Circuit Playground Express

Sophy Wong Talks Circuit Playground Express

Sophy Wong is a designer and maker whose projects range from period costumes to Arduino-driven wearable tech. Her work has been featured in Make: Magazine, and she writes articles and tutorials for HackSpace Magazine and Adafruit. Sophy documents her work at SophyWong.com and on her YouTube channel.

Circuit Playground Express by Adafruit
Price: $24.95

(Cool Tools has a YouTube channel with many more tool reviews — editors)

Book Freak #8: How to Negotiate

In this issue: how to be a better negotiator

Book Freak is one of four newsletters from Cool Tools Lab (our other three are the Cool Tools Newsletter, Recomendo, and What’s in my bag?).

In each weekly issue of Book Freak, we offer three short pieces of advice from books. Here’s the advice from our latest issue.

Listen to the other side

“It all starts with the universally applicable premise that people want to be understood and accepted. Listening is the cheapest, yet most effective concession we can make to get there. By listening intensely, a negotiator demonstrates empathy and shows a sincere desire to better understand what the other side is experiencing.”
― Chris Voss, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (2016)

How to prepare for any negotiation

1. Focus on outcomes. What is it that you want to walk away with? Being as specific as possible also increases the likelihood of negotiation success.
2. Support your desired outcome with data that points to its reasonableness.
3. Writing down your key points in advance – and practicing them – enables you to stay focused on what’s most important and avoid going off on tangents.
4. Err on the side of asking for more, rather than less [of what you really want].
5. Be willing to walk away.

― Lois P. Frankel, Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers (2014)

How to make the most of victory

“The bargaining position of the victor always diminishes with time. Whatever is not exacted during the shock of defeat becomes increasingly difficult to attain later.”
― Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy (1994)

Ridgid AM2550 Air Mover

Moves a lot of air

We purchased this air mover ($238) over a year ago to deal with a fairly damp basement. We live in the Northeast US where the weather was quite rough during the past year. We have had to deal with the worst snowfall on record, Hurricane Irene, and persistent heavy rainfall. We also live in a high water table region so we are prone to flooding. We are lucky because we have a floor drain and a sump pump in our basement. However the sump pump cannot help when the power in our area goes out.

During Hurricane Irene we were fortunate: we only lost power for eight hours. This air mover really helped dry out our basement quickly. In order for any surface to dry there should be air circulating constantly. In a basement this can prove to be a tricky thing. This air mover is extremely powerful. Damp floors usually dry in an hour or two, while small bits of standing water take a couple of hours to fully dry.

We also used it to dry our old wooden floors when we polyurethaned them recently, cutting the job time by half. When it puddles up on our concrete patio I just move this unit outside and the puddles are gone. Although not one of it’s recommended uses, I also blew everything-including leaves, twigs, debris and some small neighborhood children-off of our driveway for easy collection.

The machine is a beast. I have had this one running for days at a time, and it continues to work just fine. In a basement it has to be moved every couple of hours so the air stream can cover the affected areas. Recently it became covered in hydraulic cement, both inside and out. I thought the machine was finished, but after cleaning some gunk out of the engine it started right up. I have never tried any other air movers so I cannot make any comparisons with it’s competitors, but I bet this one blows the rest away.

(This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2011 — editors)

Long Reach Permanent Marker

Fiskars Cuts+More

Multipurpose scissors cut everything

I use shears and scissors constantly while building projects from leather and fabric and other materials. I have tried other types, from kitchen shears to more expensive models, but I have found this model from Fiskars ($12) to be the absolute best. In my toolbox, they are indispensable.

The shears are made out of titanium which decreases the need for frequent sharpening. However, the included protective case doubles as a sharpener for when the need arises. They are a true multipurpose tool with a wire cutter, twine cutter, light rope cutter, and even an awl tip for making holes. In terms of use, I have cut leather, fabric, even sheet vinyl with equal ease. They cut cleanly every time, on every material.

They even come apart for cleaning or whatnot. Too cool! Fiskars is a brand I trust, and these shears confirm that fact once again. I believe these handy shears are a great addition to any toolbox.

(This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2011 — editors)

Searching for the Best Wire Stripper

A look at 10 different wire strippers

Tools reviewed:

Hakko CSP-30-1 Wire Stripper

IRWIN VISE-GRIP Multi-Tool Wire Stripper/Crimper/Cutter

IRWIN VISE-GRIP 2078300 Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper

Wire Stripper,ZOTO Self-adjusting Cable Cutter Crimper

Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper and Cutter

WORKPRO 8-inch Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper

GB SE-94 10-gauge to 26-gauge Automatic Stripper and Crimper

Kinee Adjustable Automatic Cable Wire Stripper

Ideal Industries Stripmaster Wire Stripper

Grizzly G9723 Wire Stripper

What’s in My Bag? — Mark Slavonia