bookofjoe

Why cats always land on their feet

Wonderful video.

[via Paul Biba, Richard Kashdan, and a member of my crack Pittsburgh correspondent team who prefers to remain under the radar. Of interest is that each of the three gentlemen who forwarded the video to me happened on it at different sites: The Scholarly Kitchen, The Daily Irrelevant, and Mental Floss, respectively.]

Fin Table Light — Tom Dixon

Wrote Katie Hagar on Better Living Through Design, "Who knew the inner workings of a lamp could look as good as this? An ode to engineering, the Fin Light exposes components usually hidden from view. What you'd think was merely a design feature is its heat sink (if you have no idea what that is, here's a link to images of lamp heat sinks. That, the giant acrylic lens, and 6 LEDs result in a design that is self-contained yet visually exposed."

6 x 1W LED 2700K (warm white) 432 Lumen 15,000 hours (dependent on driver capabilities).

5.3"Ø x 11.7"H (13.4cm x 29.8cm).

Aluminium and acrylic.

£329.17.

India on the rise

The big news in yesterday's Washington Post wasn't the subject of its front page story about India's struggle to obtain enough energy to power the country's move into the modern world.

For me, the real story was in the picture (top) on page 8 where the story continued.

That young man (detail below),

sitting in an empty shop in New Delhi after the restoration of power after last month's massive blackout, is far more important as an indicator of where the country is headed, which is to world leadership in the coming decades.

That guy, doing whatever he's doing on his tablet computer, is plugged in to the great world, the same one you and I take for granted.

His future is not in the obsolete technology of his parents and the store owner but, rather, in what's on his screen.

And it's bright enough that he'll need shades.

Thought Out iPhone Stand

You want solid, this is rock-solid.

I happened on the Thought Out company and its product line last week and as I studied their kit I wondered, how many other companies are there I've never heard of that make great stuff?

Anyway.

It's a half-pound of solid steel with rubber bumpers to protect your phone.

You mold the seven extending parts to fit your phone the way you like it: snug or loose.

Totally stable on a desk or in a car.

Lets you easily rotate your phone.

Mine's the matte finish like the top two photos, and it looks great.

Note that the company makes it in two variations: this one is for the iPhone without case, cover, or bumper.

$29.99.

The one for cased/covered/bumpered iPhones is called the FORM and you can find it here.

"Places I Haven't Been" — Evan Drolet Cook

18" x 24", map, pins, resin, wood.

Photo: Cameron Wittig.

[via The Smarmy Bum]

Carafe/Vase

Handmade clear glass carafe with amethyst-colored crystal ball that serves as a lid or rests in a recessed nest underneath.

Ball has been ground to prevent rolling.

50-fluid-ounce capacity.

Design: Nina Jobs.

$79.

Old Time Radio — "Enjoy radio shows from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, back before TV was popular."

"These are the vintage shows your* grandparents loved, from popular comedies like 'Amos & Andy' to westerns such as 'Gunsmoke.'"

Free, the way we like it.

*OK, maybe not everyone's grandparents. Sheesh.

[via Richard Kashdan]

Therapik Bug Bite De-Itcher

That's different.

Pocket-size device uses heat which is said to "deactivate" the venom of insects and sea creatures."

From the device website: "Most insect venom is thermolabile (sensitive to heat). Therapik®'s patented technology delivers heat in the specific temperature range necessary to neutralize the venom from over 20,000 different species of insects and sea creatures."    

Does it work?

You tell me.

$12.95.

[via Gizmodo, The Awesomer, and Richard Kashdan]