Appliances Archives - Page 9 of 12

Kitchen Invaders

I love a piece of functional but fun kitchen gear. Take, for example, this absolutely awesome Space Invaders cutting board from ThinkGeek. When I first took a look at it, I had assumed that the Space Invader was simply burned into it, or marked on it with ink or staining or whatever it is woodworkers do to get cool patterns in wood.

I would be wrong on that account.

As it turns out, the Space Invader isn’t simply some random pattern stained on the normal hard maple board, but pieced together bits of walnut that is glued down, sanded, and polished to a shine. Each cutting board is hand-made, so if you want one you’d best not delay.

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Shocking!

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

We all know and love the Butt Station, but if gross isn’t your thing, there are a lot of other cool desktop caddies out there. Say, for example, you like torturing Gumby-like featureless men. Maybe you’re Zeus. Maybe you just want to torture a friend who survived several close calls with lightning. I don’t know why you’d want it, but I do know what you want: the Lightning Man letter opener.

That’s right, for the low price of $25, you too can impale helpless humans with bolts of fury thanks to What on Earth and company! Just like Gene Simmons and the boys in KISS when they play God of Thunder!

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The Ultimate Geek Toilet

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I recently started trying to get in shape. Specifically, I ride an exercise bike. I told a friend of mine about this, and I lamented that my half-hour ride left me with nothing to do other than read a book. I was told in no uncertain terms that the whole point of working out (aside from getting into better shape) was to destress from all those things you carry during the day. Instead of working out and getting work done, you’re just supposed to work out and free your mind for a bit.

I know a lot of people who use the bathroom for this purpose, even if they don’t have to go. They use it as a little escape from the work day, to read or relax for a few minutes without interruption. That’s one of the problems/benefits of the cell phone. You can play games on it, so putting two and two together… yeah, you see where I’m going with this.

That’s one of the benefits of this, the geekiest toilet ever. There’s a TV, TiVo, DVD, XBox, laptop, refrigerator, megaphone, toilet paper holder (duh), iPod dock, and of course, stationary bike pedals so you can work out while you veg out (amongst other things. So, is this awesome? Is this disgusting? I leave that up to you. If you’re spending so much time on the potty that you need so much entertainment, then I suggest you eat more fiber.

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The Glo Pillow Wakes You Up Without Scaring The Dog

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I’ve already written here, several times, about how much of a morning person I’m not. That’s why my blogs generally come in here well after the work day, because it’s a constant struggle to get up and get moving in the morning. To make matters worse, whenever my alarm goes off, I get an ear full of complaints about how often I let it go off, how much I rely on the snooze bar, and any number of other grouses related to my inability to wake up in one fell swoop and my need to slowly rouse from my slumber. I already hate mornings, and complaining constantly about how I go about my morning business is a quick way to ruin the rest of my day, kthnx.

That’s why I need to get my hands on something like the Glo Pillow. It’s supposed to awaken the user naturally, using the power of incredibly bright lights that slowly get brighter, thus slowly rousing the unconscious sleeper. Would just the lights work for me? I’m not sure; probably not. I sleep with the light on now all the time, so I’m not sure if this would help unless the pillow also vibrated or gave me an electric shock.

I’ll try anything to shut up all the complaining, though. Since I’ve given up coffee, I’m a bear before noon (and even after noon, I’m still kind of grumpy). One of these days, mark my word, I’m going to scream at the first person who bothers me about my morning routine. Just leave me along!

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Wake Up With Atomic Power!

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I need a new alarm clock. I’ve broken at least one, and the one I have now is a hand-me-down from my old resident adviser in college that was old even when HE had it. The buttons don’t want to work and the white plastic is now yellow, but it’s loud, it’s relatively easy to read in a half-awake state, and it still works, for now. It does not look promising to last until next year.

That’s why I’m looking hungrily at the awesome Oregon Scientific Projection Alarm Clock. It looks good, the numbers are huge and bright red, and most importantly, it projects the time right onto the ceiling above your bed so you don’t have to squint through sleep-watery eyes at the clock before slapping the snooze button, cursing, and rolling back over. The basic edition is $39.99, and the deluxe edition, with the atomic timing, temperature display, and wireless thermometer with 300-foot range is a bargain at $59.99.

Really, if you’re going to spend $40, you may as well spend $60 and get the top of the line model. That’s what I plan on doing when my alarm clock gives up the ghost.

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Bubble Scrubber Blows Bubbles While Scrubbing!

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

This is almost too fun for words. It’s a dish-scrubbing brush with a little circular hole in the middle. As we all know, a circular opening with soap and water always means bubbles, so if you get a little bored while working over that chili pot, feel free to entertain yourself with all the soapy fun that bubbles have to offer. It’s cute, right?

The official link over at WishingFish suggests this might be a fun way to get the kids to help do dishes, but I probably wouldn’t let little kids help with the dishes too much, considering there are usually glass breakables and sharp knifes in my pile of stuff to clean. However, I’d imagine that if you used this scrubbing brush on your hubcaps while washing the car or had it around the bathtub, then this is more than fine for kids to play with.

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Cook Hot Dogs And Boil Eggs?!

by Ron Hogan 1 Comment

It’s movie night, so you get your friends or family together, break out your Spilsbury 4-in-1hot dog maker and prepare a feast for everyone close to you. You can boil up a ton of hot dogs, pop some popcorn, warm buns on the bun warming spikes, and of course, boil some eggs. Wait… boil some eggs?

I know that you’ve probably got a very versatile product that can steam or boil whatever you might want to be steamed or boiled, but is there really that much demand out there for boiled eggs and popcorn? Do other people just eat a lot more eggs than I do? Is that designed for a particular egg-loving audience in mind?

Can someone explain this to me? Do you love eggs so much you want something that can boil several eggs at once quicker than a normal pot and water set-up? Are eggs the biggest selling point here and I just missed it?

H/T: PopGadget

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Who Controls The Temperature In Your House?

by Ron Hogan 2 Comments

Are you willing to give the power company basically unlimited access to your electronics in an effort to conserve energy? If California has its way, you won’t have a choice. From World Net Daily via Engadget:

The government is seeking to limit rolling blackouts and free up electric and natural gas resources by mandating that every new heating and cooling system include a "non-removable" FM receiver. The thermostat is also capable of controlling other appliances in the house, such as electric water heaters, refrigerators, pool pumps, computers and lights in response to signals from utility companies. If contractors and residents refuse to comply with the mandate, their building permits will be denied.

The proposal, set to be considered by the commission Jan. 30, requires each thermostat to be equipped with a radio communication device to send "price signals" and automatically adjust temperature up or down 4 degrees for cooling and heating, as California’s public and private utility organizations deem necessary.

Now, saving the environment is all well and good, but the last person I want making the decisions for the temperature of my house is someone who doesn’t have to live in said house. Especially when they talk about controlling the supply of power to important thing like refridgerators, water heaters, and my computer. At my house, we do have a shut-off box that the utility company can control on hot summer days, but it’s only for the central air, not anything else, and it gets us a break on the utility bill.

That’s fine; intruding into my home is not cool. Or hot. Whatever the weather’s like.

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Un-bear-ably Warm

by Ron Hogan Leave a Comment

I have an electric blanket, and I swear that it’s changed the way I sleep. No more bundled up beneath several blankets and sheets. No more sleeping in sweaters, long pants, and two pairs of socks. I can sleep how I want, for as long as I want, so long as I set the dial to the right number to keep me toasty warm. When my blanket is on, it stays on for a few hours, and once I’m asleep, presumably it turns itself off.

In the days previous to the invention of the non-scalding electric blanket, people used water bottles. Basically, you fill up a rubber bladder with scalding hot water, put it in your bed at your feet, and hoped it didn’t leak and burn you. Thank goodness for the microwavable heated teddy bear from GadgetShop. You can heat him up when you need warmth in the summer, freeze him down when you need coolness in the summer, and cuddle him when you need someone to love on those lonely nights.

He’s as much fun as a real bear, and you don’t have to worry about him ever eating your face!

HT: PopGadget

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Getting A Dishwasher For Christmas

by badbadivy Leave a Comment

What I really wanted for Christmas: a new digital camera, since mine is horrible. What I’m going to get for Christmas: a new dishwasher. Fun for all, I know.

The knob on my dishwasher has stopped turning. And, while I’m a fan of repairing things instead of buying new, the dishwasher my house came with has always been terrible, so rather than spend the money to repair a crappy dishwasher, I’m just going to buy the cheapest one I can find that still has good reviews.

This is the one I think I will buy. What do you guys think? Out of 6 reviews, it has one bad review and 5 positive ones.My biggest problem with it is that it isn’t energy star compliant, but at this price range, I’ve kinda got to take what I can get.

Merry Dishwashermas to you all!

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