Amateur Gardener? There's an app for that
We’ve all severely neglected or, worse, killed a few plants. Before you could make the excuse that keeping track of sunlight, water, and the quality of the soil was just too much for your one track mind to handle. Now, with Koubachi (~$142), your black thumb isn’t so easily wiped clean. Using a Wifi sensor [...]
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Hard Drive
If you’re getting rid of an old computer, be very careful about the data that you leave behind on the hard drive. Having someone steal your social security and credit card numbers would be bad enough, but think of what would happen if someone got a look at something much worse — like a glance [...]
Got wood?
For 80 years, Norwegian knife maker Helle has been building ornate, wood-handled knives that look every bit as good on your mantle as they do in your backpack. Interestingly, the company has lived to be an octogenarian without ever building anything but fixed blades. That all changes this spring with the Dokka folding knife. Helle [...]
Swinging Chic
Often found hanging between a pair of trees overlooking a sandy beach at sunset, hammocks may be the world’s most potent therapeutic treatment next to glass of single malt and a filet. Ok, so we’re projecting just a bit. Yellow Leaf Hammocks takes their relaxation charge quite seriously, though, and every dream-swinger they make offers [...]
Unlike most substitute teachers, this thing feels no pain
There’s a healthy rivalry taking place over the future of the computer educational market, and the only clear winner so far are the students. Intel has put long-term competitor One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) on notice with their recent announcement of the Studybook, a new low-cost tablet loaded with educational software perfect for schools in [...]
Pottermore
As any seasoned backpacker will tell you, charging electronics while far from electrical sources is not yet a perfected task. With solar technology getting more efficient, and external batteries getting more powerful, the solutions are growing. However, the options are still bulky and heavy – the biggest adversaries for outdoorspeople. Enter the PowerPot; the most [...]
Long live the clock radio
The radio alarm clock business has never been a particularly sexy one, not counting, of course, the occasional technological breakthroughs in snooze technology (we set ours at 9 min). But Geneva is waking up the sleepy clock radio industry with the Geneva Sound System Model XS ($250), a slick ultra-compact bluetooth audio system and the [...]
Never on the rocks, impeccably neat
Originally intended as commemorative gifts for family and friends, Danny Brown’s handmade masterpieces were just too beautiful not to be shared. A little word of mouth, and some busy weekends later and Whiskeyjack Paddles came to be. Based out of the Rocky Mountains in Whitefish, Montana, Whiskeyjack creates individually crafted, hand made functional art in [...]
Reach your full potential
We know you’re busy, hey we are too. Making it to the gym isn’t always an option, and unless you’ve got a couple hundred square feet to spare, home workouts can get tired fast. Take boredom out of the equation and keep your muscles guessing with the Blank Slate Training Board ($129). Just like that [...]
Light reading
With an eye towards enlightening night-time, dark hidey-holes and that closet Harry was stuffed into, Barnes and Noble has added LEDs to their Simple Touch eReader, to form the verbosely named Nook Simple Touch, with GlowLight. Hardware-wise, not much has changed outside of the patent-pending technology that provides light over the top of the screen, [...]
K-Cup, The Next Generation...
We’ve previously discussed the virtues of the Keurig brewing system and its thankfully-ubiquitous K-cup as a handy solution for a quick fix of caffeine. Now after years of success, it’s time to introduce K-cup’s second act – the Keurig Vue ($212). Gone are the days of having only one “brew” choice, and only physical buttons. Now [...]
An homage to typeface
Last February, we featured Andrew Capener’s incredibly stylish approach to the classic board game we all know and love, back when it was still a concept. We’re happy to announce that come August 2012, the board-game lover in all of us will be able to splurge on this gorgeous set thanks to upscale gaming vendor [...]
Shred all you want, but skip the jam session
Let’s not pretend…shredding paper is not something most of us anxiously anticipate. The only thing that can make such a menial task worse is when the office shredder (circa 1970’s and looking much like a poor-man’s R2D2) can only handle 2 sheets a minute and still jams up. The Fellowes 79Ci Paper Shredder eliminates such [...]
Over the years, we’ve raved about Billykirk’s products and founders, and their latest laptop sleeves ($219+) reaffirms our love. It’s a classic Billykirk piece – blending chic with toughness, and elegance with durability. Featuring hand-stitched Horween leather, a Chicago asset since 1905, this sleeve exudes rugged class. In any boardroom or meeting it sends a [...]
With spring upon us, it’s time to dust off madras shirts. If you’re looking to upgrade your current collection or even taking the plunge into the famous cloth born from the city of Chennai, India for the first time, make sure to check out the Milton from Taylor Stitch. The SF-based brand pride themselves on [...]
