Behold the Sector

...out the divider on the workplace. In addition to carpentry the sector was used in navigation, surveying and gunnery. With your handy sector you can also solve multiplication and trigonometry problems. The sector’s invention is attributed to either Galileo Galilei and/or Thomas Hood sometime in the 16th century. If you’re a teacher or a parent looking for a geometry lesson to do in quarantine Jim Toplin has a free paper sector plan you can downloa...

Read…

Pepper’s Ghost

...eB4kup3oKY0?si=Lp8HuYnto3B3_gH1 Looking for an easy Halloween display that uses stuff you might have at hand? In this video Joshua Ellingson shows you how to create the 19th century Pepper’s ghost effect using an iPad, some plastic film and a glass container. YouTube is full of pre-made Pepper’s ghost videos so you don’t even need to shoot anything. If you want to go deeper there’s a free version of a video DJ type program called VDMX that you can...

Read…

Thong Theory

...As author Daniel Pinchbeck suggests, we’re in a time when technique is more important than technology. Take the Homegrown Revolution Thong for instance. A friend and fellow “thoughtstylist” posed the question last night, what else could the real survivalist do with a thong in an emergency situation? It’s all about the brain my friends, so get out there and innovate – that thong has many uses – tourniquet, bandage, face mask . . ....

Read…

Mr. Grumpy Needs a Home

...inct limp – it’s likely he had an old injury on his front left leg which caused this. He had x rays and exams by two vets- there are no visible or palpable fractures, and there is no muscle atrophy, meaning he still uses the leg. So even though he limps, it won’t require any further treatment. He gets around just fine. He is a special cat who has been through a lot (likely dumped on the street by a previous owner) and he needs a wonderful home. Fo...

Read…

I Gave Up Facebook for a Week and Didn’t Miss It

...Call it passive aggressive, but I’m going to unfollow “friends” who post nothing but divisive click bait. I may unplug on Sundays entirely. I’ve got some dense books to read. I want to give the last word to Root Simple reader Federico, who uses Facebook to post pictures of his amazing sketchbook (I’d miss seeing those images if I deleted my account). Federico suggested some rules for using social media based on Michael Pollan’s food rules: “Post...

Read…