gadgets & things

As I mentioned last week, I've been on a quest to find cool new gadgets. A short trip through the warehouse was all it took to uncover some very handy Things for the car, for your health and just for fun.

Things I found for the car make life both easier and safer. The Porta-Jump™ recharges your car battery in about 10 minutes using the power from your car's cigarette lighter socket. Plus, it's small enough to fit in the glove compartment of most cars. It's a lot more convenient and a lot safer than waiting for the auto club or carrying jumper cables and depending on strangers for assistance. Speaking of safety and convenience, I bought a Spare Key Hider for my aunt. Since she drives an older car, it doesn't have an alarm to alert her when she leaves her keys in the ignition. Of course, it doesn't have electronic locks either, so she doesn't realize she's locked her keys in the car until right after the door slams shut. I've rescued her enough times to make this handy little Thing a good investment. The Grip It Power Brush is a great car gadget. It connects to your hand drill to make cleaning road grime out of your wheels a lot easier. I tried it out last night—it really works. The cleaning tip gets around lug nuts and into other nooks and crannies. It's completely safe for chrome and other surfaces and it also works great on head lights, tail lights, grills, bumpers and mirrors.

I found a few Things that can help improve your health, too. Who knew that keeping your wallet in your front pocket not only makes it less accessible to pickpockets, but helps prevent backaches? It seems that sitting on a wallet is a major source of back pain for a lot of men. This Front Pocket Wallet is designed to match the contour of your front pocket. It's very slim so it doesn't show even through lightweight slacks.

For insect sting and bite relief, I found this Therapik. It neutralizes the venom in about 20-30 seconds. I'm going camping next month and I'm definitely taking one of these with me! For travel, I think this Portable UV Scanner is one of the best Things ever invented. We've all seen those awful stories about hidden filth in hotels and motels. In just a few seconds, this gadget destroys bacteria and viruses like E-coli, hepatitis, influenza and others with the same technology that is used in hospitals. The UVC light turns on when you flip it open—you simply pass it over surfaces you want to sterilize.

I like useful Things, but Things for just plain fun are my favorite. These Wireless Headphones make it easy for two people to listen to music or television at the same time, even in different places and at different volumes. I think they're more comfortable than ear buds and without being wired to the stereo, you can work outside or just roam around the house without getting out of earshot of whatever you're listening to. Digital Picture Converter makes 35mm negatives and slides into digital images. It's a smaller, less expensive version of high-end negative scanners. My sister and I were playing with it here in the office and she had a great idea: we're going to “steal” some old photos from our parents and create a digital scrapbook for their wedding anniversary.

I think I'll head back out to the warehouse and see what other great Things I can find.