Normal Tools for Normal Tasks

"Open a tool, do the thing, leave. No account, no download, nothing between you and the answer. Private by default: most tools stay in your browser and nothing you enter is saved."

"Currently showing 193 of 193 tools."

Free, the way we like it.

Vacuum Cleaner Throwdown: Dyson v Dustbuster

Long story short: Dustbuster wins.

I've been using a Dustbuster (actually, a number of them since I keep several around, in different rooms so as to minimize my activation energy requirement to use one) for as long as I can remember.

All that time I read about how wondrous Dyson vacuums are but was deterred by their high cost.

Finally I got tired of wondering just how good they are and bought one.

I've had it for a couple years and used it often but have permanently retired it to a closet.

• My Dustbuster (left, above) costs $49.99; my Dyson (right, above; discontinued) cost $399.99.

• The Dustbuster has two speeds, as does the Dyson, but the Dyson has a major ergonomic FAIL: you have to keep strong pressure on the power switch while you're using it. The Dustbuster has a standard power switch, which locks in place where you set it and doesn't require constant pressure. 

I find it incomprehensible that Dyson's design parameters are such as they are. I've read numerous discussions by Dyson about how their switch management ensures power preservation but that's just silly. Who in the  world leaves a portable vacuum on while they go outside to check their mail etc.?

Turns out there are enough people like me bothered by this FAIL that a number of companies have created kludges — power switch add-ons that let you not have to keep pressing the switch (which also forces you into a single hand position that rapidly tires your grip) but instead keep the button in the On position.

I bought two of these add-ons:  both are FAILs. They're difficult to position correctly and easily dislodged while using the vacuum.

• They both do a decent job of vacuuming.

• The Dustbuster's ready to go right now; the Dyson requires me to gather the components from another room where I keep them and carry them into my main workspace and assemble them

• The biggest difference (besides cost) is ease of use: the Dustbuster is light and easy to position precisely, whereas the Dyson is clunky and much heavier and has trouble getting into tight spaces like under my couch and along walls where there's lot of stuff.

• Dustbuster battery life on High is significantly better than the Dyson's MAX setting duration.

• Noise produced by the two machines is about the same.

• Physical effort required by the Dustbuster is more than that needed to use the Dyson since to vacuum the floor with the Dustbuster you have to bend over: I'm fine with that, I can always use a little exercise.

However, the clunkiness of the Dyson's business end and the significant weight of the battery integrated up top with the hand grip require constant repositioning and banging around, which along with the need to hold the power switch down gets old fast.

Replacement theory works as a prophylactic, too

On July 24, 2026, a post titled "Where Things Are and Where They Go — Part 2: Replacement Theory" appeared in this space.

In it, my Crack Colorado Correspondent©®™weighed in on the previous week's post titled "Where Things Are and Where They Go."

On August 19, 2026, he emailed me the wonderful piece up top, entitled "Replacement theory works as a prophylactic, too."

Oh, I'm in heaven: this reminds me of the good old days, when I had so many readers sending me so much great stuff all I had to do was pick and choose for material for my then 8 (eight) posts daily.

Largest Known Roman Mosaic Opens To The Public

The First-Century Mosaic and Accompanying Fresco Located Beneath the Baths of Trajan in Rome Welcomed Its First Visitors This Past Weekend 

 

A vast mosaic uncovered in Rome, the largest ever discovered in the Roman world, has opened to the public for the first time.

The mosaic and an accompanying fresco were discovered during excavations in the 1990s in an underground gallery beneath the Baths of Trajan, an expansive imperial leisure complex comprising libraries and bathing pools.

The works, known as the "Painted City" fresco and the "Muse and the Philosopher" mosaic, are now open to the public during weekends, initially for groups of 15. 

The first visitors saw the site last weekend (12 and 13 September); from October 2, viewings will run from Friday to Sunday.

The opening times were confirmed by the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.

Archaeologist Francesco Pacetti said at the unveiling of the site earlier this month: "We estimate that it is the biggest wall mosaic ever found in the Roman World and we are still digging to find out where it stops."

The fresco and mosaic are thought to date from the first century.

The fresco features images of a walled port city, with defensive walls and towers, viewed from above.

Archaeologists are unsure about whether the fresco depicts a real or imagined city.

The mosaic, which is ten meters high and stretches along 16 meters of a wall beneath the Oppian Hill near the Colosseum, features figures and architectural structures over four different levels.

"It's an extraordinary fresco, a city seen from above, with its walls, towers and buildings depicted in perspective," Gualtieri wrote on Instagram. "It's even more incredible to think that it was done almost two thousand years ago, in the Neronian [54-68 AD] or Flavian era [69-96 AD], even before the Baths of Trajan [inaugurated 109 AD]."

Gualtieri added: "There is another masterpiece: the mosaic of the 'Muse and the Philosopher,' that formed part of the decoration of a large hall overlooking the nymphaeum. On the walls, the mosaics depict a grand theatrical scene, featuring statues and real-life figures… Rome continues to surprise us. Every dig adds a piece to our city's extraordinary history."

An on-site museum focused on the Baths of Trajan opened earlier this month; the restoration of the new museum complex was carried out as part of the PNRR-Caput Mundi program, a €500m project funded by the European Union.

[via The Art Newspaper]

Helpful Hints from joeeze: What's the correct order in which to load your [top loading] washing machine?

1) Start with water — the amount you've selected for your load size — and wait till it's all in

2) Add detergent, fabric softener, and whatever else you like to put in (OxiClean, Febreze, etc.)

3) Last, put in the clothes

See how easy?

I only learned this long after I became a regular patron of those banks of washing and drying machines that required a roll of quarters.

Like many (most?) people, I threw in the clothes, added the detergent and turned on the machine, then walked away.

A good mnemonic I made up just for me and you: W.C. as in water closet.

Then think "alphabetical order."

Water, Detergent, Clothes — the D's gotta go in-between, see?

Canvas Browser — 'Infinite Board of Live Websites'

Type a domain, pick a country, and the page opens as a tile on an infinite board — each one a real browser running remotely in that country, so you can watch four news front pages (above) or three Amazon storefronts at once and see how the same site looks elsewhere.

Even the board's layout lives in the URL so you can share the arrangement with anyone.

Free, the way we like it.

[via Dense Discovery]

'Stickworks' — Patrick Dougherty

For over four decades, U.S. artist Patrick Dougherty has been weaving truckloads of willow saplings into more than 300 site-specific "Stickworks" — walk-through towers, arches, and urn-like forms that look grown in place.

[via  Dense Discovery]

MUBI TOP 1,000

Staggering.

This list arrived in the form of an email this morning: I started going through it and added 8 films to my MUBI Watchlist after only viewing the first few screens on the site.

Industry Standard Tools

I scrolled through all 471 tools pending review with the same delight I experienced reading the original Whole Earth Catalog cover to cover — all 448 pages of very small print, every word — when it came out back in 1968.

Of the 471 under review I own 10: 

• Stanley FatMax Tape Measure

• Wiss Snips

• 3M Super 33+ Vinyl Electrical Tape

• Pro Bar Halligan Tool

• Gardena Hose Connectors

• Haws Watering Can

• Welch Allyn Otoscope/Ophthalmoscope

• 3M Tegaderm Transparent Dressing

• Dansko Professional Clog

• RIDGID Heavy-Duty Straight Pipe Wrench

Soon it will be 11: I immediately ordered Pro Gaff Gaffer Tape when it showed up in this list so as to up my gaffer tape game.

So far 3 tools have passed review and become recognized standards.

I love stuff like this!

The 101 Plays Itself

The five lanes of Highway 101 in Los Angeles are turned into a musical instrument: Each car on the live Caltrans camera is a note.

Previously this year: "Crime 101," featured July 10 and September 4.

[via Kottke]

When's the last time you broke a shoelace?

How about "I can't remember" — does that sound about right?

Yesterday, while I was lacing up my running shoes to go out for a run, it occurred to me that my laces looked perfect — no signs of wear or tear — even though I've had the shoes for a fairly long time.

Then I got to thinking about how as a kid it seemed a frequent occurrence, breaking a lace and having to create a makeshift repair or relace through fewer eyelets to make what remained functional.

What's changed in shoelaces?

Why don't they seem to break anymore? 

Inquiring mind wants to know.

Infinite Slop

Kevin Kelly's review:

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Wow, a whole new genre is emerging: real-time AI video generation. Exhibit A is Infinite Slop. Thousands of commentators vote up prompts in response to what is playing, and new video is generated instantly, soliciting more prompts, ad infinitum, in a cycle.

The result is a 24-hour stream of absurd, surreal, bizarre, silly, astounding, meme-maxing video slop from the hive mind that is also weirdly mesmerizing, and even satisfying. Hard to look away. Some bits are genius.

The new ability to generate video as fast as you can watch it will be used in other ways, such as in games, but this infinite slop is the first crude step as performance art. It is two weeks old and already has millions of fans and ads.

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Fair warning: there goes the rest of your life.

I follow 3 dead people on X

And why wouldn't I?

I took a few minutes earlier today to look at the list of 82 people I currently follow on X.

I piped almost all of them aboard before Twitter became X on July 23, 2023.

Before that, just one dead person appeared on that list.

Another died later in 2023 and another in 2024.

When I saw the name of the first dead person back in 2018 — the year he died — I thought to myself, "I really liked that guy," and it occurred to me that if I kept him on my "Following" list, whenever I glanced through the list I'd see his name and smile and recall how great and nice a person he was.

If I deleted him, I'd forget about him and prolly never ever remember him again.

So my "Following" list serves not only to keep track of those whose lives and doings I find interesting, but also as a virtual cemetery.

Feather Atlas — 'Flight Feathers of North American Birds'

From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so you know it's authoritative.

"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"

FunFact: This iconic catchphrase debuted on the Superman Radio Serial on February 12, 1940.

Perplexity Pro pays off at 4:1

I've waxed effusively here before about Perplexity Pro: it just saved me $800 right after I ponied up $200 to renew my subscription for a year.

Ever since Meta released its Ray-Ban Display AI glasses I've wanted a pair; alas, they're still in short supply and not available anywhere near my Podunkville domicile.

You can get them now without the currently required (by Meta) in-store demonstration and fitting if you're willing to pay above list price: there are many for sale on eBay.

I was starting to get all excited and thinking of taking a flutter but first I asked Perplexity Pro for a rundown on sizes, styles, colors, etc.

Turns out (top) they only come with Shiny Black or Shiny Sand frames (I prefer matte black like my current Meta Gen 2 non-display glasses) but the dealbreaker for me is the mandatory Transitions lenses (clear indoors, darkening outdoors): I hate transition lenses because they make it impossible to know exactly whatever you're recording actually looks like.

I'll keep my money, thank you very much.

Experts' Expert: Teri Agins on her favorite walking shoe

Pictured above, it's Ferragamo's "Vara," introduced in 1978 and still among the company's best-selling shoes.

There must be a reason why that's so, don't you think?

Ms. Agins was a longtime fashion reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Walkable Footwear

Q. "When traveling I love to walk for a long time, but I hate to wear tennis shoes because they instantly identify me as a tourist. I dress in longer skirts instead of pants, and I prefer to wear black. What do you recommend?"

A. More footwear makers have added an array of flats in recent years, so there's no reason you can't look reasonably chic while touring the streets of Rome or London. For serious walking, forget ballerina flats, which are too flimsy to support your feet. The same goes for flip-flops and most sandals, which expose your feet to too much urban grime.

For many years, my own favorite footwear for tooling around Manhattan has been Vara, a round-toed, low-heeled bow pump, in black patent leather. Introduced in 1978, the sturdy and super-comfortable Vara continues to be among Ferragamo's best-selling shoes. I take mine to the shoe repairman, who adds a thin layer of rubber to the sole, which helps make my stride more sure-footed. The advantage of patent leather — and not its cheaper cousin in stiff vinyl — is that shoes always look shiny and they repel rai

The properties that the best walking shoes have in common are: arch supports or orthotics to help absorb shock, flexible rubber soles, round or broad toes, and heels or wedges that are an inch or less high.

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$995.

Africa Just Got Bigger — MUCH Bigger

[Africa on the traditional world map based on the Mercator projection, left, and on the 2018 Equal Earth map, right.]

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UN Votes to Adopt New World Map That Shows Africa's True Scale

To phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland

The UN General Assembly officially retired the 16th-century Mercator projection in favor of one based on the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design (below).

The Mercator layout was introduced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to help sailors navigate the seas. Almost five centuries later, it remains the global standard.

Because of its projection style, however, regions near the equator appear significantly smaller than they are, whereas high-latitude areas look much larger. For example, the Mercator map shows Africa as being similar in size to Greenland, but Africa is 14 times larger [my bold italics] than the Danish territory.

"You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare," says a petition on Change.org.

[via the Guardian]

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I can't end without a note on the terrible Blogger interface and experience: this post, which on Typepad would have taken about 10 minutes total, took me over an hour on Blogger with at least 20 revisions — and it still doesn't look nearly as finished as it should.

'Work is what you're doing when you'd rather be doing something else.' — Ian Stevenson

Stevenson was a psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he served as a professor of psychiatry for fifty years.

When I read the sentence in the headline up top in an interview with him sometime last century, time stopped for me.

His definition trumps all others ever.

Ever since I saw it I've used it often to help me clarify if what I'm doing is what I want to be doing at that moment.

You can too!

But I digress.

A wonderful corollary to Stevenson's observation is from one Kinky Friedman: it appeared in an interview with him that appeared in the now defunct Style section of the Washington Post in the early 1980s.

Friedman remarked, "I'm in search of a lifestyle that does not require my presence."

Bingo.

These two brief yet transcendental epigrams have guided me well.

Lagniappe: read Herman Melville's sublime 1856 story "Bartleby, The Scrivener" here.

Free, the way we like it.

Jumbo Spatula — Go Big or Go Home

From the website:

................................

6.5"W x 7"L blade.

Beveled front edge.

Riveted angled handle

Integrated hanging loop.

Stainless steel with plastic handle.

................................

$13.89 (Cookies, eggs, and pancakes not included).

'The Secret World of Foley'

More here.

Life Hack: How To Not Forget Where You Parked Your Car in a Giant Lot

So simple even a TechnoDolt©®™can do it: Take a picture of your car with your phone, preferably far away from where you parked so the photo includes as much background, buildings, signs, posts, etc. as possible.

Don't need no AirTag or Tile etc.

All you have to do when it's time to go home is head to the spot where you took the picture: that shouldn't be all that hard.

Great fun if you've got kids with you: let them lead you to the car using the photo.

Wait a sec — what's that song I'm hearing?

'20 Rules for Eating Oysters' — Rowan Jacobsen

"Get as close to the shucker as possible. Oysters served at places that don't have a designated shucker are often laughably bad. That goes for very famous ones too. These may be great chefs, but they aren't chatting with the oyster growers every day and they haven't put in thousands of hours at the shucking station. If the restaurant doesn't have a full-time shucker, don't go there for the oysters."

Know your oceans

Know your species

Salty places make salty oysters

Follow the frost line

Don't settle for skinny oysters

Don't diss the South

Don't diss the farm

Don't settle for visually unappealing oysters

Avoid dilettante restaurants

Get as close to the grower as possible

Freshness is all

Eat them naked

Know when to ignore the previous rule

The thrill of the chase(r)

Ice is nice, and will suffice

Nothing beats a firm bottom (sand, gravel, etc.) to enhance flavor

If nature doesn't provide a firm bottom, try tumbling

Shuck them yourself

Get religion

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More (much) here and here.

Full Alphabet Written in Italic — Upper & Lower Case

BeyondTheMedspeak: Prescription Creep

Someone I know who has long suffered from serious anxiety is currently on Xanax, Atarax, Klonopin, Inderal, and an SSRI.

What's behind this overmedication – four different drugs (not the SSRI), each of which is intended to treat that anxiety – is how mental health treatment has evolved over the past decades.

Where I had a psychiatrist from the get-go in 1977 (after I recovered from the first of four episodes of major depression) whom I saw once a week for talk therapy and who prescribed medication, my friend has a psychologist who delivers psychotherapy and a psychiatrist who works with the psychologist and prescribes medication – no talk with my friend: the psychiatrist works with the psychologist and selects medications based on their consensus.

Over the years, what with changes in both psychologists and psychiatrists, my friend has accumulated a collection of medications which results in her being forced to figure out each time she's anxious what particular drug(s) she should take at that moment.

This is not the way.

There's almost no chance she'll ever be able to get off this array of mind-altering drugs as long as she's under the care of this – or any – combined pair of doctors.

'Furious'

This 8-part series on Disney+ stars Emmy Rossum as a young FBI agent tasked with investigating a series of murders of teenage women in New York City.

This is not the Emmy Rossum you're used to but rather a violent and violence-seeking young woman whose history of years on the street after being abandoned at age 14 by her parents once they discover she's pregnant periodically bursts through her professional facade in ways that make her life an unending series of conflicts and confrontation with her superiors.

The first couple episodes were good, then the intensity and spiraling, twisty narrative took it to the next level and made the remainder riveting viewing.

Tremendous cast: the six main characters are great, with Quincy Tyler Bernstine likely to win an Emmy.

Rossum takes her character to a Charlize Theron in "Monster" and "Mad Max: Fury Road" and Nicole Kidman in "Destroyer" level, which is as good as it gets.