Tools, DIY, Home, Office

Perhaps I am on a smoke alarm kick but today’s Gizmo of the Day is a vocal smoke alarm. This is a great idea for families with smaller children in the horrible case that you have a house fire.

The Vocal Smoke Alarm allows you to record your child’s name as well as using the standard alarm tone and bright light flashes sending out three different triggers. In addition to your child’s name you can issue instructions about leaving the house and gathering outside in the event of a fire as well as standard safety messages like covering your face if smoke is present and not to open hot doors.

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At my last house the builder, in his infinite wisdom, decided to put a smoke and fire alarm in our kitchen within five feet of our oven. Everytime we broiled something in the oven the fire alarm would sound which annoyed my wife and I and downright scared my cat under our bed.

We really could have used the Remote-Controlled Smoke & Fire Alarm so we could use a remote to silence the fire alarm rather than stand on a chair and wave a cookie sheet in front of the alarm to disperse the “smoke”.

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You don’t need to wake up to an annoying buzzer or obnoxious radio show. Wake up to your favorite TV show with the TV Alarm Clock, which turns on the television in your bedroom at the time you specify. This convenient clock sits on your bedside table, and its backlit 2-inch display shows the time and date. At your designated waking hour, the TV Alarm Clock sends an infrared signal to your television to turn it on like a standard remote control. Since you can set up to three times for this alarm clock to send its power signal to the TV, you can also use it to turn your television off automatically at a certain time, convenient if you tend to fall asleep while watching late-night shows.

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We readily admit that this is not the sexiest gadget out there, but depending on where you live, it may be a pretty necessary one. The Eton emergency radio packs in features like AM/FM radio (of course), built-in LED light, flashing red emergency light, an emergency siren, as well as Cell Phone charger. And of course, since you may run out of juice, it has a wind-up generator (that’s what the funny thing sticking out of the side of it is). Amazingly, cranking for a minute and a half will give you 40 to 60 minutes of operation. If you’re stocking up on batteries because you’d rather not have to wind it up, the Eton runs on Ni-MH and AA batteries. Order soon and you can get it shipped for free. And to further guilt you into buying one, Eton is donating 5% of sales to the American Red Cross.

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Eton FR300 Emergency RadioRead More »

Our fellow geeks over at Kitchen Contraptions suggested that we feature the Folding Cutting Board as a gizmo of the day. We agree that this simple design is just a good idea.

The edges automatically fold upwards when the cutting board is lifted off the countertop allowing you to easily “pour” what you have just chopped into a baggie, pot or pan. Having made Valentine’s dinner for my wife and chopping up various food items such as garlic (that I’m sure we will continue to find for weeks around the kitchen), I would have loved an easier way to transition the chopped food to a pan. At least I don’t have to cook again until next year!

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Do you have issues falling asleep at night? Brookstone has a product called Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy System that suppose to allow you to sleep better using acoustic therapy. Currently my wife and I use the low tech version of white noise by running a small fan we bought cheaply to lull us to sleep at night. It works great for her but not so much for me.

Tranquil Moments will play white noise and includes 12 preprogrammed sounds including such soothing sounds as ocean surf, summer night, stream and rain and even thunderstorm (which would probably keep me awake). The product doesn’t just playback these various sounds but using their exclusive Sleep Enhancement Technology, the playback is slowed over a 20 minute period. Also, the product allows you to set the auto shut off timer for 30, 60 or 90 minutes.

Has anyone tried one of these before (or specifically this one) and if so, what did you think?

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Energy bills are really starting to get out of hand! Perhaps we should really look into alternative energy sources or invade another country or something.

Until the price of energy goes down, you can save money by identifying your energy guzzling appliances and electronics using the Kill A Watt Usage Monitor. This gizmo helps you track electrical expenses by hour, day, week, month and even by year and helps you replace or change how you use your inefficient energy devices.

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Kill A Watt, Electricity Usage MonitorRead More »