Whether it's a cool, summer drink, a handy household cleaning product high-quality and locally-made earbuds or a fancy toy for big boys, we've got you covered in our weekly installment of tips, suggestions and testimonials.
Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser -- Some may say that these four-packs of sponges are overpriced, but I've never found anything that's as effective at cleaning the white case of my iMac. All you do is wet the sponge and scrub whatever you need cleaned -- a baseboard, a laptop or just about any other surface. -- Drew Olson
Flipboard -- Flipboard is cool. If you have an iPad, go to the app store right now and download it. It's "the world's first social magazine." Basically, it presents your Twitter and Facebook feeds in a old school, flip fashion. It renders links and images right into its magazine format, so you don't have to scan long lists of posts and click on link after link -- instead Flipbook makes it so you instantly see all the stories, comments and images. It's not something I use daily, but it's a fun app that helps organize my social media content. -- Jeff Sherman
The cucumber cooler cocktail at The Yard -- The Yard, at the Iron Horse Hotel, 500 W. Florida St., has one of the most comfortable patios in the city -- especially if you get a seat on one of the cozy couches. On a recent visit, my drinking companion and I sampled a few libations from the summer cocktail menu, and found them all to be delicious and very well mixed. Our favorite, however, was the cucumber cooler, made with Hendrick's gin and garnished with mint and cucumber slices. The drink was so flavorful and refreshing that it took the sting off the $11 price. Try the Parnold Almer -- Jeremiah Sweet Tea Vodka mixed with lemonade -- if you wanna save a few bucks. It's $8. -- Molly Snyder
Koss Insider in-ear monitors -- For a long time, I've only used Apple's own ear buds when I need to listen privately in the office or at the gym. They work OK, but I'd hardly hold them up as any kind of standard. Only when I finally tried something better, in this case the hometown company's buds, which promise "extreme isolation," did I realize what I've been missing. They weren't kidding with the "extreme isolation" business. Not only is the bass response much, much better on these babies, the isolating ring (each set comes with three pair of rubber eartips in different sizes) really blocks out external noise. Even without music playing these would make great earplugs. Add some music and you've nearly lost touch with the outside world. My main problem with my old ear buds, however, was the lack of low end. I tried the Koss phones out on some rock, folk and reggae and wasn't disappointed in any of the cases. The bass is not only present, it's warm and clean. You can get a set for just $29.99. -- Bobby Tanzilo
Case IH Scout utility vehicle -- OK, I'll admit it: I have no idea what on earth I would use this for, seeing as I live in Downtown Milwaukee. Still, these four-wheelers are nothing short of bad-ass. The 14-horsepower engines top out around 25 miles per hour and get about 20 miles to the gallon. Perfect if you have a large tract of hunting land up north. Come to think of it, driving one of these around Downtown would make life a lot easier. If you have the means, as Ferris Bueller once said, I strongly suggest picking one up. -- Andrew Wagner
