SIZE 38 in.

★★★★ LIKES: Unlike curved TVS, which are somewhat silly, curved monitors work brilliantly, since you sit close enough to feel enveloped by the image. You’ll feel like you’re working in a DARPA compound. The stand has a nice small footprint, especially for such a big monitor. DISLIKES: No adaptor cable included. Unless you actually do work for DARPA, paying this much for a monitor is probably overkill.

Go ahead, but do your homework. First, check with your local authority before you dig to find out about underground utilities on or in front of a property. (It’s unlikely that you’ll hit these in the backyard, but you never know.) You might need a building permit. The town’s zoning and building department will Most likely you mean a Norton Utility File, a tool that has a well-earned reputation for quickly sharpening or deburring a variety of cutting surfaces, so long as they don’t have to be honed to a razor-sharp edge. It’s perfect for sharpening spades and hoes and lawn-mower blades. Although it’s called a file, the tool is more like you described it: a sharpening stone on a stick.

The wedge-shaped 100-grit oilstone is made from silicone carbide, a medium-hard sharpening abrasive that is harder than the steel it’s meant to sharpen, yet wears away at a rate that constantly exposes a new – and sharp and clean – abrasive surface. For the relatively low price, you’ll get several years out of the Norton file. To use it, squirt a little machine oil on the blade that you’re sharpening and then rub the stone over the surface in a circular motion. All four working surfaces are the same. They’re just there to make sure you don’t wear one surface out. Simply rotate the tool as you work. When you’re done, rinse the sharpened surface with a little clean oil and put it back on the shelf.