Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

Guys, there are some things that you don’t buy your wife, no matter what the circumstances. Sure, she cleans up your mess a lot, but a vacuum cleaner does not make an appropriate anniversary gift, however, just buying a new one in general isn’t so bad. This Bun in the Oven Scale, however, should never be purchased by you.

This amusing scale is supposed to track the weight of an expecting mother. You can see four colorful markers and the silhouettes of a woman as she progresses through a pregnancy. The colored markers represent 20-lb increments, starting at 120 lbs. While that may seem fine and dandy to you, if she happens to step on the scale and be shown that she’s further along in terms of weight than she thinks (because not everyone weighs 120 lbs), then you will incur her wrath. I’d stay away from this ridiculously-priced $95 gadget if I were you.

[ UncommonGoods ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Luke Anderson

Somehow the month of October is already upon us, and with it comes the cool weather of fall. This of course serves as a reminder of the much colder weather that will be here before we know it. With all of the great technology we have, there are plenty of gadgets that will make sure you keep plenty warm this winter. One such device is this Heated Traction Mat.

When it starts getting really cold, just lay this may down along your walkway, and turn it on any time it snows. This will keep your walkway snow-free without the need of a shovel. If you forget to turn it on before the snow starts, it will still melt it away at a rate of 2-inches per hour.

This seems like a great winter gadget, however, I find there to be a couple of problems with it. First, if your walkway slopes downward toward the street, all of the melted snow will run down and create a sheet of ice, which will only cause further issues. Second, at a price of $1,100 for a 2′x15′ mat, it’s just not very cost-effective. You could probably pay a neighbor kid to shovel your walkway and driveway for many years at that price.

[ FrontGate ] VIA [ CoolestGadgets ]

By Luke Anderson

I come from a family of musicians. Both my dad and brother are excellent guitar players and have been recording their own music for some time. I can’t tell you how many times one of them would remark on a particularly excellent piece of music they came up with, only to forget it. This excellent little gadget would be a great way to make sure you never forgot the music you created during a late night jam session.

The BackTrack is a simple recorder for your guitar. Just plug in your quarter-inch cord and go about your rocking. The device is always on, but only starts recording when a signal is detected. If you lay down a really great piece that you want to remember for later, just hit the “Mark” button so you know exactly where to look when you download it.

The audio is recorded as 24-bit, 48KHz .WAV files. The 1GB of internal memory should be enough for around 12 hours of recording. The battery can last anywhere up to 12 hours, but will vary depending on the sample rate and bit depth you choose to record at. You’ll both download your audio files and charge it via USB. Line 6 also makes a “+ Mic” version which features a  mic and double the storage capacity.

Depending on how the audio turns out, this could be a very useful tool for a musician working on new material. The basic BackTrack will run you $140, while the + Mic version will set you back $210.

[ Line 6 ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Luke Anderson

We’ve all seen the solar gadgets which promise to provide juice to other electronics. However, these generally require you to be in good sunlight for hours on end just to work. While there are some people that might benifit from such a device, most of us aren’t outside that much every day. Another alternative approach to recharging gadgets is this M2E Power, which charges batteries using kinetic energy.

The basic idea is to strap this little gizmo to your belt and it will charge up a battery simply by collecting energy from your movements. Unfortunately there is no word on pricing or availability.

[ M2E Power ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Luke Anderson

I love animals, and enjoy having them around my house. When I was growing up, we had two dogs and always a few stray cats. It is rare that I actually find myself scared of a dog, as I know that generally they have no desire to hurt you. However, there are some dogs that are mean, and very well may attack you. If you’re a person that is forced to come in contact with such animals, you may want to look into this Animal Nuisance Repeller.

This device will emit a high-frequency sound which will make dogs whimper, and generally turn tail and run. This isn’t something I would keep around the house to use as an obedience tool, but rather would see it in the hands of an animal control officer for emergencies. One of these will only set you back around $30.

[ TaylorGifts ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Sometimes I come a across a product that promises to do so much for you that it seems like an incredible device. Then upon reading up on it you find that there is nothing substantial to back up such claims. Take this awesome HotInazma Pocket, which promises to “improve fuel consumption, reduce emissions” and will even improve the air in your car by acting as a negative ion generator. Awesome.

So how does this magic device work? It simply stabilizes the electricity flowing through your car’s electric system via the cigarette lighter adapter. Uh huh, so this little thing is going to make my car run smoother for just $99.95. I think I’ll wait until we see some actual tests that aren’t conducted by the manufacturer before I get excited.

[ 5StarShine ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Luke Anderson

Have you ever put the wrong type of fuel in your car? I’m not talking about skimping out and getting regular when your car calls for premium. No, I’m wondering if you’ve ever put diesel into your gas tank by mistake? Well, now there’s a handy gadget that can check whether or not you’re putting the right stuff in your vehicle.

Install this little gadget on the inside of your fuel flap, then just hold the fuel nozzle up to it ever time you fill up. It will light up to tell you whether or not you’ve got the right type. Seriously, do we really need something like this? Why not just look at the pump and make sure you grabbed the right one? Heck, if I’m not mistaken, the nozzle on a diesel pump is actually larger than that of regular gas so it won’t fit into your car. If you’re really paranoid, then by all means pick one of these up for around $40

[ Fuel Checkers ] VIA [ Red Ferret ]

By Luke Anderson

I am a lover of pizza. Any time I’m visiting a new place, I always have to check out one of the local pizza joints. Of course when I’m at home, I like to make my own pizza (none of that frozen stuff for me) from my secret recipe. While I have the process down to an art, I’ve yet to find a way of cutting the pizza that I really like. I don’t like the way that the round cutters damage my pans, and straight-edge ones aren’t much better. I’m actually tempted by these pizza scissors.

Here you have a wedge-shaped spatula combined with a pair of kitchen shears. Just slide it under the area you want, and cut. It’s a pretty simple concept, and should work fairly well I would think. You can pick one up for around $20.

[ Skymall ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Luke Anderson

I don’t know about where you live, but the county fairs are in full swing in my part of the States. I live in the sort of area that is surrounded by corn, and people love to train farm animals to do tricks. It’s also rather hot out, and the people that attend such fairs have no issue with using strange contraptions to keep themselves cool. I really wouldn’t be surprised to walk past a farmer wearing one of these.

This little fan clips on your hat and gets power from soaking up the sun’s rays. Sure, it’ll probably weigh down your hat, and you’ll look pretty funny, but I guess it beats having a sweaty face. You can pick one up for just $10.

[ Brando ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]