Rob Beschizza

How to repair a typewriter

There's something gorgeous about Andrew Leman's typewriter repair kit, with its compartments, metal trays and myriad of strange tools. [Make]

Rob Beschizza

Gorillatorch

Rob Beschizza

Screw Key

"Nobody has made a high quality key ring screwdriver for the last 10 years, Until Now. They are constructed of heat treated, Blackend steel."

Product Page [Screw Keys via The Awesomer]

Lisa Katayama

Gerber Crucial, a good-looking, functional multitool

For me to love a multitool, it has to be smart, strong, compact, and good-looking. The new Gerber Crucial is all of that &mdash it folds up into a neat little less-than-4-inch long rectangle, has a knife with a straight and serrated blade, screwdriver heads, a bottle opener, pliers, and a wire cutter. Portability is important, too &mdash I like that it has a carabiner for hooking and a belt clip for clipping onto things. The green and gray color combo is very classy.

Available for $45 at the Gerber Store in September, and at some online retailers now.

Product page [Gerber Store]

Steven Leckart

Pocket Pal Knife Sharpener

Smith's mini-sharpener features two v-shaped slots with carbide blades and ceramic stones. The pocket pal, which can handle serrated and standard edges, also has a 400-grit diamond-tapered rod that flips out.

For $10, I can't imagine this thing is amazing. But if you're in the bush and need to liven up a blade just a little, it could be worth carrying.

[via Toolmonger]

Rob Beschizza

Woodblock Post-It notes

KAKUZAI(カクザイ)メモブロック [Matomeno via Design Vagabond]

Rob Beschizza

Assault Rubber Band

From Japan Probe.

Steven Leckart

"Twist it, roll it, fold it, soak it." *UPDATED*

Adesso's rugged, silicone keyboard is mega-bendable, and totally water- and dust-proof.

Specs:

*Connectivity: IBM AT, USB & PS/2 compatible
*Compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98SE
*LED lights for Num-Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock
*Key Layout: 109 Keys
*Dimensions: 17.5" x 5" x 0.5" (LxWxH)
*Weight: 0.6 lb
*Temperature Range: 32°F to 175°F
*Easy connection to USB and PS/2 ports.

Only $23.

UPDATE: BBG readers have spoken. According to you, this keyboard is a piece of junk.

[via Toolmonger]

Rob Beschizza

Now you too can have a small impractical saw in your pen.

Firebox sells this marvelous, TSA-unfriendly pen. It has 13 different attachments and, given the screwing involved, is probably much less practical than it sounds.

13-in-1 Multi Tool Pen [Firebox via Red Ferret]

Update: Better headline hat tip to Redshirt77.

Rob Beschizza

Make mine a hammer

Steven Leckart

HOWTO: Build With Grid Beam

When I was editing Cool Tools, J. Baldwin recommended a fantastic book on constructing furniture and other things with Grid Beam. I bought the book, but have yet to put it to use, so don't take my word for it.

From his Cool Tools review:

Grid Beam is a great way to make working prototypes of furniture, experimental vehicles and even small buildings. If your idea doesn't work, you can change it until it does... A drawing can lie to your client or worse, to you. Grid Beams never lie.

Steven Leckart

Permanent Makeup = Barf

An average woman supposedly spend 30 minutes every day applying makeup, which smudges, flakes, fades and runs if exposed to water and other elements. So, in that sense, I get why we've created permanent makeup. Then again... no I don't!

Known as cosmetic tattooing, intradermal cosmetics is a frightening trend. I don't just mean sitting there while someone injects ink into your eyebrows, either. I mean the business itself.

If someone is going to be tattooing your face, you'd think you'd want them to be using the best gear possible, right? I've found some makeup-tat rigs, like the Giant Sun Permanent Makeup Machine, available for as little as $120 (batteries, needles, gloves and more included!). The Silver Tomi gun and kit (pic above) usually retails for $555.

Usually, I'm not one to advocate using the most expensive gear possible. But if you're going to get forever lipliner, I'll head go out on a limb and recommend you and your loved ones check out the gear at the disposal of your prospective technician. Before that even, ask to see a book of his/her work. Also, try asking them how many Eyebrow Practice Skin Sheets they went through before beginning to work on actual, living human beings. If their reply is "What's an eyebrow practice skin sheet?" ...move along!

Steven Leckart

A Visual History of Cosmetics Gadgetry

Like the mobile phone, cosmetics is a fantastic example of a product category where the main design constraints are mobility and pocketability. From efficient, easier-to-use lipstick tubes to more compact compacts, we've proposed, then invented some pretty neat/wacky/seemingly-obvious/ingenious stuff for carrying, applying and removing makeup and other cosmetics.

Pictured is a patent for an eyebrow stencil kit from the late 1980's:

For the purpose of mobility a pair of wing shape stencils is connected by a nut and screw passing through the elongated slots which allows the stencils to move horizontally and vertically. This procedure allows the adjustment of horizontal distance and an angle of the eyebrow cut-outs simultaneously.

Seemingly helpful. I don't know why all eyebrow pencil pushers don't carry these today.

After the jump, check out inventions dating back to the late 1890s...*

*Note: this is by no means a complete history, just stuff I found intriguing. If you've got any particularly fun ones I missed, please leave info/links/suggestions in the comments.

READ THE REST

Steven Leckart

Is A Knife-Less Leatherman Still a Leatherman?

Leatherman's Knifeless Fuse has pretty much everything you might need in a multi-tool:

Needlenose Pliers, Regular Pliers, Wire Cutters, Hard-wire Cutters, Wire Stripper, Small Screwdriver, Large Screwdriver, Phillips Screwdriver, Scissors, Wood/Metal File, Bottle, Opener, Can Opener, 8 in | 19 cm Ruler.

...except for a knife.

The tool is geared for people who work in airports, schools, and other places where larger blades aren't allowed or are considered a "liability." Yet, the thing's still potentially-lethal and probably won't get through TSA. So really, I don't get it.

[via Toolmonger]

Steven Leckart

Mr.Taggy & the History of Search at PARC

There are plenty of nifty search engines that don't begin with "Goo" and end with "gle," as Wired points out. But one site they forgot to include is MrTaggy, which was created by PARC's Augmented Social Cognition Area.

Unlike other engines, this one doesn't index the content of web pages. Instead, it uses PARC's TagSearch algorithm, which aggregates and sorts the user-generated tags added to social bookmarking sites like Delicious. From there, users can give thumbs up or down for each and every result. The goal: be part-search, part-recommendation engine by tapping the wisdom of the crowd.

BBG asked the ASCA researchers to connect the dots between PARC's earlier forays into search and MrTaggy. Here's what Ed Chi, Manager of ASCA, shared with us:

First, one of the most efficient ways of browsing and navigating toward a desired information space was illustrated by the pioneering research on Scatter/Gather, a collaborative project on large-scale document space navigation between amazing researchers such as Doug Cutting (of Lucene, Hadoop fame) and Jan Pedersen (chief scientist at AltaVista, Yahoo, Microsoft for search).

The research done in early to mid 90s, showed how a textual clustering algorithm can be used to quickly divide up an information space (scatter step), ask the user to specify which subspaces they're interested in (gather step). By iterating over this process, one can very quickly narrow down to just the subset of information items they're interested in. Think of it as playing 20 questions with the computer.

Second, also around the mid-90s, an important information access theory was being developed at PARC in our research group called Information Foraging, which showed that you can mathematically model the way people seek information using the same ecological equations used to model how animals forage for food. We noticed that we can use information foraging ideas to model how people used Scatter/Gather to browse for information. It turns out that it was possible to predict how people use the information cues (which we called 'information scent') in each cluster to determine whether they were interested in the contents inside the cluster. It turns out that Scatter/Gather can be shown to be a very efficient way to communicate to the user the topic structure of a very large document collection. In other words, people learned the structure of the information space much more efficiently using Scatter/Gather interfaces.

I hope it is quite clear that the relevance feedback mechanisms are very much inspired by Scatter/Gather. The related tags communicate the topic structure of what's available in the collection. Through this process, we designed MrTaggy, hoping that it would be just as efficient as Scatter/Gather in communicating the topic structure of the space.

Third, our group had developed Information Scent algorithms and concepts to build real search and recommendation systems. These algorithms build upon earlier work on a human memory model called Spreading Activation.

TagSearch algorithm uses similar concepts here. It constructs a kind of Bayesian modeling of the topic space using the tag co-occurrence patterns.

TagSearch's algorithm owes its heart and soul in concepts in Spreading Activation, which helps us find documents that are related to certain tags, and vice versa.

So what it's like to actually use MrTaggy?

I started a search with the suggested tags "funny" and "video." Less than 30 seconds later, I discovered this Bruno-related gem from FunnyorDie that had, until now, somehow escaped my attention.

Good find, MrTaggy!

Rob Beschizza

Japanese Taxi Meter

Yours for $33 at GS4U.

Steven Leckart

Video: Hot For Tools Demos

A girl named Erica is hosting a new video podcast on YouTube that teaches home repairs like hanging a door, removing grout and using the Saw Stop. Erica wears low cut tops which reveal a pierced bellybutton and lower back tattoo. You may be surprised to hear the videos are sexually-suggestive:

"The only thing I like more than working with my hands is a guy who knows what he's doing."

"I measure 36"... from the floor to the doorknob."
If the pin does not go in... lube may be required.

All of the videos end with a gag reel, which should help endear her to you.

Joel Johnson

HP releases classic scientific calculator emulators for iPhone

That's not a picture of an old HP 15C Scientific Calculator—or rather, it is, but only as it appears as an application for the iPhone or iPod Touch, available now in the iTunes App Store for $30.

Too expensive? You can get the HP 12C Financial Calculator model software for only $15.

Steven Leckart

Tick Removers: Which Do You Use?

"Uh, I think I snapped it..."

I got my first tick on the BBG camping trip. I was lucky. I didn't even know it was there until it was gone. I brushed it off in the shower somehow without leaving any of the tick in my body *knock wood*. My completely uneducated guess is the hot water must have shocked the little bugger, and when I inadvertently passed my hand over him, he backed out and/or fell out because he had yet to burrow? (if you're a tick expert, feel free to weigh in).

Next time, I won't be so lucky, which is why I'm going to: a) use bug spray, and b) pick up a legit tick remover just in case. Cause there's no way I'm going to try the above method.

Here's a series of tick removers, including one that uses cryotherapy. I'm tempted to buy the one with a mini-lasso and just call it a day. Before I do, though, please feel free to chime in with any suggestions, experiences or links to videos of yourself removing ticks.

Joel Johnson

The HomeWrecker exposes studs

It's a $35 hammer with a Cat's Paw at the end. Mostly I just wanted to write that headline. [via Toolmonger]

Rob Beschizza

Doctor Driller saves boy's life

A doctor in Australia drilled into a boy's skull with a power drill, draining it of blood clots that would otherwise have killed him. From the BBC:

Dr Rob Carson performed the procedure on Nicholas Rossi, 13, after the boy fell off his bike and hit his head. The doctor had never attempted the surgery before, and had to be talked through the operation by a Melbourne neurosurgeon. ... The small hospital had no special tools, so the team had to use a household drill.

I wonder what model it was.

Photo: fox.out22 / Игорь Сергеев

Xeni Jardin

BB Video - Diving into Space: Miles O'Brien in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab

(Download MP4. This episode of Boing Boing Video is brought to you by WEPC.)

Boing Boing Video guest contributor Miles O'Brien brings us this special report on the same day NASA astronauts complete their final space walk -- and zero-g repair job -- on the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission #4.

Astronauts spend a lot more time training for missions than flying in space. But I wouldn't feel sorry for them as the training is an amazing adventure unto itself. They practice in airplanes that fly a roller-coaster pattern to give them brief stints of weightlessness (the so called Vomit Comet); they get to zoom around in supersonic T-38 training jets; they fly approaches to shuttle runways in a Gulfstream jet rigged up to fly (or more accurately, plummet) like a real orbiter; they get time in high-fidelity full motion simulators; they use virtual reality goggles to practice tasks they will perform in space - and if they are a spacewalker, they get to spend a lot of time in a huge swimming pool in a former hangar at Ellington Field - near the Johnson Space Center in Houston - learning the nuances of working in the void.

Astronaut John Grunsfeld, who is an astronomer and a huge fan of the Hubble Space Telescope, invited me to join him during one of his 6 hour "runs" in the big pool - officially known as the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. I watched him as he practiced the most challenging spacewalk of his long career - the resuscitation of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Worried as he was about accomplishing this intricate task - not designed to be done by the thick, gloved hand of a spacewalker - when he did the real thing the other day (Saturday) it went of without a hitch - unlike the other 4 spacewalks of the fifth and final Hubble Repair Mission.

The spacewalks are now over - and a shuttle crew has left Hubble behind for the last time. The telescope is in the best shape it has ever been in - Hubble's "Perils of Pauline" tale now mashed up with "Benjamin Button". The eye above the sky will begin a new phase of scientific discovery making astronomers pretty happy right about now. But for those of us who are passionate about sending human beings into space, and have enjoyed watching this adventure unfold over the past 19 years, it is the end of a great era - a wistful moment.

Miles is the only reporter who has ever dived in the NBL.

Hubble crewmember Mike Massimino, shown above doing Hubble telescope repairs today in the Atlantis cargo bay, is on Twitter: @Astro_Mike. You can follow Miles O'Brien on Twitter, too: @milesobrien. Read his feature reports at trueslant.com, and catch his launch coverage at spaceflightnow.com. Official NASA STS-125 mission page is here.

RSS feed for new episodes here, YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video. (Special thanks to Boing Boing's video hosting partner Episodic).

Previously:
Boing Boing Video: Welcome, Miles O'Brien! - Boing Boing
BB Video - Miles O'Brien Reports: An Astronaut Climbs Everest ...

Joel Johnson

Why isn't Home Depot aping Ponoko?

Samuel Blanco made this desk himself from plywood (smartly the kind with holes in the bottom so he could loop his router and such underneath) for just $185. It won't win any awards for originality, but you can't beat the price.

It'd be nice, though, if there were a way for everyone to cut out big piece of wood like this. I just ordered a cut of wood from Ponoko last night for a car PC that I'm building. It'd be slick if Ponoko could work with machine and wood shops around the country to outsource bigger projects like Blanco's table. Or hell, it's a perfect opportunity for Home Depot or Lowes—upload your EPS file before you leave the house to go pick up your freshly cut pieces.

For someone like me who doesn't want to buy tools they're likely only to use a few times, a larger-scale manufacture-to-order service would be great. They could dip their toe in with services like cut-to-order wood for easy things like desks and shelves, then scale up to larger, more intricate projects with more materials if it makes sense. It'd let the hardware stores expand into a whole new marketplace, half-Ponoko, half-Ikea.

Joel Johnson

Atwood Knives "Fixer" out this week

Peter Atwood's next knife+tool goes by the name of "Fixer", which combined with the hex in the center makes me think it's some sort of bike tool. It'll be available tomorrow or Wednesday for a frightening but typical $150. [via Justinsomnia.org]

Joel Johnson

Best Made Axes are for show

Best Made Co.'s axes are simple and beautiful—and at $250 and up, too expensive to be used. But they'll look lovely crossed over the mantle of your mid-century modern cabin. [via Uncrate]

Rob Beschizza

I want a car that looks like Husqvarna's new lawnmower

But not so much from the front. [Husqvarna]

Joel Johnson

Trivia: We spill a lot of gas on our lawnmowers

In a review of the Lehr Eco Trimmer, a weed whacker that uses (sadly proprietary) propane canisters for fuel instead of gasoline, comes this disheartening bit of trivia:

Most impressive to me is the fact (vetted by the EPA), that American homeowners spill 17 million gallons of gasoline annually in their uncoordinated attempts to fuel lawn and garden equipment.

Joel Johnson

Music Video: Oiled up bikini girls using power tools

It's okay, it's not sexist—it's a documentary.

Steven Leckart

Pedal-Powered Hacksaw

"The possibilities are endless!"

Joel Johnson

South African Makita billboard is drilled pointillism

[I Believe in Advertising via Trendbeheer via PSFK via Toolcrib via Core77]