bookofjoe

Double-Bladed Herb Chopper with Integrated Base and Storage

 

From the website:

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Herb Chopper

Soft-handled, double-bladed cutter slides from the non-slip chopping base.

Effortlessly and neatly dices nuts, chocolate, herbs and garlic cloves.

Then sweep them right off the base and into the mix.

Wipe clean and safely store the blade back in its compartment.

6.9"Ø x 1.6"W.

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$25.

[via 7Gadgets]

Violinist Plays Star-Spangled Banner on Baseball Bat

True.

What's more 4th of July than a violin and baseball?

Long story short: National Symphony Orchestra violinist Glenn Donnellan said to himself, "Well, let's see if I can make one."

And so he did, repurposing a Louisville Slugger into an instrument capable of a perfomance impressive enough that he may be asked to play it before a Washington Nationals game.

Said Donnellan to the Washington Post's Anne Midgette, in an article on the front page of today's Washington Post Style section, "I thought it would be cool to say to the kids, 'Hey, you can make your own.'"

Got that right.

Ants Watch

"Perfect for those times when you want to know the time, but don't want to risk anyone else figuring it out."

Amazing — that exact scenario plays out in my life on average a couple times a day.

But I digress.

"Its unique ant-covered LED display is easy to read with a little practice but absolutely indecipherable if you haven't seen the guide."

$213.

In case you missed it:

Fair warning.

[via MY7475]

When Greenland Melts

Long story short: If global warming proceeds as some believe it will, lots of people are going to need a boat.

Here's yesterday's Daily Mail article with details.

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An astonishing new map [top] has revealed the elevation of nearly every place on Earth.

The Global Digital Elevation Model was created using nearly 1.3 million images collected by a Japanese camera on board NASA's Terra spacecraft. It is made up of a giant grid of 23,000 tiles, with each height point spaced 98 feet apart.

It shows a detailed representation of the planet's land mass. In this colourised version, low elevations are purple, medium elevations are greens and yellows, and high elevations are orange, red and white.

It reveals that England and most of Ireland are low-lying

and share a similar elevation to Denmark, Poland and northern Russia in Europe, Mauritiana and Somalia in Africa, Brazil and Argentina in South America, Florida in the U.S.

and parts of Australia.

'This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world,' said NASA scientist Woody Turner.

"This unique global set of data will serve users and researchers from a wide array of disciplines that need elevation and terrain information."

Data from The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) has been combined with other ASTER images to create stunning terrain pictures of Death Valley and the Los Angeles Basin among others.

ASTER was launched in 1999 along with four other instruments on the Earth Observing System. It takes about 600 high-resolution images a day, each one covering an area of 60 x 60 km.

It also provides scientists with information on land surface temperatures.

Researchers said it could be used for engineering, energy exploration, conserving natural resources, environmental management, firefighting, geology and city planning, to name just a few.

It is a large improvement on the previous best topographic map, where 80 per cent of the planet's land mass was surveyed during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.

'The ASTER data filled in many of the voids in the shuttle mission's data, such as in very steep terrains and in some deserts,' said Michael Kobrick, from the Shuttle Radar project.

NASA has 15 satellites that monitor the globe providing high-resolution data on how the globe in changing. Recently the Orbiting Carbon Observatory was destroyed during launch, which was a huge loss to the space agency's Earth Science programme.

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[via Milena]

Wobble Wedges

Indispensable.

Especially if you're a perfectionist about your TV and assorted electronica (satellite and cable boxes, speakers, subwoofer, AV control box, DVD player, ad infinitum) being perfectly level.

You could use variably thick small Post-It note pads, but then you're stuck with the colors of the pad edges peeping out at you.

Wobble wedges measure 1-7/8"L x 1-1/8"W.

The thick (and flat) end is 1/4"W and it tapers down to about 1/64" at the business end.

It's made of translucent plastic with small ribs running across it.

There's a hole to let you wear one as a readymade necklace or carry it on your keychain.

They're called Wobble Wedges because they "Fix anything that wobbles" but I've yet to use them for their intended purpose.

A nice review (and comments) over at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools earlier this year nicely details the anti-wobble function.

6 for $3.49.

BehindTheMedspeak: Diprivan (Propofol) and Michael Jackson

Reader Nikolas R. Schiller last evening sent me a link to a July 1, 2009 TMZ story reporting that propofol (Diprivan) was found at Michael Jackson's house after he died.

TMZ did a very nice reporting job about the drug, accurate in every respect about its indicated use, side effects and risks.

Wrote TMZ, "We're told the drug propofol was discovered at the residence. The drug is used to put people under anesthesia before surgery. It is an extremely powerful drug that is only available to medical personnel. As one source said, 'There is no conceivable way this drug can be properly prescribed for home use.'"

"The drug can only be administered with an IV. Interestingly, propofol burns [on injection] and the drug lidocaine is used to reduce the pain associated with the propofol injection. As we first reported, lidocaine was found near Jackson's body."

"One of the major side effects of propofol is cardiac arrest if it's taken in combination with narcotic painkillers, however, propofol is so powerful it can stop someone's heart on its own."

"Sources say the drug is so inappropriate and reckless for home use, if a doctor facilitated it for Jackson and it caused his death, he or she could be prosecuted for manslaughter."

Precisely.

Propofol can also cause respiratory arrest if given in a large enough dose.

Which — in my experience of having used it for for over 20 years in thousands of patients — can be a relatively small dose in terms of milligrams which turns out, for a particularly sensitive patient, to be plenty big.

Only people capable of  expertly maintaining an airway — up to and including emergency endotracheal  intubation — can safely use this drug.

Emergency resuscitation equipment including a source of oxygen and a breathing bag and mask must always be present for backup use.

That propofol is routinely employed in settings and by practitioners — doctors, dentists and nurses — who have no business using it does not mean it's safe.

It only means those foolhardy people (and their unwitting patients) have — so far — been very lucky.

Walls Notebook — getting in touch with your inner Banksy

"A notebook filled with pictures of walls. Empty New York walls that is, just waiting for you to add some art. A sketch, a doodle, a note; or really work it and let your inner Banksy emerge and show off your artistic capabilities."

"Or maybe you are more into graffiti? That's fine too; there are clean subway cars, delivery trucks and post boxes, just waiting to be tagged."

160 pages; 8.5" x 6.6" (21.5cm x 17cm).

$17.

What's Hot Weekly — 'Find the most popular items on eBay'

Created by Randy Yates, who writes, "This is great for sellers and marketers looking for niches."

PeaceKeeper Handbag

Designed by James Piatt.

Nice mashup.

$85.

[via LikeCOOL]

Fancy Fast Food

"These photographs show extreme makeovers

of actual fast food items

purchased at popular

fast food restaurants."

You could look it up.

[via Anjan Gewali]