With all the fancy gadgets you can connect to your computer's USB ports these days, you might not have enough ports.
But never fear - it's USB Hub Man to the rescue!
You can plug things into all his appendages (ahem, just the arms and legs, actually) and he has a tiny green power indicator in place of a heart. Awww...
If you've been paying close attention to Awesome, you probably have a house full of awesome things by now. And of course you don't want some stupid burglar to break in and help himself to all your awesome stuff.
If you don't have a pack of loudmouth dogs like me, consider picking up one of these nifty gadgets. You just plug it into any outlet and it emits random light patterns that simulate a television, thus fooling potential stealers of stuff into thinking you're at home.
It also has a timer so you can set it to turn on and off while you're away, and it uses much less electricity than simply putting your TV on a timer.
Also, it might make for some fun party lighting when you are home.
I don't have the hand/eye coordination necessary to excel at video games... or even to avoid sucking at them, really. Thus, I don't have a Wii.
But if I did, I'd totally get this Wii bowling bag to tote my Wii stuff in. And then maybe my friends and I could all get matching bowling shirts and drink beer and play Wii bowling.
Yeah.
This is a much better way to make calls using bluetooth rather than those stupid headsets people use.
Yes, you may still look stupid too, after all it's a completely outdated device that is about as archaic as the Lite Brite, but you don't strap it to your ear and walk around with it on all day long.
Or you could, if you really need to be that ironic.
Whenever I buy a power strip for my gadgets, I end up only using three of the six outlets because of these stupid oversized power adapters that eclipse the neighboring outlet. So I end up hooking up another power strip to the end of the other, and another to that one... until I have an orgy of surge suppressors taking over my home office. UGH!
The Socket Sense power strip adjusts to fit any size adapter, plus you can zig-zag your placement of 'em fit six on one strip! This has been completely unheard of until now, and I think I'm going to cry with happiness.
If you had a great Christmas like me, then you've also only had your iPhone less than a week. If you're also obsessive compulsive like me, you've probably also gone through 3 covers by now trying to find the right one.
Oh, you haven't? You just got one and you were ok with it? Hhmmm. Ok, well, color me dissatisfied with life.
After several rubbery bulky cases, I finally found true love with this Incase cover. It's thin but durable and comes in a bunch of fancy bright colors, to make the fact that I have an iPhone even more obnoxious when I pull it out in public to check the weather.
Do you want to know the temperature anywhere in the world right this minute? Because I have this $400 device in my pocket that has a whole "weather" button! It makes phone calls too!
(Check out the iPod covers too!)
Back in the day I had an awesome tape just like this that had on Side A 2 songs by Cetu Javu, a bad recording of Grant Lee Buffalo's Mockingbirds, and 10 snippets of the local DJ dedicating songs to me and my friends during the Friday night Call And Be Kind call-in show. We were in jr. high, so calling the radio station all night long was basically awesome for us.
These days, I keep all my sacred snippets on my laptop, so to back them up I need a USB stick like this one. And I can even store some Cetu Javu on it.
I hate cables. They make my life a mess... well, at least, my desk is a mess. Plus, I'm lazy! I hate seeking for the right cable for the right device when I need to use it.
The gadgets I use the most are my digital cameras... I like the instant gratification of seeing my beautiful photography right after I take it. So how can I share my pictures just as instantly with my internet friends without the hassle of cables, card readers and extra software?
The Eye-Fi wireless memory card is a godsend, with its ability to connect to your Wi-Fi network! It can upload directly to Flickr, Facebook, Vox and tons of other photo sharing websites, and right from my camera! I can even download my photos wirelessly to my computer! It's magic!
This looks like a normal, janky desk lamp, but oh ho! It is not a normal, janky desk lamp! It's not even a lamp!
It's a microscope that plugs into your computer, ZOMG!!! Now you can spend all your free time zooming in with robotic power on the flecks of dirt on quarters, your own fingerprints, your cat/dog's wet nosicle, the pores on your face (ick!), and whatever else curiosity leads you to see 10xs it's normal size.
Yes, guys, you can look at that too, we promise not to tell.
I work in an office where I constantly hear how important it is to renew, reuse, recycle, and recharge. And everyday, I make a big production of using two sides of the paper to print my coupons to Old Navy and JCrew for my post-work shopping excursion. "Look at me!" I'll sing, "Both sides!" And then my hippie boss goes on and on about what a good employee I am while everyone else is hard at work going to meetings and writing reports.
So just imagine what kind of brownie points I'll rack up when I bring in some USBcell Rechargable Batteries
Consider this a Public Service Announcement:
Maybe a lot of you already know how awesome google mobile search is, but I bet a lot of you don't! For example, did you know that if you are looking for the phone number of Huey's Hotdogs in Chicago so you can call and place a pick-up order for a cheeseburger and fries, you can send a text to google and get the phone number in just a minute or two?! You can! And you don't have the pay the buck-forty-five or whatever it would be to call Information!
It doesn't stop there! You can text Google for a weather report, flight updates, sports scores--you can even text google to find out what city the area code is located from the call you just ignored!!! I know--it's all too much. Anyway, you can find out more here.
This ends the Public Service Annoucement. Now back to shopping for overpriced homewares and accessories...
There's nothing more in-organic than your laptop and digital camera, and when you plunk those down at the cafe table every Saturday morning, surrounded by all those urban hippie-wannabes in their naturally woven environmentally friendly hoodies, you can bet they're giving your technology the evil eye.
Give it right back by popping in your wooden memory stick, which is just the right amount of green to give those global warming fanatics the heave-ho. While they're gawking at your awesome digital eco-awareness, you can remind them of all the trees wasted to make their little latte stir sticks.
USB Flash Drives are an essential piece of gadgetry for me. I use them for transferring documents, pictures, and stealing music.
Mimoco sells designer flash drives in limited editions. I've always admired the awesome artists and designs that they choose for these drives. So of course, I couldn't resist the cuteness of the new One Love Mimobot from their new series. Combining tech with cute is a concept that reels me in every time!
They also have Star Wars character Mimobots that manage to even make Darth Vader cute! Most of these drives are sold in limited quantities, so jump on these like now!
My bedside table is hiding a hideous secret, and it's not an embarrassing prescription cream or a "personal massager."
No, it's the gaggle or cords and wires clumped precariously underneath it that hang desperately to a crowded power strip three feet long.
Now, I've got the option of the Power Squid
Thank you, squid overlords!
I like shopping for Awesome things, if it wasn't already obvious. I especially like shopping on the web, because I don't have to leave my apartment... everything comes to me! I also like social software, it gives me a sense of having friends from the comfort of my home.
Combine the two and you get ThisNext, a social shopping website. You can give recommendations, discover awesome things by browsing tags, and even "Shopcast" to spread the word about stuff you dig. My favorite part is the ease of ThisNext's wishlists... I can add stuff from all over the web and send my dear internet friends the RSS feed so I don't have to bother telling my friends when I add new shit to it.
I'll admit, I stumbled upon ThisNext while doing web searches for a unique vodka. So to summarize: I like to shop by myself at home with a glass of vodka in hand. I mean, who wouldn't?
No kidding, Amazon totally just told me to "Give the gift of a smooth back with the Mangroomer!" I couldn't make that shit up.
Apparently, it's electric even, and has all sorts of nifty attachments, good for reaching those hairy manly places, I guess. And it's sleek and lightweight...and OMG it's a MANGROOMER!?
Well. I mean, some people need it, so.
Have a cell phone? A bag full of witty sayings? A need to impress people 147 words at a time?
Perhaps you should start Twittering.
I wonder what Boy Scouts in the future will be like, if camping and fishing will still be protocol or if they'll get badges for doing things like replacing logic boards and making walkie-talkies out of cans of cat food.
Who knows, but why not start yourself on the road to preparedness with this modern Swiss Army knife slash 1 gig of memory on a handy USB stick? It's got scissors and a nail file and that handy knife that never works when you need it to.
I'm sure this will work out perfectly when the next Scout sleepover turns out to be SuperHappyDevHouse XXXVII.
I have a long history of broken iBook power cords. I think in two years I've gone through three iBooks and five power cords, so I don't know what that says about my ability to take care of expensive things. Probably why I don't drive a Porche?
This past week, my latest power cord started sparking and I knew I needed to replace it before it caught fire and destroyed my iTunes library. Not wanting to spend the requisite $70 for an official Apple iBook power adapter, I did some research and found the Macally Power Adapter for iBooks and Powerbooks and snatched one up for $26.
It just charged my whole battery in about an hour, and it's pretty sturdy and durable and awesome. Don't let the pictures fool you, it's white just like my iBook and looks aesthetically Apple, and even though it's super light you can tell it's built to last. Plus if when I break it, the $26 to replace it won't hurt so much I write poems about how it makes me feel.
I carry my camera with me everywhere, which means I eventually run out of battery power and end up having to buy a pack of ridiculously expensive and never-lasting AA batteries. When I went to Bodie last weekend, of course I forgot my camera charger, so I stopped off at target and grabbed the only batteries I could find with the words "camera" and "digital" written on them.
One week and over 300 photos later, those same batteries are still in my camera, apparently fully charged. Those batteries I picked up on a whim were the new Energizer Lithium Digital Camera batteries, and they were totally worth the $8 I paid for them. I spent the whole weekend in Bodie reviewing pictures, turning my camera flash on and off, playing with the settings and forgetting to turn it off while I walked around, and the batteries are still going strong!
Now if only I could make such wise choices when I'm choosing who to go home with at the bar...
One thing I absolutely hate in life is answering the phone. I don't really enjoy talking on the phone ever, and especially having to answer when a stranger calls? Totally awkward for me. So instead of giving out my phone number to random people I meet and potential call center monkeys who want to call right in the middle of LOST, I've started using Private Phone.
It's a pretty sweet deal, you just sign up for a free phone number like you would an email address, and you're free to hand it out to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Just pick your city and state and you're assigned a unique, working phone number. It's got voice mail too, and you'll even get an email that tells you when you get a new message.
Keep connected by keeping your phone number private. It's the perfect way to tell someone to call you, when you really don't want them calling you.
How brilliant is this? The Flashbag USB drive inflates as you save data, remaining pumped up even after you switch it off "so you can estimate with the naked eye how much more pics, books, and music albums can be transferred into it." Also, it's orange, and you know how we love that!
Check out this wristband USB flash drive from Imation. It's 258MB of durable rubber that twists in a loop and snaps securely to your arm or any other hook of your choosing.
It's under $30 and works on Windows and Mac and what else can I say? It's a wristband flash drive! A whole new mode of transporting...the transportable!
Take a guess at what's behind these doors. Go ahead and guess.
Give up? Ok, ok, click here.
And now click here to check out the entire whimsical line of Hannspree Products. I love the idea of nature influencing design, and when you design a cord pocket to mimic the lines of a granny smith, well, you've won my heart.
You know what I hate? Windows. Not the kind you open, the kind you can't open too many of before your whole system crashes and you have to reboot. I especially hate using Windows at work because at home I have my Dashboard, and it is just divine.
But guess what I found out today! Yahoo widgets for Windows! Holy shit! Weather! Flickr! Flight fares!! It's all the same, it's just runs on a PC! Now my whole life is complete and I don't have to quit my job, which is good because for a minute there I was on the fence.
Really, I would have quit if I couldn't have my widgets. How can I work if I don't know what temperature it is in Chicago??
I owe some of my best memories to the Garmin StreetPilot Portable GPS Navigation System. A while ago we took a road trip all the way across the country and used the StreetPilot to navigate us through back roads and old abandoned highways between Chicago and San Francisco. We called her Delicious, and set her to speak in a snobby British accent.
On long drives through abandoned cornfields and snowy passes, we'd type the words, "coffee, restaurant, sanity" into her keyword search box, and in seconds she'd lead us to a tiny town not far away for a hot cup of joe and friendly conversation with strangers. Memories were exchanged between us as Delicious waited in the car, eager to lead us to our next destination.
Anyway! There's a ton of cool GPS systems by Garmin on sale for the holidays over at Amazon. I know they're expensive, but what's the price of going somewhere you never dreamed you ever want to return to? After all, you're not going to get to Cisco, Utah on your own, are you?
If you're an Apple user, you might have wondered why your iCal icon displays the date July 17 when its closed and how to change it if that date happens to hold bad memories for you. Well there's hope! You can actually change that date to anything your heart desires thanks to this handy little application. You can change it to Jun 4 to reflect the Olsen Twins' birthday, or perhaps February 24 to commemorate when President Andrew Johnson was impeached. (Amnesty for ex-Confederates, Johnson?! Wha?!)
Oh, and in case you're wondering, July 17 was the date that iCal debuted at the MacWorld Expo in New York back in 2002, and when iCal is opened, it'll display the days date, respectfully.
