A Mason Pearson is like the hairbrush analogue of baby shampoo: it takes good care of the hair, without tears. Our 10 year-old's hair has never been cut, so it reaches almost to her knees; but with an MP, brushing her hair before school isn't a big deal. The brushes are very effective at getting snarls out gradually and they don't hurt the scalp. The ones we use have two kinds of bristles: mostly boar bristles, which are the same hardness as hair, so they don't scratch or cut the hair; and there are some soft, molded nylon bristles that are much gentler than the extruded/cut plastic bristles in typical brushes. Only the nylon bristles touch the scalp, as they are a little longer. All of the bristles are slender and mounted in a flexible rubber mat, which also adds to the softness of the brush.

-- Don Davis

Mason Pearson Hairbrushes
$80
(Pocket)
Available from Amazon

$126
(Junior)
Available from Amazon

Other types/sizes are also available via Amazon

Manufactured by Mason Pearson

The intersection between deer and humans is tangled with emotion and economics in the US. Though it was published a decade ago, this exhaustive look at the ecology and history of that relationship is still the best primer on the subject I've found. When I spent two months researching and writing about the deer debacle in California's Point Reyes National Seashore (there are controversial plans to eradicate white fallow deer), Nelson's insight was priceless, especially to a neophyte. A cultural anthropologist and hunter, Nelson looks at deer management mishaps, from contraception on New York's Fire Island to predator introduction on Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. His own hunting ethos echoes the mindful conservation of the Alaskan Koyukon people, with whom he traveled for several years: from tongue to testicles, he wastes nothing. The book opens with an unarmed Nelson stalking a doe on a remote Alaskan island and closes with the author witnessing the birth of a fawn on the same island. Nelson visits sprawling game ranches in Texas Hill country where hunters can pick off deer from stands strategically placed by feeders. He joins a group of anti-hunting activists in the Wisconsin woods as they sabotage those in camouflage on opening weekend, when some 650,000 hunters fan out in the forest hoping to bring home fresh venison. And along the way, Nelson continues to drop great historical tidbits: the etymology of American slang "buck" for the paper currency is a legacy of the rise of market hunting in the 1830s when an entire deer carcass would sell for about a dollar. Whether you're a hunter or someone who enjoys theories of wilderness and writing in the spirit of John McPhee, this book will no doubt change how you feel the next time you spot a deer.

-- Zachary Slobig

Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America
Richard Nelson
1998, 416 pages
$21
Available from Amazon

These are carry-all-the-time tweezers -- they're tiny and they slide into a guard that keeps them flat. Also known as "Uncle Bill's Tweezers," they are carried by some US military personnel on dog-tags, but you'll probably keep them on your keyring or attached to a Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman. The tweezers were designed to be extremely precise -- they come to a precisely matching pair of points which make it easy to select even very small items and apply concentrated force. -- they come to a precisely matching pair of points which make it easy to select even very small items and apply concentrated force. Their springiness provides a push-back force which makes them easy to operate. I've been carrying them around with me for two years now and have pulled a couple splinters out of myself and one from my girlfriend. Each one was much easier than with conventional tweezers, even full-size tweezers. There's no sign of their losing their precise alignment or the springiness that makes them easy to operate.

-- Jonathan Coupe

Field Tweezers
$6
Available from County Comm

Or $8* from the manufacturer A.G. Russell

[*Shipping isn't cheap ($6.95); however, like the Solar BoGoLight, the manufacturer claims your purchase will be paid forward: "For every pair sold, we will ship two pair to our troops." - sl]

Related items previously reviewed in Cool Tools:

Tweezerman

Adventure Medical Kits

Trix Tick Remover

I drink a lot of seltzer. So much that my fiancee says I couldn't survive without bubbles in my water. After trying a SodaClub home soda maker (picture above right) and realizing it would cost $70 to buy a special part for it, I found a really detailed resource for building my own, simple home carbonation system for under a $100 using a CO2 tank, regulator, hose and a carbonator cap (details below). It took ten minutes to build. I love having very good homemade soda on the cheap and not having to lug around seltzer bottles or worry about it going flat. With a scuba-like tank in the kitchen, guests always ask "What is that?!" and I really love demonstrating. When one friend of mine said he didn't like soda, I whipped him up a mango soda from this special puree of mango I had. He absolutely loved it! And a by-product of the cost of producing low cost seltzer water is that I can experiment with different flavored sodas. I mean some really wacky stuff, like lychee-tangerine or coconut-lucima. If I don't like it, or it tastes weird, I don't feel guilty about draining the entire liter or two-liter bottle.

My 20lb system makes over 1133 liters of carbonated water. In practice, efficiency is not perfect, with unavoidable losses in the hose and headspace. But at current prices of $20 per 20lb tank-fill, the cost to convert tap water to seltzer is under $0.02 cents per liter. A single fill of a 20lb tank charges over 500 bottles, which will keep you supplied for 1.5 years if you consume an average of one bottle daily. In terms of break even, assuming that you can find liter bottles of seltzer water for $0.99 per bottle, then it'll take roughly 100 bottles for the system to break even. I definitely drink a liter a day, so it only took about 3 months for me to break even -- not to mention all of the labor and space that it saves to lug in and store 8.3 dozen liter bottles of seltzer water.

I found a CO2 tank on eBay for about $30 bucks, including shipping. I use a dual gauge CO2 regulator; a single gauge one for CO2 output would work also, but I prefer the dual as it also tells you the amount of gas in the CO2 canister ($20 on eBay). You also need a hose (or "gas fitting tube"). To avoid the site's detailed instructions on how to fit the CO2 hose onto a 1-liter bottle of soda, I bought a special carbonator cap that lets you easily insert the hose ($11 from Northern Brewer). You can't refill a CO2 tank in NYC, as it violates several ordinances. However, you can exchange your empty tank for a full one for $20 at a local welding supply place; other spots include keg brewers and anywhere that refills fire extinguishers. (I got mine refilled at McKinney's Welding Supply Co. at 535 W 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019.)

The operating instructions are fairly straightforward. On a dual gauge tank there are two gauges and two valves, one for the main tank and one for the output. The valve between the CO2 tank and the regulator, I'll call the CO2 valve and the valve between the regulator and the carbonator cap, I'll call the output valve:

1) Fill up a one- or two-liter bottle.
2) Screw on the carbonator cap fairly tight (it's a ball release
cap, so you simply push the entire cap to release it from the hose afterwards)
3) Make sure the Output valve is completely shut off
4) Turn on the CO2 valve and watch the CO2 tank gauge shoot up (this will be
the remaining pressure in your tank)
5) Slowly turn the Output valve open until the pressure reaches about 50 PSI
(I've been experimenting with various PSI's -- 50 PSI works best for me)
6) As you feel the bottle get full (don't worry, I read recently
that two-liter soda bottles are rated to handle 200 PSI), pick it up and start
shaking vigorously as you would a bar drink (this helps carbonate the water).
7) Turn off the CO2 valve and then the Output valve
8) Remove the carbonator cap

Incidentally, it was a SodaClub home soda maker I bought on eBay that inspired me ultimately to build my own home carbonation unit. The SodaClub unit has a proprietary design whereby it is nearly impossible to refill without a special adapter and the adapters I found online cost $70 bucks (more than I paid for the SodaClub). So rather than spend $70 to fix an inherent problem with the SodaClub (and I would still need a 20lb canister sitting somewhere in my house), I did some research and found this site. For about $95 bucks -- less than the cost of a new SodaClub (they retail new for about $100) -- I have more than 10 times the soda making capacity (SodaClub claims you can get 110 liters of soda). I should add that I've seen plans on eBay for $5 or $10 bucks for how to construct your own soda fountain gun that spurts out bubbly water on demand. With mine, the end result is the same, but the carbonator unit I built is so much simpler and cheaper and it doesn't require a heat sink or a refrigeration unit.

-- Alastair Ong

Home Carbonation System
Info available from Richard J. Kinch

Soda Supplies & Parts
$5+ (extracts)
$11 (carbonator cap)
Available from Northern Brewer

--
Related items previously reviewed in Cool Tools:

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing

ProMash

Thermos Beverage Bottle Insulator

This handheld tool allows miter cuts from 45 to 135 degrees of small pieces of wood, plastic, rubber, and even metal. As a miniaturist and model maker, this tool has been invaluable for cutting one or a myriad of small parts at various angles and sizes -- to change the angle you slide a self-indexing metal guide that runs perpendicular to the blade. I design and build furniture, accessories and sometimes houses of the 50s, 60s and 70s in 1:12, 1:16 and 1:24 scales. When I'm in the middle of a project, such as the architectural model I'm working on currently, I use the Easy Cutter fairly constantly -- a few hours at least a couple of days each month. I have been using my cutter about three years now and a friend has been using hers well over 5 years without any trouble. You can buy new blades for this tool, but neither of us has found the need, thus far. It's also worth mentioning I have some arthritis in my hands and many tools are simply too difficult for me to use. With one hand, I can easily clamp the Easy Cutter down enough to cut through three layers of laminated Popsicle sticks. Although profoundly solid (hardened steel, rubber coated handles, stainless blades), the Easy Cutter is virtually silent -- about the same noise as a pair of fingernail clippers, but without the annoying habit of flipping the cuttings through the air. Using it while talking or watching a film is completely unnoticeable.

I have also handed this tool to my young friends (no younger than 10) when they're helping create miniature worlds alongside me, and although the spread of the handle is not geared to small hands, they have nonetheless found the Easy Cutter quite usable. I must caution, however, that the blade is VERY sharp, and that this, as with any other cutting tool, is to be handled with respect for its damage capability and for oneself when using it. There is also a smaller version called The Super Easy Cutter, but I prefer to have too much power than too little when hand cutting through wood.

I don't know of another tool that addresses the need for an accurate, handheld mitre-cutter (from 45 degree up to 135 degree) at such an affordable price. Northwest Shortline, a cottage industry out of Seattle that's been in business for over 40 years, has a series of tools that ROCK! Their Chopper series of cutters is very accurate (they're primary focus is the model train crowd). However, their cutters can be twice as expensive as the Easy Cutter. Also their Chopper requires a flat, stable surface. I prefer to carry a tray of materials and tools to a comfy spot and just work until a natural stopping point presents itself. The Easy Cutter allows me to continue working while talking and sitting on the couch or just on the porch with friends.

-- April Canady

Easy Cutter Ultimate
$21
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Midwest Products Co., Inc.

Related items previously reviewed in Cool Tools:

SketchUp

Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Eames Design

Like most people I don't have a dedicated workshop, meaning my power tools share the garage with lots of things that aren't happy about sawdust wafting over them like the morning dew. The solution is a Shopvac, but it can be a real hassle remembering to turn it on/off as I turn on/off my table saw, hand sander, Ridgid Oscillating Belt & Spindle Sander, etc. I've been woodworking at home for perhaps 18 years, and the best solution I've found is one of these little outlet boxes, which powers up multiple tools automatically.

You simply plug your main tool into the top outlets, then plug your vacuum or work light into one of the other two accessory outlets. Whenever you turn your tool on, it will automatically turn the other outlets on. When you turn your tool off, it waits a few seconds before turning the accessory outlets off, which is useful for clearing the line of dust, etc. I have two in my shop -- one for each Shop-Vac so I never have to reconnect power cords or vacuum hoses!

I've been using these switches for four years. They definitely save time. On a given woodworking project, I generally turn machines on and off every few minutes and move from machine to machine. Without this switch, you would spend an extra 3 seconds and 2 steps turning it on and another 3 seconds and 2 steps turning it off. Doesn't sound like much, but in reality those seconds and steps really start to add up, so you'd just end up leaving the vacuum on or using some other less effective dust collection (for example, an on-tool dust collection bag).

I had a discussion with someone about 9 or 10 years ago about how you could build one - and I actually found schematics for a load sensing relay that you could make one with. But for $20, this switch certainly beats trying to round up the components and DIY.

-- Yitah Wu

Craftsman Auto Switch
$20
Available from Sears

Manufactured by Craftsman

We make tapenades for the local farmers' markets and each contain the juice of half a lemon. Before getting this sturdy juicer, not only were my hands and wrists aching after a morning squeezing (literally by hand), but the lemon juice would get onto my fingers and, after a while, burn. With this juicer, I insert half a lemon and push down using my whole arm rather than squeezing the lemon with my fingers. It works great with half the effort. There's very little fatigue involved in using it. No juice is wasted by dripping onto the hands. And the juicer's small enough to tote around. One caveat is that smaller seeds can sometimes pass through the juice holes, so I find it's still necessary to squeeze the juice through a sieve.

-- Bruno Teersteeg

I'm sure some folks are partial to using the specific color-coated sizes, but we rely on the orange juicer for all of our citrus needs. If you're tackling a bucket of lemons at home you'll probably want a juicer that sits on the counter, but if you're doing a few on the fly or on-the-go, I highly recommend these enameled aluminum juicers. There are similar hand presses with soft grips that are made of stainless steel, but they can be twice as expensive. Ours is tough enough and besides, there's nothing like a bright orange tool to break up the monotony of the silverware drawer.

-- Steven Leckart

Citrus Squeezers
$15
(oranges)
Available from Amazon

$12
(lemons)
Available from Amazon

$11
(limes)
Available from Amazon

Big crowds are potential incarnate. They're exciting, frightening and transformative -- often simultaneously. This photo-driven book surveys an extensive range of events, happenings, densely-populated locales and visually-arresting traditions throughout the world, from the deeply spiritual to the culturally eccentric. Included are the Kumbh Mela in India, the Tomatina Festival in Spain and Nascar. The book also features interviews with figures like Muhammad Ali (re: the Olympics), developer Steve Wynn (re: Las Vegas) and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte (re: circus/street performance). If you're heading to Burning Man, this will get you in the mindset. If you're not heading to Burning Man, this could motivate you to turn out for 2008.

-- Steven Leckart

Spectacle
David Rockwell & Bruce Mau
2006, 256 pages
$33
Available from Amazon

[Disclosure: This book features an interview with Kevin Kelly, publisher of Cool Tools. He did not give me the book or suggest I cover it. -- sl]

Sample images:

Nascar

Brussels Flower Carpet

Running of the Bulls (Spain)

Kumbh Mela (India)

Ritual Bathing (India)

I love bass fishing, but often I am frustrated because I can't get the action I want on plastic worms and lures. Wiggle Rig gets the most outstanding lifelike wiggle on a lure that I have ever seen. It was designed as a dropshot rig with a twist. Below your hook and attached to the weight is a special elastic made with spectra fiber (making it much stronger than general elastic). Move your rod tip and the action of the "SpecTastic" (the green-blue strip below the lure in the photo above) creates a stretch and release motion that allows your bait to move much more fluidly and with a greater range of action than just fishing line would. Plastics become almost lifelike. After viewing the videos, I just had to give them a try. I will never fish without one again.

-- Doug Mainor

Wiggle Rig
$3+
(depends on kit + shipping)
Available from and manufactured by SpecTastic Tackle Company

I ride single-track trails on a mountain bike in the heart of Colorado's Rocky Mountains and during 20 years of riding I was unable to find a handlebar grip that alleviated numbness and pain in my palms -- until I tried the Ergon GP1 grip. Ergon grips differ from normal grips in that they have a contoured, rubber-coated platform under the outside portion of your palm. This platform provides support in such a way that pressure on the ulnar nerve is reduced or eliminated entirely. (I learned my hand numbness arose from pressure on the ulnar nerve in my palm while holding the handlebars.)

Installation is simple, requiring the use of a 4mm allen wrench. Fine-tuning the fit involves riding your bike for a few miles and then evaluating any pain or numbness. If necessary, loosen the bolts, slightly rotate the grips up or down, and retighten the bolts -- repeat until your pain or numbness disappears. In my case, rotating the rearmost portion of the grip down from horizontal did the trick. I understand people with carpal-tunnel issues typically rotate the grips upwards from horizontal to reduce the flex angle of their wrists.

Ergon grips are mounted on straight handlebars, such as those found on mountain bikes and some touring bikes, but NOT drop bars. They are available in models with or without bar ends and special short models that work with twist shifters, plus slightly smaller and lighter competition models.

Compared with standard rubber slide-on or "lock-on" grips the Ergon grips are more expensive and heavier. However, the price and weight difference for mine (70-100 grams more) pale next to the increased comfort and pleasure while riding. Since installing the grips, I've ridden 244 miles of expert mountain trails with a total 26,500' vertical gain, and experienced no pain and a huge reduction in my chronic numbness -- absolutely no numbness in my right hand and only very minor, infrequent numbness in my left. Everyone I have recommended these to has been pleased, including my chiropractor wife.

-- Graham Ullrich

Ergon Handlebar Grips
$35
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Ergon Bike Ergonomics

Lots of people on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) are using these kind of tents - including myself (I recently completed 560 miles). Many ultralight backpackers use a tarp instead of a tent and swear by it. That can be tricky to set up and doesn't keep all of the bugs off. The tarptent concept is based on the simplicity and lightness of a tarp, but made into a more traditional tent look. While Sierra Designs' one-person tent looks good, it weighs 2lbs 11oz. My Contrail tarptent is 24 oz. It's a single layer silnylon tent with a ground sheet and mesh all around the inside between the groundsheet and the tarp, top.

I use my trekking pole as the main upright. Set up took a while to figure out, but now I put it up and down in much less than 5 minutes. I can rig it for strong wind, too (it's designed to be storm rigged in need). It's great for the Sierras, but wouldn't be so suitable for wet climates. If you camp somewhere moist, like near a river, it can suffer from condensation. As such, I have learned to camp differently and now leave the door wide open all the time apart from the mosquito net. It hasn't rained much in the 2 months I have been hiking the PCT, but when it did, the tent was waterproof. You have to seal the seams yourself, but it is very easy to do so. The only modification I have done is to swap the standard 2 rear pegs for 9 in. ones, which work better especially in sand.

-- Carl Myhill

Tarptents
$170 - $255*
Available from Tarptent.com

[*Models are available with sewn-in floors or floorless; the latter is $30 cheaper and lighter -- sl]

BONUS TIP: Ultralight backpackers also frequently use a sheet of Tyvek as a groundsheet. This is the material used as a vapor barrier in house construction and as sails for boats. It is breathable and water-resistant. I could only buy lengths of 165 ft. in Home Depot, but you can often pick it up at construction sites. I use my Tyvek underneath my tent for added protection (which is redundant overkill really) or if I am cowboy camping just under the stars with no tent. I also have it handy in my pack and pull it out whenever I rest -- it's really nice to sit on and it keeps the ants off (a little). It is VERY lightweight and very tough. Some backpackers report theirs having lasted 3 years and going nice and soft in the washing machine. The only thing I have heard of that is lighter or stronger is spinnaker cloth, but that's expensive. Tyvek groundsheets are $12 via Tarptents. If you are going hiking and need a small piece of this stuff just call Henry at Tarptents -- he sent me a bit whilst I was on the trail - Carl Myhill

In art, literature, film and life, even the littlest image or reference can open a world of interpretation. This thick encyclopedia, with contributions from scholars in various disciplines, is an excellent guide to the major and more esoteric origins of seemingly everything -- from "abracadabra" to "Zodiac." There are a ton of spiritual, mythological and/or cultural tangents that hopscotch the globe and back in time. Whenever I pick it up, I learn something new. I find the animal and food-related facts particularly enlightening (ex; oranges, a fertility symbol, are given to young married couples in Vietnam; and in Ancient China a formal offer of marriage was accompanied by a gift of oranges to the girl). The book's title is somewhat misleading. It does not have illustrations -- it's all text. Some entries are a couple sentences, others stretch for a few pages. If you have plans to deconstruct the next season of Lost, you might find this one handy.

-- Steven Leckart

Dictionary of Symbols
Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant
1996 (current translation), 1184 pages
$15
Available from Amazon

Sample Excerpts:

otter
The otter, which rises to the surface of the water and then dives below it, posses lunar symbolism and from this derive the properties for which it is used in initiation. Otter-skin is used in initiation societies both among North American Indians and among Black Africans, especially the Bantu of Cameroon and Gabon… The shamans of the North American Ojibwa Indians keep their magic shells in an otter-skin bag. The messenger of the Great Spirit, who acts as intercessor between him and mankind, is supposed to have seen the wretched state of human weakness and disease and to have revealed the most sublime secrets to the otter and interfused its body with Migis (symbols of the Mide or members of the Midewiwin Medicine Lodge) so that the creature became immortal and could, by initiating humans, make them holy. All members of the Midewiwin carry otter-skin medicine bags. These are the bags which are aimed at the candidate at initiation ceremonies as if they were fire-arms and 'kill' him. They are then laid on his body until he is restored to life. After song and feasting the shamans present the new initiate with his own otter-skin bag. The otter is therefore an initiating spirit which kills and restores to life.

Buy one of these solar lights, and the company sends another to a developing country of your choice. I purchased two and asked for one to be sent to Iraq and another to Afghanistan. Aside from the feel-good proposition, the lights have a simple and effective design. There's only one switch (on/off) and one screw opens the battery chamber for the three rechargeable AA batteries, which are included. The six LEDs are bright enough to read by. I use one of mine about 30 minutes a night for bedside reading. There's even a hook to hang it over the bed. The package says you can get 4-5 hours of light on 8-10 hours of charging. Supposedly the batteries "last 750/1000 nights!" and the LEDs "last 20 years!" It's also "highly water and shock resistant," but I don't plan to test those claims. My favorite feature: you can charge a second set of AA batteries and switch batteries from one portable device to another.

--George Mokray

Solar BoGoLight
$25
Available from BoGoLight.com

Manufactured by SunNight Solar Company

The PocketDock is the Swiss Army Knife of iPod connectivity. A non-standard, compact cable and small dock with several AV connectivity options, it replaces a bag full of adaptors and cables and makes life easier, especially if you spend a lot of time traveling and staying in hotels. Mine lives in my laptop bag and goes with me on regular business trips to Australia, so I can plug my iPod into hotel stereos and even hotel TVs to watch video podcasts via S-Video. I've yet to come across a situation where I haven't been able to output satisfactorily. The key for me - aside from the fact it's significantly cheaper than Apple's AV Connection kit - is how the audio is line-out, rather than from the degraded headphone jack connection. The sound quality, therefore, is higher: I can barely hear the difference between AIFF tracks playing on my iPod through my Linn hi-fi at home and tracks being played via CD on my CD player.

-- Chris Hunter

PocketDock AV Cable
$30
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by SendStation

Whether you're a hiker, biker, backpacker, camper, naturalist or simply someone who's ever been caught in the rain, you'll treasure these classic all-weather notebooks. The cover is Polydura and the pages are made with a substrate, giving the paper a wax-y feel. The effect: water beads off them, meaning no pulpy mess and no bummer over any lost thoughts or data. They are not a new invention by any means. Back in the 1920s, they were developed for Pacific Northwest loggers. These days, the manufacturer makes both bound and spiral bound books in an impressive array of sizes and types (e.g birding!). I keep a pocket-size, 24-page, staple bound mini-book in the small pack I take cycling and hiking. In the event of a downpour, all my ah-ha moments are safe. If you plan to be in really harsh conditions and want to go the extra mile, you might try one of their all-weather pens. Note: I have not used them -- a pencil or standard ballpoint does the trick for me.

-- Steven Leckart

You can also buy waterproof paper for inkjet and laser printers. The laser prints are completely waterproof. The inkjet prints need to dry for about a day or so, and may still bleed a bit if immersed in water, or kept in close proximity to something wet for a prolonged period. Still, this is a useful way to make maps, forms, signs or any documents that will be outside exposed to the elements. As a bonus, the paper is also stronger and more tear-resistant, making it ideal for print-outs that you'll be using over and over (like maps).

-- Leszek Pawlowicz

Rite in the Rain Notebooks
$2
(Mini Notebook)
Available from Backpacking Light

$4+
Other sizes/types available from Amazon

Manufactured by J.L. Darling Corporation

Podcasts are audio programs you subscribe to. You can easily manage your subscriptions through iTunes, but finding great stuff that remains great over the long haul, month after month, is not easy. There's lots of single issue podcasts, but not many programs you'll want to hear on a regular basis.

For the past several years I've been actively auditing podcasts while in my car. I've tried all kinds of stuff -- one time talks, home-made riffs, occasional raves by brilliant geniuses, and regular fragments of broadcast material. I have two criteria: I want to be surprised, and I want to learn.

In the past 12 months I have settled my listening time on three regular podcasts, which I look forward to eagerly. I can heartily recommend all three. They share these characteristics: they are one-hour, weekly podcasts of non-fiction that begin as broadcasts on public radio. I know the whole point of podcasting is to let a million amateur voices bloom, but what can I say? Week after week, what I crave is well-crafted, compelling audible surprises that tell me something I didn't know. That is what you get with these free podcasts. One hour gives time to go deep, weekly gives room to experiment, but doesn't overwhelm the way daily does (I dropped Fresh Air because I couldn't keep up), and non-fiction keeps me learning.

One thing to keep in mind: podcasts are meant to be "subscribed to" as they are delivered, which means getting "back copies" or archived editions of formerly broadcast podcasts may not easy. You may have to either listen to them as streaming audio, or pay for a download.

In Our Time

This weekly broadcast from the BBC in London is a testimony to the benefits of intellectuals and professors. Every week the mumbling host Melvyn Bragg invites three English professors (usually from Oxford or Cambridge) to discuss the most obscure subject of their expertise. They are only too happy to talk about that thing they know more about than anyone. By forcing the eggheads to be succinct, or demanding they restate a concept until clear, In Our Time delivers an incredibly fascinating glimpse into an unknown world in sufficient detail to make the conversation memorable. Imagine a whole hour each on: The Speed of Light; Indian Mathematics; The Siege of Constantinople; Gravitational Waves; The Trial of Madame Bovary; Anaesthetics; Joan of Arc; Ockham's Razor. Those are some of the topics I've heard in recent months. I've learned that the more obscure the subject, the more revelatory detail, and the more it becomes fascinating.

Direct feed
iTunes feed

***

Radio Lab

It's hard to describe the innovative audio sensibility in a Radio Lab show. Sounds and speech are layered, cut, remixed, and spot-lighted in a way that could be very annoying, but isn't. Instead these experiments add subtlety, animation, and depth to otherwise talking voices. Each session of Radio Lab takes a broad subject like Placebos, or Forgetting, and explores the idea in sound and words non-linearly, with great intelligence, originality, and daring. They ask hard questions, and keep circling it until they come close to an answer. It's a lot of fun. They also do a wonderful job integrating their website material (links, bibliography, further research) into the hour. You can download past programs as mp3. Start with the Musical Languages show.

Direct feed
iTunes feed

***

This American Life

True stories about anything. Simply the best thing on radio. Possibly ever. Host Ira Glass has been pioneering the art of telling non-fiction stories for 10 years. He gives each voice time to stumble, pause, or lunge forward. But not a nanosecond is wasted. You hear what happened to people that makes their lives human. Every story on This American Life has an emotional narrative arc, and is often about transformation. Each story is told in an honest, original voice, and will make you cry or laugh. It is not uncommon for people to sit in their cars at their destination in order to hear the end of a story. That was the main drawback of This America Life: I wasn't usually in my car when it broadcast on the radio. Now with the podcast version I catch the three stories -- and their endings -- every week.

Direct feed
iTunes feed

-- KK

To bury posts you want straight narrow holes in the ground. Traditional post hole diggers tend to flare the hole at the top as the hole deepens because the handles must swing out further. This clever improved design from Fiskars crosses the handles so they don't swing out as far in the hole, yet they still bite as the hole gets deeper. The narrower the hole, the less dirt to remove, the less work. I found I could get a tight cylindrical hole almost one foot deeper with this tool. Also, this design prevents that dreaded knuckle-banger when the handles crash into each other on the closing stroke, which alone makes it worth using.

-- KK

Fiskars Post Hole Digger
$60
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Fiskars

This website/service can save you ten thousand dollars or more when you buy a house in certain cities. It is an online real estate broker that rebates 2/3rds of the usual agent sales commission back to you. Since you are probably doing most of the hard work in research, looking, and evaluation while shopping for a house anyway, why pay a real estate agent? On the other hand, there's a lot of paperwork, regulations, and legal issues you really don't want to handle, and a qualified agent should. So this is how Redfin works.

Redfin has a great online real estate website which we quickly found is one of the easier ones to use, with nice virtual walk thrus of each home, and good comparison data for the neighborhood. (The site is a joy to navigate, and we'd use it even if we did not get a rebate.) Then you, in the role of buyer and self-agent, do all the footwork of finding, visiting the various homes, checking out the disclosures, etc., and finally choosing which property you want. You are your own real estate agent up to this point. When you are ready to make on offer on a home, you do so online via Redfin, completing the necessary forms on the web. Then a human Redfin employee will take you through the final paperwork and signatures, and eventually visit the house with you. At the close of the deal they will rebate 2/3rds of their buyer agent commission paid by the seller, or 2% of the sale price, which in some areas of the country will mean at least ten thousand dollars.

We used this recently to purchase a home in the Bay Area and saved $15,000 this way. That is, after we closed the deal at the agreed-to price with the seller, Redfin gave us a check for $15K, in effect reducing our cost of the house by 2%. In our book that was enough to make the deal work.

The current drawback? This service is only available in a few cities in California, Washington, and a very few east coast cities. I have no experience in using Redfin in selling a house, although they claim you can save a similar amount.

-- KK

Redfin

All our other major devices have user manuals, so why not the web? It's the gadget we use the most these days. Mark Frauenfelder, an editor with me at Wired magazine and later founder of Boing Boing, has written the missing manual for the web. I thought I was pretty web savvy, but after reading Mark's book of tips (written in a FAQ format), I felt like a slack-jawed newbie. I didn't know anything, while Mark seems to know everything and to explain it brilliantly. I bow to him. I dog-eared a hundred pages of the book highlighting great tips for optimizing my web habits. Since I spend so much time online, this is a big deal. Unlike most nerds caught up in the treasures of the web, Mark can put things into perspective, and increase your effectiveness, rather than computer time. This is the user manual to give anyone who is online, which is everyone. The smartest, hard-core, geeky, know-it-all web head will learn tons from it. I hope Mark keeps it updated -- on the web of course.

-- KK

Rule the Web
Mark Frauenfelder
2007, 416 pages
$11
Available from Amazon

Rule the Web website

Sample excerpts:

How Can I Listen to Three Hours of Podcasts in Two Hours?

Find a word within a Web page. It can be frustrating to search Google for a certain term and then go to one of the Web sites it returns only to discover you can't find the term you searched for. a quick way to find the term is by typing Ctrl-F (Cmd-F on Mac) and entering the word. By typing Ctrl-G (Cmd-G on Mac) you'll be taken to the next occurrence of the term on the page. You can also click the "Highlight All" button at the bottom of Firefox's window to give all occurrences a yellow highlight.

Logic is the Photoshop for music. With Logic, an audio software package from Apple, you can capture, process, filter, manipulate, correct, fiddle, compose, edit and endlessly tweak musical sounds to your heart's content. It's not the first music software, of course. Apple's beginner program Garage Band is a hint in the general direction, and Avid's ProTools is the expensive professional competitor to beat. And there are about a dozen other decent audio managing software packages available and in wide use, including a few basic free options. But Logic is gaining a reputation among some pros as the best one for music makers.

I was turned onto Logic by Brian Eno, who like many other musicians, is using it as his primary creative tool. Logic is the software he uses to compose music, and it's what he uses in the studio while producing albums of some the world's best-selling bands. I asked him how it compared to the current professional audio recording program, ProTools, which has become the default in most recording studios, and why he would recommend Logic over ProTools for musicians. Eno said:

I think my main arguments come in three varieties. Protools is a fine system, but it is definitely more orientated towards recording than impromptu creation. It doesn't handle midi as well as Logic does, and in general it doesn't take so kindly to the improvisational way of working which you can adopt in Logic. Most importantly, it doesn't come bundled with all the interesting plug-ins and ready made loops that come with Logic. For instance I created a little song in my hotel room one night [as a gift, posted here] which I could not have done there in Protools. Logic's main strength, until recently at least, is that it is a high quality format (although I have to confess the actual audio difference is increasingly minimal to me).

And this brings me to my second thought. Protools is a stand-alone system with its own hardware and software. Logic is an Apple-owned system. What this means to me is that Logic benefits from every advance that Apple computers make in the evolution of their hardware -- and I think Protools just won't be able to keep up with them. Remember Apple only just bought Logic, and the next version of Logic is expected to be a huge leap forward. I think Protools just won't have the resources to match Apple in that arena.

Last thing: you can carry Logic on your laptop and play, compose, create on the plane, wherever.

Logic, like Photoshop, is a complex, deep, powerful piece of software that will take some time to learn, and will cost you a bundle. But you will never exhaust it. And like Photoshop, which comes in a slightly "lighter" and significantly cheaper version (PhotoShop Elements), Logic also comes in a cheaper lite version called Logic Express. Most folks won't miss the few deleted features in Logic Express, and you can upgrade easily when desired.

-- KK

Logic Pro 7
$900
Available from Amazon

Logic Express 7
$300
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Apple

Most bikers and hikers know or have a CamelBak. What many don't realize, however, is the ones in most stores are 'consumer grade.' I've used them and they work great, but after a friend of mine showed me his military CamelBak (the "Viper" model), I purchased one and love it.

Instead of nylon, this pack is made of Cordura. It has never gotten scratched or torn despite some unplanned stops while biking (i.e. falling over). I landed on my back once; just got up, shook my head and continued on -- no damage to the CamelBak at all. Tough stuff.

Instead of a thin blue tube, on my Viper, the tube is made of a harder plastic that's not quite as bendy. It's also sheathed in a neoprene cover, which keeps the water in the tube from getting as warm (with an uncovered tube, you get a mouthful or two of warm water at first). Instead of a bite-down nozzle, mine ends in an on/off switch (a rotating stopper). Plus, the removable mouthpiece comes with a rubber cover that can be removed by the teeth or thumb while on the go. You never get a dusty mouthpiece.

Some CamelBaks are flat to the body, mine has two foam inserts along the side, which creates a recessed portion in the middle that reduces sweat build up. This bag weighs almost two pounds (without water), which is heavier than the classic CamelBak, but it also holds 102 oz. -- 30 oz. more than that same classic CamelBak. Also, some CamelBaks have a lot of available space for gear. The Viper doesn't have a ton of room, but I can still store a pump, patch kit, tire removal kit, a shirt, wallet and keys.

The feature I love the most -- and it's the simplest -- relates to the straps. On every backpack I own, the straps are too long to provide for adjustment. On my Viper, the straps are also adjustable -- but they've included is a little piece of Velcro. It's three times as wide as the roll strap, so after you adjust the strap just right, you roll up the strap around this Velcro strip and it closes on itself. Once you get it fitted right, you never have to deal with long, annoying straps all over the place. There are also d-rings on both sides of the shoulder straps to keep the tube from flapping all over the place, and a front chest strap.

My particular model typically costs half again as much as the consumer equivalent, but it's the CamelBak as it should be. The way I look at it, if you already have a CamelBak you like and use, great. For me, these are not 'consumption' goods -- I wanted one to last decades. And I know mine will outlast my biking life.

-- David Koonce

Viper CamelBak
$64
(also in black)
Available from Triple Nickel Tactical Supply

Manufactured by CamelBak Products, LLC

I was bothered by insect bites above my socks and beneath my trousers after doing yard work, until I remembered the British Army wore thick, knee-high socks in Africa during WWII as protection against fleabites. So I found a great source for extra long ("over-the-knee" or OTK) socks that I roll over into a cuff below the knee, as the British did. These are 85% cotton, 15% Lycra, so they do shrink, but there's enough extra length in them that they will stay up even after going through a dryer.

These OTKs have proven effective for me and aren't too hot to wear in the summer in Seattle, where it rarely goes above 90 and the humidity is low. Elsewhere, heat might be a problem. In cooler weather, I've found I appreciate the extra warmth, so I'll stick with them when the buggy season ends.

Before finding these, I tried a variety of socks from several military clothing suppliers. I ordered five pairs of two different types of "boot socks," a cheap three-pack ($2.60/pair) and a Kevlar sock ($5.95/pair). The problem was that all of these came only 3/4 or maybe 4/5 of the way up to the knee (before washing). I next tried $5 men's "knee-highs" from Sock Dreams. They were effective at first, but shrank after going through the washer and dryer to two inches below my knee, so I still got bug bites above their tops (I'm 6'2"). If you are 5'8" or less, the knee-highs should work.

Sock Dreams has no shipping charge, regardless of order size. They also offer an incredibly wide variety of colors, including plum and bubblegum; I went for navy and charcoal.

-- Roger Knights

Over the Knee Socks
$6
Available from Sock Dreams

Knee-High Socks
$5
Available from Sock Dreams

DailyLit sends you bite-sized chunks of public domain books (including many classics) daily, on weekdays, or three times a week via email or RSS -- for free. Each serving takes less than five minutes to read, and if you want, they'll send you the next installment right away if you click a link. So far, I've read "Bartleby, the Scrivner" -- 18 segments over the course of 3 weeks or so -- and I just signed up for Crime and Punishment - more than 240 segments! Yes, it may take 9 months to read, but I'm certainly more likely to finish it this way. I read them in my email reader (Thunderbird) and don't print them out. The whole idea is to read short segments for a few minutes in your spare time. I'd imagine it would work well on a PDA or Blackberry if you have one (I don't); if you have a long cab ride or something you can get the next segment immediately.

-- Jonathan Fromme

DailyLit