We are overjoyed to announce that - after many months of work and thanks to you - copies of Sarah Ainslie's WOMEN AT WORK are now available and we are sending them out.
CLICK HERE TO BUY A SIGNED COPY FOR £20
Sarah Ainslie will be giving an illustrated lecture, showing her pictures and telling the stories behind her WOMEN AT WORK project at this year's Bloomsbury Jamboree on Saturday 14th November at the Art Workers' Guild, 6 Queen Sq, London WC1N 3AT.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK FOR SARAH'S LECTURE
We invite you to join us at the book launch and exhibition opening for WOMEN AT WORK on Thursday 19th November 6:30-9pm at Four Corners Gallery, 121 Roman Road, London, E2 OQN.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE LAUNCH PARTY & EXHIBITION OPENING
WOMEN AT WORK celebrates the women whose work shapes the fabric of our lives, sustaining communities with their labour, warmth & fellowship
SARAH AINSLIE documents the contribution of female labour in exuberant photographs that capture the passion and struggle of the working life, forming a panoramic survey of social change over four decades.
"My pictures are a testament to the indomitable spirit of women whose work is often unrecognised, whether in factories, working from home or caring for the vulnerable - tradeswomen, community organisers, garment workers, faith leaders, artists, firefighters, shopkeepers, transport workers, cleaners and NHS staff, women who are catering, and many more who sustain and bind together communities with their warmth, labour and fellowship."
Sarah Ainslie
THANK YOU Carol Addis, Liz Aitken, The Alcove Library, Fatima Ali, Monica Allen, Deborah Andrews, Geraldine Anslow, Alice Audsley, Elizabeth Aumeer, Kate Bacon, Stephen Ball, Betsy Barker, Graham Barker, Sarah Bates, Roxy Beaujolais, Niamh Bermingham, Millie Bird, Catherine Burd, Karolina Brodnicka, Jill Browne, Yvonne Cheyney, Karen Chung, Jackie Connor, Esther Conway, Wendy Cook, Sarah Correia, Clarice Corell, Valerie Cottle, Mary Dalton, Rachel Darnley-Smith, Rosie Dastgir, Jill Day, Lucinda De Jasay, Luke Dixon, James Douglas, Josephine Eglin, Marion Elliot, Rachel Ferriman, Linda Florio, Jillian Foley, Lisa Forkas, Gillian Forrester, Nancy Franklin, Emma Grace, Carol Grantham, Judy Greenway, Karen Greenwood, Polly Grylls, Stephen Guy, Keith Hagan, Jayne Hamilton, Mark Hamsher, Siri Hansen, Julia Harrison, David Heath, Carolyn Hirst, David Hoffman, Anne Holland, Melissa Horn, Emma Howard Boyd, Susan Hoyal, Robin Huffman, Richard Humm, Diana Fawcett, Lisa Ferguson, Doreen Fletcher, Jane James, Annie Johns, Andrew Jones, Barbara Jones, Rachel Jowitt, Tom Kavanagh, Hilda Kean, Michael Keating, Colette Khan, Mark King, Lin Lee, Martin Ling, Pauline Lord, John Patrick Lowe, Jaime Rory Lucy, Sarah Ludford, Alison Lynch, Mirela Mardare, Anabel Marsh, Sarah Mason, Frances Mayhew, Jill Mead, Julia Meadows, Carolyn Meunier, Jennifer Michael, Susan Miles, Janet Mohler, Stephen Moran, Annie Moreton, Robert Moye, Lee Murphy, Jeremy Musson, Ros Niblett, Krissie Nicolson, Thomas Nowacki, Sarah Nuttall, Frances Oakley, Janet O'Brien, Vivienne Palmer, Peter Parker, Tanya Peixoto, Pamela Percy, Fiona Pettitt, Caroline Pick, Alison Pilkington, Jeffrey Press, Elizabeth Prochaska, Tony Quinn, Alice Rawsthorn, Caz Richards, Ruth Richardson, Madeleine Ruggi, Anne Sally, Sir Charles Saumarez Smith, Tim Sayer, Christine Sibley, Marie Sleigh, Robert Small, Annie Sparks, Henrietta M Startup, Carrie Supple, Gilane Tawadros, Pen Thompson, Sophie Thompson, Jane Trethewey, Olivia Horsfall Turner, Sukhin Tye, Roel Van Der List, Nicola Von Velsen, Elizabeth Walker, Arabella Warner, Nicky Webb, Lianne Weidmann, Patricia Wenz, Gilda Williams, Jane Williamson, Jill Wilson, Sarah Winman, Jenny Wiseman, Robert Zeigler and many others who choose to be anonymous.
This Week in 2016
- Dumb & Dumber Claims About Last Week's Internet Attack (SOPA?!? Really?)
- Shake Up At The Copyright Office A Possible Preview To Fight Over Copyright Reform
- The Reason The Copyright Office Misrepresented Copyright Law To The FCC: Hollywood Told It To
- Facebook's Arbitrary Offensiveness Police Take Down Informational Video About Breast Cancer Screening
- As Expected, FCC Passes Modest Privacy Rules For Broadband Providers, ISPs Act Like World Has Ended
- MPAA: EFF Just Jealous It Doesn't Control Copyright Office Like Hollywood Does
This Week in 2011
- Universal Uses Copyright To Censor Bad Lip Reading Parody; Why Not Embrace It?
- The Many Killers Of The Film Industry: Volume One
- The Many Killers Of The Film Industry: Volume 2 - A Disaster Called Television
- The Many Killers Of The Film Industry Vol. 3: Post-Ellipsis And Beyond Television
- House Trying To Rush Through Its Version Of PROTECT IP; Tech Industry Asks Why?
- PROTECT IP Renamed E-PARASITES Act; Would Create The Great Firewall Of America
This Week in 2006
- Copy Protected Music Ghettos Are Holding Back The Industry
- Network Neutrality Debate: It's All Relative
- Newspaper Pretends It Can Block Fair Use And Threaten Those Who Say It Can't
- MPAA Helps New York City Down The Path Of Pointless Legislation
- Using Trademark Law To Stop Free Speech
- RIAA Still Not Allowed To Get Free Access To Scour Your Hard Drive
Irvine, CA — MotoAmerica, North Americas premier motorcycle road racing series, is excited to announce a return to New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in 2027, with tickets officially on sale now for the September 10-12 weekend in Millville, New Jersey.
Fans can now lock in their plans for a weekend of premier-class racing at one of the most beloved circuits on the MotoAmerica calendar. The flowing Thunderbolt layout — fast, technical, and relentlessly entertaining — has a reputation as a track that simply never fails to deliver a show. With heavy braking zones and corners that reward commitment, Thunderbolt breeds the kind of close, bar-to-bar Superbike racing that keeps grandstands on their feet from green flag to checkered.
NJMP has become a late-season tradition for the series, and this year's Superbike visit produced one of the most dramatic weekends in MotoAmerica history. Former championship rivals and newly minted OrangeCat Racing teammates Bobby Fong and Sean Dylan Kelly rolled into Millville last year as rivals. Fong aboard a Yamaha trailing the BMW-mounted Kelly while both were locked in a super-close championship fight. The Nor'easter dampened weekend came down to a hold-your-breath Superbike finish that decided the title in the rain. When the spray finally settled, Fong had stormed to the 2026 championship crown while Kelly faltered in the final race — a finale that had the paddock buzzing long after the last bike rolled back into pit lane.
Bobby Fong (#50) mastered the wet conditions at NJMP in 2026, taking two of the three victories on the weekend and locking down this year's Superbike Title in the final race of the season. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
It's that kind of theater that has made NJMP a can't-miss stop on the calendar. The track's flowing character produces last-lap Superbike battles from the front of the field to the back, and the passionate New Jersey crowd brings an energy that riders say they can feel from the moment they roll out of pit lane.
Three days, one flowing circuit, and a crowd that never sits down — September at NJMP is appointment viewing for American motorcycle racing.
Tickets for the September 10-12, 2027, weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park are on sale now. Fans are encouraged to purchase early to secure the best seats for three days of Superbike racing at the Garden State's home of motorcycle road racing.
To purchase tickets for the 2027 MotoAmerica Superbikes at New Jersey event, CLICK HERE.
The post MotoAmerica: 2027 NJMP Tickets On Sale Now appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.
TL;DR: When you buy refurbished, you can get the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 13″ for just $834.99 (Reg. $999) plus a gift with purchase.
Tis the season to refresh all your electronics. Whether you're shopping for work, school, or for a loved one, now is the time to seek deals. — Read the rest
The post This is your chance to get a free gift when you purchase a refurbished Mac appeared first on Boing Boing.
I don't usually find the argument that a championship was won thanks to one specific incident during the season particularly convincing. You can say that the 5 points Valentino Rossi lost to Toni Elias at Estoril cost him the 2006 MotoGP title. But to do that, you have to ignore Rossi being taken out in the first corner of the first race in Jerez (again, by Toni Elias), his DNFs at Shanghai, Le Mans, and Laguna Seca, and last but not least, the fact that he crashed in the early laps of the final round at Valencia, when he had been leading the championship. Championships are long, and a lot can happen.
But I do think that when we come to look back at the 2026 MotoGP championship, we will zero in on lap 8 of the sprint race at Phillip Island a week ago, when Jorge Martin's bike got a fraction out of shape and he lost control going into Hayshed. He fractured his radius in that crash, and with two rounds following on consecutive weekends, that meant that any hope of turning his 2-point championship lead into a second MotoGP crown was as good as gone at that moment.
David Emmett Sat, 31/Oct/2026 - 20:19
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., speaks during a primary night watch party at the Hotel Saint Regis Detroit on Aug. 4, 2026. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images
Halloween weekend is the last chance for centrist Democrats to stop the nightmare they fear most: Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, who could be the first Muslim in the Senate.
The Michigan Democrat's campaign came under pressure from party moderates days out from the general election to denounce an ad produced by The Young Turks presenter Cenk Uygur and his Rebellion PAC. El-Sayed and his campaign were not involved in the production or distribution of the ad, which tied rising domestic prices to U.S. financial backing of the Israel military. But on Thursday, the campaign made the conciliatory gesture of distancing itself.
For centrists, it still wasn't enough.
Rather than take the win, Haley Stevens, the House member who lost to El-Sayed in Michigan's Democratic primary for Senate in August, used that condemnation on Friday as a springboard for a scathing denouncement of her former opponent, framed as a "celebration" of her magnanimous decision to campaign for El-Sayed this weekend alongside Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. — and laying out conditions for her support with just a few days to go.
In the statement, in which Stevens assigned herself the role as spokeswoman for Michigan's Black and Jewish communities — Stevens herself is a white Protestant — she all but called El-Sayed an antisemite and a bigot attempting to cozy up to the worst of the far right.
Related
The Spirit of "Party Unity, My Ass" Is Back and Coming for the DSA (and El-Sayed)
"I have learned from Democratic Party leaders and emissaries, as reported in the news media, that Dr. El-Sayed has heard the deep concerns of the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in this campaign, formally condemning that ad for what it is," Stevens wrote. "That is why I accepted Congressman Clyburn's invitation to appear with Abdul on Sunday."
Stevens's eleventh-hour ratfuck came after her fiancé Jason Turkish, a political donor who supported incumbent Maine Republican Susan Collins this cycle, as well as other politicians of both parties, announced he'd vote for the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, on Tuesday. On Friday night, Turkish told TMZ that his fiancee might join him if El-Sayed didn't accede to her list of demands.
Establishment Democrats see El-Sayed, and the politics he represents, as an existential threat. It's not his rather anodyne liberalism in domestic policy — his policy portfolio isn't far from that of party stalwart Elizabeth Warren — but El-Sayed's opposition to Israel's genocide of Palestinians that's the issue. It's a major problem for the entrenched, centrist Democrats who have controlled the party for decades and have tamped down any dissent on this issue.
Related
AIPAC Isn't Retreating. Here's How It's Already Shaping the Next Congress.
Recent polling is likely motivating efforts to ding the El-Sayed campaign. Senate polling from The New York Times/Siena University this week showed South Carolina in a dead heat — an absolute shocker — with Minnesota comfortably in the Democratic corner. CNN polling published on Thursday gave Democrats leads in Texas and Michigan and toss-ups in Maine and Kansas.
With a Senate majority on the horizon, centrists need to enforce discipline and regain control. AIPAC is down, but not out; the lobbying group still has a hold on the party, even as voters are moving away from pro-genocide policies.
Taking El-Sayed down would be a show of force to keep donors and the party's right wing happy. If Democrats can win the Senate without him, it would be all the better.
But the effort may be backfiring as a faction of party elites, led by popular former President Barack Obama, are putting their muscle behind the El-Sayed campaign. Obama has been a steady presence in Michigan, and Clyburn will rally for the candidate on Sunday at the aforementioned event that Stevens was set to attend.
Anger is also spreading among party members in the state.
"I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing," Mallory McMorrow, the Michigan state senator who placed third in the August primary, told CNN Friday night. "This is a moment where we have to recognize the stakes."
Stevens — who also demanded El-Sayed pull an ad showing far-right broadcaster Tucker Carlson saying he would "never" support the Republican in the race, Rogers — seems undeterred.
Given an inch by the campaign's willingness to publicly mend fences, Stevens took it several miles, using that ad as a way of implying that El-Sayed was, at best, disinterested in the concerns of Black Michiganders.
This last-minute blitz comes after months of attacks on El-Sayed by centrist Democrats, both before and after his primary win. The smears have been normalized and facilitated by a number of Democrats eager to stay on good terms with the party's powerful but increasingly marginalized pro-Israel wing. El-Sayed's connection to the streamer Hasan Piker, who helped get out the vote in the primary, has been a direct and implied slam on the campaign for over half a year from other members of the party.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday called opposition to Israel's existence as an apartheid ethnostate "more than concerning, it's wrong," on Donny Deutsch's podcast, adding, "This new person in Michigan, we'll see if he gets elected to the Congress." On CNN Wednesday, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker — a consistent pro-Israel voice — declined to directly endorse El-Sayed by name.
Right-wing Democrats aren't stupid. They know their influence over the party is at a historic low. The genocide in Gaza has pushed the base away from supporting Israel, perhaps permanently. Supermajorities of Democrats oppose the occupation and sympathize with Palestinians.
But the party's donor class still backs Israel to the hilt and is fomenting a war-on-terror-style Islamophobic bigotry toward Muslims. As Perry Bacon noted on Thursday in The New Republic, party elites attacked then-candidate for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani throughout 2025, then picked up where they left off with El-Sayed, the next prominent Muslim Democrat running for office, in 2026.
Related
Mike Rogers Spent $100K on Private Jets and Luxury Travel Last Quarter
The same Democrats who indulge in the attacks on El-Sayed are making hay out of rejecting more openly bigoted attacks from the likes of President Donald Trump and Rogers. Rep. Dan Goldman — an outgoing pro-Israel Democrat who jumped on the Condemn El-Sayed bandwagon earlier this week — called Republican attacks on El-Sayed "Islamaphobia" [sic] on Thursday; Booker did the same. And Pelosi, just days after her comments on Deutsch's show, urged Democrats to vote for El-Sayed.
Voters don't seem very interested in the back and forth. In a Marist poll of Michiganders released October 21, 95 percent of the state's Democrats said they support El-Sayed. There's no split in the party at the state level with respect to the nominee; the fight is at a higher, ideological level with a national stage.
As for El-Sayed, he seems done with Stevens and focused on the election. That rally on Sunday? Stevens isn't wanted there, Politico reported, as the El-Sayed campaign is making clear it would be a distraction. In a statement released Friday evening, the candidate said he is intent on fighting for affordability, defeating the GOP, and making sure the Senate seat stays blue.
With a Senate majority on the horizon, centrists will look to enforce discipline and regain control.
"That should be the priority for all of us right now," El-Sayed wrote. "So while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let's all focus on the task at hand: that's beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All."
Washing his hands of the wrecker behavior Stevens is engaging in at the final stretch of the campaign is a smart move for El-Sayed. After Tuesday, the Democratic Party should do the same for anyone who indulged in and encouraged it and present a united front against Trump. There's no room for anyone more interested in keeping their increasingly untenable right-wing ideology beyond voters' reproach — even if that means losing.
The post Centrist Democrats Would Rather Lose the Senate Than Win With El-Sayed appeared first on The Intercept.
Record Month — BEVs Reach 31% Market Share! BEVs remain in high demand in Europe, with pure electrics reaching a record 31% share last month thanks to a record 422,000 fully electric passenger cars being registered in Europe, which is not only a 63%(!) increase year over year (YoY), but ... [continued]
The post Record Demand Catches (Some) OEMs with Their Pants Down — Europe September 2026 appeared first on CleanTechnica.
US Federal Election Commission data revealed this week that Elon Musk has donated at least $445 million into Republican-aligned political action committees and groups since last year. Interestingly, it seems that Musk's deep influence isn't enough, and he is worried. If Democrats win big on Tuesday in midterm elections, Musk ... [continued]
The post Elon Musk's Attack Ads Are Backfiring As Midterms Near appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Thomas Waters, Imperial College London
Virtually all cultures and epochs fizz with magic. You might call it a secret ingredient of human life, because magic takes so many forms and serves so many functions.
One relatively new area of research among historians and archaeologists focuses on the use of magic and mysticism to protect buildings, gardens and their inhabitants. It's one of the many forms of magic I explore in my new book, Magick: Decoding the Visual Culture of Spells, Illusions and Psychic Powers.
Early modern Europe saw numerous reports of towns such as Schiltach in Germany in 1533 being burned by "incendiary witchcraft" and fire-starting demons. These dramatic examples, from an era of terrifyingly combustible domiciles, helps explain why so many people focused magical building protection on chimneys and around hearths.
Even today, people living comparatively safe and comfortable lives still use special objects and occult techniques to allay their anxieties and increase their sense of security.
A few years ago, a lovely volunteer guiding me around an ancient church in North Yorkshire explained she had planted a rowan tree in her garden. The purpose? To repel her neighbour's "evil eye". Rowan trees have been used in this way for centuries across the British Isles.
So, if you've got problem neighbours, or your house and garden seem to suffer from bad luck, perhaps it's time to try a magical solution.
1. Protective plants
Medicinal plants, medical herbs, botanical illustrations, plate 2 - from Larousse du XXème siècle 1932 image by EN NOIR & BLANC. CC0
Trees, herbs and other plants were and are used to defend properties against dangers both natural and supernatural. The 17th-century botanist Nicholas Culpeper's Complete Herbal (1653) claimed that a bay tree in the garden protects from witchcraft, the devil and lightning.
Betony, meanwhile, was said to be good against liver disease, epidemics and witchcraft, while bittersweet nightshade was believed to be effective against harmful sorcery.
Across Britain and Europe, a rosemary bush in the garden was supposed to protect from harmful night witches, who would be caught up counting every leaf until the light of morning dispelled their evil powers. In the Americas, chilli peppers have long been regarded as evil-averting, and were sometimes fixed to doors to repel harmful powers.
2. Mystical symbols
A hexafoil marking on the inside of All Saint's church in Worlington, Suffolk image by Medievalg. CC BY-SA 3.0
In early modern Europe and beyond, five- and six-pointed stars were inscribed into wood and mortar to repel evil.
Magical instructional texts known today as "grimoires" - including the tiny Booke of Experiments (1622) now held in Oxford's Bodleian Library - explain that these star symbols helped overcome enemies.
Some inscriptions may have been masons' marks to assist construction. However, the concentration of these symbols in certain areas of historic buildings suggests they may also have been intended to repel witchcraft and other harmful influences.
We have less certainty about the significance of another recurrent symbol - two interlocking Vs. During the early modern era, these were quite widely inscribed into beams, walls and doors. The reference may be derived from the medieval Christian phrase Virgo Virginum, meaning Virgin of Virgins.
The meaning of hexafoils or daisy wheels - made up of six ellipses in a circle - is even less certain. While some think these were mason's marks or just decoration, the positioning of hexafoils at key entry and danger points (around fires and chimneys) again raises the possibility of a more mystical purpose.
3. Magical architecture
The town of Schiltach in Germany, burned by 'incendiary witchcraft' and fire-starting demons. Image from 1929 publication of Compendium Maleficarum image by Francesco Maria Guazzo. Public domain
Throughout world history, researchers have found that many buildings feature some forms of magical protection. Medieval Chinese masonry guides, for example, advised on the placement of demon tiles and figurines to scare away burglars and evil spirits.
In Spain's Aragon region during the 17th and 18th centuries and even beyond, geometric shapes on chimney flutes were said to confuse evil-doing witches with intricate designs.
On the Channel Island of Jersey, stones protruding from chimneys seem to have been originally added to stop rain damaging cottage roofs. However, during the 18th and 19th centuries, these "witches' seats" became known as resting places for flying witches. According to this way of thinking, it was best to placate rather than attack or retaliate against magical evildoers.
4. Witch bottles
Witch bottle protective charm used to ward off or reverse malicious witchcraft and curses image by Portable Antiquities Scheme. CC BY 2.0
These macabre and somewhat unhygienic magical objects, created to break bewitchments, were fairly popular across Europe between the early modern era and the early 20th century.
Witch bottles generally contained the fingernails, hair or urine of a person supposed to have been bewitched, along with other objects like bent pins and cloth hearts.
Some were buried and others boiled or left up the chimney. The aim, generally, was to attack the witch's bladder, to make them reveal themselves, stop their magical attacks, or perhaps die. Secrecy was important: speaking about the witch bottle was supposed to break the spell.
5. Special stones
Ein sogenannter Hühnergott, ein Feuerstein mit einem natürlich entstandenen Loch. Fundort: Küste bei Lohme (Rügen).
Across East Asia, Shigandang stones are used to protect public places and private dwellings. They evoke the holy Mount Tai mountain in China's Shandong Province, said to be so heavy it can hold down any evil.
Naturally holed stones, often known as "hag stones", were widely used across Britain in the 19th century to provide good luck, as well as to protect from witchcraft and bad dreams. Large examples might be left in the front garden, whereas smaller hag stones were hung from a bedpost or beams in a barn.
In recent years, the crafting and use of hag stones has undergone something of a renaissance among modern witches - who overwhelmingly undertake positive magic while rejecting harm - and other esoteric practitioners.
6. Religious objects
A ḥilya - description of the Prophet (Hilya al-nabi) image by Hafız Osman (1698). Public domain
In 19th-century Britain, sleeping with a Bible close by the bed, or even under the pillow, was a fairly common method to keep away harmful powers and nightmares.
In Ireland until the early 20th century, crosses surrounded by circles were sometimes drawn on farm walls or inscribed into mortar to keep away the "good people", as capricious and dangerous fairies were euphemistically known.
In the Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, calligraphers specialised in the creation of evil-repelling hilyas or hilyes - beautiful scrolls extolling the virtues of the Prophet Muhammad, which could be worn in cases as amulets or hung on walls for supernatural home protection.
Magic takes many forms. Yet in everyday life, it is often a low-key form of supernatural self-defence, soothing anxieties and taming troubles - psychologically, if not literally.
This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.
Thomas Waters, Lecturer in History, Imperial College London
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Katoen Natie has put two all-electric mobile harbour cranes into service at the Port of Antwerp, with four more joining them across three deep-sea multipurpose terminals. The completed fleet will include four 200-tonne cranes and two 150-tonne machines, with paired lifting capacity reaching 400 tonnes. Katoen Natie expects the six ... [continued]
The post Antwerp's Electric Cranes Can Handle More Than Today's Cargo appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Adaptive Tools That Make Your Work Easier
Hex Key Handles
How did I go so long without one of these simple hex key T-handles? I've known about them for years and thought about them every time I was cursing my way through assembling flat-pack furniture, I finally got some, and they're great. I got a pack of three cheap, chunky plastic ones and the size is perfect for confident gripping with arthritic hands. The handles are made to accept a variety of common hex sizes, and they're designed to be used either in a T- or L-handle configuration. At under $2 each, you definitely want some of these around your home and shop.
Exploring Weird Tools Concepts and the Infimaker 5-Axis Desktop CNCWhile this Laura Kampf video is basically a promotion for the forthcoming Infimaker 5-Axis Desktop CNC, it uses that opportunity to explore an "Is this crazy or clever?" idea. Laura wants to know if there's any real value in a disk-shaped measuring tool that you keep in your pocket and roll across surfaces and material for rough measuring. She uses the Infimaker to go down the rabbit hole of the idea to see if it's worth pursuing. Moving quickly (and cheaply) from idea to prototype is a real superpower in developing product ideas, so you can definitely see how a machine like this could be a serious asset. The Infimaker had a successful $4.7 million crowdfunding campaign in Sept. The machines are allegedly shipping in early 2027.
Marveling at Cheap Flat-Pack
My wife recently bought a "baker's rack" to use as a microwave and coffee stand in her art studio. As soon as I saw it on our doorstep, I knew I had a job ahead of me. The heavy box (for a 21.7" x 14.6" x 49.4" shelving unit) was disturbingly small. I knew it was going to be filled with a TinkerToy collection of short box-tubing components and a big-ass bag o' hardware. It was.
It took me two nights of after-dinner work to get it all put together. And those hours also became a kind of meditation on the mad genius of international consumer manufacturing and trade.
I don't mean that as a hymn to global consumer capitalism. There are plenty of uncomfortable questions buried inside cheap imported goods: labor, environmental costs, shipping, disposability. But I couldn't help marveling at the amount of mostly invisible intelligence embodied in this mundane under-$50 object.
Somebody had to design a nearly 50-inch-tall rack with four shelves, a built-in power strip, and enough strength to hold a microwave, coffee maker, etc. And design it so that it would fit into that alarmingly small shipping box.
Then there's the manufacturing. There must have been 25 or 30 main components, plus a heavy sack of hardware. The tubing was nicely powder-coated, the shelves were decent, and dozens of holes drilled into dozens of different parts somehow had to line up perfectly. As I worked, I could imagine this deft balancing act of trade-offs around engineering, materials, and precision manufacturing, all within the reality of razor-thin margins.
Somebody designed it. Somebody sourced the tubing, shelving lumber, fasteners, electrical components, and packaging. Somebody worked out the manufacturing, assembly sequence, and instructions. Somebody figured out how to pack it into that tiny carton. Then it entered the vast global Rube Goldberg machinery of factories, warehouses, container ships, ports, trucks, and delivery networks before landing on our porch.
Again, you can't help but feel like $49 is too cheap, and image the real costs are simply showing up somewhere else. But after two nights of cursing the thing, I found myself admiring it and the processes by which it had come to me. Human beings on the other side of the world had been handed a nearly absurd set of constraints: Make it sturdy. Make it useful. Make it decent-looking. Make all the holes line up. Make it fit into a tiny box. Ship it halfway around the world. And price the damned thing under fifty bucks. How the hell do they do that?
Still Sweet on ItTools That Remain Favorites
Three years ago, when I got a new remote job that I knew would require a lot of weekly Zoom meetings, I knew I needed decent video lighting for my office. Not knowing what sorts of lights I would ultimately require, I went onto Amazon and ordered a cheap set of LED panel lights on adjustable stands to tide me over until I could figure out what a really needed. Three years later, and I still have the same lights and see no reason to upgrade. When I bought these UBessize lights on stands, they were only $30. Today, they're even lower, at $25! The stands are a bit rickety, and everything smacks of cost-cutting and minimal amounts of material. But the lights work great, there are four brightness levels, and the stands are adjustable. They even come with five color filters. Honestly, when these eventually die, I'll likely just get the same ones again. For my needs, they're perfect. I even sometimes pair them with a USB power brick so I can move them around for close-up photography lighting.
Workshop Setup
Donald Kinnaman packs the contents of an entire workshop into a 90-sq. ft. metal shed next to his Phoenix, Arizona, home. He rolls the machines he needs out onto the covered patio behind his house and goes to work.
In a recent Tools for Possibility on Cool Tools, the subject was workshop setup. There are a lot of really great ideas here, from creating a simple tabletop spray booth from a box and a fan, using PVC pipes for tool storage, and shopping carts as mobile workstations.
Turning a Broken Caulking Gun into a Vise
In this Taku Woodcraft Instagram video, Takurou shows how he cleverly constructed a useful bench top cutting vise using a discarded caulking gun mechanism.
I now have well over 10,000 subscribers to this humble little newsletter. And 50 paid subscribers. A million thanks to all of you. Doing this newsletters is a true joy for me and I especially like feeling like I'm connected to a community of fellow makers. Thanks to everyone who's sent me an email, made a comment, shared a tip or tool. Let's keep the ball rolling for another 200 issues!
If you want to financially support this work, please consider a paid subscription. It helps keep me in PB Swiss. I appreciate you.
A very special thanks to Hero of the Realm subscribers: Moses Hawk, Jim Coraci, Donobster, Peter Sugarman, and Will Phillips for your generous support.
TL;DR: Get a High-Definition Monocular Telescope with 50×60 magnification, a phone clip, and a tripod — on sale for $39.99 (reg. $54.99).
Cheap concert tickets usually come with a view of the performer about the size of a grain of rice. — Read the rest
The post Upgrade your nosebleed seats with a $39.99 high-def monocular appeared first on Boing Boing.
