My friend and uber-entrepreneur Randy Cohen introduced me to the TIKKR watch. Simple, clean design that comes in three colors–white, black and orange (it is from Austin after all). The watch band is rubber and it encases the watch. The cost…$65. Have to say have gotten more compliments per dollar than almost any watch I own. My wife’s stolen the white version for herself. You can find more about this watch at http://www.tikkrwatch.com/

By the way WOD stands for Watch of the Day. This is a new series I am starting on Gizmohound.com If I wear a new watch on a day, I’ll snap a picture of it and include a brief description. If you can still buy it, I’ll try to include a link to the product. A review? Maybe…but mostly just show off some fun watches.

Have you lost the key to your filing cabinet or desk? Do you want to replace the key core? Most office furniture locks have a number on them. That number combined with the furniture manufacturer’s name allows you to order a new key. You may be able to get the key at your local locksmith. If you want to order it online Easykeys.com offers a simple solution. Just choose the manufacturer’s name and the lock number and Easykey will have the key on it’s way. If it’s urgent you can even get them to deliver it next day air. Destroyed the lock and need a replacement? Easykey also sells lock cores.

www.easykey.com

Obsessed (or merely want to learn more about) Knife Maintenance and Sharpening?  eGullet has a detailed guide to knife maintenance and sharpening

Website and Blogs are adequate if you need information but sometimes you have a unique question that is best answered by another enthusiast.   There are a wide variety of forums on the Internet where people will help you answer your specific questions.

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system.   A great deal of my initial knowledge of computer systems came from dial up BBS’es–to this day I remember the phone number of long-gone BBS’.

Now before you go off and start posting in a forum, you need to learn a bit about forum etiquette.  My first bit of advice–read a few of the existing forum posts.  Reading forum posts will give you an idea of the style of that particular forum (is it closer to a neighborhood club or more like a university classroom).  Pamela Stevens has a good list of 25 Forum Posting Etiquette Tips that are worth reading.

Read more »

Photo Freeware (http://www.photo-freeware.net/) has put together a great collection of free photo software. Need a tool to resize your photos, it’s there…a tool to do panoramas…you can find it. Well worth a look around.

A lot of my friends buy cameras based on the number of megapixels and then expect higher quality images.  Image sensor size (actually sensor density) has a much higher correlation with image quality than the number of megapixels.  Larger sensors capture images with less noise and greater dynamic range than smaller sensors.  Wikipedia has a great graphic that illustrates the size of sensor found in most common cameras (click for original graphic size).  Sites like dpreview.com offer statistics on image density.  Consider sensor density when buying your next camera.

Image sensor format – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Nikon D70 had been sitting around unused (because I’d bought the Nikon D300) so I decided to convert it to become an infrared camera using a kit from Lifepixel.  Feeling in an adventurous mood, I decided to do the conversion myself instead of having Lifepixed do it for me.  Much to my surprise I was successful.

One of the things Lifepixel will do for you is adjust the focus so that the camera focuses correctly for infrared.   I decided to investigate how hard it’d be to adjust the focus for infrared myself and I found Leon Goodman’s article on the internet.  It still intimidates me a bit (most particularly taping the mirror up with cellophane tape—what kind of residue will that leave?).  I’ll let you know if I get adventurous—meanwhile the link to the article is below.

Camera Focus Article

Flying somewhere? Can you use your cell phone while driving? Do you have to use a handset? Is it all just illegal. What happens when you crash you car. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association has a useful chart that oulines cell phone laws by state. The chart is available at:

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

Ran across an interesting wrench at one of my favorite tool sites – www.toolmonger.com.  The manufacturer, Expedition Tools,  claims that the wrench is the first and only hydrokinetically adjusted wrench that can cover a size from 1/4″ – 3/4″ (7-19mm).  You adjust it by moving a piston.  Because it contacts the bolt on 3 sides the manufacturer claims it’ll remove damaged nuts and bolts that other wrenches cannot remove.   Cost is $25 on Amazon.com. 

Expedition Tools – Introduction Video

Crap!  I could see it happening in slow motion.  I pushed a library step stool out of my way in the kitchen and it managed to roll 20’ to the stairs and bounce down….and crash right into the drywall leaving a good size hole.   I really am not good at patching drywall holes and making the texture come out correctly. 

Luckily, on my trip to Home Depot I found a couple of products from Homax that make the job easy.  First  Homax makes a wall patch that helps you cover the hole.   The patch consists of a self-adhesive mesh that holds a galvanized metal plate.   Three sizes are available: 4", 6", and 8"—luckily the 8” patch covered the whole.   By refinishing over the product you can create an invisible patch.

After you’ve covered the hole with a metal patch and sanded it smooth—you can texture over it by using one Homax’s spray textures.  You can get a variety of textures to match your existing texture.  Our house uses Orange peel.  A really cool feature of the new nozzle design is you can vary the density of the texture by simply turning a nozzle. 

Homax is kind enough to put some instructional videos on their website to help novices.

Other products include a patch for doorknob holes and a patch for holes around electrical outlets.