Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always thought that spray bottles were a great invention. They disburse liquids in either a mist or stream with a minimal amount of effort on your part. My only complaint is that they never seem to have a very long life. Well, that and my trigger finger gets tired if I’m spraying for long periods of time. Well if you’re tired of squeezing the trigger over and over, here’s a little gadget that will do the work for you.

Sure, I’m the first to admit that most people can just suck it up and deal with a simple task like squeezing a trigger. However, think about someone with arthritis trying to clean a house full of windows. Something like this would be perfect. It runs off of a single regargeable NiCad battery, and operates by gently holding down the trigger. For those that have trouble with repetitive motion with their fingers, this would be well worth the $25.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Luke Anderson

Are you one of those mischievous pranksters that enjoys wreaking havoc on those around you? Then you’ve no doubt heard of the TV-B-Gone, which a certain group of bloggers used to cause chaos at last year’s CES. The consequences of their actions weren’t as severe as they could have been, but you can imagine that anyone caught with such a device this year will regret it. That of course doesn’t mean that you can’t still have some fun with it.

Okay, so I still don’t think you should use this at a big show like CES, because those people spend a lot of money and time working on those presentations. But I know that your creative mind can still find something useful to do with this DIY TV-B-Gone hoodie. While the IR LEDs are a dead giveaway, you could still probably get away with using this. The switch is contained in the zipper, which is connected to the circuit board via conductive thread. Now go forth, and wreak your havoc.

[ Instructables ] VIA [ UberReview ]

By Luke Anderson

I grew up living in the country, which meant we always had a mouse problem. Sure, we had a couple of cats, but they were of the lazy non-mouse-catching variety. My mom hated seeing the dead mice in regular traps, so those were rarely used. We instead tried using live traps, as they seemed to be a nicer way to get rid of the critters. Unfortunately we were pretty sure that despite releasing them far away from the house, they were still coming back inside. If you have a similar issue, then you might want to look into the Victor Multi-Kill trap.

This handy device will attract small rodents, and then electrocute them after just 3 seconds in the trap. It then dumps the fried mouse into a handy collection box so that it can be easily disposed of. What’s more, is that the company claims that their device can rid you of your mouse problem in a single night. $100 might seem like a lot for just a mouse trap, but if it’s truly as effective as they claim, it would be well worth it.

[ Victor ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

Over the last few years there has been a big push for alternative energy sources. This push has lead to a great many solar-powered gadgets which promise to provide energy by harnessing the power of the sun. While that’s all good and well, there are situations where a solar panel isn’t going to be all that useful. However, if you can generate a bit of wind, you could always use this Mini Kin Green Power Generator.

This little device can be strapped to just about anything (they suggest a bike, your arm or even your dog) and will generate power when air flows through it. This energy can then be used to charge just about an gadget that uses a mini USB port. Sure, it’s not enough to cut your electric bill by any significant amount, but every little bit helps the environment. If alternative energy is your thing, then you can pick one of these up for around $50.

[ IWantOneOfThose ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Luke Anderson

In my part of the US there aren’t a lot of toll roads. Just from my limited experiences with them in areas I’ve traveled to, I would not want to have to deal with them on any sort of regular basis. I always envy the drivers that get to zip through the express lanes, due to having purchased some type of pass. While it has been tempting to go through that faster lane anyway, I know that they are closely monitored by a camera system which records your license plate. If you go through without having purchased a pass, you’ll get a nice little fine in the mail. However, if they can’t see your license plate, they can’t fine you, right?

That’s exactly the idea behind this RF license plate cover. With just the press of a button, a plastic cover will slide over your license plate, rendering it unreadable. I’m not sure what the legality of having such a gadget installed on your car is, but I can bet that you won’t want to get caught with it. Unfortunately this $121 gadget is designed for the Euro style license plates. Otherwise, it might be worth the risk to save all of that time and cash you spend going through toll booths.

[ DealExtreme ] VIA [ GearFuse ]

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 ]