Designed primarily for persons living in single floor ranch-style homes (I’m assuming) the Slink-O-Matic does the slinking for you when you’re lacking a staircase, or even adequate multi-hand coordination. It was built by Jim Sellers out of Oregon, and is a perfect example of a ‘why ask why?’ invention. I’m also excited about his rumored pet rock walker, and his upcoming hula hoop straightener.
I made mention of it a couple of weeks ago, but unless you’re an IT type who hasn’t been completely demoralized by the job, it’s really hard to get excited about wireless routers. In fact, I think I’d be more eager to research and shop for washing machines and dryers than a wireless router. But in an age of laptops, iPads and other portable devices, a wireless router is pretty much a must-have accessory for any home with internet access.
But given how tech illiterate the majority of the world’s computer users are, a wireless router can be a nightmare for anyone who serves as the unofficial tech support for their friends and family. Thankfully someone, somewhere at Cisco has suffered the same fate, and as a result the company has done quite a bit to make the latest generation of their wireless routers extremely user-friendly. After playing with a couple of their models for the past week I would be completely confident in handing my parents one of these routers and then walking away, knowing that I wouldn’t receive a single tech support phone call while they set it up and got it running. And if you’re curious just how easy Cisco has made the setup process, you can check out my full review after the jump.
Doing away with those annoying arms found on traditional binder clips, these stainless steel Slide Clips come in 3 different sizes capable of holding 30 (S), 60 (L) or 90 (XL) pages and slide easily and cleanly onto any document. The catch? They’re not exactly mainstream yet, so they’ll cost you $10 for a box of 30 small clips, $14 for a box of 20 large clips and $12 for a box of 10 x-large clips from PLASTICA.
Reliability is an important factor when deciding what brand of washer or dryer to buy, but everything breaks down eventually, and LG has come up with a clever way for their technicians to figure out just what’s wrong with one of their dryers or washers when they do. While internet connected appliances are the more trendy solution, they still tend to overcomplicate things. I mean who wants to punch in a wi-fi code on their dryer? Or run network cable to the laundry room?
LG’s solution, which they call SmartDiagnosis, has the end-user punch in a specific button sequence on the appliance (presumably something they’d never do by accident) which then causes it to play back a series of tones which the technician on the other end of the phone can use to determine what ails it. Kind of like morse code, or whatever the hell language R2-D2 spoke. The advantage is that the end-user doesn’t have to try and explain the ‘funny noise’ the machine is making, describe where exactly all the smoke is coming from or even read out some long complicated part number which can be misread or misheard over the phone.
Currently up for a much deserved James Dyson Award, David Graham’s Move-it concept consists of a set of self-adhesive cardboard parts that turns any box, up to 45 lbs in weight, into an easy to transport rolling trolley. The cardboard parts include a set of wheels and two different types of handles depending on the box’s shape and size, and when you’re finished moving whatever’s in the box the parts can be re-used elsewhere, or just recycled, including the glue which is a specially designed repulpable contact adhesive that disperses harmlessly in water.
Basically the success of this concept all comes down to the price. If I can buy a set of wheels and a handle for any cardboard box for less than $5, I may never have to lift anything ever again!
A bag of rice is the simplest suggestion when it comes to drying out a cellphone or other electronic device that’s taken a plunge, but even if this Dryer Box from JMC Risk Solutions is nothing more than high-tech snake oil, I’d still be willing to give it a shot first. (What can I say? You may have noticed I have an affinity towards high-tech solutions.)
The boxes have been installed in a handful of Yodobashi Camera shops in Tokyo, and if your beloved device has taken on a bit of water all it takes is a 30-minute session inside to dry it out and get it working again. The ‘treatment’ costs 1,000 YEN, or about $12, and even though the manufacturer won’t divulge how it works, I’m more inclined to believe it does since you’re only charged if your device is successfully revived after the 30 minutes.
Jedis already know that you need to keep your whites separate from your dark sides when doing laundry, but now those of us who don’t live in the Star Wars universe can follow those important cloak and robe care procedures with this special set of laundry care symbols. They come conveniently emblazoned on this “How to Wash Your Dark Sides” t-shirt which is available from the StarWarsShop.com for just $19.99.
Last October we had a brief hands-on with what I believe was the original version of this EFO HTPC remote that combines a touch pad with a compact Blackberry-esque keypad in a remarkably light package. But here we are less than a year later and the third generation of this remote has already been unveiled. Besides the obvious slightly more ergonomic curved layout of the keys, the EFO iPazzPort now includes a laser pointer making it more useful in the world of corporate presentations, F1 to F12 function keys, multimedia playback keys including play, pause, next track etc. and a smaller USB dongle. The original version was around $40 but I believe generation 3 is a bit more at $45, but still, a surprisingly useful little device for the price.
Banging together a couple of chalkboard erasers was always a fun way to annoy your fellow students, though it did come with the unwanted side effect of filling your lungs with chalk dust. But with today’s computer filled classrooms, chalk dust is an even bigger problem, so a Kawasaki-based company called Nihon Rikagaku has developed a new type of high-quality dustless chalk by mixing finely crushed scallop shells with the traditional chalk ingredient, calcium carbonate.
With a 10% mixture of the scallop shells, the crystals in the shell powder work as a cement holding the chalk together better, and the new recipe is win-win since scallop farmers have a hard time disposing of the shells, whereas now there’s a practical use for them. And it seems the new recipe also allows for considerably brighter colors compared to the desaturated, washed out tones we used when I was in school. You kids and your fancy colors! Spoiled I tells you!
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