While I’ve written about investing in the past, a lot of it is geared for active investors who want to maximize the return on their investments. However, many people want to be very safe in their investments – either not risking their capital at all, or putting it to very low risk. Moneyville, part of the Toronto Star, highlights two investments that give better returns than GIC’s and money funds and are worth looking into if you want to play it very safe.

This video was made by the American Museum of Natural History and shows you exactly how vast our “universe” is. Very cool.

The Known Universe from AMNH on Vimeo.

Gizmodo had a great post: Ten Tools You Need To Fix All Your Stuff At Home. It lists these ten tools as “must haves”. I’ve collected all of these over the years, but it’s a good list if you’re starting out:

Claw Hammer

Pliers

Needle Nose Pliers

Wire Cutter/Strippers

Multi-Screwdriver

Pocket Knife (I prefer a multi-tool, like Leatherman)

Adjustable Wrench

Flashlight

Tape Measure

WD40

An interview with one of Japan’s traditional swordmakers.

Handmade Portraits: The Sword Maker from Etsy on Vimeo.

A bunch of images were collected from the International Space Station and put into this video. It’s an amazing piece of work, especially when you can see what the auroras look like from orbit. I’ve only see red aurora once in my life and it was awe-inspiring.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space | Fly Over | Nasa, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Several years ago I made a leather bound, plain paper journal as a gift. While not the exact same binding method I used, this article on Dwell one is a nice modern update and worth doing if you have the time. Many of these supplies can be purchased at the Japanese Paper Place on Queen St.

Also note that the Canadian Bookbinding and Book Artists host workshops if you want to learn methods of book binding. They have workshops scheduled all year.

I’ve written about my preference for variable rate mortgages before, and the Toronto Star has summarized five top reasons that variable rate mortgages are better. If you want to pay off your home sooner, by paying less interest, this is one of the best ways to go:

Created using a tilt-shift lens which gives it a unique perspective:

While I was inside and working on my cookbook, I missed a great sunset. The following pics were posted on Twitter:

In the States there is a lot of talk about employers checking social networks for potential employees. This was ruled as being legal recently south of the border. In Canada, a lot less media attention has been given to this, so it will be surprising to learn what companies here are doing. It will probably come out soon.

This article in Gizmodo shows how some of these companies verify your information. Lesson learned? Manage the information you give your interviewers, like your personal email address. It might be wise to use a new account just for looking for work. And don’t “friend” your boss!