By Chris Scott Barr

How long has it been since you slept with a nightlight? I think I stopped somewhere around first grade, and now prefer my bedroom to be pitch black. Then again, if I’d had one of these lightsaber lights, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so compelled to ditch the nightlight when I was younger.

This lightsaber is meant to be mounted on a wall and used like a nightlight. It even comes with a remote so that you can change between 7 different colors and turn it on/off without getting out of bed. The product page also mentions something about it being used as a learning tool that will teach your children about electronics, though they don’t really elaborate. This $25 light is currently up for pre-order and will ship sometime in Q3 of this year.

[ BigBadToyStore ] VIA [ NerdApproved ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The latest pocket watch design from Hublot’s special Confrérie Horlogère division seems to take its inspiration from the NRA, with a bullet-shaped body made from titanium (for the ‘bullet’ itself) and black aluminum (for the ‘shell casing’). Known as the ‘Liberty’ the watch features a tourbillon mechanism with the time being indicated by a roller display on the side, and what looks like a sweeping second hand on the bottom.

Now while most pocket watches are designed to be stashed in your pocket when not in use, I would be hesitant about tossing one of these in with my keys and loose change since they’ll be sold in pairs starting in June for $79,000.

[ Perpetuelle.com - Hublot “Liberty” Bullets, by the Confrérie Horlogère ] VIA [ Born Rich ]

By Andrew Liszewski

On one hand it looks like it’s considerably more monotonous than working at a greasy spoon or even McD’s, but at least this Minimum Wage Machine, designed by Blake Fall-Conroy, is steady, reliable work. That is until the Plexiglas box full of pennies runs out. From its creator:

The minimum wage machine allows anybody to work for minimum wage. Turning the crank will yield one penny every 5.04 seconds, for $7.15 an hour (NY state minimum wage). If the participant stops turning the crank, they stop receiving money. The machine’s mechanism and electronics are powered by the hand crank, and pennies are stored in a plexiglas box.

All that’s missing is Raymond Scott’s Powerhouse playing in the background.

[ Minimum Wage Machine ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve realized that shaking my head over ridiculous aftermarket car accessories serves no other purpose than to strengthen my neck muscles. So if you’ve already dumped thousands of dollars on a set of rims, but are worried that people just aren’t noticing how amazing you are, please don’t let me stop you from spending another $500 on a set of MotionLites, so they’re not missed.

Each kit comes with four of the telescoping lights which install in your wheel wells and retract/extend at the push of a button on the included fob. The remote also allows you to select one of seven different colors depending on your mood, and even strobe the lights for grabbing the maximum amount of attention you can.

[ MotionLite ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If warm milk before bed isn’t doing the job when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, maybe it’s time for a bit of empirical data to help solve the mystery. Japanese company Tanita has just announced the Sleep Scan mat which monitors and records your body motion, breathing patterns and heart rate throughout the night. Using the mat is as easy as slipping it under your mattress, and the data that’s collected is stored on a removable SD card allowing it to be uploaded and analyzed on a PC via an included piece of software.

Using graphs and a calculated ‘sleep score’ you might have a chance at figuring out why and when you toss and turn during the night, but it seems to me like you’d still want to seek out the opinion of a professional of insomnia is becoming a real issue for you. The Sleep Scan will be available in Japan come May for about $395, with no official announcement on international availability at this point.

[ Kaden Watch - Tanita Sleep Scan Mat ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

When you’re 6′ 2″+, climbing in and out of small cars requires quite a bit of awkward twisting and bending. So instead of making fun of this new OEM swivel seat option that Renault is offering on its Clio in certain European markets, I’m going to hope that it eventually becomes standard equipment in everything smaller than a minivan.

By simply pulling on a small lever the passenger is able to turn their seat 75 degrees so that it’s facing out the door, making entering and exiting the vehicle a whole lot easier. Now with a price tag of just over $2,000 it’s not the cheapest option you can add to the Clio, but according to Renault that price is significantly cheaper than installing an after-market equivalent option.

[ Gizmag - Renault turns more than heads with its new swivel seat ]

By Evan Ackerman

Everything, everything is better if, in addition to whatever its primary purpose is, it can also be used to a.) hit people and b.) take naps. This calculator may do fancy stuff with numbers (also known as witchcraft), but most importantly, it’s soft and squishy. And being solar powered, it’s Earth friendly, too! Yaaayyy!

Someone really needs to hack this thing with an accelerometer so that you can throw it at people and have it actually do stuff. Like, gentle toss is add, spinning toss is subtract, and severe beatdown is multiply. Let’s get multiplyin’!

The Solar Plush Calculator is $20 from a website called Silly Dilly Tot Spot, which also happens to be a kid’s TV show on the BBC.

[ Plush Calculator ] VIA [ Make ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Imagine the look on the appraiser’s face when you show up to the Antiques Roadshow in 50 years with a baseball that’s not only signed by [insert popular MLB player's name here] but also features a photo and a custom message from them in their own voice! Thanks to Rawlings’ Recordable Autograph Ball the next time you’ve been taken out to the ballgame you can not only ask for your favorite player’s autograph, but also bug them to spend up to 12 seconds leaving a custom greeting for you with the ball’s built-in voice recorder.

A small 1.5-inch frame provides a place to put a photo of your encounter, but I think Rawlings needs to work on including a small digital camera and LCD display allowing you to capture the moment for posterity, or authentication when you decide to sell it in the future. $24.98 from Things You Never Knew Existed.

[ Rawlings Recordable Autograph Ball ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As if having a dead battery in your vehicle wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the risk of doing some serious damage if you incorrectly hook up a set of jumper cables while trying to bring it back to life. Not so with Michelin’s Smart Jumper Cables. An electronic box in-between the sets of clamps lets you know when everything’s hooked up, properly completing the circuit, and once both batteries are connected any issues with polarity are automatically taken care of to keep sparking and ‘splosions to a minimum. $40 available at most auto supply retailers.

[ Michelin's Smart Jumper Cables ] VIA [ Autoblog ]