Work stuff: what makes a good work environment possible

Great Hackers

Gadgetry

I love gadgetry. I was first taken into hardware stores at an early age by my mother, who treats aisles full of screws and bathroom fixtures the way many women treat the shoe department. So blame her. I still love pliers and paint, but there's all kinds of cool stuff out there which is a bit more up to date:

A USB-powered coffee-cup warmer. Does it get any better? Every tech company in the world should offer these as promotional gadgets.

Space: the final gadget frontier (yes, I know, it's really a bigger deal than that - and that's why this is here.) Courtesy of the Mars rover landing, check out the panoramic view of Mars. Takes a while to load, but definitely worth it. More photo-related stuff: an optical simulation of the way an oak tree looks from various differences. And this is the highest-pixel-count photo currently available, plus miscellaneous info on digital cameras.

A cat translation device may be coming soon to a retail store near you. Funny yet disturbing.

Recycling is good. Close The Loop is very cool in theory, although I don't know when or if I'll actually have a need for playground equipment. More relevant might be Whole House Building Supply & Salvage, which offers all kinds of cool stuff from demolished buildings.