bookofjoe

A Puzzle

Which of the two sculptures above is more valuable — and why?

Answers here this time tomorrow.

What is it?

Answer here this time tomorrow.

Lucy Kellaway's 9 Rules For Hedge Fund Managers' Letters to Investors Telling Them Their Money is Lost

They appeared in her November 3, 2008 column in the Financial Times.

Here's the Reader's Digest version for those with short attention spans.

1) Keep it long

2) Apologize early

3) Blame the weather

4) Blame the market

5) Blame anyone else you can think of

6) Say things that reflect well on you

7) Work on the emotions

8) Preface many sentences with "Candidly"

9) Sound upbeat about the future

FingerFood — 'Ultimate party multi-tasking'

Designed by Ken Goldman.

From the website:

FingerFood™

How to balance your pig-in-a-blanket with your Dom Perignon... that is the question — fortunately, we’ve got the answer: charming little plates with rings that fit right on your finger.

Now you can balance your glass and your hors d’ouevres — and look positively in control the whole time.

One size fits most.

Genius.

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10 for $9.99.

BehindTheMedspeak: Do-it-yourself colonoscopy

Could this be the next big thing?

From Thomas over at USBFever comes this most interesting new product (and price point): a USB Digital Endoscope for only $139.99.

From the website:
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USB Digital Endoscope

A medical endoscope is to help you to explore the mysteries of your body — this USB Endoscope is for exploring the mysteries of the internal part of your machines, somewhere that you cannot reach but where you want to have a look.

It has a 40X microscope with LEDs — making sure that you will see what you want to see.

The LEDs' brightness is adjustable to fit your purpose.

Features:

• You can use this USB Endoscope to reach the place that you cannot reach but still need to see.

• 40X — enough for checking even a small soldering/transistor in a printed circuit board

• With LEDs at the end of the endoscope you still can see in a dark environment

• You can bend it to see around a corner or to look directly at a feature in a bore

• The endoscope is 2 feet (63cm) long; the cable is 32 inches (80cm) long

• Driverless for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Unix/Linux

• LEDs can light up gradually under your control

• Switch to control the on/off of the LEDs

• Easy-to-install USB interface

Uses:

• Printed circuit board (PCB) inspection
• Serial number identification
• Crime scene investigation
• Industrial inspection
• Science education
• Parts assembly
• Quality control
• Laboratories
• Workshops
• Hobbyists
• Tinkerers
• Forensics
• Jewelers
• Printing
• Medical
• Textile

Specifications:

• Light Sources: LED illumination (via USB interface)
• Max. size: 15mm (diameter) x 700mm
• Photograph: Taken by the software
• Videography: High compression
• Interface: USB 2.0
• Magnification: 40X
• Focusing: Manual

OS required: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Unix/Linux
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Admit it: aren't you tired of all the idiotstick USB airplane fans and paper shredders and their ilk — and the websites that continue to feature them?

I know I am.

Wait a minute....

Why not take things in your cubicle to the next level?

"The doctor will see you now"... heh heh.

Alas, Mac people like moi are out in the cold for now.

Oh, well — with only 24 inches to work with, getting a good look up there where the sun don't shine is probably not in the cards for anyone but a Cirque du Soleil contortionist, what?

$139.99 (Fleet's bowel prep and insurance to cover the cost of surgical repair of the hole in your colon not included).

Magnetic Pencil/Pen Holder

From the website:

Magnetic Pencil/Pen Holder

The seed of this product was a letter and well-chewed pencil we received from the wife of a carpenter who had a safety concern. The problem was that her husband could not hold his pencil above his ear due to earmuffs, so he was constantly holding it in his mouth. Her concern was not only paint ingestion, but for the safety of his staff who had trouble understanding instructions issued through pencil-clenched teeth.

Our solution lay with (naturally!) rare-earth magnets. With a 0.1" x 3/8" magnet held in a specifically designed thin-walled cup to provide attraction on both faces, you wear the cup on the outside of your shirt, which clings to a galvanized disc worn on the inside of your shirt. With the included half dozen broad-faced pencil clips slid onto an assortment of your pencils (or pens), you "wear" your pencil where it is always at the ready. It is held secure enough to not fall off from movement, yet is easy to remove or reattach without having to even glance away from your work.

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Magnetic Holder with 6 Clips: $3.95.

Text Unscrambler

Created by Steve Grecni who invites you to "Enter scrambled letters and I'll return all word combinations."

You could look it up.

Plug this puppy into your Scrabble lobe and you'll be money.

[via Milena]

DAKINE Cool Tool

Does Kevin Kelly get royalties?

From websites:

DAKINE Cool Tool

Fix things fast so you can ride more

Stash the DAKINE Cool Tool in your cargo pocket to keep it available for those dreaded on-the-slope binding adjustments.

If your binding (or, more likely, your friend's) has some issues, this six-piece ratcheting screwdriver and wrench combination takes care of it quickly to get you riding again.

Specifications: Ratchet driver with #2 and #3 Phillips, #3 posidrive, 3/32" hex, 1/4" flat head, 8mm and 10mm wrenches.

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Green or Black.

$10.