If you are like me, you probably hate the "a portion of the purchase will be donated to charity" line because they never really tell you what that portion is. We stumbled upon BlueFlip Art, a company that donates 10% of all sales to charity -- stated clear as day. You get to support an independent artist, you get to support a charity, and you get some kick ass art at the same time (like Brian Taylor's "Sparky" art featured above).

Scope out BlueFlip Art for some cool independent art.

Unlike indoor cleaning robots like the iRobot, the Solar Breeze Skimmer benefits from being outside: it is 100% powered by solar power. And since this robot is exclusively powered by sunlight, you will never have to pay a dime to charge this. Best of all, it makes cleaning your pool easier since you won't need to constantly take it out of the pool to recharge it. Leave it overnight and in the morning it starts doing the work all over again. Such is the life of being a robot.

There is one downfall to the Solar Breeze Skimmer though. The robot does not clean what is in the bottom of the pool, just what is on the surface, so you will still need to use your pool pump for some of the time.

In addition to picking up the garbage, the Solar Breeze Skimmer also contains a chemical dispenser which uses standard pool chemical tablets.

At $450, the Solar Breeze Pool Skimmer does not come cheap, but it will help take care of most of your cleaning duties without taking a toll on your energy consumption.

When you need to be ridiculously precise with your measurements in your kitchen (never), you can look to this spoon scale for help. The Sunartis Spoon scale is accurate to the 1/10th of a gram, so you can really put the cook books to the test. The spoon features an LCD display that will work with both grams and ounces, so us Americans can know what the hell we are doing. The spoon is crafted out of black ABS plastic with a stainless steel handle.

At $50 USD (25 British pounds), this is the most expensive spoon you'll ever buy, just don't blame us for buyers remorse.

Designed by Tomas Erel, Wallover, is a wall light fixture that can also act as a console capable of carrying a load of up to 44lbs. When you place and object on the lamp, the light engulfs it with dramatic shadows. You can build your custom Wallover by choosing the color and by choosing the lamp style. Colors include: white or black gloss, mirror polished stainles steel or brushed stainless steel. Light types include: large (S012) or small (S011 pictured here).

Ready for the price? 4.300 Euros.

If you are looking for a small and affordable ball head for your DSLR stop right there - you just found it! The 488 from Manfrotto - Bogen is a remarkable piece of equipment for the price. Our photographer here at the Villa clued us in on this product when he purchased one for our studio.

This ball head, although small, is remarkably strong - it can hold up to 17.6 Lbs, which comfortably hold our studio's Nikon D300 or equivalent camera. The height of the head is 4.25 inches and it has a 3/8" female thread to connect to your tripod. The best part of this head is that it has a tilt of -90 degrees +90 degrees and a pan of 360 degrees, which has its own independent lock from the actual ball that holds your camera. This is great for producing panoramic shots. We liked the 488 over the 486 for its extra weight support and independent lock lever for the pan. If the pan is not important to you, then the 486 is an even cheaper alternative, but we figured for an extra 30 dollars the feature is worth it.

We didn't find any faults with the head, except that it could be a bit too heavy, but then again, that's what gives it its strength.

To sum it all up the Manfrotto - Bogen 488 RC2 is an easy to use affordable ball head that attaches firmly to any camera, features good stability, and a large range of motion.

THE GOOD
- Provides great stability
- Solid construction
- Great pan controls


THE BAD
- Somewhat heavy

WHERE TO BUY
We found the best prices at:
Amazon.com at $107.00 with free supersaver shipping.
Adorama, one of our favorite shops, has it for $110.00 + shipping.
B&H Photo has it for $109.95 plus shipping.

The JivJiv bird hooks are made of hand-brushed raw aluminum with a wingspan of 3 3/8 inches. They come as a pair with one having a beak face the left and the other bird facing the right. Note: Though the bird hook here is shown with a flat-head screw, the actual product comes with round-head sheet metal screws.

The JivJiv bird hook is sold at Salendro Design's web site.

One of our friends recently had a pool installed in his house and to protect his kids from drowning in the pool, he installed a vertical Magna Latch. The concept for the Magna is cool because the latch sits about four feet off the ground and in order to remove it, the child needs to pull up on it. The Manga Latch is basically a lock powered by a powerful permenent magnet (never loses its power), so the gate snaps and is locked. Additionally, the lock can also be locked with a key, so it adds double protection.

Anyhow, we thought it was a clever device for those looking to secure their pool for the safety of their kids. The Magna Latch seems like a good way to keep them out.

Make sure you check with your local authorities for height measurement/requirements on swimming pool gates before actually buying one as those differ from county to county.

The Kyouei Design ceramic umbrella pot is a combination of a large umbrella pot and a small plant pot attached at the bottom. After coming home from a rainy day, you place the umbrella on the pot and the water from the umbrella drains into the plant pot via small internal holes. The water that would once just evaporate or make a mess in your foyer, will now help contain life. This design won't be a hot seller in the hot deserts of California, but those in rainy Seattle might want to take a look at this one.

Books are typically stacked horizontally in a very unsurprising layout on your average bookshelf. Alfredo Häberli throws that concept out the window with his Pattern Bookshelf, which is a series of pentagons stacked in different ways and forms. The concept is interesting and it works. When you see the books stacked on this bookshelf it makes you want to explore the contents therein.

The bookshelf is available in 2 flavors: traffic white and silver. Both have black edges and show the milled aluminum.

Price is unknown.

Buy it at Quodes.
Learn about the designer on Alfredo Häberli's web site.

Nothing more encouraging when reading a book than having a reading book companion. The purple shade is made up of semi translucent polypropylene while the body of the little man is made up of a translucent lamp holder with polished zinc-plated arms and legs. The head is a chrome top 40 watt bulb (included - yay).

The Little Man book reading light retails for 28 British Pounds (or about $44 USD). You are gonna need to shell out a bit more money for international shipping since this is a UK item. Get it from Where Did You Buy That