere in the world. You could easily transfer many of their tips to traveling in Asia or Africa, and the rest of Latin America. But the bulk of it is very particular to Mexico. Every page yields golden nuggets of fine advice for every part of a very large Mexico. I find myself reading whole chapters for the pure enjoyment of being in the presence of great, gifted guides teaching me useful stuff I didn't know.

The Mexico/US borders is one the most abrupt borders in the world. There's almost no where else on earth where you can travel so far in so few miles as crossing this imaginary line. This trip has the additional benefit of being guided by this amazing encyclopedia of practical tips and insights. You'd be a fool not to take it with you.

It's the operating manual for people in Mexico.

-- KK

The People's Guide to Mexico
13th edition
Carl Franz, Lorena Havens
2002, 600 pages
$16
Available from Amazon

People's Guide to Mexico website

Sample excerpts:

*

Though it is effective, I'm no fan of bismuth's cloying pink taste and I don't like to pour it repeatedly into my stomach. I now take about half of an adults dosage (one tablespoon 3-4 times a day). I start my bismuth program a few days before leaving home and continue taking it once or twice a day for about a week. If my stomach shows no sign of rebellion in that time, I go to "standby" and keep the bismuth close at hand in the event of sudden turmoil.

Architects love to build walking surfaces that are horrible to walk on when wet. I found the elegant and foolproof answer to that -- Shoes for Crews. This company has a shoe that I defy you to try to skid in when on slippery wet surfaces. They come in 50 or so styles for men and women, for work, play, casual and formal situations. The work models have steel toes. These darn shoes really work!

-- Don Bierey

Shoes For Crews Slip-Resistant Shoes
$30 and up
Available from Shoes for Crews

Scotch (3M) sells three varieties of ready-made double-backed tape for sticking together two flat surfaces. Their Double Stick Tape (model #137) does what a self-connecting loop of ordinary tape does, but more tidily and sure. Their Double-Coated Tape (model #667) is similar but you can re-position the tape. For most uses - scrapbooks, posters, etc - I much prefer this kind. Their Photo Mounting Tape (Cat. 002) is double-side, not positionable, but acid-free. This is what you want to use for archival stuff.

--KK

Double Stick Tape
$2
Available from Amazon

Double-Coated Tape
$4
Available from Amazon

Scotch Photo and Document Double Stick Tape
$7
Available from Art City

This rapid Strep A Test is great tool for families with kids who get frequent sore throats. It helps you determine whether a throat infection is caused by strep (which requires treatment) or a virus (which does not). You swab the back of the child's throat with the included applicator, add a reagent, and watch for the color change. A kit of 25 tests costs about $90, which works out to about $3.50 per test. That's a whole lot is much cheaper than an unneeded doctor's visit. But since you may only use a couple tests a year, consider a cooperative buy with other families.

-- Dr. Tom Ferguson

QuickVue Strep A Test
$90 for 25 kits
Available from MedCo School First Aid

[I have not used either of these kits below, but they offer a similar test for less than half the price. -- KK]

25 for $39
Available from Mecial Disposables

25 for $35
Available from CLIA Waived

Here's a question I don't get asked every day. A friend of mine is an executive assistant for a guy who runs an investment firm.

She says, "Every year, my boss has me buy a Christmas present for each of his employees in this one investment group. Last year I got them all high end iPod Nanos which had just come out and were quite difficult to get. But there doesn't seem to be one standout techie type gift for this year. My husband says it's the Playstation 3s but I am on all kinds of wait lists. Do you have any other suggestions? We mostly prefer to give each of them the same thing. The employees are: Male, average age 25. Unmarried. Very ambitious, hard working. Travel a lot. Kind of cool, trendy guys who like gadgets. Price range is between $200 to $450; that range would be preferable though we're not too sensitive on this point and can go higher for a cool gift. Any suggestions?"

OK, did you get that? Not too sensitive on the price point! So I asked a few friends of mine if they had any recommendations to ease my assistant friend out of her dilemma. Their suggestions follow below.

And BTW, what would YOU like for your ultimate gift this year? Let's not be cheap. It just has to be COOL.

-- KK

Lego Mindstorms NXT Robotics System
(For big little boys)
$250
Available from Amazon

Nixie Tube Clock Kit
(Get the 6-tube version, so you can see the seconds flick along)
$150
Available from TubeClock

Titanium Brompton Folding Bike
(Throw it in your trunk, take it on the train, store it in your closet.)
$1,520
Available from NyceWheels

Buffalo Terastation
$610
(One whole omygod terabyte of fail-safe RAID storage for your digital EVERYTHING!)
Available from TechOnWeb

The Dragon Flyer V Ti with EyeCam and Thermal Stabilization
(It's the only RC chopper that any idiot can fly)
$850
Available from DraganFly Innovations

Butterfly Livingroom Flyer
(Tiniest, slow flying RC airplane for flying in your living room)
$240
Available from PlantracoHobbies

Sony Cybershot DSC-T50 Digital Camera
(It's got 3x optical zoom, 7 megapixels and fits in your shirt pocket)
$485
Available from Amazon

It would be nice to have a place where you could inspect samples of new materials. There you could hold, bend, twist and study the latest plastics, fabrics, and construction materials as they come out of the lab. Second best would be a website/book that linked to sources and descriptions of new stuff. That's what this book and website do. Artists, inventors and makers will find it a fantastic source for information about new innovations in material science. Author Blaine Brownwell has collected, annotated and sourced as many imaginative, green, and unusual materials for sale as he could find. His collection includes metal fabrics, metal-coated plastics, paper concrete, wood-plastic hybrids, and so on. Two hundred new materials in all. You still have the problem of getting your hands on small samples, but having some photos, the specs, and the website of the manufacturer is a huge first step. (Brownwell co-edits Materials Monthly, a publication that sends out one sample per month, but the subscription price is dear at $200/year.)

-- KK

Transmaterial
Edited by Blaine Brownell
2005, 224 pages
$20
Available from Amazon

Transmaterial website

Sample excerpts:

Photo-Cast Tiles
Photographic bas-relief ceramic tiles
     Mineral, Interfacial product
     No. 093013-001

Contents: Zinc and zinc alloys
Applications: Cushioning, thermal isolation, shock absorption
Types/sizes: 59 x 55" (150 x 140 cm) maximum plate size, 3D shapes
Environmental: High strength-to-weight ratio
Limitations: Thermally unstable above 392 F (200 C)
Contact: Fraunhofer Institute
     Reichenhainer Strasse 88
     Chemnitz, 09126
     Germany
     Tel: +0049-371-5397-456
     www.iwu.fhg.de/schaumzentrum/english

I have fallen in love with Duluth's Twill Presentation Jacket. The catalog picture above doesn't do it justice. It is just dressy enough to work for business meetings, but enormously versatile to wear for just knocking around. In the last month, I have worn it everywhere from going to the movies to staying two days in a swanky hotel in Morocco for business meetings, hiked part way up an 11,000 ft mountain, and slept on a long flight. As this implies, it is a dreamy traveler's jacket -- never looks wrinkled (it is treated to resist wrinkles and stains), is tremendously comfortable, and has 13 pockets including zip-up pockets inside the outer patch pockets. Enough space to fit a moleskine in an outer pocket, a cell phone inside, a wallet safely zipped-in, some pens -- and suddenly I don't have to carry a backpack when I am going out for a quick meeting. And credit where credit is due: I first spotted this jacket on Tim O'Reilly, and promptly copied him, though in a different color. (I recommend the khaki color.) Although the jacket comes in other fabrics (canvas and denim), I think the twill is far and away the most versatile.

-- Paul Saffo

Duluth's Twill Presentation Jacket
$120
(size: regular)
Available from Duluth Trading