The Wondrous 1-2-3 Block

...world of machinists. One such tool is the 1-2-3 block that I’ve found many uses for in woodworking. These blocks of metal, sold in pairs, are named after their dimensions, one inch by two inches by three inches (they also come in larger sizes such as 2-4-6). Mine have both threaded and un-threaded holes allowing you to attach and pass through bolts. You can bolt them together square or at an angle. They have a million applications: To see if a too...

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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...

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Saturday Tweets: Chia Seed Granola, How to Measure a Tree and Fake Locksmiths

.../t.co/OVUCIlkRbX — Root Simple (@rootsimple) February 13, 2016 How One Man Uses the 99 Cent store for his First Aid Needs: https://t.co/SuYCLFHVeY — Root Simple (@rootsimple) February 13, 2016 How do you measure the height of a tree? Cool low tech method, courtesy Tree Map LA (which we've joined!) https://t.co/SM8TNWScme — Root Simple (@rootsimple) February 8, 2016 Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too https://t.co/Z3Grnwd...

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Pl@ntNet: “Shazam” for Plants

...e.com/watch?v=W_cBqaPfRFE Pl@ntNet is an iPhone and Android phone app that uses image recognition and crowd-sourcing to recognize plants. It’s free, so I downloaded a copy yesterday and ran around the yard to see how it works. You take a closeup of a leaf, flower, fruit or bark and the app takes a guess on an identification. My first attempt was Nasturtium, which the app immediately identified despite my bad photo. It also correctly identified daf...

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Rucola Selvatica A Foglia D’ulivo: the arugula you’ve never heard of

...n’t lead too directly to the bedroom. Find more arugula varieties at growitalian.com. Do you have a favorite arugula? As usual, I love hearing from our Italian readers about the special culinary uses of specific varieties. And, in this election year here in the US, I’m a little surprised that arugula has not come up as a campaign issue like it did in 2008....

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