bookofjoe

bychat.com — 'Links to more than 240,000 web sites around the world, and growing fast'

What's this?

Tell you what: it's the first time I've ever seen a site whose defined search topics include "Lakes & Locks."

Worth checking out for that alone, what?

Curvware — ErgoChic

From the website:
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About Curvware

Curvware eating utensils were designed to be to flatware what the lever-handle is to the round door knob. Anyone who prefers the lever-handle to the round door knob will appreciate Curvware for many of the same reasons. The squeezing motion needed to use both flatware and the round door knob is totally unnecessary when using Curvware. For this reason, the user experiences the same ease of use and unparalleled comfort that has no equal among flatware and chopsticks.

Curvware is the original ergonomic handle. It is included in a permanent collection of one of the country's most prestigious design museums and has been displayed in traveling exhibits on ergonomics and design around the country.

Each Curvware utensil is individually hand-crafted by Italian artisans of 18/10 stainless steel.
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A three-piece setting (knife, fork and spoon) is $99.

Titanic-DNA — 'A high-end watch integrating real steel from the Titanic'

Not a joke but, rather, an awful idea.

I happened on this new watch courtesy of a large ad in this weekend's Financial Times.

Created by Romain Jerome, a Geneva, Switzerland-based company, it comes in a number of different styles, each more depressing than the last.

The diamond-encrusted number takes the cake.

Whose brainstorm was this?

Instant English Garden — On the Cheap

A quick and not-at-all-dirty approach to your own English country garden.

From the website:

English Cottage Garden

Just roll out this pre-seeded garden mat for a wealth of color, including favorite annuals and low-maintenance perennials.

Your English cottage garden will bloom with beautiful Calendula fancy mix, Cornflower Tall Blue, Baby's Breath, Loveliness Pink, Persian Jewel mix, Painted Daisy, Sweet William single mix, Foxglove, Snapdragon and much more!

Includes instructions and planting guide.

6' x 7" roll.

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$4.89.

Many other varieties available here.

BehindTheMedspeak: The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy

Located at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, it would appear to be the very first of its kind in the world — at least, that I've heard of.

Joanne Loewy, the director, emailed me yesterday with news of an upcoming symposium (click on "Events & Symposia" in the left hand column).

Explore the website, there's much of interest there.

Email: info@musicandmedicine.org; tel: 212-420-2704.

Stance Angle Chair — [Not] running to stand still

Sean Fallon featured this rather unusual chair in an April 8, 2007 post on nerdapproved.com.

He wrote:

Bizarre Looking Chair For Better Posture

One of the things I am constantly bitching about with my personal training clients is their poor posture. They are constantly slouched over a computer at work which leads to bad posture and back problems. If that sounds like you, the Stance® Angle Chair could be extremely helpful.

If you have the means, a Stance Angle Chair would be an ideal solution to protect your back, improve circulation, and improve posture without reducing productivity at work. Just be prepared to pay far, far out the ass for it.

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From the product website:

Stance Angle Chair

The Stance angle chair ensures proper distribution of body weight for nearly every body shape and size. Its simple angle and height controls, along with lumbar-supporting back and leg cushions, provide optimal postural support for infinite positions, including the single most beneficial position: "Neutral Position."

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Assume the position.

Much more information here (including a video of the chair in action) and here.

The history of the Stance chair is here.

I still haven't quite worked out how I'm going to integrate this chair with my treadmill — but I'm sure the answer will come to me in a dream real soon now.

$1,200-$1,300 at dealers everywhere.

[via random-good-stuff.com]

Water detected on planet HD209458b — First evidence of atmospheric water ever found outside our solar system

In a report to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, astronomer Travis Barman, from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, cites strong evidence for water in the atmosphere of HD209458b, located some 150 million light-years away from Earth. (One light-year = 5.9 trillion miles).

Above, a drawing of the planet, whose clouds appear to contain steam, orbiting its star.

Here's a link to last week's BBC story; this will take you to a report in Scientific American.

Here's coverage from space.com.

All warmed up?

Good, 'cause here's the Astrophysical Journal report's abstract.

Identification of Absorption Features in an Extrasolar Planet Atmosphere

Water absorption is identified in the atmosphere of HD209458b by comparing models for the planet's transmitted spectrum to recent, multi-wavelength, eclipse-depth measurements (from 0.3 to 1 microns) published by Knutson et al. (2007). A cloud-free model which includes solar abundances, rainout of condensates, and photoionization of sodium and potassium is in good agreement with the entire set of eclipse-depth measurements from the ultraviolet to near-infrared. Constraints are placed on condensate removal by gravitational settling, the bulk metallicity, and the redistribution of absorbed stellar flux. Comparisons are also made to the Charbonneau et al. (2002) sodium measurements.

Crit Buns

From the website:

Crit Buns

This product is simple yet brilliant, an anatomical foam pad for your posterior.

The possibilities are endless: you could use Crit Buns in the studio, at a sporting event, watching shooting stars or even during a picnic.

Features an integrated handle.

Made from durable, self-skinning foam, its UV and weather resistance offers comfort and relief.

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$30 CAD (go here, click "Personal Accessories, then scroll down).