Wacky Gadgets

Harnessing the power of the wind to travel is nothing new. America was discovered thanks to it, goods travelled all over the world for eons as a result of it, there’s even a super bowl of sailing in the world’s oldest athletic competition (the America’s Cup) which couldn’t happen as a result of the wind. And cargo ships are even considering using giant kites to travel on the wind as a green way to cut costs and save the environment while sailing the seas. So it’s nothing new. But toss in the ability to travel from the road straight into the ocean on the wind, and suddenly the “coolness factor” asserts itself. Especially when you can see an opening scene of a new Bond movie in it’s future.

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The Porta Pizza Oven. Great for RVs, bad for rush hour

If I had an RV or camper and was looking to bake a pizza or cake while camping, the Portable Pizza Oven might possibly be a good option to add to my camping gear. But if I was stuck in rush hour and was a tad hungry, using this while driving would be a recipe … for disaster.

The Porta Pizza Oven plugs into the 12 volt cigarette lighter receptacle. It has heating elements above and below for all around cooking and can handle a small cake pan or pizza. It folds out like a typical toaster oven and has two settings - high and low - for cooking and warming up.

As I said, if you’re looking for something to free up some plug space on your portable generator, and have spare counter space on your RV counter or camper, this could be a good option - just make sure you start up the engine from time to time to keep from killing the battery.

But if you’re looking for a hot food option while your commuting to work on the freeway, you may find that this oven turns your vehicle into a car-be-que by sitting on the passenger seat while operating.

Cost is $36.00 from Stupidoholic. http://www.stupidiotic.com/product_info.php?cPath=9_15&products_id=193

Hat Tip - D’Vice http://dvice.com/archives/2009/06/theres-no-way-t.php

If you think it’s a little bit nerdy wandering around a beach waving a metal detector from side to side a solution is now at hand, well feet actually; the Metal Detecting Sandals (white socks optional).

These are the sandals that can detect metal while you walk, allowing you to find buried artifacts while strolling the beach. A copper coil built into the right sandal is powered via a battery pack that straps to your calf. Using beat frequency oscillation technology, the ring creates a magnetic field; when a metal object is underfoot–up to 2′–it distorts the field and the battery pack alerts you to the presence of metal using a flashing red light and either a gentle vibration or a clearly audible buzz.

You can buy the Metal Detecting Sandals from Hammacher for $59.95.

We know that we use watches to tell the time, but how many of us don’t have a decent cellphone to help keep track of our appointments as well as to-do list? For the rare few who fall into that category, here’s the VibraLite 8 vibrating watch to help you get started.

The Vibralite 8 Vibrating Watch has a large display, 8 alarm settings and Auto Reset Countdown Timer option that gives extensive combinations of variable and interval reminders. Eight Alarm Settings for preset reminders. Auto Reset Option Countdown Timer may be set for seconds, minutes, and hours for interval reminders…Use for reminders such as medication, medical conditions, meetings, timing presentations, tests, parking, and appointments.

Not too sure whether forking out $149.95 for this is well worth the price or not. What do you think?

Product Page via TRFJ

In Photoshop, there’s a little pen which will copy the color settings of anything on your monitor screen so you can use it as your color in the program. Well, think of the Real Life Color Picker as … well, a real life version of just that – only for the real world.

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With the many e-book readers that flood the market today, it isn’t hard to believe that we will be a paperless society in the next few decades. Pretty soon, the only paper we will be using regularly is toilet paper.

So I guess it is no surprise that Japanese novelist Koji Suzuki has chosen to print his novel on toilet paper. Actually, I’m not certain whether Mr. Suzuki made the choice, or if the publicity department at his publishing house was really itching for a new marketing idea.

I honestly don’t think that Koji Suzuki needs any fancy gimmick to sell his works. If you never heard of this author, then you might have heard of a 2002 horror movie called The Ring. Yes, he wrote the book that the Gore Verbinski movie is based on. By the way, that movie was a remake of a Japanese movie Ringu.

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It’s summer right now in my little corner of the world, and there is nothing that I like better than to go out in the sun and wind and fly a kite. However, if I wanted to, I could just stay inside, watch TV, and fly the Silverlit Kazoo indoor kite.

I know what you are thinking the moment you saw the title: an indoor kite? What are you, nuts? Is this designed for people who have a wind-tunnel in their living room?

Actually, the Silverlit Kazoo comes with an electric motor that is able to keep it aloft in the absence of wind. Now, you could say that the Silverlit is not a kite per se because of the aforementioned electric motor, and I would agree.

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Wind power is a viable alternative for green energy – particularly in arid areas where there’s plenty of wind, but little of anything else. Trouble is, that wind turbines aren’t as efficient as they should and need to be. A company named Leviathan Energy seems to have a very simply way to improve the efficiency of wind turbines … and it involves donuts.

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