Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

I loves me some pizza, be it frozen, delivered from a local shop or handmade by yours truly. I generally only turn to the frozen stuff late at night when everyone is closed and I’m too lazy to make one up myself. Of course if I had one of these Porta-Pizza ovens I could also avoid the nasty gas station pizza by cooking up a frozen pie in my car.

As I said before, I love pizza. However, I think this contraption takes things just a bit far. I can think of very few circumstances that this thing would actually be useful to the average consumer. Even then it just seems dangerous, messy and stupid. Sure, a pizza shop might try cooking pies on the way to the customer’s doorstep, but even that doesn’t sound too smart. If you absolutely must be able to make a pizza on the road, you can pick one of these up for $36.

[ Stupidiodic ] VIA [ Technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I have to give Electrolux credit, their design competitions have inspired some unique ideas when it comes to the possible future of household appliances. Like this “Cooking in the Futur” concept oven created by Ludovic Peperstraete. Instead of heating elements or an open flame, food is cooked via 3 harmless lasers that are targeted by the cook. And while a single laser supposedly isn’t strong enough to cook food, we all know that crossing two lasers can cook anything from a Thanksgiving turkey to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Now I’m not exactly sold on the open concept design, since the last time I checked cooked food is still hot and has the tendency to bubble and splatter, but the oven also features a new type of ventilation system to at least keep odors at bay.

[ The Design blog - Laser cooking is ultra-fast ‘Cooking in the Futur’ ] VIA [ cribcandy ]

By Evan Ackerman

Since smoke detectors are designed to detect smoke, they’re damn annoying when you’re burning something on purpose. You know, like dinner. You have to either stand on a chair and wave something in front of the detector forever or just give up and take out the batteries, which you’ll inevitably forget to replace, and your house will burn down. Yep, it will, for sure.

A better solution is Smokey the Silencer, a friendly little plastic dude with no legs who sticks to your fridge and can be used to remotely shut your smoke detector up until you’ve finished toasting marshmallows. The rest of the time, Smokey is a handy kitchen timer. You’ll have to get a detector with an XBee wireless communication chip in it, so the minimal convenience that Smokey offers may not ultimately be cost effective, unless (like me) you rely entirely on your smoke detector to tell you when dinner is ready.

VIA [ Yanko ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It might not have wifi, Bluetooth or even a built-in camera, but as someone who recently spent a most unpleasant afternoon trying to remove a bowl of chili that was dumped down the drain in my kitchen, the PermaFLOW is easily the coolest gadget I’ve seen all week. It’s a replacement sink trap that improves the standard design in almost every way. First, it’s see-through, which means if the sink isn’t draining like it should, you’ll be able to see why. Secondly, its unique design and shape increases the turbulence of the water while it’s draining, which minimizes buildup. And thirdly, it’s got an easy to use knob which turns an internal wiping mechanism that should easily clear up any clog. Brilliant.

The PermaFLOW is available from PF WaterWorks in different configurations for kitchen or bathroom sinks, and ranges in price from about $40 to $50.

[ PermaFLOW ] VIA [ core77 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

How brilliant is this? The Boogie Woogie salt and pepper shakers designed by Hauke Murken and Sven Hansen each feature a set of over-sized wheels allowing them to be rolled across the dinner table whenever anyone asks you to pass the salt and pepper. I assume the shakers are weighted on the bottom so they remain upright at all times, even when being rolled, and the anodized aluminum finish is the icing on the cake, or salt on the fries, depending on how you look at it. The best part though is that this isn’t a concept, but an actual product that will be hitting store shelves sometime in May. Though which stores specifically remains a mystery.

[ MENU A/S - Boogie Woogie ] VIA [ Acquire ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It might have brought you years of frustration as a child, but as a grown-up you can now use the power of the Rubik’s Cube for good. Or at least good taste. This set of salt and pepper mills are made to look like the iconic twisting puzzle cubes from the 80’s, but instead of messing up the colored grid pattern, the twisting motion is actually used to grind out your choice of salt or pepper.

They’re available from I Want One Of Those for about $16.55 each. Yeah, you have to buy them separately.

[ Rubik's Salt and Pepper Mills ] VIA [ Toyology ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not entirely sure why Space Invaders has become the poster-child for retro gaming, but I’m sure part of the credit has to go to the game’s simple pixel graphics which are easy to recreate on everything from ties, to ice cube trays, to even cutting boards now.

Hand-made in the USA from cubes of walnut and hard-maple, these Space Invaders themed cutting boards measure 15-inches by 10-inches and are the perfect tool for cutting down those hordes of invading green peppers. But because they’re hand-made, they’re only available in limited quantities. In fact it looks like ThinkGeek is currently sold out until the end of the week, but if and when they’re back in stock you’ll be able to order one for $129.99.

[ Space Invaders Cutting Board ] VIA [ Cribcandy ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While this lovely 3-speed blender from Vela was actually designed by Bugatti, I’m afraid it doesn’t have much in common with the Veyron supercar that Captain Slow drove to 253 MPH on Top Gear. It does however feature a “racing-inspired body” with a simple 3-speed dial that controls a 400W motor allowing the 18/10 stainless steel blades to effortlessly chop through ice, fruit or whatever you see fit to cram in the 1.5L glass pitcher.

And like the Veyron and the company’s other fine automobiles, the Bugatti Vela 3-Speed Blender comes with a higher-than-average price tag of $350 in your choice of a red or shiny chrome finish. Definitely not cheap, but if you’ve ever wanted to own a Bugatti, this is probably as close as you’ll get.

[ Bugatti Vela 3-Speed Blender ] VIA [ Plunder Guide ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve been needing to get a new pizza cutter for a while now. I’m not sure what happened to the last one, but I’ve been using a large butcher knife to slice up my pies. As crazy as it sounds, it really does a great job, which is why I haven’t bothered replacing it. Perhaps this new Pizza Boss 3000 is exactly what I’ve been needing.

This spiffy pizza cutter has been ingeniously crafted to look just like a small circular saw. I suppose this has been done to make you feel more manly whilst cutting your pizza. For $15 it’s kinda cool, but would be so much better if the blade actually had some power going to it.

[ Perpetual Kid ] VIA [ Technabob ]