If Gadgetbox has a mandate—aside from my compulsive coverage of Dr. Who merchandise—then that mandate is fueling my obsession with dry, heated bread, known to the more pedantic amongst us as "toast." Why am I so fascinated? Because it's so versatile: you can make sandwiches out of it; you can put butter on it, or jam; it can be used as, erm, bookends. All sorts of uses.
Plus, it's one of those foods that lends itself perfectly to artistic endeavors. Toast, I say, is a blank canvas, limited only by your boundless vision. I know my friend Tony, for example, would greatly appreciate this $43 pirate toaster, which sears the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger onto this part of your complete breakfast. Plus, since the image so closely resembles the standard image for poisons, you can be sure that others won't try and nick your delicious toast.
[via OhGizmo!]
It's winter here in New England, and you know what that means: we all go into our caves and don't come out until spring (that's August for you non-natives). Actually, it means lots of fun shoveling snow and chipping at ice, trying to free our cars from their wintery bonds.
And then, when that's finally over and done with, you have to trudge back into your abode, sodden and cold, and hope that you were smart enough to have backups for your winter gear. Because there's nothing worse than putting on a cold, wet, wool hat and damp gloves.
You could just throw them on the radiator, in the dryer, or hang up them up to dry: but why do that when you can buy a dedicated gadget for just that purpose? Hence, the Winter Gear Dryer, which has tubes on which you can place your gloves and boots so they get all toasty warm for you next outdoor adventure. I'm sure it's useful, but if you've got the $95 it's going to cost you, you can probably afford to have another pair of gloves and boots. And if you don't have $95, you can probably go buy an electric heater and some PVC piping and make your own Winter Gear Dryer for a lot cheaper.
[via Uber-Review]
I ask you, what device isn't improved by the addition of lasers? It took somebody of inarguable brilliance to mate lasers with that old standby of hairstyling, the comb. The result: the HairMax LaserComb. Now with FDA approval. We kid you not.
What exactly do you get by putting lasers in a comb? Well, aside from no longer having to choose whether you pack your comb or laser pointer in your carry-on bag, the LaserComb is a "proven" drug-free alternative to combating hair loss. According to the FDA filing:
The LaserComb consists of a hand-held low level laser device that promotes hair growth. The device provides distributed laser light to the scalp while the comb teeth simultaneously part the user's hair to ensure the laser light reaches the user's scalp. When in use, the device emits a beep every four seconds to notify the user to move the device to a new section of the scalp.Of course, if you want to reap the benefits of LaserComb technology, that'll be $545 for the full, 9 laser version; if you want to shell out a little less, you can spend $395 on the SE, 5 laser version—though be warned, your hair treatments will take longer, and the durability isn't quite as good.
Alternatively, you could suck it up and take hair loss like a man. No lasers required.
[via Engadget]
Okay, maybe I'm alone in this, but more than once I've left my apartment, pulled out my keys, and instinctively tried to lock the door using my car remote unlocker. The result? Well, nothing, unless you count feeling patently ridiculous as a result; it's like when you do something really stupid in real life, then try to invoke the "Undo" command. Oh, you know what I mean.
There's, as far as I know, no fix for the latter, but for the former you can pick up a Locca Access, which works just like your car's remote, but for your house. It's got a range of around 150 feet and can store up to 19 different "keys." You just need to get a handyman, electrician, or locksmith to install the unit in your door, slap one Locca fobs on your keyring, and you're good to go. In case of power outage, there's a backup battery in the home unit, and you can always use your actual key.
The units aren't exactly cheap: the home kit, including two keys, starts at around £149.99 in the UK; that's around $293 for us Yanks. Maybe I should wait for a version that'll open my door, too—come on, you never watched Silver Spoons?
[via Red Ferret]
Were you one of those people who put potato chips in your sandwich? I just couldn't get onboard with the idea; potato chips are a side dish, not a condiment, okay? Besides, that crummy Lays garbage is pretty gross on its own. I need me some real kettle-cooked goodness, you know what I mean? I'd make my own if only I had a deep fryer.
Hold the phone, what's this? You can make your own potato chips without the need for a deep fryer? Unbelievable. This Japanese microwave potato chip maker includes everything you need to—say it with me—make your own potato chips. Simply cut up a potato or two into thin slices using the included slicer, pop them into the rack and microwave it for six minutes: out pop your very own potato chips. Mmm mmm.
Eat your heart out, Pringles guy. Now if only there were a microwave honey roasted sesame stick maker. I'd be in heaven. Again, my Japanese language skills appear to have deserted me, but I think you snag this from Amazon Japan for just around $10 (to be fair, you could probably figure out a way to make one for around the same amount).
[via Gizmodo]
I spent some time yesterday shopping for new sneakers, though I didn't find any quite to my liking. Perhaps because none of them had embedded GPS units, like these so-called Quantum Satellite Technology shoes.
Why put GPS in sneakers? Well, so you can be found of course. Mainly for the purposes of safety. The 2" x 3" chip located in the sole of the shoe can be activated by pressing a discreet button near the shoelaces, which alerts a monitoring service.
None of this is for the frugal; the shoes themselves, available in four different styles, cost $350, and the monitoring service costs around $20 a month. And the privacy-conscious will also want to be aware that, armed with a password, law enforcement can also track your location. The limited production run is 1000, with the designer, Isaac Daniel (pictured), reporting that 750 have already been sold, so if you're keen to have yourself on the grid at all times, act fast. Unfortunately, their sizes only go up to 12, leaving this size 13 stuck with his non-technologically-savvy footwear.
[via CrunchGear]
I'm thinking that perhaps alarm clocks need their very own niche; perhaps I could start a blog dealing with nothing but the latest in awakening technology (hey, Awakening Technology would be a good name for a blog...). I think, though, that the VOCO Clock is my new favorite. It's a pity that they've had so much publicity that it's temporarily sold out, but you can get on a priority list if you act now.
What makes the VOCO Clock so dashed appealing? It foregoes the current trend of awakening one into some sort of instantaneous state of readiness, prompted by the threat of imminent explosion ,for the rather more decorous approach of waking to the perfect English valet, voiced here by none other than British actor Stephen Fry (who played impeccable manservant Jeeves to Hugh Laurie's hapless Bertie Wooster). The clock will wake you with one of nearly fifty different phrases, and issue another remark when you shut the alarm off.
Besides that, it's a fairly classy analog timepiece, as you might expect from our friends across the pond. It'll run you £25.95, or about $50. You can hear some samples of the messages at the website above.
[via Red Ferret Journal]
From what I'm hearing, my relatives in upstate New York have been getting some actual snow, as opposed to the Metro Boston area, which has been surprisingly free of the white stuff this winter. More's the pity: since I'm responsible for shoveling my own driveway/sidewalk, I could have totally bought myself one of these snow-shoveling robots from Japan.
This lovable yellow monster goes by the name Yuki-taro, and he devours snow with a single-minded passion. He relies on GPS and a pair of video camera "eyes" to seek out snow and shovel it into his gaping maw. Once firmly seated in his innards, the snow is compacted into hard cubes that are then, erm, expelled from the rear of the robot (perfect for igloo building!).
While Yuki-taro is not yet for sale on the general market, the developers hope he'll be available within five years for a little over $8,000. Which means by the time I'm old enough to have children, they won't have to go out and shovel. Lame.
[via Uber-Review]
