makezine.com: TNT, Round 23: Tied Up In Knots

TNT Newsletter for October 26, 2007

Coordinate an event, save money, clean those sinuses, clamp down, and get hitched.

Dear Readers,

I'm feeling a rope theme for this installment of TNT. Some reviews are literally about rope, like the Clamptite and HitchMaster, and others are more useful for getting you out of a jam. If you've tied knots around yourself time-wise, you might like Fasterplan, which lets you rope your indecisive friends and colleagues into some semblance of a cohesive event. Or if you're in a money-related bind, check out Sound Money Tips, a site which posts financial advice. Have a string theory about the state of your sinuses? Look at Noah W's Neti Pot how-to on Instructables. (I know, I know — shouldn't have gone there, but how often do you get to use "string theory" and sinuses in the same sentence?)

Sometimes a Trucker's Hitch is all you need to tie down your belongings on the windy highway of life, but it's always a good idea to avoid tying yourself up in knots.

Strictly metaphorical,
Arwen O'Reilly
Staff Editor, MAKE Magazine
http://makezine.com
toolbox@makezine.com

MAKE: Halloween Special Edition Two-Pack!

MAKE: Halloween, from the editors of MAKE and CRAFT, brings you 40-plus DIY projects for the holiday that's made for makers. From the craftiest costumes to amazing animated props and the latest in computer-controlled haunted house effects. With this special two pack you get the original cover illustration and the alternate cover version featuring Make Blog dude Phil Torrone as our resident "Mad" Scientist! This alternate cover is only available at the Maker Store. Limited stock.

Order your collector's copies now and let the haunting begin!!

Clean Your Sinuses

Reviewed by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Cean-Your-Sinuses/

It's cold season! I've been using a Neti Pot for years to clear out my sinuses (my GP recommended it), but this how-to by Noah from Instructables just tickles my funny bone. If you're feeling under the weather, salt water rinses (or gargle for sore throats) are the way to go; surfers have known this for years.

Discussion

HitchMaster

Reviewed by Tallon
http://www.akcooltools.com/index.html
$50

A rope pulley without wheels! No jammed wheels, easy to use, doesn't break. Carry it on your belt or in your pocket — what could be better? I have had mine for about seven years; it goes backpacking, hunting, and off-roading with me, and it's used around the house. Originally from Australia, this rope winch has a multitude of uses: winching, as a pulley, or as a tie-down.

Discussion

Event Coordination

Reviewed by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith
http://fasterplan.com

Gina Trapani at LifeHacker posted about a cool-sounding new collaborative event organizer. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like it's perfect for everything from organizing your monthly poker night to setting up business meetings.

Here's Gina's writeup: "Fasterplan lets groups collaborate on planning events by hammering out the details on a dynamic "billboard." Set up a Fasterplan billboard for your event and drag and drop widgets onto it—like polls ("Where should we eat afterwards?"), date finders ("When's good for you?"), images, and text notes. Get your event billboard's permalink and email it out to all your friends to answer the polls and plan your get-together."

Discussion

Sound Money Tips

Reviewed by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith
http://soundmoneytips.com

Sound Money Tips is a nice site to keep yourself on top of your game. They post a short personal finance tip every day. Some are pretty obvious (like "stay organized" — wow, thanks), but others delve a little more deeply into things we know we should be on top of, but aren't quite sure where to start. (A recent favorite is this post, which has tips for getting a lower interest rate on your credit card.) You can even sign up to receive the tips by email.

Discussion

Clamptite

Reviewed by Tallon
http://www.clamptitetools.com/Home.html
$69

Need to clamp just about anything together? Have some wire or a coat hanger lying about? This is a cool, easy-to-use tool, used to clamp, tie, or join things together. Simple to carry around, and I think it's a lot easier than safety wire twisters.

Discussion