What do you get when you take a ReadyNAS, swap the Ethernet connection for direct USB and give it lots of sweeping curves? You get Drobo! It certainly is very nicely styled… Is it possible to have a “Web 2.0″ looking product? “Storage 2.0″ perhaps?

Anyway Drobo is a new product category – a directly connected USB hard drive array with redundancy. They’re very clear in their marketing that it’s a proprietary technology and not conventional RAID as we know it, but I’ll call it that because it conveys the idea and we all know what it means.

I think “The world’s first storage robot” is pushing it a bit – serious tape libraries have been around for years. Still there’s no doubting that putting hot swap redundant hard drives in a USB enclosure is a pretty neat trick.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Scissor Shelf Unit is a book shelf that can be foldable and reduced to only 9,45 inches when not in use. That’s perfect for people who live in small houses that don’t have space for all their furniture, and also for those who are always moving from one place to the other.
Read the rest of this entry »

There’s nothing more painful than 20 pounds of groceries digging into your fingers from the ten crunched up plastic handles as you carry those bags into the house all at once. In fact, that painful sensation is the only thing I hate more than having to make multiple trips from the car to bring in those very same groceries. So, what’s a man to do to spare having to make that long and arduous thirty foot trek back to the car for the rest milk, eggs, and toilet paper?
Read the rest of this entry »

Alright boys its spring time and that means getting off the couch and working on all those little projects you cooked up during the winter. Luckily (or unluckily) for us a Canadian man, after 15 years of effort, has made those dubious outside chores just a wincey bit safer and a teeny bit cooler.

The BASE MATE professional Ladder Stabilizer, attaches to aluminum, fiberglass, and wood ladders of any width and provides a wider, more stable platform especially on unstable ground. Opposing locks on each side of the arc replace the feet of a standard ladder. As the locks are released, the arc slides over until its rubber treads are firmly on the ground while the ladder stays plumb.

The inventor, Martin Dennis, owns a gutter installation business and was sick of footing the bill when his clumsy workers would tumble and fall. Ah, how greed breeds inspiration!
Read the rest of this entry »

If watching The Matrix on a 70” flat screen with Bowers and Wilkins surround system doesn’t provide enough of the kick you are looking for, consider sitting yourself in a Sybaris. From a UK company called Armed Chair Motion Simulators comes this chair with an internal PC-powered motion system capable of 600 pounds of lift and 2Gs of force. For $5999, you can sit yourself in a very modern looking recliner that will bump, rock, jump and move in perfect timing with most movie action sequences.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Post-It is soooo outdated, they require a pen, the tremendous effort of writing, and can easily be overlooked by the intended recipient of your message. However, there’s a much better alternative available: a motion-sensing memo.

Record your (short) message, place it in its cradle, and it will play it back when someone enters the room.
Read the rest of this entry »

Babies cry for many reasons and indeed one of those reasons is that they have wet diapers. Well cry no more as we wonder what parents are thinking when they attach a CMOS chip alarm to their babies diapers. When junior answers the call of nature – your nursery will be filled with the sound and joy of a musical alarm which will let you know that your baby has wet the aforementioned diaper.
Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine being lost at sea – stranded alone on the high seas after barely escaping the deluge of a rogue wave sending your vessel to Davy Jones’ locker. You just barely managed to get your life vest on and now, bobbing on the high seas, you’re only hope is to be spotted by a passing ship or search plane. Well, before you end up stranded on a deserted island talking to volleyballs and gleefully screaming “I’ve made fire!” check out Hammacher Schlemmer. They are always on the cutting edge of new design and this is nothing new. For about $130, boat aficionados can have this US Coast Guard approved a life vest with 2-way radios built right into the chest.
Read the rest of this entry »