The Santa Cruz Shredder actually does leave me with fluffier and more evenly burning weed.

Over time the very act of grinding weed wears out my herb grinders. Add to that the fact that I use them in the process of smoking dope and you'll understand why I tend to go through one or two a year. As I was recently replacing my Sativa grinder, which gets the most use, the weed wizard at my local shop introduced me to the Santa Cruz Shredder.

The squared off teeth and bottom affixed central post in the Santa Cruz Shredder leave your processed marijuana product fluffier and less 'ground down' -- this may be the shape of the teeth, or the slightly larger pass-thru holes for shredded stuff. Regardless, I find that bowls draw with more ease and the weed seems to burn more evenly in my Twisty Glass Blunt.

This isn't a run out and get one right now kind of improvement, but I'll be buying this style grinder going forward. If you need a new one, give it a try!

Santa Cruz Shredder 4 Piece Medium New (Black) via Amazon Read the rest

Tinder is not happy about an LA billboard campaign urging users of popular dating and hookup apps to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases, for free.

In a provocative LA area billboard campaign, The AIDS Healthcare Foundation takes aim at apps like Tinder and Grindr, and implies that people who use those services to connect with sexual partners are at a higher risk for diseases like chlamydia and gonorrhea.

A KCAL9 LA TV reporter reported that one of the billboards was put up just a few blocks from Tinder’s Beverly Boulevard headquarters.

Tinder sent a cease and desist letter to the AHF, demanding the billboards be taken down and arguing that they "falsely" associate the app "with the contraction of venereal diseases."

In the lawyergram, Tinder attorney Jonathan D. Reichman says the AHF billboard's "accusations are made to irreparably harm Tinder's reputation in an attempt to encourage others to take an HIV test offered by your organization."

Reichman says the campaign's "statements" are not based in science, and would not hold up to "critical analysis."

Tinder "strongly supports such testing," he adds, accusing AHF of false advertising, disparagement, libel and interference with Tinder's business. And them's lawsuitin' words.

The AHF sent out a press release today that links to various studies and an article in Vanity Fair to bolster their dubious claim of “rising STD rates found among users of popular dating or “hookup” mobile phone apps.”

In their announcement, the AHF also detailed the responses by Tinder and Grinder:

Within two hours of the billboard posting in Los Angeles (the only market where the boards are currently posted), Grindr, another of the apps highlighted in the campaign, cut off AHF’s paid advertising for its free STD testing services on the site.

In the eight years I've been grinding my own coffee, I've burned out the motor on three grinders: a cheap blade grinder, then a Cuisinart burr grinder, and finally a Capresso grind 'n brew. Either consumer-level grinders are poorly made, or my workload of 4-5 pots of filter coffee per week plus the occasional enemy (no space for a wood chipper in my city apartment) is too intense. Having spent more than $300 on now busted grinders I decided to investigate what it would take to acquire a grinder that I might reasonably expect to last for a decade.

The Rocky has commercial grade grinding burrs and is rated at 7.7 lbs per hour. Rancilio refers to the Rocky as "quiet during operation", and maybe it is in a relative sense, but I've yet to find a device that crushes things at a volume level approaching "serene". It is slightly less obnoxious than my previous grinders at close range.

Though I was sufficiently assured that the grinder would stand up to my usage, the quality that tipped the scales towards the Rocky is one most coffee nerd sites don't mention: height. At 13.8" tall, the Rocky is much shorter than most prosumer grinders, and it was the only grinder of its quality that fits easily under my shelves. I've had it for two years at this point and it still grinds as if I'd just taken it out of the box.

Rancilio Rocky Coffee Grinder ($363) Read the rest