My husband always complained about his uncomfortable hardhat, and how it would fall off throughout the day. About three months ago I ran across the Hat Grabber on another website and thought I would give it a try.

The Hat Grabber is a piece of textured rubber that clips onto the back of the hard hat strap where it provides greater fiction and a larger surface area to resist the leverage that occurs when the wearer leans over, thereby reducing the likelihood that the hat will fall off. It also means you don't have to crank down the tightness of the straps.

My husband came home after the first day of trying it out and said, "I don't know what you paid for it, but it was well worth it." Now some of his coworkers are wearing them. This is without a doubt a cool tool, and is a must for all the husbands/wives who are in construction.

These Monoflo storage containers, most commonly seen in the back of grocery store delivery trucks, are the best solution I've found for moving, shipping, and storing stuff. Every other system I've used previously had a fatal flaw. In particular, the Rubbermaid and Sterilite totes I've tried all cracked, failed to stack well, and had lids (when I could find them) that never seemed to fit properly (especially if you came close to loading them to full capacity).

Manufactured here in the USA by Monoflo, a company that specializes in industrial storage and delivery solutions, these totes are really well made and far superior. Originally designed for light industry, they work just as well in domestic settings.

I own ten of the 16-gallon nestable totes. Five went to a project that required the distribution of kits filled with educational materials to local schools, and the other five I use at home for storage. While they aren't exactly a sight for sore eyes (I keep them tucked away when at home), everything else about them sings with utility.

They stack efficiently and safely (I've stacked all ten with weight inside and they barely budge when shoved). When empty, the two halves of the attached lid fall to the side allowing the containers to nest perfectly. They have reinforced holes moulded into the handles for zip ties that secure the lids shut when needed. Unlike others I've tried these crates don't buckle or crack when moving (I've filled one with as much water as I and a friend could lift, and it held fast). And despite being made of a hard plastic they are fairly comfortable to carry.

Speaking of which, they're made out of a high-density polyethylene resin (reminiscent of milk crates) that is far sturdier than alternatives like Rubbermaid. A testament to their durability came when I shipped them across country via FedEx (the heaviest weighing 80-lbs) and everyone arrived without failure; no cracks, chips, or broken hinges, despite what was clearly rough handling over a 3,000 mile journey.

Not everybody will love the criss-cross "multi-fingered" lids, but I find that they work well, stay closed when moving, and create a uniform flat surface for stacking. The biggest problem emerges when trying to access anything when the crates are stacked.

Overall, I have found the 16-gallon size to be perfect for my needs. Anymore, and they'd be so big I wouldn't be able to move them myself when fully loaded. And while they aren't the cheapest storage solution around at $15 a piece, I know they will last far longer than all the others I've tried. Highly recommended.

I regularly have to label lots of electronic equipment. Compounding the complexity, I also have to label both ends of the cables that connect to this stuff. My customers generally have detailed requirements about all sorts of info to be included in these labels. While my peers generally have all the same labeling equipment available to them as I do, I use system that makes it much easier to manage the complex task. I use one of the higher end Brother P-Touch label makers, the PT-2700 that can connect to my computer via USB. I got my current one from eBay since the refurbed unit I'd been using for years developed an intermittent problem with the display (but it still printed fine). These were both less than $100.

Most of my peers sit in front of their labelers for hours pounding out one label after another. Frequently, they have to redo labels since their minds go numb pretty fast and they start making stupid mistakes. My approach, in contrast, takes a fraction of the time and is suitable for even small jobs of a handful of labels. My redo rate is almost nil, too.

There are two keys to doing bigger jobs with this little printer. The first is to use Excel's CONCATENATE formulas to manipulate columns of variables (text or numbers, like names, IP addresses or rack IDs) into little chunks of data that you want to appear on your labels. Don't be scared of this, formulas aren't needed, but are terrific if there is complicated sequencing going on. This will make sense with a little fiddling in Excel. The second key is to use Brother's "P-Touch Editor" software to connect to the Excel file as a database. Many fields, many lines and many format options are available for your typesetting efforts, so some pre-visualization of your finished product pays off here. Each line of your "database" will contain all the cells available to each individual label. One row, one label; many cells, many layout possibilities.

The first time you try this, it may be confusing, but going to File>Database>Connect will make the Excel file available for laying out the fields. Insert>Database Field will get your data into the label representation in the Editor's screen. The bottom half of your screen will show all the data the Editor has to work with, and cycling between lines there will cycle the info on the label representation.

Once you've gotten things tweaked so you're happy, do a "chain print" and soon a little pile of labels will accumulate. This system based approach is why I think the Brother P-Touch labeler is the best for producing large quantities of labels.

The TZ format tapes this printer uses are available in different widths, color combos and even with better adhesive (TZS labels are the best, and I use them almost exclusively). The PT-2710 adds a case & power adapter, space for various tape cassettes & spare batteries. Good for the back of a truck.

If professional, legible, well-formatted, long lasting identification labels are your goal, this is a terrific system to use. I depend on it.

I happened upon these while on vacation in a hardware store (yes, I go to hardware stores while on vacation). These safety glasses provide great eye protection and the bifocal lens allows me to perform closeup tasks without resorting to pulling them off for my reading glasses. Essentially a perfect solution for those who work in a shop with 'older' active eyes.

From day planners to PDAs to smartphones to the hipster PDA, I've tried many different systems for organizing my life. It has taken a couple of decades, but smartphones are finally to the point where they can do almost everything I want.

However with phones, data entry is slow and strict, and retrieval can sometimes be a pain. For the past several years now I have been using the Pocket Briefcase, and it's the perfect complement to my phone and computer. The skinny is that it's a wallet with a writing surface for a 3x5 card, and a slot for a pencil or pen. Simple as that.

Now, when I want to jot down an idea (including an illustration or sketch), an appointment, or some detail (e.g., a phone number), all I have to do is open my wallet. Start-up time is nil, it never runs out of battery, input is loose, and I can can pass cards to others.

At the end of the day I go over my notes and transfer those I want to keep to my phone or computer. Entering everything at once is much faster than entering things throughout the day.

Finally, the Pocket Briefcase has a few different slots to store cards in, so I can store things like travel details, grocery lists, and driving directions. I was carrying a wallet anyway; this one is just so much more useful than any other.

I have been looking for a desk/task light, but couldn't find one that wouldn't get in my way. I impulsively picked up this lamp at an office supply store and really liked that it was compact when folded, and that it turns on when opened. Then my husband pointed out that it was cordless. Sold.

Since then, I have fallen in love with this thing. It's great for throwing a lot of light onto small creative projects. The LEDs are nice and bright (and don't get hot), and I can position the light exactly where I want it. Once I'm done, I snap it shut and stow it out of the way.

The task lamp takes three AAA batteries, but can also be used with an AC adapter (not included).

The GeekDesk is the best and most versatile desk I have found for my home office. It uses an electric motor to switch from sitting to standing position, and after nearly a year of using other standing desks I can say that it is one of the best investments anyone can make if they are interested in an adjustable desk.

My foray into standing desks began when I started working from home more often. I found that when I was sitting at work I would easily become distracted and more often than not lethargic. After reading several articles about the perils of sitting around all day I decided it was probably in my best interest to get a standing desk.

My first standing desk was a lectern I found on craigslist for $10. It was not adjustable, had an angled surface, and wasn't the best solution. But for the cost, it served me well. I learned how to stand all day, and the small footprint of the podium meant that I could keep my regular desk without sacrificing too much space. The difference between sitting and standing was immediately noticeable. I was much more likely to walk away from my desk and do something that needed to get done, I found that I didn't tire as much, and that my back no longer hurt from long days in a soft cushy chair. I was a standing desk convert.

Given the limitations of the lectern I then decided to replace it with a used AnthroCart desk: a solid American-made adjustable desk with an amazing life-time warranty. Seeing how it was adjustable I was able to fine-tune the height so that it made for easy typing. The desk was composed of three aluminum poles that have slots that range from 24" to 30" (and up to 48" with extensions) in height where you could screw the work surface in. It had a large 3'x3' flat surface that allowed me to add an external monitor and a printer to my setup. However, it also meant that I had to say goodbye to my chair and sitting desk. My conversion to full-time standing desk was pleasant, but there were times when I wished I could sit down to write longer pieces.

All of this explains why I am so happy to have discovered the GeekDesk. Simply put, it is a traditional two-legged desk frame that uses an electric motor to raise or lower the working surface from 26" to 46.5" and anywhere in-between. It can lift up to 175 pounds, and it rises and falls at 1" per second.

The desk itself is made up of two steel legs connected by a cross bar that contains the electric motor and rack-and-pinion lift mechanism. The top of the desk is screwed on to the legs. GeekDesk sells the legs separately for those interested in attaching their own surface.

I have the slightly smaller GeekDesk Mini. It is identical to the GeekDesk except that it comes with a shorter crossbar that is 37.75" wide compared to the standard 61.42" model. It is more than enough space for me as I have a fairly compact setup including a 15" laptop, and a 24" external monitor.

To raise or lower the desk there are controls attached to the underside of the working surface. They remain out of the way, and are very easy to use. Simply push the button to activate, and click up or down on the toggle. It is a smooth movement and you can do it with everything on your desk without a fear of spills, or toppling monitors.

While my AnthroCart desk served me well, I realized that having the versatility of being able to sit and stand at the same workspace was really valuable to me. The biggest downside of this flexibility is that the temptation to sit is ever present. Since adopting the GeekDesk I do find myself sitting down more often than I would if I didn't have the option. I am undecided about whether this is a good or bad thing, but if you find that you have low self control then it is possible this desk isn't for you.

I love being able to sit and stand at my workspace, and I believe it has improved my general well being and happiness while working from home. A word of warning: anybody interested in switching to standing all day should, as with anything bio-mechanical, take it slow and make sure not to cause too much strain. I have had friends who have made the switch too quickly complain about back strain, foot pain, and tired legs. This goes away, but can easily be avoided by slowly easing into standing all day. And I strongly believe the GeekDesk represents one of the absolute best ways to do so.

The name of this little Mac-only software program might sound cheesy, but it does exactly what it says, and a lot better than you might expect. It helps you create professional business cards really quickly and easily. And it has been around for a few years/versions, so the UI is mature, stable, and elegant. And EASY.

You just drag stuff into the card area and they just work. Guide lines appear right when and where you'd expect them without having to work with extra commands. When you're done, you simply click Export and a PDF appears - with cut marks for the printers, if you want - and you can then hand the PDF file directly to a professional printer to work off of.

I've used this any time I've needed to make business cards and it works flawlessly. They have some links within the program to help you find printers, but I don't bother with that feature- I just hand the PDF to the printer that I know and trust. The whole process is so much easier than working with InDesign or some other design tool not made for business cards.

I've been testing an Aeron Chair since 2001 and I'm ready to say, "Go for it." Why now? Because I just realized that it is the cheapest chair I've ever owned. I'm 6' 2", 200-plus pounds, and put a lot of daily wear-and-tear on my chair. So I wasn't surprised when, after eight years of use the seat cracked: I was sitting there and it gave way by about two inches. Except for an early problem with a slight wiggle in the base (which Herman Miller paid to have fixed) the chair has worked flawlessly.

I haven't tried the previously reviewed Russel Executive Mesh Chair, but I've tried plenty of inexpensive office chairs that were not worth their initial low purchase prices. What makes this pricey chair so inexpensive to own is Herman Miller's extraordinary warranty. Buy it from an authorized dealer and treat it with reasonable care and Herman Miller pays for parts, labor and shipping to have it fixed (for the original owner) for 12 years. You tell me where you can buy a product of this quality and style that is guaranteed to be good as new for 12 years? Additionally, the company makes having repairs performed pain-free. One of their authorized repair locations sent me a shipping box for my damaged Aeron, so that I could send it in. It was repaired and returned to me within two weeks. And I still have almost three more years on my warranty.

During a trip to Germany almost 20 years ago, I came across one of those slap-of-the-head clever items in an office supply store that I use to this day. When I bought this I was so enamored with it that I actually picked up a second one, thinking that eventually it would wear out and that it would be difficult to find a replacement. Turns out that I was happily wrong on both counts; the extra one that I bought is still in its original plastic display box and a slightly different version (photo below) is widely available. The PaperFix that I've owned for all these years is silent in use, completely ecological, and the ongoing cost is zero. I reach for it at least a few times a day and with one firm press of the top can bind about 6 to 8 pages (depending on paper thickness) together.

I find magazines too bulky to carry around when there are only a few articles in them that I actually want to read. Through years of traveling and learning to eliminate weight and waste, I now tear out articles I'm interested in and put them all in a folder labeled "Reading" that goes everywhere with me, and use my Paperfix to bind each individual article.

I prefer the PaperFix over paper clips or binder clips for a number of reasons, the first of which is space saving. If you have ever had 15 paper-clipped articles in a folder and seen how they expand the girth of that folder, you'll know what I mean. Paper clips and binders have to be put somewhere when they're removed. Clips of all varieties fall off and have a nasty habit of inserting themselves into every conceivable crack in cars, briefcases and desk drawers.

Once a page is removed from the bound bundle (unlike with a paper clip) it can't be reinserted, nor can you pull out sheets from the midst of the bundle without disrupting the binding of the bundle. While the PaperFix doesn't do everything a stapler can (particularly with thicker stacks of paper), for the vast majority of quick binding jobs it's as good as a stapler, and takes up about a third the room on a desktop or in a drawer. It's less expensive and uses nothing other than a press on the top to get its job done.

Despite all the wireless, Bluetooth and battery-operated electronics in my life, almost every room in our home still feels overrun with cords, AC adapters, wires, plugs, cables, and more cords. This surge protector with a simple hinged plastic cover has done aesthetic and functional wonders for the living room. Our media cabinet already obscures the electrical mess from the Tivo, Apple TV, receiver, PlayStation, et al. But our Roomba lives under a vintage breakfront that houses, among other devices, a delicate glass lamp. Not only does this plastic white box keep the cables and plugs hidden from view, but it's big and heavy enough Roomba doesn't mess with it -- no more inadvertent cord snags from said vacuum bot! Some users report that cramming an assortment of particularly-hefty or odd-shaped wall-warts and thicker wires is problematic. Fair enough. I couldn't get mine closed trying to plug in an Apple AirPort Express. Nevertheless, with 11 three-prong outlets -- as well as Ethernet and phone ports -- this protector can manage a lot of everyday e-stuff.

Elance is a global marketplace for freelancers. You post a job you want done, and freelancers around the world will bid on it in a matter of hours. Once the price and deadline are agreed upon, the work will be delivered to you very rapidly. Because of its global nature, your costs may be very low.

Elance has a pool of 135,000 pros expert in programming, design, writing, and legal matters. People use them to design a logo, create marketing materials, tweak a database, code a website, create an iPhone app. I've used Elance three times now and have had fantastic results. For instance recently I had to move 3,000 images from Cool Tools' old Moveable Type database to a new one in a very hairy non-trivial manner. Estimates from US shops for writing the necessary script went as high $6,000 and would take months from specs to testing. We went on Elance, got a bid for $250 to do it manually (without scripts) and it was done perfectly in a week. You could start a company with them. In fact Kevin Rose hired an Elancer to code the first version of the now-popular website Digg.

Elance's escrow service holds the payment and protects both the work provider and you the employer. The site provides status updates on work done, and plenty of communication between the parties. Workers must pass a competency test to qualify to be listed. Some freelancers can also pass expertise tests in a mild form of certification, say for working on java or ajax, etc. Elance freelancers did about $60 million of work last year and less than 1% of the jobs had any kind of dispute, and most of those were self-resolved by the fact that the entire transaction correspondence is logged.

While I went to Elance for cheap labor, others go to it to get jobs done in a hurry, or to find expertise that they can't find locally. (Fifty percent of Elancers live in North America.) If you have work, and you know what you want, this is a great service.

The real trick in using Elance, or its competitors RentACoder, GetAFreelancer and oDesk (which I have not used) and Guru (which I have used with satisfaction) is in being able to specify the deliverable you want without spending more time that it would take to do the project itself. This kind of outsourcing is best for bite-sized chunks of work. The more precise you can detail your job the better that Elance or the others will work for you. It's not good for consulting, hand-holding, or mind-changing assignments. But it can be cheap enough that you can try lots of things. It costs you nothing to post a job on Elance. (The winning provider will pay a 5-10% fee to Elance.) You can pay with PayPal.

And it is not just for coders. I hired a guy to run ethernet cable in our home, and others have found a videographer for their wedding, or a translator for their manual, etc. Like any remote relationship, you get what you put into it. Elance, Guru and GetaFreelancer use escrows, which protect you (and the worker). Elance has open bidding, GetAFreelancer has the option of closed bidding. To date, Elance is the marketplace that seems to have the most action so that is why I use them.

It's a great tool when you need to hire expertise.

I recently read about a product whereby a computer beams the digital image of a recipe onto some type of eye-level display in your kitchen. Here's the low-tech way, which I've used for the last two years: take your printed recipe and use StikkiCLIPS to temporarily place the recipe up on the cupboard door right in your line of sight. When I've finished cooking, I easily remove the clip from the cupboard. The recipe isn't covered in stains. And the door doesn't have any permanent marks from the clip. Rather than traditional adhesive, the back of the clip has a bit of wax-like substance on it. This substance does get used up as you use the clip (I've used one clip as much as two dozen times). However, the clips don't mar the surface you've clipped it to -- in my case, the kitchen cupboard door looks good as new. I've also used the clips for other projects to keep whatever paper I'm using off my work space, but still in my line of sight. Another use: I put a clip in the driver's side corner of my windshield, where it holds parking stubs, so the Parking Control Officer can spot them easily and so the stub doesn't get blown out of the dashboard when I close the car door. The package cover says "the best way to hang papers anywhere." I think they're right.

For sheer bang-for-the-buck, these cord management cards are tough to beat. They're cheap polyethylene sheets you either stick or screw to the edge of your desk and then snap the cables coming from your computer and peripherals into the recesses. I was tired of picking my iPod connector off the floor when it would fall off my desktop. With this, the ends of the cables are kept at the ready on your desk, which is especially great for stuff you are regularly plugging and unplugging. You can also use it to neatly route other cables coming from the back of a PC tower, like speaker and ethernet, which really helps cut down cable clutter. I've had one card stuck to the underside of my desk for about a year for two iPods (video and shuffle), a digital camera cable, and a charger for my Bluetooth headset (I find it is less visually obtrusive underneath my desk). The double stick tape they use is very sticky. I have a lacquered wood desk. It sticks great. I've never tried to pull it off, but I imagine it would be tough. I imagine if you had a smooth metal desk these would stick even better. Of course, if you were trying to stick them to a rough surface like a unfinished wood, you'd probably want to use screws. I didn't consider trying to make my own. No reason to: I got a four-pack of the Keep-a-Cable 5-wire holders at Frys for about five bucks. I gave the extras to a few friends. They love them.

I use this portable desk as a stationary desk at work and love it. If you need to relocate your workspace for whatever reason, it folds into a large portfolio style case with handles, so it's quite easy to move your 'hub' with you. You have to provide two pieces of plywood, which slip into two pockets to create the rigid surfaces. Installation is a snap: two metal "O" rings on either edge allow for easy hooking on any sturdy screw/nail/hook. The rings are 48" apart so they line up with any standard 16" O.C. wall stud system. I've been using it for a little over a year now. Boy is it sturdy. The case is nylon with nylon bands well-stitched to support all stress points. The ability to adjust the height is key, as I prefer to use a stool rather than a chair at my work. The working distance from the floor to my desk is approximately 36", so it's more like a workbench, except with this desk, there are no legs to deal with.

The Cable Clamp is a cord/wire/hose organizer I've found helpful, especially in dealing with items that have both long electrical cords and long hoses that can get mixed up with each other. In addition to keeping the long hose and electric cord on my pressure washer coiled separately, I'm using one of these clamps to hang my small electric chainsaw from my belt when climbing a ladder, sort of an improvised tool belt. They come in four sizes, including a Mega-size available from the manufacturer.

They're fun to use -- they close like a handcuff, with ten click-stops. They're more expensive and bulkier than zip ties (i.e. an average tool chest couldn't carry dozens of these clamps), but they have advantages over tape, cable ties, and other hook & loop products. They're reusable and, unlike tape, leave no gummy residue. They're durable -- won't lose grip after many re-uses. They're less likely to damage delicate electronics cables than a thin cable tie. And they can be opened one-handed (and closed one-handed if there is a backstop handy).

Note: I do find they can be hard to open because the trigger doesn't go back far enough to clear the teeth completely unless it is held down hard. Also, they can get temporarily bent out of shape when under stress -- i.e. the jaw won't go into the catch unless it is guided in by hand. And they are plastic, so they could get broken if something heavy crushed them or fell on them. Nevertheless, for a relatively inexpensive piece of plastic, they do seem pretty sturdy; I've used mine for about five months and haven't had to replace any.

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.

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.

What magnificent stuff. Glues together thin layers of paper products such as cardboard, photographs, foam core, even light fabrics, firmly and evenly. Most of the time it's superior to rubber cement, white glue, tape or contact cement. Comes in various formulations. 3M's Spray Mount is most versatile. You can find archival versions, too.

Hard-won wisdom fills this small book: How to create a team, place, or company that is productive. First published 20 years ago, and updated once since then, copies of it have quietly served as a guru for many start ups and successful projects in Silicon Valley. Neither academic nor faddish, two veteran consultant authors offer real intelligence. This book has totally informed how I do projects. I learned about the myth of overtime, the need for closure and ceremonies, how teams jell, and why everyone should and can have a window. I first read it decades ago and re-read it every time I embark on anything involving more than one person and several years of my life. Unlike a lot of management lore, it is aimed at the project level (where I want to be) rather than the large organization. The message in the book touts productivity, without ever mentioning the dreary idea of time management. It's more about optimizing people, and thus the title, Peopleware.

My office building's climate control is like a pendulum -- it swings back and forth in the general area of comfort, but never quite reaches it. I have long used small table fans, but have to leave a suitable gap between the fan and the wall/partition behind it, to avoid blocking the air flow. Now I use a Lasko "squirrel cage" blower, which takes in air from the sides, allowing it to be placed flush against any wall. The blower head is adjustable in a vertical direction. An added plus -- its design is extremely quiet, making it perfect for the office environment.

CityMax is the coolest tool on the web. I needed a website to sell my stuff and it took me forever to find a provider that would allow me to build, host and maintain my site so easily and for less than $20.

Its awesome because unlike the other site builders out there, it is integrated with eBay, Paypal, Google, Yahoo, Shopping.com and just has everything I need. I am their biggest fan.

(CityMax claims that more than 172,000 sites have been built using their software.)

I present to you my low-tech solution to a common hassle: what to do with all those business cards you collect? If I were an organized person I would purchase one of those nifty electronic card-scanners and input the card's data into my contact software. But I am lazy and unorganized. Instead I use an off-the-shelf binder full of transparent sleeves with 10 card-sized slots into which I pop the biz cards as I get them out of my pocket. That's the key for me: they are "organized" only by the chronological order in which I receive them. That single bit of data, which costs me no energy, seems to be sufficient to locate most cards. "Let's see I met her before him, and after that meeting." I reckon I have about a 90% percent retrieval success rate, even when hunting back a few years. Good enough for me. I've been doing this for 15 years now and am working on my fourth book.

There are a bunch of different brands. Get the ones that are a one-piece vinyl book rather than 3-ring binder. More compact, handy and cheaper. Each holds 480 cards. I use mine all the time. As a bonus, I have a remarkable fossil record of past industries, companies, and careers. If you've ever given me your card, its most likely layered here. Let's see, I met you right about......

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.

Polysheet instant whiteboards are thick, static-laden sheets of plastic, like ultra-heavy garbage bags. Just unroll one, slap it on the wall, and instant whiteboard! Best of all, in the corporate world, at the end of the meeting, you can roll them up, take them back to your desk, and process them. After capturing the contents in your computer, wipe them off for next time!

-- S.A.

These cling to walls, to each other and most dry surfaces by static electricity. They come in very handy since you can pretty much place them anywhere you want. Put many of them against the wall and you have an instant whiteboard of any size. Dry erase markers wipe off fairly easily. Their 27x34 inch pad fits standard flip chart easels or conference cabinets. Rolls up for travel and storage. Perforated sheets tear off cleanly.

-- Philip Papadopoulos

Cube-dwellers have grown increasingly accustomed to capturing their mental state on whiteboard surfaces, but whiteboard access at home, unfortunately, is not as common as at work. I picked up a Quartet "Portable Presentation Easel" to alleviate this problem. It's a heavy-duty whiteboard that is height- and angle-adjustable. It's also double-sided to maximize the available writing surface. When you want to transport it, the entire assembly folds up to approximately 42" x 32". I found this tool so useful in my home office that I have since added two traditional "fixed" whiteboards, but the Quartet easel remains the most used whiteboard in the house.

-- Dhiren Patel

More and more companies wisely retreat to an offsite to brainstorm in order to remove themselves from the urgencies and habits of their offices. Problem is, these charming retreats often contain minimal hardware (by design). Easels like the Quartet will work, but lack the large space real brainstorming requires. The creative pros will bring in mobile dry erase boards like the Nomad II, which can be rented and shipped to site. They rent for about $110 per panel per day (not including shipping). My facilitator friends rave that "the stuff goes together like IKEA furniture... just a single allen wrench tool is required." I've used these and they are very handsome in the permanent office as well. Since they move easily they can second as a divider or room barrier and then be rolled into place when needed.

--KK

Nomad II
Available for rent from Kinetic Energies

Quartet Portable Presentation Easel
40" x 29" writing surface
$190
Available from Staples

Turns out that brainstorming is an epigraphic activity -- something best done on walls. Reading and writing on walls is a different function than reading a book. A broad wall-view is an ideal approach for collaborative design -- multiple views in a single glance. Thus the tremendous interest in flip charts, graphic capture, doodling, giant post-its, whiteboards, and all the electronic equivalents of those. By far the cheapest and easiest epigraphic display is a large whiteboard. And when it comes to whiteboards, you can't be too big.

The Cheapest:
I was able to get a magnificently large -- 4 by 8 feet --and fabulously cheap whiteboard for all of $13 at Home Depot. What you want is the Solid White Tileboard (sometimes called Melamine tile wall panel) used as a tile substitute in bathrooms. Some know it as showerboard because a couple of sheets of this and you have a nice waterproof shower stall. You'll need a $1 tube of panel adhesive to glue this 1/8 inch surface to the wall or a piece of plywood. Melamine is the same stuff official whiteboards are made from. These huge sheets are slick and work perfectly well with dry-erase markers. You can cover an entire wall for $50. You can also cut it into smaller pieces with a regular circular saw.

The Best:
Upscale from the tileboard guerrilla wall, the premium epigraphic surface is ceramic coated metal. When I built my office/studio I covered an entire wall with this material. It takes a dry-erase marker with ease, but it also accept magnets, so it can double as a pin board. I layout books in progress, hang blueprints, charts, maps, or use it as an art galley -- whatever. When using markers on it there is zero ghosting after erasing (sometimes a slight problem with Melamine). This ceramic coated steel also comes in eye-saving low-gloss light gray color, so the blazing white of a whole wall is significantly muted, yet it has plenty of contrast for any marker color.

This stuff is called P3 Ceramicsteel, and it is not cheap (at least when covering a whole wall). You can get them as an unadorned sheet (a special order), without frames or mounting, but they usuallly come mounted on particle board with an alumium backing. These now cost about $200 per 4 x 8 foot sheet. I used the same material for small magnetic boards near my desk.

I have searched for years for a high-quality, flexible project management system. I found it in Basecamp. Basecamp is scaleable to handle a handful of projects for a sole proprietor on a tight budget, or countless initiatives for a large, distributed network. It requires no downloads or software beyond the web browser. It has swiftly become THE key tool in managing our project pipeline, with milestones, to-do lists, team members and essential files. I have set up three of my own clients with the software and they all love it because they finally have a cheap, efficient knowledge management tool that does not follow a "per seat fee." Non-profit organizations seem to benefit most from this software because usually they don't have much tech support, while Basecamp offers them a seamless way to connect a project.

There is a free 30-day trial version. Pricing is based on number of projects, not users. It begins at 1 project=free, and then ends at unlimited projects = $150/month. We started with the $12/month 3 project plan, and it swiftly became so core to our business processes, we upgraded immediately. Sounds expensive, except that the program allows the owners (us) to set permissions for unlimited users, who aren't required to pay anything.

The company posted a great manifesto and so far they are living up to it and making our mom-and-pop shop a happier place to work.

Much to the surprise of the organizational man, play is turning out to be the key to business. According to research by Michael Schrage, uncertainty is the only sure thing in business, and the way to confront uncertainty is by "serious play." A business engages in serious play when it constructs electronic spreadsheets and fiddles with alternatives, or when it can produce rapid prototypes, or assemble large-scale virtual models - all in order to reduce uncertainty. Fast-and-dirty demos, pilot programs, beta releases and scenarios are yet other ways of managing mistakes and learning. The genius of this book is that it focuses on the cultural consequences of simulations, and pays equal attention to the many ways in which models fail, or mislead their makers. Schrage sums up by saying, "The central thesis of this book is that organizations manage themselves by managing their prototypes."

Some lean forward to edit or handwrite. I lean back. This light plywood surface (with elastic paper holders) propped on the tiltback chair arms serves admirably as a work surface and then stows easily.

I keep coming back to this book when change gets difficult. Christensen says that every innovator has an inevitable dilemma: serve the current game (customers) or the next game (new customers). You can't serve both. Therefore innovators have to ignore the demands of the present in order to create the reality of tomorrow. It's the most insightful look into the nature of revolution I've seen.

Hire smart, your company wins; hire dumb, you die. People are the scarce resource in the new economy, but no one teaches employees how to hire people. Successful fast-growing companies have caught on. They now hire people who are good at hiring others. Between these book covers is a million dollars worth of hiring advice, the best anywhere. If you are in business, ignore at your peril.

I am reminded of a famous magazine editor's remark that creativity in his business demanded "wastage." Here's a welcomed assault on the misguided notion of efficiency, pressure, and overtime in the workplace. Great managers incorporate "slack" - an incredibly potent stance that yields more resources that it uses. More slack, better business. Down with efficiency.

A great dial-in teleconferencing solution for free. You just set up your call as little as 90 minutes in advance and distribute the call-in number to the folks calling. The organizer pays nothing, and participants pay only their usual long distance, which should be extremely cheap (particularly with the new flat-rate plans). The voice quality has always been excellent. In six months of use this teleconference service has never failed me one iota. I skip the bells and whistle services they offer. Since they don't charge anything on your phone bill, or take your credit card number for their free service, they hope to make money on premium services, or maybe by selling ads in the future.

Anyway you can't go wrong with this one.

I discovered the Ott-Lite VisionSaver line while evaluating photo printers during my five years as editor-in-chief at Digital Camera Magazine. We needed a lamp that would allow us to accurately evaluate the color qualities and fading characteristics of printed output from a range of inkjet printers, and the pleasant people at Ott-Lite were happy to provide us with a pair of 18 Watt Cranes. These were such delightful products in their own right that I ended up reviewing them separately, then I bought one for each editor and designer on my staff. Even our staff photographer used them regularly for quick-and-dirty product shots. The quality of light produced by these unique 10K-hour tubes is superb, with a spectrum nearly matching natural sunlight. They are the ideal complement to a computer desk; just arc the arm in from either side of your display and tilt the head a few degrees away from you for a smooth, glare-free backlight. The Crane's balance and double-jointed adjustability is as good as it gets, and the durable gunmetal-grey finish looks nice, too. Now I use them all over my house and can no longer stand to work under any other lamp. Our Cranes have survived multiple relocations across the US as well as the daily indignities inflicted by a precocious preschooler for three years running. They're pricey at US$199 list, but I think they are worth it.

I have not tried using Ott bulbs separately in a different lamp, but can't imagine why they'd perform any differently. I have used two of their smaller lamps with equally satisfying results, but the Crane is just such a well-designed object that I haven't wanted to buy anything else.

Not all home-office work is typing at a keyboard. That's why this home-office design book is heads above the others. Maybe you are a weaver, or a landscape architect, or antique toy restorer. When I had a chance to design my own home office attached to our house I found the clear advice, helpful design ideas and visual inspiration in this portfolio to be the best of the bunch.

I don't know how households get by without one of these. It quickly dispenses wide sealing-tape around a box securely and accurately. You can wrap up a package in seconds. We use it many times a week. Mine is at least 15 years old and will probably last another 15. Wide tape is often much better than the ordinary stuff, so we often find ourselves snipping off small bits from the dispenser.

These have been around since the age of dinosaurs, but they still work better than most gadgets. We use them for labeling almost anything that needs a name or number. The labels adhere well and have a clear retro look. The inexpensive plastic device is mercifully idiot-proof. Cheap too.