The thirst aid water purifier is one of the simplest to use that we have ever seen. You fill water from the bottom, shake the bag and let it sit for 15 minutes. After that you have drinkable water, even if you originally got it from a ditch or a standpipe. No price yet, though. From Thirst Aid.
CNN apparently has a function where you can choose a current headline and have it printed on a t-shirt for USD 15:- plus shipping. That’s no big deal, but the fun part is that you can hack the URL to show the headline of your own choosing. Or write just about anything you like. Try it. Here’s the link to the t-shirt we just made (a bit of wishful thinking perhaps, but why not?). Make your own before they close it down.brbr
Are you looking to buy a used car? Do you suspect your new used car has been in an accident? Has the body been filled? Well, with the Westfalia paint thickness tester you have a chance to find out. The measure tests paint on both steel and aluminum and the three LEDs show any irregularities in the paint thickness. Just take a measure from the middle of the roof, for instance, and the tester will store this paint thickness as a reference value. By placing the test probe on any part of the vehicle body, you can compare it with the first value and have a chance to determine whether parts of the body have been replaces or repainted. Comes with a key chain and battery. GBP 9:99 (about USD 20:-).brbr
There are similar baskets for grilling fish, and there are perforated skillets and woks for greens and shrimp and other small food, so why should there not be a burger basket. Our guess is that this contraption is brilliant since the friggin’ burgers have a tendency to stick to the grid all the time and resist flipping. The burger basket should solve that problem. The only downside is that it requires hand wash… The burger basket is USD 19:95 at Sur la Table.brbr
When in Thailand you probably order your moo yang with naam saparot or a bia sing lek or maybe some extra nam prik pla with your shrimps without trouble, but how do you do in Cambodia or Japan or Russia or Pakistan? Somewhere in the world you’ll be a newbie like the rest of us, and then you’ll need this book. Point It is a point and show book with 1,200 pictures of most anything you’d need to communicate and all you have to do to be understood is to point. Even in Ulan Bator. Apparently UN personnel on assignment in the bush uses it. Available on Amazon- from USD 4:62.brbrbr
We freeze a lot of food. It’s always nice to have some lunch just a nuke away in case we’re not in the mood for cooking. But if you freeze for instance ground meat in pound batches it’s not easy to get just the amount you need. On the Slashfood blog we find this tip (and they have found it on Lunch in a Box). It appears to be a Japanese idea (the Japanese seem to be very clever, indeed) and it’s very simple. Just fill a plastic bag with ground beef (also works with thick sauce) flatten it to get the air out and pre-shape breaking lines before freezing. A lot like chocolate bars. We like.brbr
We’ve covered this ground before, with glasses that keeps your drink cold or warm depending on your preference. But these glasses have a new and cool design by Alissia Melka Teichroew. They are called inside-out glasses and they are, from the left, cocktail glass, liquor glass and champagne glass. All are mouth blown with double walls using borosilicate glass. They are USD 65:-, 55:- and 65:- respectively for a two-pack at the MoMa store.brbr
Most, if not all, lancers or auto injectors works by jamming a spring loaded needle into your skin to draw blood or inject drugs. This creates several problems, one of them is that the cutting depth cannot be adjusted and that the wound tract is quickly contracted often causing a bleeding under the skin. (fig b). Many, particularly children, also think the pinprick is uncomfortable and downright painful. A new device, the Pelikan Sun lancing device, promises to remedy this. By pushing the lancet into the skin, stopping it, and pulling it out in a controlled motion over about one second, no sudden trauma that causes pain should occur. Also the wound canal does not close immediately, making the blood sample easier to collect without squeezing (fig a). A microprocessor controls the entire operation and determines how deep the cut should be. The device is available in the US, Germany, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. If your insurance does not cover the expense it is about ca USD 200:-. The cost of the disposable lancets should of course be added. brbr
Australia probably has more dangerous and/or poisonous animals, insects, reptiles and fish than the rest of the world combined. Maybe the continent’s isolation and harsh living conditions has benefited a natural selection of the most dangerous. Anyway. Many young Swedes goes to Australia to work and to experience the world, and that’s cool. We’d like to go, too. But before you go you might want to check out some of the animals you’d better stay away from. Here’s a web resource where they have collected some of the most dangerous fish (are jellyfish really fish?) that you’d be wise to recognize before you encounter them. From the left, the Blue Ringed Octopus, the Stonefish and the Box Jellyfish.brbr
Maybe it’s better and easier than cutting with a knife. We’re going to have to try it. At least you can use it with just one hand, and the plastic won’t oxidize the lettuce the way ordinary knives do. It’s our old favorites at Chef’n who has come up with it, and it’s USD 4:95 at Sur La Table.brbr
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