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Any artist or photographer knows (or should know) the benefits of a light box. For those of us who cannot afford or scratch-build one of the bulky tools, we resort to taping our materials to a large sunny window or sliding glass door. The solution works in a pinch, but only while the sun is up. Slim LED light box to the rescue!

It’s summer, and you’re taking the family on vacation; everyone is super excited and happy. Heck, even the kids are getting along with each other. Two hours into your 6-hour (possibly 8) drive, boredom kicks in, and the kids are at each other’s throats. One kid is hitting, the other is kicking, and both are crying. You’re pulling your hair out because nothing you say can calm them down. Let’s face it, you’re resisting the urge to duck tape them to their seats like mummies . . . the roll of tape is just in the trunk, so it’s VERY tempting. Fortunately, there is a pacifier to keep them busy until their next nap time.

Turn This Book Into a Beehive!: And 19 Other Experiments and Activities That Explore the Amazing World of Bees. Wow; what a mouthful of a book title! Lynn Brunelle is an Emmy Award-winning writer for Bill Nye the Science Guy, as well as an author of over 45 books. With her latest book, she provides an easy-to-follow education on the world of bees and their important role in the world.

For some mysterious reason, bees are on the decline around the world. Nobody can pinpoint the exact cause, but many agree that it is most probably a combination of disease, parasites, pesticides, and climate change. The worst part is that without bees, our crops and gardens will fail. So, as bees disappear, so do our food supplies, and that’s not good. That’s not good at all! But, with Lynn Brunelle’s book, you can help by literally turning it into a beehive. No foolin’!

Alright, everyone, be on alert! Cats are acting very odd, and items have been reported as stolen. The two could be related, but how? Grab your pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils, markers, or whatever drawing instrument that you can get your hands on (I highly recommend a pencil); we’re going to help Carl the Duck crack the case!

“The Rise of the Rusty Robo-Cat” is the third installment in the “Doodle Adventures” series. Written and illustrated by Mike Lowery, young readers will go on an interactive reading adventure to foil a dastardly kitty’s plot to conquer the world. How can readers help Carl?

Lately, I’ve been turned on to Dropbox, a cloud-based storage service for photos, music, videos, and any other computer file that that you can throw at it.

It’s pretty convenient; I used it the other week when I paid a surprise Mother’s Day visit to my mom. I spent several days there, and I was able to continue working on client work even though I was away from my work computer. Awesome!

While working on the San Salvador paper model for the Maritime Museum of San Diego, the issue of child safety came up, specifically the use of craft knives (i.e. X-acto). Mulling this around in my head, I remembered that there are new craft knives with ceramic blades. These are supposed to be safer than traditional metal blades. So, I picked up the Slice Precision Cutter. Scotch makes one, too, but there is hardly a tip on it.

Psdtuts+ is posting a series of short Photoshop tutorials by Martin Perhiniak. They’re free, and very informative if you’ve been trying to teach yourself the basics of Photoshop. The first two of twenty-five tutorials are available. I highly recommend giving them a look, and also checking out the various other tutorials offered by Psdtuts+; it’ll be well worth your while.