Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve never used a bidet, and to be quite honest, I wouldn’t be that upset if I lived my entire life without having had that experience. But if you enjoy the bidet experience, and don’t want to drop thousands of dollars on a fancy new toilet, the GoBidet’s got you covered. (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.) It can be affixed to your existing toilet and features an adjustable arm that can be strategically aimed and even swung in and out of position as needed. The easiest installation option allows you to connect the GoBidet’s water pipe directly to your toilet, but that only provides you with cold water, which could take some getting used to. If you want hot water as well you’ll need to run an extra pipe or hose to the water hookups under the bathroom sink, which is a bit more complicated. With a price tag of around $130 (depending on where you buy it) the GoBidet seems like an affordable way to live a life of luxury.

[ GoBidet ] VIA [ Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t know about you, but as soon as the fireworks are extinguished at the beginning of July, I’m ready to haul out the Hallowe’en decorations. Sure pumpkins might be next to impossible to find in the middle of Summer, but if you plan ahead and throw a couple in the freezer come October, you’ll be ready for an early start next year. But why stop at just a pumpkin on the front porch when you can give your whole house the macabre treatment? Even your bathroom can now be dressed up for Hallowe’en with this Bloody Serial Killer Shower Curtain.

Taking a cue from Hitchcock’s Psycho, the curtain features the silhouette of a knife-wielding maniac (though without a wig) and enough blood splatters to take it well beyond the point of being a subtle gag. But there’s more! The shower curtain also features a sound and motion-activated speaker that plays the famous Psycho music as well as a clip of a woman screaming. It’s powered by 3 AA batteries which I’m sure you’ll be removing once the novelty wears off. (My guess is about 3 minutes into your first actual shower with it.)

The Bloody Serial Killer Shower Curtain is available from Things You Never Knew Existed for $19.98.

[ Bloody Serial Killer Shower Curtain ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re not affluent enough to have an actual garage butler, I’m sure this electronic one will more than suffice. It attaches to the wall next to your garage door’s standard open/close button (required) and will automatically close the door after a set amount of time. (Starting from when the door was opened.) Using a light sensor it will also automatically close the door at night when it gets dark, and it won’t interfere with the door’s auto-reverse safety features either. Installation takes about 30 minutes and while there’s no drilling involved, I’m not sure if it requires any skilled wiring. So for $59.98 you can basically erase one responsibility off of your daily to-do list. For me though, it means I’m going to have to let Jeeves go after 30 years of loyal service in my garage. Maybe I’ll let him keep the tux. (Probably not.)

[ Garage Butler ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re an obsessive-compulsive type when it comes to organizing cables (guilty) then this retractable extension cord should bring some peace of mind. (I’m not the only one who loses sleep over messy cables right?) With only 5 feet of cord it’s pretty limited as to where you can use it, but the cable winds back into the base so you can keep things looking neat and tidy. It also features 2 ungrounded outlets on the base, which is unfortunately another limit when it comes to how and where you can use it. But with a price tag of $12.98 from FullOfLife.com, I guess you get what you pay for.

[ Retractable Extension Cord ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There’s been countless inventions over the years that have made our lives easier, but at some point we have to draw the line. And I think a motorized spray bottle is as good a place as any to start. This 48oz model from Cepia can be filled with any liquid whether it be water, soap, herbicides or even pesticides, and pushing the small trigger button will cause the electric motor to automatically pump and spray for as long as you keep it pressed. Now I realize that if your home is filled with plants, watering them on a daily basis can get to be a bit tedious. But if you actually find the act of squeezing the trigger on a spray bottle to be too arduous a task, then I’d seriously suggest getting rid of some of your indoor foliage before resorting to a motorized spray bottle. But if you must have one, you can find it online for about $8-10.

[ Cepia Motorized Sprayer ]

By Evan Ackerman

As if I don’t already feel bad enough when my houseplants that I pay so much attention to up and die on me, designer Junyi Heo has created a USB planter with an LED display that makes faces to convey the current emotional state of your leafy pal. The planter has sensors that measure soil conditions, temperature, humidity, and water, and based on the type of plant in the planter, some software will calculate how the plant is most likely, uh, feeling. There are a bunch of different facial expressions, including male and female ones, along with some simpler pictures that tell you if the plant is too hot, too cold, or thirsty. Seems like it could also use something to tell you if it’s getting the proper amount of light, which I think is how I manage to kill most of my foliage. Speaking of, you know what else it could use? A little tombstone icon a la Oregon Trail: “Here lies Wilt. He died from lack of sun.” Rest in peace, my chlorophyllic friend… Rest in peace.

VIA [ Yanko Design ]

By Andrew Liszewski

They say if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. But given the variety of alarm clocks available on the market, I think the real money is in finding new and unique ways to wake people up in the morning. Like this hanging alarm clock for example. You attach the clock to your ceiling with the supplied cable so that it hangs just above your bed. Not so close that you’re going to hit it every time you roll over, but close enough to hit the buttons without having to reach too far.

When the alarm goes off in the morning (playing the theme from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind) you can simply reach up and hit the snooze button for some more shut eye. But that will also cause the alarm to climb up the cable 30cm every minute. So every time you hit the snooze button, that’s 30cm farther you’ll have to reach. Eventually the alarm will be so far that you have no choice but to physically get up to reach it, and at that point you’ll probably be wide awake.

You can find the Hanging Alarm Clock at Crazy About Gadgets for about $40.

[ Hanging Alarm Clock ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Evan Ackerman

Generally, I’m not much for baths. They take a while to get ready, it gets boring to just lie there, the water inevitably cools off, and when I get out I don’t feel especially clean. If I had a Red Diamond Bathtub, though, all of my problems would be solved and showers would be a thing of the past and it would take me about 2 hours to get ready for work in the morning. This is a serious, serious bathtub. The first thing you’ll notice are the two waterproof HDTVs that pop up out of concealed side panels. There’s also an integrated Champagne holder, fully electronic controls (including automatic temperature hold), solid gold highlighting, and a whole bunch of Swarovski crystals leaded amorphous solids.

Want more? Okay, how about comfortable seating for two, four color LED mood lighting, an “electric self extracting hand-held shower unit,” variable intensity whirlpool and airpool jets, a continuous automatic water disinfection system, and a GSM module that lets you call the bathtub (!) and order up a bath with the temperature and water level of your choice from anywhere in the world.

For the ultimate in bathtub luxury, expect to pay somewhere around $47,000.

[ WGT ] VIA [ Born Rich ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If someone had come to me and said, “Hey Andrew, I’m thinking about designing a bathroom sink that can also connect to your MP3 player and double as an amplified speaker” I would have told them it was a stupid idea. But now that I see pictures of one that really exists, I realize how wise I am because it’s still a stupid idea. From WET Studio comes the X-Light Surround Basin which is made from transparent PMMA (or para-methoxy-methamphetamine poly-methyl-methacrylate) acrylic. It would be kind of cool if the entire basin functioned as the speaker when an MP3 player was connected, but it looks like it actually uses two dedicated speaker units located on the underside of the sink. Now I can’t deny that Jan Puylaert’s design looks slick and modern, but I like to keep my electronics away from running water, toothpaste, soap and everything else you put into the bathroom sink.

[ WET X-Light Surround Basin ] VIA [ Trendir ]