Lots of large pockets
11-13-13

Pointer Chore Coat

This simple denim coat has been my everyday jacket for two years. I bought the coat because of the classic aesthetic, reasonable price, and potential utility of those large patch pockets. The pockets have far exceeded my expectations.

As a writer on reporting trips, it helps to travel light. I can comfortably stash a wallet, smartphone, charger, digital voice recorder, small notepad, and pen — plus, the bottom pockets are wide enough to fit an apple and even an 18-ounce stainless steel water bottle. I now routinely leave my shoulder bag in the car or at the hotel.

In San Francisco, where I live, this lightweight 100% cotton denim works year-round. Pointer makes similar, pricier barn coats with heavy blanket lining. Personally, if it’s colder, I find layering with a wool sweater works just fine.

The chore coat I own (pictured) is the cheapest, most basic version. Pointer also offers a range of colors (tan, white), patterns (stripes, camo), as well as a tab vs. standard collar. Their most expensive chore coat costs $112.

Other brands, including Carhartt, make similar chore coats. Pointer is the only brand I’ve found that offers X-Small (I’m 5’8″ 136 lbs.); they also go up to 5X-large.

-- Steven Leckart  

Pointer Chore Coat
$71
Available from Pointer

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Mapping 3D
11-12-13

New Perspective Systems

A short, definitive tutorial on all 6 perspectives in art. Starts with 1 vanishing point and goes through 6 vanishing points for a completely spherical view. Understanding multi-point perspectives is useful to not only artists and designers, but also to photographers and folks dabbling in Virtual Reality, or anyone trying to map the physical world onto a 2D surface. These lessons are presented in a 40-page PDF, which include some grids to practice on.

 

New Perspective Systems
Dick Termes
1998, 40 pages, PDF
$13

Available from Dick Termes

Sample Excerpts:

nps


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11-11-13

The Benefits of Paper

I am super excited by the new “Best of Cool Tools” book. It is one of the best things I’ve ever made. Seriously. Everything about it is great. I’ve been working on this for a decade. I really think that anyone who has enjoyed and been educated by this website over the past 10 years, will enjoy and be educated by this book even more so. I may be wrong, but I believe the Cool Tools book is a more highly evolved form of this website. It is particularly potent for those who don’t hang around on this blog, or are unlikely to ever visit it.

But I’ve found it hard to convey in mere words the benefits of this paper version to those who have not held the book in their lap. It has a physical grace and presence not easily captured. Yes, this site and the book are primarily about ideas rather than hardware, but somehow this book’s embodiment in dead-tree paper matters. It may be heresy for a Wired co-founder to say, but the Cool Tools book is better than the Cool Tools website.

Those are just my words, so with the help of my son, I’ve made a video to try to express what the book does. It also links it to the possibilities of the early Whole Earth Catalog, the main inspiration for Cool Tools.

The video is just 4 minutes. I hope it gives you a sense of how dense, and deep, and broad this book is. I am told that books pre-ordered now should be available in the first week of December (despite the date now showing on Amazon).

 

-- KK  

Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities
$28

Available from Amazon

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Upload a mp3 to youtube
11-11-13

MP32Tube

I’m always interested in free software and web tools that allow community members to become digital storytellers. If you have the skill to send an email file attachment (by choosing a file on your computer), you have the skill to create a YouTube video — for free — by marrying an image file and an audio file of your choosing. The web site I use for this is called MP32TUBE.com. (Below is a sample digitl storytelling project I created using this free service.)

I recorded the audio using the free audio recording/editing software called Audacity. The graphics in this video was created in the AppleWorks draw program — after scanning the two photos of my mom and dad. These days I would use the LibreOffice Draw program — or maybe Inkscape — both of which are free.

To record the highest quality audio, I suggest using a USB microphone, such as the Logitech Clearchat USB headset — or the Blue Snowball microphone. You can easily edit out the uhms, ahs and pauses in your audio recording by selecting the short segments and pressing the delete key on your keyboard. Make sure the sound level (sound volume) of your recording is good. That might mean visiting the Sound control panel on your computer to adjust the Sound Input slider.

Your Gmail login is all you need to create a YouTube channel. Surprise your friends by becoming a YouTube producer — without owning a camcorder. Possible digital storytelling projects? Interview a family member or friend. Tell an amusing story from your childhood. Record some a capella singing. Make up a funny tall tale. Surprise us with what you make.

I sure hope YouTube buys MP32TUBE.com and folds it into their digital storytelling tools. I love showing this tool to people, but cringe to think that one day it might just disappear.

-- Phil Shapiro  

MP32Tube
Free

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Organize small parts when disassembling a machine
11-08-13

Cupcake Pans

I like to do a variety of projects, from building guitar amps, to maintaining a couple of vintage cars, to restoring old machines. And often my attention is interrupted by dinner, kids, or phone calls.

To bring some order to these projects, I’ve collected old cupcake pans. I find them invaluable in keeping things separated. The typical cupcake pan has 8 cups. I number them 1-8 with a sharpie.

If I’m working on an engine, I might use the numbered cups to correspond with cylinders. With some projects, the cups might represent a rough sequence in which the parts were removed (and later assembled). With other projects, they might represent the physical location of small parts with respect to a larger object. If I’m interrupted, I can set the pan aside and know things are still in order.

I’m sure you can buy these new. However, I found them easily enough in the kitchen section of the local salvage yard for a lot less.

-- Christian Stratton  

Cupcake pans
Prices vary

Available from Amazon

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Consolidate your loyalty cards
11-07-13

Just One Club Card

I have carried my Just One Club Card around since 2006. This free site allows you to consolidate up to eight different bar-coded store loyalty cards into a single card that you can print out. Just enter the bar-code numbers in the form and select the store from a pull down menu, and click the “Create your Card” button. Instead of carrying around a bunch of cards in my wallet or key chain, I now have all of them on a thin piece of paper that I’ve laminated with packing tape.

Every time I whip it out to make a purchase it never fails to get a comment from the cashier about what a good idea it is.

-- Jason Tan  

[The FAQ section of the website has a template for a folder with a cut-out window so you can slide the appropriate bar code into view for the scanner at the store you are visiting. Also, the "Create your Card" button is hard to find -- it's between two banner ads at the bottom of the page. -- Mark Frauenfelder]

Just One Club Card
Free

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Easiest synth
11-06-13

OP-1 Portable Synthesizer

Musicians beware! The OP-1 is a synthesizer that some may love and others may dismiss as a mere overpriced toy.

For myself, Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 has been an indispensable addition to my synth arsenal: partly because it produces sounds I can’t find elsewhere and partly because it’s so incredibly easy (and yes, even fun) to use. (See video below.)

The color-base interface took me by surprise! There’s practically no learning curve for adjusting the eight separate sound engines (and effects) — the machine is highly visual in this regard. In fact I love handing my OP-1 to non-musicians and watching them as they almost instantly begin “programming” a sound. For a performer, this kind of ease-of-use is power: to effortlessly turn a few knobs and get to the sound one is after. No fiddling around. In this regard, the OP-1 is a musician’s instrument.

The portability is a nice plus. I can throw it into a backpack, take it anywhere, sketch out an idea for a song anywhere (using it’s built-in “four-track recorder” which operates much like a reel-to-reel tape). They advertise the batteries to last 16 hours… I haven’t tested that, but I have no frustrations in that regard.

More coolness about the OP-1:

* It has four intelligently designed sequencers that I absolutely love and continually use.

* Teenage Engineering occasionally releases new system updates with added functionality (new synth engines, new drum machines, etc…) And new new accessories, such as pitch bending knob and crank wheels for added functionality.

* It features both a built-in microphone and a built in FM-radio for sampling.

Is there anything bad about the OP-1? Yeah, its price. $849 is a lot to spend on any hardware synth where software synths are beginning to cost less and less.

I do wish the keyboard was more substantial. The Korg NanoKey midi controller is just a little larger and it has a nice resistance (and is velocity sensitive), whereas the keyboard on the OP-1 feels a bit cheap.

Is is a toy? I don’t believe so. I just produced a movie soundtrack and I often used the OP-1 for sounds I couldn’t achieve with any other synth. As an electronic musician, I now depend on it. It may not be for everyone, but it’s a great machine for use in the studio and, because of its small size and ease of use, it’s probably an even better instrument for use on stage.

The interface of the OP-1 is entirely color-based and very intuitive. For
example: the knob changes the blue number on the screen, the white knob
changes the white number. The above video (about one of the
sequencers) demonstrates this.

-- Robyn Miller  

OP-1
Portable Synthesizer
$850

Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Teenage Engineering

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Fast metal finishing
11-05-13

Flap Wheels and Flap Disks

Anyone working with metal should be aware of these two tools. They make finishing metal a smoother experience. I prefer these two attachments over composite disks, belt sanders, or orbital sanders.

I learned about them as a construction worker while prepping process pipe for welds on oil refineries. Both tools are standards in the steam fitting trade. I’ve since used them on robot creations, blacksmith projects, and anywhere else metal is involved.

Flap disks are more forgiving than standard composite grinding disks. (Use grinding disks and stones to grind, but use the flap attachments to finish.) Flap disks allow the user to treat a work piece like a sculptor. There’s a sense of touch and shaping involved. Less likely to gouge while still smoothing at a fast rate.

The flapper wheel has similar qualities but gets inside tight spots and is excellent on irregular surfaces. Attach it to an end grinder, drill, or set one up on a bench grinder.

Flapdisk_1

flapdisk_2

Here are before-and-after photos of a railroad spike knife that was ground with a flap-disk. (Actually it is the un-ground side of the knife vs. the ground side). Doing this took less than 2 minutes.

Railroad Spike Knife from Dustin Firebaugh on Vimeo.

-- Aaron Nipper  

Flap Wheels and Flap Disks
Around $10

Available from Amazon

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Best DIY instrument how-to
11-04-13

Homemade Musical Instrument Guides

Here are three great guides for making your own musical instruments. Advantages of making your own: 1) Personalized, 2) Cheaper, 3) Types no one else sells, 4) Satisfaction of making.

There is not much overlap of instruments featured between these three books.

The coolest of the three guides is Making Gourd Musical Instruments. It has very explicit step-by-step instructions for making 60 instruments using lightweight gourds as the sound amplifiers. Gourds enable wind, string and percussion instruments — so you could make an entire orchestra. This book has the most variety of musical options and great examples of world-wide traditional instruments for inspiration. If you can get only one of these three books, this should be it.

book-2
Making Musical Instruments by Hand
Jay Javighurst
1998, 108 pages
$9+, used
Available from Amazon

book-3
Sound Designs
John Scoville, Reinhold Banek
1995, 224 pages
$8+, used
Available from Amazon

-- KK  

Making Gourd Musical Instruments
Ginger Summit, Jim Widess
2007, 144 pages
$12

Available from Amazon

Sample Excerpts:

Sample excerpts:

>From Making Gourd Musical Instruments

rake

Cut keys (lamella) from an old leaf rake.

bridge

Position the keys in the bridge and tighten the screws. If you need to adjust the length of a key slightly, loosen the screw, then readjust it.

gourd

Completed kalimba.

*

drill

Drill the peg holes precisely at the marks.

*

lace

As you tighten the lacing, make sure each loop is brought around its peg and that the bead is next to the peg. Later on, the peg may be pushed up on the lacing to further tighten the head if needed.

>From Making Musical Instruments by Hand

Tip: Stretching Thicker Skins

Thicker skins may require more pressure to tighten before stapling. Use a pair of locking pliers with a thin rope attached through the handle. Make a loop at the bottom so you can step onto it. Apply tension firmly with your foot, without tearing the skin, and with the staple gun held vertically upside down, fire the staple. Then follow the stapling instructions in step 9.

staple

*

trio

>From Sound Designs

Dimple Gongs

Simply, mark the center point on each plate or disc. Place it on the end of a fairly wide piece of soft wood, say 4 by 4 inches. Put the round end of a ball-peen hammer on the center mark and smite it hard several times with a small sledge or heavy hammer.

hammer

*

The resulting dimple gives the plate not only a distinct pitch, but its name as well. Though if you look at it from the other side, it becomes a pimple gong. We found by experimenting that generally the smaller the dimple the lower the pitch would be, so tune yours accordingly.

*

drums

Tube Drums

*

skin


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Five pocket knives for nine bucks
11-01-13

The Losable Knife

I have a lovely little classic Swiss Army knife gifted to me by a former manager who gave them to every member of our team a few years back. It lives in my purse or pocket and gets used almost daily for a variety of tasks — the small scissors, blade and file come in handy. Since it’s on my person most of the time, I’m always worried that one day I’ll forget about it until emptying my pockets at the airport, and then it will be gone (many of my colleagues lost their knives this way).

The Losable Knife is intended to address this problem; it has most of the same features as my brand-name knife (though no toothpick or tweezers), but given that a box of 5 knives costs less than two good cups of coffee, I worry much less about it going astray. After using one for a few months, I have no complaints about the quality of the blades/utensils, and at this price I can afford to spread a few around the house so that I always have one at hand.

-- Ellen Grove  

The Losable Knife, pkg. of 5
$9

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