Cool Tools

A selection of the best tools available for individuals and small groups. Tools include hand tools, maps, how-to books, vehicles, software, specialized devices, gizmos, websites -- and anything useful.

Feel like you're being sucked down into a swirl of never-ending information? Today's physicians are faced with new advances in medicine and new research that can impact practice, but finding the right information at the right time seems overwhelming in the constant deluge of scientific research. That's where this illustrated guide will walk you through some of today's most useful Internet tools, tools that can help you find, manage, and organize the information you need, so that it is always at your fingertips, whether for patient care, research, practice, or fun.

Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any tried-and-true book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website. The reviews in this book were written by those of us who have actually used the tool and others like it. We only review things--old or new--that we like and ignore the rest. This is a curated collection of the best cool tools for the Kitchen. It is not intended as a shopping list or checklist. Consider this a jumping-off point for thinking and re-thinking about what’s possible in your kitchen. Some kitchens can certainly operate with fewer and/or different tools; some might require more. But everything we’ve included here is well worth knowing about.

Some subjects seem too hot for a group to discuss sanely. Not necessarily. The Little Book of "Cool Tools for Hot Topics" -- Group Tools to Facilitate Meetings When Things Are Hot shows how to help people hear each other when they feel like shouting; how to focus on the issues at stake rather than having a war of personalities; how to employ actual practices for better understanding (interviews, small-group discussions, role-reversal presentations); and how to move a group toward making a decision that all can honestly support. Lead author Ron Kraybill is a professor of Conflict Studies in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. During the years of the South African political transition, he trained local, regional, and national leadership in negotiation and mediation skills and served as a training advisor to the National Peace Accord. Cool Tools is rich in anecdotes and practical how-to for any group faced with tension-filled decision-making.

Presenting Japanese cooking utensils that are functional and artistic, this book treats them as both works of art and items of practical interest. The text, by a long-time columnist on Tokyo dining and entertaining, presents the history, the usage, and the people behind these tools, in brief entries. Japanese cuisine is flourishing among the food-conscious all over the world, as are the cookbooks featuring recipes from a wide variety of styles. Now, Cool Tools' goes deep inside the kitchen, into the cupboards and the drawers, to the stove tops and wall hangers where a variety of'

Millions of Americans are or will be amateur caregivers for ill spouses, parents, or friends. Caregivers today, more than ever, use technology to help manage schedules, medication routines and pharmacy reminders, legal and financial affairs, as well as travel and expenses. Yet recent insurance options and health care’s emerging digital world make for an overwhelming, complex process. If you are one of the 64 million current caregivers, could you access your parents’ critical documents in an emergency, using their user IDs and passwords? Do you know how often your parents or parents-in-law are taking medications, how often your loved one goes to the doctor, and how to be involved in medical and life decisions? Statistics show 85 percent of caregivers are not trained in caregiving, so many people are likely winging it, picking up pieces of information here and advice there. The Caregiver’s Toolbox is your guide to cool apps and online tools, insider tips on how to reduce your medical bills, your privacy rights as a caregiver, where to go for free and low-cost help, and much more. It clearly shows which tools will relieve your stress, and those that may add stress. The authors dedicate much of their professional lives to helping people navigate the health care matrix. For updates on tools, applications, and emerging technology, visit the authors’ website, www.caregivers-toolbox.com.

Every week for the past two years we briefly recommend 6 things to our friends in free email newsletter called Recommendo. This book features the "best of" those recommendations. Sometimes we suggest tools, but most items aren't tools. Rather we recommend stuff such as our favorite places to visit, things to watch or listen to, favorite stuff to eat, as well as tips for work or home, and techniques we've learned, quotes we like to remember, and so on. This autumn we collected, filtered and organized 550 of the best recommendations and put them into a book, called naturally enough, Recomendo. The book is 95 jam-packed pages. We've categorized the recommendations, grouping like with like. Having all the workflow tips, or household suggestions, or workshop tools, or travel recommendations all in one place is super handy. There's an index and subject guide. Many of the items have an illustration. To make up for the fact that a book can't have links, we've added QR codes, so you can instantly get a link with your phone. Everyone who has picked the book up has found something cool for them on the first page and they keep turning the pages for more.

A fully revised and updated edition with writing prompts and challenges in every chapter Today’s writers need more spunk than Strunk: whether it's the Great American e-mail, Madison Avenue advertising, or Grammy Award-winning rap lyrics, memorable writing must jump off the page. Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone. With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Syntax covers grammar’s ground rules while revealing countless unconventional syntax secrets (such as how to use—Gasp!—interjections or when to pepper your prose with slang) that make for sinfully good writing. Discover how to: *Distinguish between words that are “pearls” and words that are “potatoes” * Avoid “couch potato thinking” and “commitment phobia” when choosing verbs * Use literary devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, and metaphor (and understand what you're doing) Everyone needs to know how to write stylish prose—students, professionals, and seasoned writers alike. Whether you’re writing to sell, shock, or just sing, Sin and Syntax—now celebrating 20 years in print—is the guide you need to improve your command of the English language.