Alarm clocks are probably the most obnoxious of gadgets, even if it is one of the most important.  I typically just use my phone as an alarm clock, however, I’ve regretted that on several occasions.  Usually when my Mother decides because she’s awake everyone else should be too and decides to call me a good 2 hours before I actually need to wake up.  Which is why a smart person would probably turn off their cellphone and use an alarm clock to wake them up everyday.  Well this particular alarm clock has ways of making sure you get out of bed everyday.

Ask any dad and he’ll tell you that he wears many hats, and among the more popular ones would be that of a driver - at least until the kid is old enough to drive. Enter the Dad’s Cab novelty taxi meter.

Gifts for dads don’t come much better than this Gift of the Year Award winner, Dad’s Cab. Dad’s Cab is a novelty taxi meter that comes with an assortment of forfeit cards that overworked dads can dish out to their blood-sucking children by way of a bill. Payments include ingenious tasks like ‘tidy your room’ and ‘make dad a cup of tea’ – that’s no more free rides for the kids and some well-deserved rewards for dad! Using the adhesive strips provides you can safely secure your Dad’s Cab taxi meter to the dashboard of your car. Turn on the taxi meter every time you find yourself acting as the household taxi driver and let the meter clock up and up! There are additional signs for ‘mum’s cab’ and ‘family cab’ as well as a Terms of Carriage Notice. And for early morning starts, Dad’s Cab also doubles up as an alarm clock! This is a fantastic gift idea and the perfect present for dad’s everywhere – order yours now!

The Dad’s Cab is powered by a quartet of LR44 batteries and will retail for £9.95.

In the past, I have covered scented alarm clocks that require no sound to wake people up, and I was very enamored by this sleek looking concept design that has a similar wake-up method.

As you can see, this Silence alarm clock comes with matching bracelets. Each one has a vibration maker, so that when it goes off, you don’t hear it, but you feel it. Apparently, this is enough to jar you awake.

The bracelets also have motion sensors. What you do is shake the bracelet to stop the buzz, and that acts like a snooze bar. If you want to keep “hitting” the snooze bar, then you really have to shake harder.

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Take a glance at the Matrix Cube Alarm Clock and chances are you’ll either hate it or love it, depending on your taste for all things retro. The hours, minutes and seconds are separated by their respective cubes, so make sure they’re all in order lest you wake up at 59:12 in the…wait a minute. 59:12 is no time! Must’ve had a wee bit too much to drink the night before, eh?

Connected by thin ribbon cables, each clock module can be stacked vertically, horizontally or in a pyramid, depending on your mood and the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn’s moons…Each cube is approximately 3.5″ square. 12 or 24 hour format available! Even includes a snooze button.

You can now bring home the Matrix Cube Alarm Clock for $34.99 from ThinkGeek.

If there is one thing I hate, it’s when the batteries run out in my remote. It usually happens when I am most comfortable on the couch. It’s like when you turn on a light, and you get that last blink of the dying light bulb. Now you have to go find a bulb, assuming you have one on hand, and waste a few precious minutes changing it.

Similarly, I rarely have batteries on hand for my remote control, so wouldn’t it just be easier to get a remote control that doesn’t use any batteries? Fortunately, it exists, and is powered by one of the most elementary power sources.

When I say elementary, I mean elementary school. Yes, this remote control is powered by wind up power, just like a toy. Apparently, thirty twists are enough to power the device for about a week. That is definitely more efficient than my old wind-up toys.

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Some of you may remember when we reported on the Wake n’Bacon, an alarm clock that wakes you up with the genuine smell of bacon frying. I’ve recently learned about the Osim Nioi, another alarm clock that uses the principle of scent to wake the user up.

The Osim Nioi works a little differently than the Wake n’Bacon, as it uses no pork products. Instead, it has some cartridges with refreshing smells to give you a special timed whiff in the morning. So if you want the smell of baked bread, for example, all you need to do is insert the proper smell cartridge.