It sort of seems like a good idea, but then again what an odd combination — it’s a robot that cleans floors and shows you DVD movies through the projector on its head. It was manufactured by Tmsuk, and is officially called the RIDC-01.

The pros: You will have clean floors. You can watch movies. At the same time. It also had voice recognition.

The cons: You have a vacuum cleaner. You have a DVD player. This thing costs 85,000 USD. And what do you say to it? “You missed a spot. Oh, and could you go back to 24:51? That was funny.”

Technorati tags: floor-cleaning, robot, yoichi takamoto, tmsuk, projector, dvd

GET IT? Okay I gotta admit, this looks cool. I found this on Jacob Mathew’s site, the same guy who gave you the Stereo Stilettos. By the way, that’s really what he calls it, the Musical Chair. Ha. Here’s his description:

Nourishing our appetite for the visceral, music provides for us a feast of sensation. The savory sounds that exude from this compression loaded design will feed that hunger for experience. Relish in the robust lows that emanate from the calcium carbonate poly-coned woofer seated in the belly of the chair. This delectable design is certain to add a little flavor to any dining experience.

….Okay.

The pros: It looks cool. Talk about being one with the music — you’ll really feel the music, literally.

The cons: If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably noticed that it looks like a funnel. That’s right. A funnel.

Technorati tags: musical chair, music, speaker, jacob mathew

Pink and round, with a heart-shaped nose and that sweet stare. Would you believe me if I said that this seemingly harmless little accessory, has the power to immobilize a 300-pound man?

Well, you shouldn’t. Coz it can’t.

It’s called the “Don’t touch Me! Lovely Pink Seal Stun Gun Lovely Taser Weapon” (Yes it is Japanese), and costs around 15.5 USD.

The pros: This is just a toy. It may work for self-defense, as it packs a mean(ish) 195V per zap. So that’s like sticking your fingers into a power outlet. Yes, I do consider that a pro.

The cons: I personally think it would’ve been better as an actual taser. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about those innocent eyes and blank stare that really does shout “deadly weapon” to me.

Technorati tags: seal, accessory, taser, zap, stun gun, pink, cute

If you’ve ever had people walk around your desk, shouting at each other or at you about things that you aren’t interested in, then you’ve probably considered one of these options:

A. Slapping someone
B. Screaming at the top of your lungs
C. Turning your music up really loud
D. Plugging your ears with your fingers and chanting “Lalalalala”

I would recommend D. And what better gadget to help you get through that noisy day than this!

The pros: You can enjoy the peace and quiet plus the added factor of letting your officemate know that you don’t really wanna hear what they’re talking about, without actually having to stick your fingers in your ears.

The cons: It only has 4 fingers each hand. And it doesn’t come with the “Lalala” chant, so you’re gonna have to do that yourself. Oh and use it with caution, you don’t wanna be caught with it on to find out later that it was your boss talking to you.

Technorati tags: headband, lalala, noise, fingers, quiet

It’s a rock! A “rock hard disk drive”! Get it?

…

Okay technically they’re calling it a stone, but I choose to call it a rock. But it’s not just any rock, it’s a 4GB hard disk designed by a Michael Leung. Yes, it’s small, only about 5cm. Wow.

The pros: Somewhere out there I bet there’s a good point in getting a designer piece. There’s nothing simpler and more boring than a not-quite-smooth, not-quite-white stone. So if you like that kind of stuff, yay for you.

The cons: It’s… a rock. If this is ever misplaced or thrown into a river along with your most precious files, you will have no one to blame but yourself.

Technorati tags: stone, flintstones, hard disk, usb, gadget, rock

So yeah I tried to find a nice New Year’s gadget, and this is what I found. This contraption is a DIY using a Lego Mindstorms NXT. According to the source creators:

It uses a MINDSTORMS NXT, two light sensors (one for navigation and other to detect a lighted fuse) and an Ultrasonic detector (to adjust the torch arm height depending on the height of the fireworks fuse wire. It uses three motors - two for motion and and the third for the torch arm elevator [sic].

The video pretty much says all you need to know, and that excerpt too, so let’s move along.

The pros: You can wave goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008 with all your fingers still attached to your hand.

The cons: Uh. A long stick… might do the trick. Hmm.

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Enjoy those New Year’s Eve parties, try to keep those resolutions, and be SAFE.

Technorati tags: new year, fireworks, safety, pyrotechnics

Okay for this particular gadget, I ticked 3 categories. I’m really caught somewhere in between being impressed, confused, and just plain weirded out.

First of all, when I read the name, it really did confuse me. I thought it was a cooler, like… a cooler. Like a mini storage to keep your necktie’s cold. But why would you need cold neckties? Then I thought it was some sort of Engrish wordplay to say that it will make any dull old necktie… well, cool. You know, happening.

But then I actually saw it. The gadget in question.

If you really want to be weirded out, look at these next pictures —

I have no idea what he’s supposedly saying, but I certainly hope it’s not as fruity as it looks. Though I doubt it. Now, I’m guessing you pretty much get the idea behind this gadget, so let’s move this along.

The pros: On a hot day, you can wear this and it’ll cool from the inside of your shirt (I think). It seems like this thing really works, well if you haven’t already noticed from the expression on his face.

The cons: They didn’t really try to make this thing even remotely stylish. So when you wear this, you become cool and utterly uncool at the same time. Also, it’s USB-powered (…) so you basically have to be near a USB port to use this. That would be… in the office… where there’s… air-conditioning. Hmm.

Technorati tags: usb, fan, cooler, necktie, weird gadget, japan

Yes, another piggy bank. But this one is less disturbing, more demanding.

It’s called a… well actually I don’t know what it’s called. So let’s call it The Exploding Nagger.

The Exploding Nagger is sorta like your average piggy bank, except that it was primarily designed to drive you nuts and/or insult you. How, you ask? Well, this gadget “shakes, shines, beeps and ‘explodes’ to remind the user to feed it coins” — so if you’re away from the house long enough for the timer to go off, you come home to find all the coins you so diligently fed it all over the table.

That’s when you grab a fistful of coins, get down on your knees and cry.

The pros: TOMY and the creators of The Exploding Nagger seem to think that this will add thrill to your saving experience, so yeah maybe that’ll work for you.

The cons: What if the reason you save is because you don’t have a lot of coins, and finding one that you can spare to save is a rare occurrence? Did they ever think about that? Huh? What if you go out of town? What if you only have bills? Huh?!

But seriously, I’d get The Exploding Nagger. What? It’s crazy enough for my tastes. Better than that freak-o piggy bank anyway. And it’ll be fun pretending there’s a bomb in my house when I have guests over.

Technorati tags: exploding, piggy bank, coin, save, japan, tomy

Just what the Winchester brothers need.

This is not a joke product, it supposedly does what its name says — detect ghosts.

Made by the geniuses at SolidAlliance (remember the Spaghetti), this ghost radar detects unusual magnetic waves and warns you about them with beeps and blinking lights.

The pros: If you’re convinced that the footsteps you hear behind you do not belong to your ambiguously creepy neighbor Frederick, and in fact are made by supernatural powers, then go get it. Or maybe you could ask the ones in your apartment to chip in for the rent.

The cons: If you get this and you aren’t already paranoid, I assure you that you will be. You’ll be jumping at every beep, and you’ll be seeing those symmetrical red lights in your dreams. It’ll make you wonder if it actually attracts them.

Technorati tags: ghost radar, solid alliance, usb gadget

If there has ever been a way to contain awesomeness in a bottle, this would have to be it.

Okay this is how it works. You buy the bottle with carbonated sugar water, and it comes with buttons for additives — flavors, colors, fragrances. For flavors, you can mix up to 32 combinations. You can have up to 2 shots of caffeine, or none at all if you don’t like caffeine (But…why wouldn’t you like caffeine?). Also, there are 20 pigment additives, so they say there are a million color combinations.

It seems like a sure-hit product really. And yet being the person that I am, I must still present to you the pros and cons, which may help you decide whether to get this.

The pros: You will never have to stand in front of the vending machine for 10 minutes trying to decide which flavor you want. With this, you’ll be doing that away from the machine. Genius. Also you’ll finally experience blue, caffeine-free, vanilla-scented cherry soda. Aaah.

The cons: There’s always that risk that your friend will pull a funny and press everything. End result? A mix that looks oddly similar to (but is slightly more nutritious than) dirty toilet water.

Okay so I lied, they don’t help.

Edit: Hi. I just realized something. After you pick your choice of drink, how will you mix everything?

…exactly. Hahahaha. 

Technorati tags: soda, cola, programmable, weird gadget, vending machine, drink, caffeine, flavor