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New Electronics Series from Becky Stern
My old Make: colleague, Becky Stern, has a new video series that she’s doing for the electronics component company, Digi-Key. Becky has always done an impressive job of explaining what can be intimidating technical information in an entertaining and digestible way. If this first installment, an introduction to LEDs, is any indication, this series looks to deliver more of her welcome brand of accessible tech education.
How to Get Clearer and Stronger Transparent FDM Prints
In this CNC Kitchen video, Stefan shows the special settings you can use to create superior-looking clear prints using an FDM (Fused deposition modeling)printer and clear filament. He also looks at how these parameters make your parts super strong.
Making Your Own Vinyl Stickers
If you’ve been attracted to the idea of creating your own custom vinyl stickers, this video shows you how. All you basically need is a crafting vinyl cutter (a few hundred dollars) and some sheets or rolls of vinyl material.
CA Glue Accelerator from Baking Soda and Water
One of the best takeaways from this Bill Making Stuff video (where he celebrates his 50th episode) is his tip for creating your own accelerator for CA glue. As you likely know, there are commercial accelerators, but they smell funny, have nasty stuff in them, and are combustible. You’re even supposed to wear eye protection when using them, though nobody does. You may also know about using baking soda as an accelerator. It works great, but it leaves a dusty powder on everything that you have to clean off. Bill mixes his baking soda with water in a spray bottle and has found that it works great and creates less mess. I will definitely be trying this.
How a Gas Pump Knows When to Turn Itself Off
If you’ve ever wondered how a gas pump nozzle knows when to shut off when your tank is full, this video reveals the clever design. Venturi tubes, Bernoulli principle, negative pressure — it turns out the design is far more complicated that you might expect. I always assumed it was some sort of an electronic sensor, but it’s purely mechanical.
“I was surprised to see a recommendation for the OXO sink strainer. I love OXO products, but that strainer is a disappointment to me. I do like the inversion feature, but stuff still gets stuck in and around the holes. The silicone gets slimy. I have black slime after a week in my kitchen drain, probably from teensy bits of lettuce and herbs and salad dressing. UGH. (Cleaning out the bowl with a paper towel before washing it seems to help.) I don’t know that a standard issue strainer would make me any happier (though I’d love to quit using so many paper towels). I’m glad yours pleases you; my experience is just different.”
This is a great example of that adage made popular by early hacker culture: “Your mileage may vary” (YMMV). When I posted my review of the strainer on Boing Boing, the first few responses were similar to Candy’s and I got nervous, thinking I had prematurely decided a tool was a winner without giving it an honest testing myself. But then the positive reviews came and they were the overwhelming sentiment. And on Amazon, it has 17.5K reviews at 4.7 stars. After a month, we are more than happy with ours, but, as in all things, YMMV. Thanks for sharing your experience, Candy!
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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Pilot Vanishing Point - matte black: As much as I love digital tools and my HHKB, having pen + paper keeps me grounded and prevents my brain from getting scattered and overwhelmed by the endless digital possibilities. I wouldn’t be a good pen + paper nerd if I didn’t have a slight obsession with fountain pens, and the Vanishing Point has been with me every day for a decade at this point. Nothing beats the ease of a retractable fountain pen to jot down notes in a Field Notes book or plan in my Hobonichi.
Beverage machines (Espresso machine + water carbonator): My life revolves around beverages. I typically have at least three different drinks with every meal, and my life would not be complete without multiple shots of espresso to start the day, and some bubbly water within arms reach at all times.
Aquaphor: I’ve gone through periods of time having a skin care routine (heavily influenced by both my mother and wife), but when it comes down to it, all I really need is Aquaphor. Dry skin, chapped lips, ashy elbows, and all the little cuts around my fingernails from anxious picking—all of those and more solved by a tiny dab of Aquaphor.
DIGITAL
Kinopio: This might be the digital tool that clicked with me faster than any other. There are tons of whiteboard or mind-mapping tools out there, but Kinopio is just different. It’s playful, reminiscent of the days when software could be fun and not corporatized to make shareholders money, and it’s the easiest way to get scattered thoughts out of your head. I use it for moodboarding, planning, brainstorming, collaborating, note-taking, and everything in between. The developer, Pirijan, is also the best.
YNAB: This might be a boring pick, but I think my life would fall apart without YNAB. I have this bad habit of liking nice things, so I need something to keep me in line. The whole concept of every single dollar having a job is indispensable. I’ve tried switching to other budgeting apps—given YNAB has doubled in price since I started using it in 2013—but the rigidity of budgeting against real income is critical to me not spending every penny I have and more.
INVISIBLE
Be kind, stay sane.
I’m not sure where this originated from, but I signed off a newsletter with it one day when the world seemed like it was falling apart (still does) and I’ve used it to sign off every newsletter since. I’ve heard people say they think these two things are odds given the state of the world, but I think it’s more important than ever to remember that most people are doing their best, so we should do everything in our power to be kind to one another and at least attempt not to go crazy. Have some grace and humility, people!
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