Oh! Gizmo

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 Andrew Liszewski

I’m usually not that interested in toasters, but if you’ve ever tried to heat up something like a bun with a conventional model you’ve probably found that it’s not only difficult, but also be a potential fire hazard. But that’s not the case with this model which features a rotating wire basket that not only prevents the buns from touching the heating elements, but also ensures they get evenly toasted on all sides.

Obviously the basket is useless for sliced bread or bagels, so the toaster also functions like a traditional pop-up model complete with extra wide slots for accommodating your Texas toast craving. There’s even a couple of heating drawers that will keep slices of toast crisp and warm until you’re ready to serve them. The toaster is available from Pro-Idee for about $94.

[ The First Toaster With Basket Cooking Rotary ] VIA [ Coolbuzz ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve been guilty of spilling a bit of liquid when pouring out of a fresh 2-liter bottle. It’s a skill that most people have mastered, however, those with small children may want to consider a fancy contraption such as the 2-Liter Pour Thing.

This “Thing” is a simple plastic holder for a large bottle of soda. It cradles the bottle and allows you to easily pour the liquid out without fear of a spill. Sure, most people are going to find this thing a waste of $20, however, the next time you see a 2-liter get spilled, you’re going to remember this one.

[ Solutions ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Luke Anderson

When I was younger, I always wondered what wine tasted like. Once I even snuck a sip of a bottle in my parents’ house, only to find it was one of the most awful things I’d ever tasted. When I was of age, one of my uncles, who has an appreciation for fine wine (unlike my parents who bought only the cheap stuff) let me taste a few of his favorite bottles. As it turns out, the “better” a wine is, the worse it tastes. For those of you that actually enjoy the taste of wine, could you ever picture yourself drinking it out of a can?

There’s just something about the mental image of a rich socialite holding a can of wine, drinking it with pinky stuck out that makes me laugh a bit. A pair of Swedish designers created a concept recyclable wine cans that no one seems to want to put their wine in. Perhaps it’s that people like to have a resealable bottle, or that they enjoy sniffing their wine out of a large glass. Or maybe it’s the fact that it’ll seem too much like drinking a beer that makes no one want it.

[ Wine-Can ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

One of my favorite summertime snacks has to be the s’more. I mean, first you have the fun of roasting a marshmallow over an open fire (without catching it on fire, unless that’s your thing). Then when you’re done, you’ve got a delicious, albeit messy, snack. So what happens when you want such a snack in the wintertime, or on a rainy day? You turn to your trusty microwave. Well here’s a device that is supposed to help you in your task of making microwave s’mores.

This is actually one of the more pointless devices that I’ve seen. All it does is hold down the top graham cracker to the marshmallow. Honestly, I don’t really care to make s’mores in the microwave, but at least it’s fun to watch the marshmallow expand to three or four times its original size. $7 isn’t much to spend on something like this, but just think of the many wonderful things you could do with that kind of money.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ Technabob ]

By Luke Anderson

There are plenty of reasons why I don’t drink coffee (the taste being one of the larger reasons). Since I don’t drink the stuff, I don’t worry about anyone running off with my coffee mugs. However, in some offices this is a real issue. People will knowingly take your cup, fill it up, and take it back to their desk. Sure, you can confront them about their blatant disregard for your ownership, or you can get a better mug.

The Lock Cup features a peculiar hole in the side. Naturally no one will want to use a leaky cup (and if they unknowingly do so, they’ll be in for a hot surprise), which takes care of the issue. When you’re ready for a cup of Joe, just insert your handy key to plug the hole, and you’re good to go. Just make sure no one throws your seemingly broken cup in the trash. Alas, this is merely a concept design for now.

[ Coroflot ] VIA [ Gearfuse ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve never been much of a drinker, but I tend to find drinking gadgets to be interesting. Take, for example this Super SideBar, which will dispense up to five different liquids at the touch of a button.

The device looks like a simple faucet, minus the sink. It has six buttons (one for on/off) that corrospond with various drinks that would be stored nearby. Each drink has its own separate pump, and can be set to dispense predefined amounts of liquid, or will simply pump on demand.

You’ll need to be throwing a lot of parties (or just drinking a lot in general) to justify something this fancy. It will set you back $499, which makes pouring drinks straight from the bottle sound like a better idea.

[ Super SideBar ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

When I know my toast is almost finished in the toaster, I’ll generally give the handle a little extra help, thus projecting my food into the air just a bit. This is usually enough for me to snatch it with my other hand, and amuse myself. First thing in the morning, I’ll take just about anything for amusement. So what if you want your toast tossed really really high in the air? You get yourself a bigger toaster.

On the right you’ll see one big freaking toaster. For all intents and purposes, it’s just a larger version of the device sitting on your kitchen counter. However, once it is finished, it will throw your toast high enough in the air that you’ll probably have to go chase it down. It accomplishes this by using a high-pressure CO2 gas system and a mechanical arm. Not really sure why this was created, but I feel compelled to use it.

[ Freddie Yauner ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

I’m an ice cream addict. I pop off to my local Dairy Queen more often than I probably should for a fix. While I prefer a soft serve cone, I also tend to buy the kind you stick in your freezer. I’ve found that a mix between nuking the whole container for a few seconds and running the ice cream scoop under hot water makes getting the ice cream out much easier. However, one alternative would be to buy this Scoop & Stack.

Rather than messing with the aforementioned steps, you can scoop out perfectly-shaped cylinders of ice cream which can easily be stacked on top of each other. It uses a simple twist-and-lift action which promises to cut through even the hardest ice cream. For $15, I’d certainly be willing to give it a try.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Well here’s a bizarre mashup of products and pop culture. At first glance this might look like some sort of high-tech wrist communicator that you can use to contact the Dark Knight himself if you’re ever in trouble. (I know, that’s a bit of stretch.) But in reality it’s nothing more than a ceramic salt and pepper shaker designed to look like one. I assume that somewhere there’s a Batman-themed salt & pepper shaker collector who’s already half-through filling out the online order form, not to mention a Lucasfilm executive who’s just had an epiphany as to what the next Star Wars product tie-ins will be.

The Batman Salt & Pepper shaker is available from CookieJarCollectibles.com for $14.95, even though I’m fairly certain the one thing this isn’t is a cookie jar.

[ Batman Watch Salt & Pepper Shaker ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]