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Ingersoll Rand SK4H13 1/2-Inch Drive 13-Piece SAE Standard Impact Socket Set
$42.50
This is a big set which looks to be very well made. The size markings are easy to read, which is a big plus as my eyes age. Comes in a nice, if bulky, plastic case.

Weekly Standard
$189.60
My husband and I have gotten so disgusted with Time magazine and Newsweek that we're delighted to have a magazine like The Weekly Standard available. USNews and World Report at least attempted to be more objective but now it's published in print form only once a month. For our money, The Weekly Standard, with its incisive articles, stands head and shoulders above all the rest of them. Kudos to the staff. We'll not renew any other news magazine subscriptions.

Dream Supreme Plus 100% Gel Filled Standard Pillows, Set of 2
$110.00
I love these pillows. I'm not sure if it's because of the horrible pillows I was currently sleeping on, but I feel these are the most comfortable pillows that I have ever owned.

The Standard Deviants - Algebra Adventure (Learn Algebra Basics)
$19.98
This is the strangest educational video that I have ever seen. The creators use a character called Idaho Jones that is "modeled" on the screen adventurer Indiana Jones. It starts with a scene similar to the opening one of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Idaho is with a woman in a cave and has discovered a golden X. He replaces it with an algebra textbook, but it is too light, causing all the traps to be triggered. After he avoids the traps, a character modeled after the sadistic Nazi in the "Raiders" movie takes the X from him.
Throughout the remainder of the tape, there are occasional short segments of Idaho as he continues the search for the golden X. Since this is a low budget film, the acting, accents and special effects are all REALLY bad. I laughed in spite of myself. There are other characters used, including parodies of a Chinese guru, a real estate agent for Algebraic Properties Inc. and a stuffy scientist with the voice of a man with severe nasal congestion.
Underlying all of this amusing nonsense, there is some serious mathematics education going on. When they are concentrating on mathematics, the explanations are very good and the animation of the algebraic rearrangements makes them easy to follow. The first subject covered is a brief history of algebra and the concepts of relations and functions. While there are occasions when more complex functions are included, the concentration is on linear functions. They are graphed, described, rearranged and inverted, and all are visually displayed when explained. All of the properties of linear equations are covered, including their roots.
While I liked the way the mathematics was presented, the other stuff is so silly that I don't know how to evaluate it. There is no doubt that the tape can be used to teach high school and college students algebra. They will certainly get some laughs from it, I just do not know if the silliness will dominate the math. Humor is such a matter of personal taste that I wouldn't presume to say anything more than while I laughed, it was all of the groaner variety. One thing is certain; students will not consider the tape boring.

Published in Mathematics and Computer Education, reprinted with permission.