More Amazing Gadgets and Technology for You to Have Fun With
Of course, that’s nonsense, as we now know. New things come along with commendable regularity – how is one to keep up with them? In an effort to keep the public informed, here are some of the more fascinating gadgets to show up recently, and links to further information for those who are actually interested:
http://www.gizmodo.com/
Talking Toilet Paper Holder
My favorite item from Gizmodo is their talking toilet paper holder. I plan to buy this for my granddaughter, who is, to put it mildly, incredibly spooky. You can record your message – whatever you want, but I plan on recording “You Want a Deposit Slip For That?” – and it will play whenever someone pulls on the toilet paper. I can’t wait to hear her scream.
Smart Trackerz
My second favorite item from Gizmodo is their “Smart Trackerz.” It looks a lot like a toy backhoe, but what distinguishes it from the more mundane toy earth movers is that “These little truck things follow lines drawn on a white surface using patented “Opti-track” technology.” Kids can draw on the kitchen tile and watch their heavy machinery follow the lines. They can stage rallies and races – keeps them…well, if not actually quiet, at least occupied.
http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=12354&random=415065945&cid=51&subcat=&scid=
Inflatable Boxing Set
What could be more fun,” this site proclaims, “than putting on a pair of hugely oversized inflatable boxing gloves and going into battle with a close friend?” Well, I can think of a couple of things, but this is a family site. The gloves are 10 times the size of regular boxing gloves, so your fists never actually land on anyone, but your efforts to do deal actual damage are hilarious. You get two inflatable helmets with the gloves. The site suggests one-minute rounds but you can adjust the rules as you like, to provide the most fun for you and your friends. You can enliven the game by tying the combatants’ ankles together; make them box on a Slip n Slide, or blindfolded, etc.
The site suggests you play:
“…outdoors on a soft surface such as grass or sand, and away from any sharp-edged objects. Do not over-inflate as this could cause the gloves to rupture. Remember, this is a game – the helmets are inflatable, and do not provide adequate protection for a real fight. We’re also obliged to tell you the game is not suitable for children under 36 months.”
Be sure to have your video camera going for this one.
Pig Speakers
If you don’t have these, I feel sorry for you. These piggies are real speakers, battery operated, “designed to work with PCs, MP3 players, laptops, or…any other multimedia device.” They are “…connected to the music source via the headphone
socket with the audio lead provided.” Power and volume are controlled via the piggy’s tail.
For The Ladies
Ladies, if for the usual reasons your mate is spending the night on the couch, here’s something warm and fuzzy that doesn’t snore, cheat, wake you in the middle of the night for nefarious purposes: the hot teddy. This teddy will be your reliable home companion night after night – if you are single, you will surely want one. The Hot Teddy comes with a cherry stone that heats up in seconds in the microwave, then goes into teddy’s pouch. Warm your feet, your hands, or whatever.
Naked Man on Ironing Board
Now here’s something every woman who irons will want. The Cheeky Ironing Board Cover has accomplished what no human could ever do: made ironing fun. “There’s no twee floral pattern on this cover,” the site points out. “Instead you get male model Richard Kane…and if you like the look of him fully clothed, just wait until you turn the heat up.” As the iron heats up, so does Dick, and his clothes magically fade away until he’s stark.
If your wardrobe consists entirely polyester (which, by the way is made from petroleum), run out and buy a few cotton shirts you’ll have to iron. Cotton is a better fabric, it’s cooler, and you get to see Dick in his full magnificence!
Enjoy.
Wild Sling
After you at length finish your ironing, you might want to go out in the yard and play with water balloons. These are not the dull little water balloons children play with, however; they’re bigger and with the sling, they can travel 120 feet through the air to knock the competition flying. To use the sling, lie back and put your feet in the stirrups. Pull the loaded sling back and release. True, you will look ridiculous doing this, but that’s part of the fun.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2004/01/squid.html
Squid’s Light Inspires new Gadgets
What would you do if you had a flashlight built into your forehead? Frighten your friends? Stay up late really exploring your backyard? The Hawaiian bobtail squids use their flashlights to hide their shadows from predators waiting on the ocean floor. This may lead to all kinds of new lighting gadgets for our use, once researchers figure out how it works.
The light actually originates in the squids’ silver reflector plates, called “reflections.” It is produced by bacteria (Vibrio fischer, if you’re interested) living on the squid’s body. Scientists are interested in recreating this type of light for human use, so I suppose we’ll all be sporting “squidlights” any day now.
http://www.dog-bows.com/cgi-bin/TheFinishingTouch/shop.cgi?database=dogdiapers&action=view_product&productID=Diaper-Sm&category=0
Hyperdog Ball Sling
No, it isn’t that. This sling fires tennis balls for your dog to fetch. If you have the kind of dog that is constantly, pantingly after you to “throwtheballthrowtheballthrowtheball” until he has you running all over like a fool exhausting yourself, the Hyperdog Ball Sling is for you.
It’s actually a “catapult-style tennis ball launcher” that fires tennis balls up to 150 ft. Next time you’re with your friends throwing balls for your dogs, wow them with this setup. The sling holds two balls, so before your dog gets quite back to you, you can fire the other. The dog gets a good workout, and if you’re able to keep hold of the Hyperdog, you can spend most of your time relaxing. If picking up balls covered with “doggy drool” kind of makes you flinch, the sling also comes with a “patented hands-free pick-up system.”
The unit is made with high quality steel covered with a rust-resistant baked-on coating, surgical-grade tubing bands, a folding support arm for compact storage and two tennis balls. The manufacturer recommends using tennis balls only.
http://www.seniorpetproducts.com/doggiediapers.html
Doggy Diapers
This may not be a “new” item to you, but it surely was to me. I’ve often wondered why some clever person didn’t invent diapers for dogs. And so they have! You can get diapers designed for male or female dogs, for female dogs in heat, for dogs that are incontinent or suffer from “excitable urination.” These are made of denim, lined with flannel for comfort, with an added liner for “heavier flow.” They’re machine washable, it says. Oh, well – perhaps one day they’ll come up with a disposable doggy diaper.
http://www.mediaeater.com/cameras/news/03072000.html
According to this site, the police will soon be able to:
Ascertain from a distance whether a suspect is armed or not.
Get DNA results in minutes, using a strand of suspect’s hair, right on the street.
See scans of video cameras positioned at crowded places like airports or sports
stadiums that compare thousands of faces with a photo database to determine if
fugitives or terrorists were present.
Such high-tech devices are actually being used right now, and more will be employed in the near future. A California vendor, Jaycor, makes the “PepperBall,” a compressed-air launcher that shoots projectiles “filled with a disabling powder similar to pepper spray” – good news for women!
A “face-scanning surveillance system” is already being employed in one London neighborhood. According to Thomas A. Reppetto, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York, “We are beginning to see a technological revolution in law enforcement of such immense dimensions that I don’t think anyone knows really where it will go.”
Good news for all of us, except those who would break the law.
http://vehicle-tracking-usa.com/vehtrac1.html
Vehicle tracking device
If you are interested in finding out whether your spouse is having an affair, or your employee is actually going where you are sending him, or if your teenager is speeding, a vehicle tracking device may be just what you are looking for. The ProScout GPS Vehicle Tracking unit is simple to use, small (the size of a small paperback book), waterproof, and will run up to 18 days on four AA batteries.
This is the kind of thing you see on TV, where the cops run up to a suspect’s car and slap a small box to the frame. The unit comes with an “industrial strength magnetic mount” attached – no installation needed.
According to the site:
“It literally takes 10 seconds to install and remove the ProScout. The motion detect circuit shuts the unit down when the vehicle is stationary for longer than 5 minutes. This saves battery power and long computer view times. The ProScout is waterproof making under vehicle installations no problem at all.
âÂ?¢ “Load the included mapping software onto any computer.
âÂ?¢ “Attach the ProScout unit under the vehicle you wish to track.
âÂ?¢ “When ready to view the recorded data, remove the ProScout from the vehicle, simply plug
the unit directly into your computer with the included serial port cable and follow the trail on a
map of everywhere the vehicle has been.”
Now isn’t that handy? All you suspicious spouses out there who are wondering where your other half is really going when they have “a meeting” or are late picking up the kids, or have suddenly developed a consuming interest in the library, now’s your chance to find out the truth.
Also on this site, you can read some articles on cheating, such as:
How to tell if your wife or husband is cheating on you
Signs of an Internet affair
More than 30 signs that spouse is cheating
If you didn’t know how to do it before, you do now.
