bookofjoe

MorphWorld: Stella McCartney into Citrus Cake from Apollina

Appolina's Citrus Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Orange Lemon Icing

(recipe included)

makes me want to lick the screen.

[via Courtney Lewis]

Conserve Socket — Energy-Saving Outlet

 

 

 

 

$7.99.

[via Svpply and Courtney Lewis]

Blast from the Past: Railroad Track Inspection Cars

"The Union required an engineer

to drive the inspection cars

on and off of the rails, 

and a conductor and a flagman

were also needed

to operate these specially-built cars." 

"There was hardly any room left

for the rest of us

which is why they were equipped

with three rows of seats."

[via Joe Peach]

PageUp Recipe Holder

Longtime reader Mike Harney reminded me of the existence of this excellent tool in his comment (which follows) on the February 18 Recipe Rock post.

I've used a plain black PageUp for years for holding recipes — the Recipe Rock is just the back half of a PageUp. As antares mentioned, the PageUp is handily one-handed, but I think it might also be a bit safer for households with small kids, many of whom might think shiny things prolly taste scrummy and then pester you for a ride to the emergency room. Where's your fancy dinner then? The McDonald's nearest the hospital, that's where.

The 15-year-old PageUp I have holds up to 10 standard (20 lb.) sheets comfortably and keeps them a quarter-inch above the sometimes wet work surface. Back when I bought it I think it was $3.99, but the current five or six bucks is still reasonable, plus you can get Magic 8 Ball, tropical fish, leopard, and baseball designs amongst dozens of others.

Mike's right on all counts.

I bought a PageUp sometime back in the 20th century, when they first came out, I think as an impulse item next to a cash register display.

I loved its simplicity, elegant lines and lack of moving parts as well as how cheap it was for what it did, which for me was keep pages upright and visible next to a typewriter (yes, I go back that far) or keyboard and screen.

I had several PageUps, in different colors, and happily used them until they just disappeared, as things of their ilk will do.

I never replaced them but now that I'm thinking about them again I'll probably buy one just for old time's sake.

From $4.68.

Helpful Hints from joeeze: Keeping your nails from chipping and cracking in cold weather

This is a chronic problem for me, in that no matter how short I keep my fingernails trimmed, once it gets cold they seem to constantly snag and tear, almost daily it seems.

Very annoying, especially when I try to break off the torn part only to go too far and have it hurt.

Lani Teshima had this to say in yesterday's edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools, edited by Oliver Hulland: "Keep some moisturizer on hand, especially when the weather is cold and dry. Just dab a little bit on your fingernail, then pat your finger down at each of your nail beds, and then just lightly rub back and forth. It will keep your nail area moist and less likely to chip and crack."

Sounds like it's worth a shot.

BOY/SPEEPE/EWHENTHE/YSEEME

Took me a while to twig.

Courtney Lewis's new sweatshirt.

$60.

Apply within and Yokoo will make one just for you.

Gray Cat x Witness — iSight camera as motion sensor

When I was in Texas last week I wished I could somehow see Gray Cat hanging out at home.

When I got home I decided to make yet another attempt to find some sort of home camera system that would let me do this, using my Mac.

Therein lies the rub, as almost all the home use cameras out there are PC only.

Lo and behold, a Google search brought up Witness.

Long story short: For $39 you buy the software, download it to your iSight camera-equipped Mac running Snow Leopard or Lion (OS X 10.6/10.7), choose a password, go the iPhone/iPad App store and get the Witness app, sign in with your user name (email address) and password, then configure the thing to do what you want when you want.

Proof of concept: I was able to get it up and running first time through, and Gray Cat triggered it (top) on my iPhone just like she's supposed to, when she walked through the iSight camera's visual field.

Bonus: Whenever you're homesick you can have a look at what the camera sees, even if there's nothing activating the device — and it works from anywhere in the world.

You can have multiple cameras all feeding through your one mission control-like iPhone and/or iPad.

The program takes a snapshot if it's a quick motion or defaults to movie mode if the movement's sustained.

It saves the photos and videos and you can watch them whenever you like, and/or download/email them to whomever.

Pretty impressive all in all for not having to buy any equipment but, rather, just using what's in the room.

TechnoDolt™-approved.

"Time is Money" Game Show Clock

"The hours are displayed as dollar amounts to resemble a prize wheel."

For those who think life is not a dream but, rather, "Wheel of Fortune" made manifest.

Requires 1 AA battery (not included).

Powder-coated metal; 11.5"Ø.

$34.99.

Universal Plate

Martín Azúa created this one-piece polypropylene tray for eating in 1999.

Why am I just finding out about it now?

Better late than never.

[via Fancy]

Belt Knife: "You will never know you have a knife — until you need one!"

Catchy, what?

I'm not even gonna waste the ink it would take to remind you not to wear this to the airport should you happen to have one. 

Belt knife buckles: $35.

Belts: $25 and up.

"ink?"

[via LikeCool and Somos Bicis]