http://toolmonger.com/2009/07/10/mom-and-pop-places/

http://toolmonger.com/?p=27194

Everyone here has probably suffered the plight of searching through a high-volume store which may or may not have that fiddling little part you need to finish up a project. A can of stain, a loose bolt, or a bit of sheet metal can be devilishly hard to find, especially in massive chain stores with their wares stacked forty feet high and maintained by salespeople who may not have any idea where to find what you need or what you’re talking about.

The answer? Most toolmongers probably know it: the local hardware store. Though they won’t be able to sell you enough drywall to put a second floor on your house, that little two-room hardware store at the end of the block is a great way to find what you need. The owners are usually the ones manning the counter, and tend to know their inventory inside out and backwards. You enter with a question, leave with a solution, and your money stays close by.

(Thanks to Flickr user moyix for this great CC-licensed photo.)

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/simon_mwauras_junk-built_home_autom.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

The really cool thing about the maker featured in this YouTube video is that his home automation system is cobbled together from salvaged components and bits of junk. My advice is to ignore the insipid voice-over and fast-forward to 0:23, where the good stuff starts. Via AfriGadget.

http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/07/surgical_adhesives_targeting_specific_tissue_properties_for_improved_stickiness_1.html

Tissue adhesives for surgical procedures are becoming more and more popular, because they are commonly used as a replacement for suturing. Improving the quality of these adhesives can be achieved if the material is custom tuned to the tissue type that it will be sticking to. Now MIT researchers, in collaboration with investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona, have developed a line of glues, each targeting a different tissue type.

From the MIT announcement:

"The delineation of tissue-specific mechanisms for material adhesion leads the way for tailoring materials to individual needs and applications. This exciting work may well change the clinical use and continued evolution of soft-tissue sealants and adhesive materials," said Elazer R. Edelman, principal investigator and MIT's Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Professor of Health Sciences and Technology.

Adhesive sealants could improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs by cutting medical complications after surgery, such as leakage through incisions, and improved wound healing, according to Natalie Artzi, a postdoctoral associate who led the research in Edelman's lab.

Although there is already a billion-dollar market for such adhesives, "they haven't reached their true potential," Artzi said. Existing materials have limitations that often force doctors to compromise between adhesion strength and tissue reaction. For example, said Artzi, for a given tissue, the material may be adhesive but release toxins that could affect healing. Alternatively, the material could be quite tissue compatible, but degrade quickly, becoming non-adhesive. If the glue doesn't work, a doctor must switch to sutures or staples.

The problem, according to the MIT team is that while surgical adhesives rely on intimate interactions between the adhesive and the tissue in question, the properties of the target tissue have been largely ignored in designing adhesives. Instead, "one general formulation is proposed for application to the full range of soft tissues across diverse clinical applications," Artzi and colleagues wrote in their Advanced Materials paper.

The new work characterized a variety of interactions between one kind of glue (hyrogels composed of polyethylene glycol and dextran aldehyde, or PEG: dextran for short) and tissue from a rat's heart, lung, liver and duodenum (the first section of the intestine). The team found, for example, that the glue worked well with tissue from the duodenum, but poorly with that from the lung.

They then went on to "identify the functional groups in the material that are responsible for adhesion with tissue functional groups, and created a model to optimize adhesion for each tissue," Artzi said. In particular the paper explains how variation of chemical reactive groups in the material could be matched to the variability in the density of respective reactive groups on different tissues to regulate tissue-material interaction.

Press release: MIT team aims to tailor surgical glues for specific applications

Image: interface between a surgical glue (green) and tissue samples (red, blue and black) from the heart, lung, liver, and duodenum. The glue works best with duodenum tissue (note smooth interface), and worst with lung tissue (pockmarked with holes).

Abstract in Advanced Materials: Aldehyde-Amine Chemistry Enables Modulated Biosealants with Tissue-Specific Adhesion

http://toolmonger.com/2009/07/10/doh-headlight-trouble/

http://toolmonger.com/?p=27237

We can’t really say we’ve been here exactly, because we haven’t, but we do understand the busted-ass-car-have-no-money syndrome. It’s a crippling disease that strikes us all at one time or another. In this example we have what used to be a nice car, now ravaged with duct tape and a few flashlights.

With a little bailing wire and a few pieces of gum, this aftermarket install would be a perfect candidate for Mad Mike to do some of that electronic pimping he’s famous for. It’s a horrible waste of a good Mag-Lite too.

Note* Props to Joel for sending us to There, I Fixed It.

MacGyver Headlight [There, I Fixed it]

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/how-to_cheap_standoffs_from_nylon_t.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

CuriousInventor points out this head-slappingly simple substitute for standoffs - likely of interest to anyone whose marvelled at how much these bits of hardware can actually cost -

Tan Tran came up with a cheap substitute for aluminum standoffs: nylon tubing. Polyethylene does a decent job too, and can be had for under $.10 a foot at your local hardware store. The 1/4" OD (outside diameter) stuff shown in these pics accommodates up to #8 size screws.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ufpmPTr3liE/altoids-tin-catapult-enforces-your-cubicle-kingdom

You annoying co-workers are always asking to "borrow" a mint, then return to their desks to annoy you with overly-loud headphone tunes. Speed up their mint deliveries and earn major creative cred with this clever Altoids tin project.

All it takes is an Altoids Gum tin, a coat hanger, electrical tape, rubber bands, a coat hanger, and a small bit of cardboard to turn a measuring spoon into a surpisingly forceful catapult. We haven't tried it out ourselves—we usually have nobody to take aggression out on at home offices but our pets—but you can see the power of similar models in various web videos. By the time next Friday rolls around, Tony from QA will have to to start working on that binder clip trebuche if he wants to lay claim to your realm once again.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thesimpledollar/~3/9GZnFEF2QK0/

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=3955

A reader asked me if I could break down my ideas into a handful of principles. After some careful thought, I came up with a list of fourteen basic “rules” that summarize my money and life philosophy. I’ll be presenting these as a weekly series.

This rule is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, of course. Many of you started visiting The Simple Dollar because you came to this realization on your own - high interest debt is a terrible idea, and even low interest debts are a terrible idea. Let’s count the ways.

The higher the interest rate, the more money you lose with nothing in return. Leave a $1,000 debt on a credit card with an 5.5% APR for a year and you lose $55 - not good. But if you bump that amount up to a level that’s typical for credit cards - say, 19.9% - and you’re up to $199 a year. Gone. Poof. Vanished.

The higher the debt level, the more money you lose with nothing in return. So, you have $1,000 debt on a credit card with a 19.9% APR and you lose $199 a year. Bump that up to $5,000 and you’re losing $998 a year. Gone. Nothing in return.

You’re open to late payment fees, over-limit fees, annual fees, ATM fees, cash advance fees, and countless other drains on your money. If there’s a way to ding you, credit card companies will figure out how to do it. A fee here, a fee there, and you’re suddenly watching even more money evaporate for nothing in return.

A required debt payment each month reduces your freedom. With that $5,000 debt above, you’re paying about $100 every single month as a minimum payment. That’s $100 you could be saving for a down payment. That’s $100 you could be saving to start a business. That’s $100 you could be saving for a car. That’s $100 you could be saving towards retiring early. That’s $100 you could be saving towards a great vacation. Your freedom is gone, eaten by the debt monster.

The mere presence of high interest debt often brings other debt into your life. You make a big commitment to getting rid of all of this debt, then start really bearing down on it. You get half of the debt gone, then all of a sudden disaster strikes. You lose your job. Your car breaks down. Your hot water heater leaks water all over the basement. Suddenly, you’re busting out the plastic again to take care of the problem - and you’re right back deep into debt. It’s like escaping from quicksand - if all of your strokes are perfect, you can pull yourself out slowly, but if even one little thing goes wrong, you’re slurped right back in.

In other words, it costs you money, costs you freedom, and puts you into a vicious cycle of even more debt.

There are really two prongs to getting out of this trap. Whether you’re avoiding it entirely or you’re trying to escape from the pit of despair, there’s one big first step you must take.

Build a Small Emergency Fund
The first step is not paying off debt. Paying off debt first is like kicking to get out of quicksand without getting your arms around something safe first - you might be able to kick out, but if anything goes wrong, you’ll just be sucked in deeper.

So, no matter what state you’re in, give yourself that rock - a cash emergency fund, sitting in a savings account. It doesn’t need to be too big - $1,000 should be your big target, but just start by putting $20 a week into savings - or more if you can swing it. Instruct your bank to do this automatically. Do it right now - call up your bank and ask them to do it.

You won’t miss that $20 a week. Your life will quickly find little ways to save - you’ll eat a few less expensive meals, start carpooling with a friend, or skip a few coffee shop visits and you’re there. What happens is that over the course of three months, your savings account reaches $250. After just shy of a year, your savings account will have $1,000 in it.

If you’re already making extra payments on your debts and you don’t have an emergency fund, stop those overpayments for a while and deposit that extra amount into your savings each month until you reach that $1,000.

Leave this money alone except for an emergency. You might be tempted to spend it on something fun or to pay off a big slug of debt with it. Don’t. That money is your rock - it’ll be there for you if your car breaks down or you lose your job. You won’t be sucked back into debt by these unfortunate events - your savings will save you.

What do you do when you reach that $1,000 level? Many people keep saving. Then, once a month, they sweep anything over $1,000 back into their checking and use it to make an extra debt payment, knocking down their debt without touching their $1,000 emergency fund.

Here’s the big key: if you do face that emergency, like having your car break down or losing your job, and you tap that emergency fund, replenish the fund after the emergency. Go back to minimum payments on your debts and rebuild that fund. It’s your rock.

I’ve written a detailed guide to building your first emergency fund if you want to know more.

Make a Debt Repayment Plan
When you have that emergency fund in place, it’s time to start tackling your debts in an intelligent fashion. Make a big list of all of your debts; then, attempt to get the rate on each of those debts reduced. Give your credit card companies a call and negotiate your rate down. Contact your local credit union and see if there are any opportunities to consolidate your debt at a lower rate.

Once you’ve done these things, list all of your remaining debts in order of interest rate, with the highest rate first. Then throw everything you can at the highest interest rate debt. Your only extra payment should be towards this top debt, and it should be the biggest overpayment you can muster without tapping your emergency fund. Live lean. Sell off stuff you don’t use. Find ways to earn a few extra bucks to throw at it.

Once that first debt is gone, throw everything at the next one, then the next one, then the next one. Your extra payments will grow larger because you’ve got fewer minimum payments to make, and soon you’ll find yourself free.

I’ve written a detailed guide to building a debt repayment plan, too.

Avoiding High Interest Debt
I’m not a “no debt” absolutist. I think that home mortgages are often worthwhile for most people, and I think credit cards can be a useful tool if used carefully.

Having said that, many people do not use credit cards carefully. Instead of carefully using them as a tool during very regular purchases (like gas) and then setting the cash aside to pay the bill in full each month, they use credit cards mindlessly to buy whatever they throw in their shopping cart, not worrying too much about prices because, hey, the credit card will cover it!

Bad idea. If you have any inclination in that direction, cut up your credit cards, seriously. It’s the equivalent of swinging a chainsaw around with your eyes closed after knocking back three shots - you might luck out and wind up safe, but it’s more likely to wind up bloody and painful.

Instead, adopt a different approach. Leave your card at home most of the time. When you do use it, use it for specific purposes, like using a BP credit card and use it only at BP gas stations so you can get a nice kick back, or use the Target Visa only at Target to get 10% off your entire purchase regularly, and pay off the balance in full every time. Otherwise, leave it at home and use a debit card (one that features a Visa or MasterCard logo) for your purchases because then you’re actually accountable for every dime you spend while still enjoying the convenience of card use.

There are two big reasons for using this approach instead of going entirely down the cash road. First, it builds a positive credit rating, and a good credit rating improves your insurance rates and helps your employment opportunities. Second, using cards only in a very targeted fashion - as shown above - and paying off the bills in full each time results in some sweet cash kickbacks - 3% at least.

You’ve just got to respect the tool - and not start swinging it around like a toddler with an axe.