Apple Cider Vinegar + Dish Soap Fly Trap

Fruit flies can materialize in even the most spotless kitchens. Until recently, I had no idea that they could be dealt with in a safe, effective, and cheap manner using apple cider vinegar and dish soap.

By simply pouring apple cider vinegar into an open cup or bowl and adding a drop or two of dish detergent you can easily make an incredibly effective trap for ridding your kitchen of fruit flies. Place it near your fruit bowl or trash can and within a day you will have nipped the problem in the bud.

Apple cider vinegar works as an attractant because of its strong sweet odor while the dish detergent decreases the vinegar's surface tension so that when a fly touches the surface it immediately sinks and drowns. It's particularly satisfying to see the collection of flies you have dealt with at the bottom of the glass. This has to be one of the best house keeping tricks I have ever picked up.

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Espresso Splash Collar

A couple of years ago, I used a Dremel tool to grind off the twin spigots on my espresso maker's portafilter. (Here's how to make one.) The result is called a "naked portafilter" (also called a "bottomless portafilter" or "crotchless portafilter").

Why make a naked portafilter? Four reasons:

1. You can observe the changes in color of the liquid espresso as it comes out of the filter, which is useful for timing your shot.

2. The espresso looks beautiful as it comes out (see some photos here).

3. It will accept a "triple shot" filter basket.

4. It's a good way to learn how evenly you tamped your coffee grinds into the filter basket -- if you did a poor job, the espresso will come on in multiple streams.

I'm not a very good tamper, and often a tiny spray of espresso will squirt off to the side, hitting the counter, the machine, or me. It's a big mess. My friend Kent Barnes, also a naked portafilter enthusiast, suffered the same plight, but unlike me, he did something about it. He found a silicone cupcake liner that fits over the filter basket and cut a hole through it. Now the errant streams are reigned in, without losing the benefits of the bottomless portafilter.

Kent bought his silicone baking cups at Daiso (a Japanese "dollar" store chain), but any silicone cupcake liner with a top diameter of approximately 3-inches will do. You can trim off the top until you achieve the diameter needed to fit the filter basket.

[Photos: Kent K. Barnes / kentkb]

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Voile Ski Strap

Every skier ought to own a ski strap. I have used mine to attach skis and poles to my pack, hold the pieces of a broken pole together, attach skis to snowmobiles, affix a tele boot to a ski with a broken cable binding, hold skins to skis, and of course, hold my skis together. I've seen them used to jury-rig backcountry toboggans for patient evacuation, and as an improvised knee strap similar to the previously reviewed Mueller Knee Strap.

Constructed of high-visibility orange polyurethane, they stretch just enough to really cinch down, and are virtually indestructible. Much more durable and with far greater utility than velcro competitors, this model of ski strap is simply the best. They can be used one-handed with heavy winter gloves on, and come in a variety of lengths. Friends have used theirs for over five years, mine are almost like new after three years.

This strap is an indispensable and indestructible tool for any skier or rider. You could buy one from Backcountry.com or Amazon, but mine was just as cheap from my local ski shop, and is far superior to any other product I have used in a lifetime of skiing.

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D-Link DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router

A year and a half ago I was in the U.S. (my home country) shopping for wireless routers in preparation for an extended trip to China. Surprisingly, I could not find any with dual-voltage adapters which come standard with most electronic gadgets. I ended up buying one in China, again not dual-voltage, so I left it there when I returned.

Recently, I was going on vacation to Asia with a friend and it occurred to me there may be such a thing as a portable router and I was thrilled to find that there is! I purchased the D-Link DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router as opposed to other brands specifically because of its dual voltage capability. The router was fantastic: being able to plug it into the wall outlet directly (rather than power by USB) was very convenient, as was not having to sit at a desk to access the Internet. In all three countries we visited only wired Internet service was provided in our hotels. The router allowed us to wirelessly share the connection across two netbooks and two wifi-enabled devices.

The router itself is smaller than a deck of cards. It comes in a handy carrying case, with a USB cable so you could run it off your computer's power if you want (I didn't) and also an Ethernet cable in case one is not provided in your hotel room.

Some customer reviews I read indicated that the router was hard to set up. They may have been missing some instructions because I found it very easy and quick. No surprises or tricks required. I set it up before leaving on the trip and did not have to do any other configuration. Note that the router also has two other modes which I have not used: access point and client mode.

I highly recommend this travel router if you want a wifi connection while traveling. It's been one of my most convenient travel-related purchases.

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Pocket Radar

Hold this thing in your hand, aim it at a fast, moving object and it instantly gives you the speed of that object -- either coming or going. Not only big objects like cars, but little ones like golf balls, too. This little gizmo's accuracy matches that of police scans, so you can check for speeders on your block.

The main use of the Pocket Radar is for sports, which is what we use it for -- measuring ball/running speeds for performance improvement. It's super easy to use. And it will pick up all kinds of things I had no idea radar detected. We were able to get accurate measurements on arrows in flight! Not everyone needs to measure speed, but for most who do, this pocket device is all you need.

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