unbillable hours

Boing Boing: Seven-headed task-light

Link: Boing Boing: Seven-headed task-light.

Gerber -- whose multitools are the best in the world, for my money -- have shipped an sevent-headed LED flashlight whose bulbs are individually poseable to illuminate different parts of a tricky, underlighted project or room. It's called the "Inferno Flexlight" and can be hung, posed, or held.

Incidentally, while Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow lusts after Gerber's multi-tool, I've always preferred the Leatherman Fuse (link goes to Campmor, the New Jersey outdoors superstore that I've been addicted to since I was a cub scout), with locking blades. 

Add this to the covet list.

It's hard to make good coffee while backpacking.  At the same time, backpacking presents an occasion where coffee is more desired than most other occasions (outside of law school finals).  I've seen a few options, though, that promise to work better than the traditional camp percolator or jury rigged stovetop espresso maker.  Jetboil relies on the fact that most backcountry cooking is based on boiling.  Therefore, its personal cooking system is basically a stove designed to quickly boil water within an insulated container better than most backcountry stoves do in traditional pots.  Jetboil also has a French press that fits its closed container perfectly.  Last time I checked EMS and Dick's Sporting Goods, Jetboil cost about $80.  I'm tempted to go that route, since my backpacking trip to Cape Breton proved that I need a new camping stove, but I don't necessarily want to spend the money yet.  Pressbot, found via Boing Boing, is a good option, I'm guessing, for those who want a French press but don't want to buy the Jetboil system.  It fits within a wide-mouth Nalgene bottle, with a clever folding mechanism for its press.  It's about $20, according to the website.  (PS, if either manufacturer needs me to test their product, I would be happy to make such a "sacrifice.")