Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

I tend to turn my lights on when I enter a room, and off when I leave them. Sure, during the day I’ll sometimes leave them off and just let the sunlight come in, and other times I’ll sit in the dark and play games. However, if you’re the sort of person that avoids turning on most of your lights until the sun has gone down, you’ll find this timer switch to be pretty handy.

Rather than being programmed to turn on your lights at the same time every day, you program in your latitude and longitude. This way, your lights will come on exactly at sunset. At $40, it won’t break the bank, though the hard part will likely be hooking it up to your lighting.

[ SmartHome ]VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Luke Anderson

I remember the good old days of being a full-time networking/PC tech. I had my workbench where I did all of the major internal work on the computers that came in. I always had a couple of static wrist straps lying around (I had a tendency to wear them home and forget them), and I always hated using them. That stupid cord always got in the way of everything, though at least the ones I used let you remove the cord from the band, which was about as convenient as it got. Well now it seems that someone has created a static wrist strap that needs no grounding wire.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no electrical engineer, but I always thought that unless you had something to ground out the strap, it was pointless. This particular one appears to store and discharge the static using a small resistor and a screw. Here’s the full explanation given on the site (you’ll have to forgive the broken English, since it’s a Taiwanese site).

Principle :
As per physics principle of “Corona” Discharge effects and “Points Discharge”
by transmission of electric potential difference to arrive the effect of
electrostatic elimination。That is use the physical principle of “Engineering of
static” transmit is use ion push ion transmission pushing the static of human
body as per the way of high electric potential enter the activation area than
use ” Skin effect” pushing the static from activation area to the point of storing
static and between the storing static area with discharging have one meg ohm
resistor to stop the static return to transmit. Further, the device out side have
one screw, it connect with inside conductor circuit
(1). Use for – When people touch high Static power n careless make instant
large electrostatic charge conduction, can offer ion neutralization with outside
water molecule by the screw when the ion neutralize un-finish in time.
[It's "Corona discharge effect ] to eliminate the static reach to the final
purpose of ” Static voltage balance”
(2). Can be use to make the function of electric potential zero
(Just use the rew touch the grounding source)
(3). Can be used to check the circuit termination.

If these work as described, I could certainly see a huge market for something like this, especially since it’s not nearly as ugly as the ones I’ve owned. The main problem you’re going to run into is actually getting your hands on one. They’re only about $11, but you’ll need to get it imported.

[ BHO ] VIA [ CoolestGadgets ]

By Luke Anderson

Lets face it, it’s November, which also means that it’s really cold outside. If you happen to be one of those people living in a warm climate, you can just go…nevermind. Anyway, for those of you that have trouble keeping your hands warm at your desk, here’s a handy little gadget to help at least one of your hands.

Rather than trying to cram a heater into your mouse, Thanko has decided to make a USB Heating Mousepad. Sure, it’s not much to look at, but when your boss decides to get stingy with the thermostat, you’ll love its 40-45 degree Celsius temperature. This would go perfectly with one of Thanko’s heating keyboards, which between the two, should keep your hands plenty warm in the winter. This gadget won’t even break the bank at just $20.

[ Thanko ] VIA [ EverythingUSB ]

By Luke Anderson

How many times have you been cruising along, or at least been near your car and thought that you needed a margarita? Sure, not being in your house or a bar will generally tend to make that a difficult drink to come by, but fear not, the Margarator MSB-585 is here to save the day!

This blender was created with the on-the-go drinker in mind. Not only will this blend up a great drink for you and dispense it from the handy tap, it will do all of this from the comfort of your car. Maybe I just don’t drink enough, but I actually can’t think of any time where someone was craving a margarita when we had only a car’s lighter plug for power. I suppose on a camping trip it might be fun, just don’t forget to clean it out before you go driving off. Something tells me that if you get pulled over with that in your front seat, things won’t go so well. Unfortunately the $110 price tag will be enough to persuade most people to just drink something easier to make.

[ BarWare ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

I’m not a coffee drinker myself, but plenty of people rely on their morning cup of Joe to get things started in the morning. If you tend to keep a cup of coffee at your desk for the better part of the morning (or day), then why not just brew it there too?

This sleek little gadget will make single cups of coffee right at your desk. This will save you from waiting for an entire pot to brew, or from discovering the hard way that someone switched all to decaf. This little guy will only run you $34 (you get two mugs for this price as well), which you should be able to justify to your boss as a legitimate expense, since it saves you all of those trips to the break room.

[ GeekAlerts ] VIA [ Firebox ]

By Luke Anderson

When I’m out driving, I usually try to be as friendly as I can to the other drivers. Doing things like letting someone out of a driveway when they’ve already been sitting there for a while is just courteous. When someone returns the favor I tend to give them a nice wave, but I don’t know that they always see it. Here’s a cool sign for the back of your vehicle that you can use to tell someone that “they rock” or a number of other sentiments that can be expressed with a single hand.

Sure, the first thing that jumps to mind is the good old middle finger. However, usually when I fly the bird, it’s to the guy that just cut me off, in which case this sign wouldn’t help much. If you do happen to be angry with the car behind you, do make sure it’s not a cop before sending them a one-fingered greeting, I don’t think they’ll take kindly to your gesture. This 9″x6″ remote controlled sign will run you around $40.

[ Perpetual Kid ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Luke Anderson

Since I type for a living, I’ve learned to move my fingers quite quickly over the past several years. However, when you’re first learning to type, you don’t move nearly as fast. If you need a little encouragement to get your WPM (words per minute) count up, here’s an entertaining little device that should do the trick.

We’ve all seen those little exercise wheels that you can put a hamster or mouse in, well this is one for your computer, complete with a mouse (don’t worry, it’s made of plastic). The speed of the wheel is determined by the speed at which you are typing. Sure, it would probably get pretty annoying for an adult, but if you have a kid that’s just learning, it might be a good way to encourage them.

[ GiftWhole ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve been using Windows Vista for quite some time now, and one feature I’ve never taken advantage of is SideShow. If you’re not familiar with the feature, it allows you to have a small screen which displays a variety of useful information. I remember hearing about this and thinking how cool it would be to use. Unfortunately Vista has been out for close to two years, and there aren’t a lot of devices that work with SideShow. Those that do will generally set you back more than your primary monitor. Fortunately Mini-Box has created an excellent device that won’t break the bank.

The PicoLCD 4×20 Sideshow is a small SideShow LCD screen that can display up to four lines of 20 characters. It works with a variety of Gadgets such as Windows Media Player, WeatherBug, Stocks Plus and more. You can program each gadget to display a variety of information, and in the case of Windows Media Player, navigate through your music library from the device itself. The best thing about this screen has to be the price. At $50, this is the least expensive Sideshow product I’ve seen.

[ Mini-Box ] VIA [ EverythingUSB ]

By Luke Anderson

There’s something that I’ve wondered about for many years. Why does Peter Pan have his own brand of peanut butter? Sure, it’s pretty good peanut butter in my opinion, but I’ve yet to find any really good why it even exists in the first place. If you’re extremely picky about your peanut butter, and don’t trust a flying boy with your food, you might be interested in making your own stuff.

With the Peanut Butter Machine, there’s really no reason to buy jars of peanut butter from the store again. Just pour in two cups of peanuts, select whether you want crunchy or smooth, and you’re all set. The best part of all is that the result is an all-natural product which doesn’t contain any additives. If you’re big on all-natural foods, or are just picky about your peanut butter, you can get one of these gadgets for $50 starting at the end of the month. Given how cheap the stuff is to buy by the jar, I think I’ll just stick to that.

[ LighterSide ] VIA [ RGS ]