The Gadgets Page

Ever since we got the Smart Keys on the Prius, I have been irritated at the fact that I have to actually take my keys out of my purse to unlock the house. This lock from Kwikset has an answer for me.

• Kwikset Fingerscanning House Lock

Instead of pulling your keys out of your pockets, you can just swipe your finger to open the deadbolt. If you watch the videos on their site, you can see how it works in detail. I had a few questions about power and the lock is powered by four AA batteries. When the batteries go dead, you don’t have to input all the fingerprints again. There is some difficulty with scans for children because they tend to swipe incorrectly, but it can read children’s fingerprints as well as adults.

Their website doesn’t tell you how much it costs, but you can get the set at Amazon for about $270. You can install it yourself. There is a backup key just in case the biometrics don’t work. It really looks like a great system. Unfortunately, my paranoia makes me worried that thieves would cut off my hand just to get into my house. Maybe the Powerbolt 1000 keycode house lock from Kwikset is a better idea. It’s $150 cheaper, but then I have to remember a number. Either way, I wouldn’t need to fumble around in my purse for my keys anymore. I would have never been tempted by this if I hadn’t been spoiled by the Smart Key on the Prius. It’s something I didn’t even want on my car and now it’s something I can’t live without.

Via: Shiny Shiny: Kwikset Smartscan lets you forget your keys and still sleep in your own bed

Here is a collection of ideas of what the world would look like if Apple made everything.

• Apple-mania, i gadget impossibili della mela – Galleria – Repubblica.it

The watch in the collection is chunky and NOT what I’m looking for. It must be impossible to make a good watch because Apple hasn’t done it. I wish Apple would design watches. They could be simple digital watches with no fancy features like MP3 players or video. I just want an well-designed watch that is useful AND beautiful.

There are only a couple companies that will achieve this: Nike, Kenneth Cole or Apple. Get on the stick, Apple! I’m waiting for my iWatch!

Via: If Apple made…everything – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Here is a review of the Oral-B Triumph 9400 from someone who thinks about toothbrushes even more than I do.

• Review: Oral-B Triumph 9400 Power Toothbrush and Research :: Gizmos for Geeks

It has been time for us to upgrade our electric toothbrush. Currently, we have a Sonicare, but the poor thing is so old that it barely runs. Fortunately, there is someone who cares MUCH more about electric toothbrushes than I do to do all the research!

I had been keeping my SD cards in a case that took up three times the space it should have. Now, I have the cutest and tiniest little SD Card Cozy you ever saw.

The drawstring keeps them secure so they won’t escape and hide in the small crevices of my purse.

Next time you need something, try creating it yourself. You’ll probably make something infinitely better than anything you could buy at a store because it will be something made just for you.

It has been two years since I reviewed my Toastmaster Snackster. It was four years old back then, so now it’s six years old and still going strong.

• Gadgets Page » Review: Toastmaster Snackster

I can’t believe that a $20 gadget can feed me for so many years without breaking. It gets dirty, of course, and I clean it up, but for the most part it has been a stress-free method for making grilled sandwiches for a long time. When I made my cheese sandwich for lunch yesterday, I was surprised at how easy it was to use and the fact that it worked.

I kind of feel like I should write a song about how much I love my Toastmaster Snackster, but that would just be silly.

A song about my grilled cheese sandwich, however, is a perfectly cromulent idea:

At the WWDC07 keynote, they showed this video before Steve Jobs came out on stage. It seems to be the only thing that anyone was excited about at the keynote.

This isn’t the first time they have made this joke:

Or even the second:

Maybe Safari 3 for Windows IS the most exciting thing from the WWDC07 Keynote…

It’s summer and it’s time to pull out your bike and get the gears running again. Half the fun of owning a bicycle is fixing it up, right?

Uhh, no…

If you are dreading getting your bike back in racing condition, here is a website that will help you. Sheldon Brown has an entire encyclopedia of bicycle information.

• Sheldon Brown-Bicycle Technical Information

I found this article particularly helpful:

• How To Shift Your Bicycle’s Gears

I have used the number of gears as a bragging point: “It has 21 gears!” but mostly I just use the big three with little variation on the smaller gears. I shift into low on hills and high going down hills. Other than that, I’ve left them alone. This article gives you an actual reason for the gears and how to use them to your advantage.

Just peruse the website and you’ll learn more about your bicycle than you ever thought!

Via: Cool Tool: Sheldon Brown’s Online Cycling Encyclopedia

The sun is beating down on us every day. Why aren’t we all taking advantage of that wasted energy by installing solar cells on the top of our houses or buildings? Bob Boehm from The University of Nevada’s Center for Energy Research explains why:

• Ryan Is Hungry – Solar Las Vegas: Center for Energy Research – 03.07.2007

If you’re tempted to stop watching, fast forward to 4:36 minutes into the video. He talks about a really cool way to light your home or office using fiber optics and concentrated light from the sun. It’s far better than a skylight because it redirects the light to where you need it. Why doesn’t every office have this? I want to know specifics. How much would it cost to include this into my home?

This video is from Ryan Is Hungry, a weblog that brings green-friendly ideas to you on a regular basis. If you are interested in finding more efficient ways to live on this planet, they have enough ideas to fill your mind.

My stomach was sick when I watched him put his iPod in the blender and let the machine pulverize it.

These videos are a commercial for The Total Blender, made by BlendTec. You can see their website and the full array of videos here:

• Will It Blend? Presented by BlendTec

The premise is that if the blender will blend your iPod, then it certainly won’t have trouble with the ice cubes in your smoothie. I’m all about a good blender when I’m on a smoothie kick and then it will gather dust when I’m not. Of course, if I was using my blender to dispose of my old gadgets, then maybe it would get more use.

I saw the title to Real Live Preacher’s weblog entry and I immediately thought, “Yeah, and how to clean frozen Diet Coke out of your freezer when you forget about it…”

If that was your first thought as well, you need to click on over to RLP’s site:

• Real Live Preacher – How to chill a can of diet coke in 2 minutes

I have been doing the same things over and over that it never occurred to me that I could do something different. Here’s to RLP for reminding us that there are different ways to do things.