And now, a nice sighting from Pil and Galia. They report buying a coffee press made by Bodum, a leading maker of these ingenious devices. And on the bottom of the box came this enlightening revelation: “Boiling water and children should be kept apart” At first I actually thought this was said in jest, a … Read more
Sometimes you find elegant design in the places you least expect it. We stayed in the Dan Carmel in Haifa, and the small supplies in the bathroom came in color-coordinated little boxes: shower cap, cotton pads, the usual stuff. Still, they failed to go all the way: they had tall bottles for the shampoo and … Read more
They say that form follows function. So – take a look at the form of this strange device, which stands about a meter tall. Can you guess its function? No, it isn’t a trashcan with dreadlocks. I saw this thing in the Biosphere at Potsdam. This pleasant museum is smaller and less ambitious (should I … Read more
These days, every product and service come with scary warnings intended to cover the maker’s back side in case you harm yourself. Electrical appliances warn you not to drop them in water (Duh!), restaurant menus tell you you can die by eating their food (not here, thank God, but in the US they do), coffee … Read more
Learning what makes things tick is a major pleasure for a techie… read my opinionated view on how one should teach the structure and function of objects, whether natural or technological, in the latest article on my Possibly Interesting web site.
A major cause of accidents and frustration is trying to use the wrong tool for the job. Professionals usually know, and have available, the right tool. Amateurs and beginners may be blissfully unaware of it. When I was just starting into homebrew electronics in my teens, I actually used to drill holes in metal with … Read more
A gem I saw in a museum recently: this is a large cuneiform-inscribed cylinder, maybe 3-4 inches thick, which describes the building activities of king Nebuchadnezzar (better known in the bible for his opposite exploit when he destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC). Anyway, in one of those moments of associative memory, it struck me how … Read more
I bought a screen protector for the LCD display on the back of my Nikon D40, and I just have to share the wonderful text on the back of the package, which reads: I’ve already expressed my incredulity at this sort of stuff; this one is just for your reading enjoyment. Incidentally, the product itself … Read more
I was visiting a hospital, and passed by a seminar room where my eye caught the items in the photo, sitting on a custom stand in the corner. Remember these? Used to be, they were so ubiquitous that they were instantly recognizable: an overhead foil projector and a circular magazine slide projector. These days, no … Read more
The day I left New York to fly back to Israel I bought, on an impulse, a CardScan business card scanner at Best Buy. I’d received all these cards from colleagues at the IORG conference, and the thought of typing all the details into my computer was depressing… Anyway, I got home, installed the software, … Read more
