Home > Technobuddy > Archives > 2007 > November > 02 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USCat boxes and a few out-of-the-box gadgets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My job brings me in contact with plenty of high tech gadgets - including one responsible for my late cat Buddy’s nervous breakdown.
Blame a robotic cat box cleaner. Buddy sure did. The device had metal rakes that cleaned the surface after the cat’s visit. Electronic sensors told it when to rake and when to leave the cat alone.
The trouble started when the box started its cleaning process before Buddy finished his process. Long after the incident Buddy would sit and watch the cat box, silently plotting.
Happily, the cat box was soon moved to the basement and Buddy lived years more.
Not all electronic gizmos are so fiendish. Some actually deliver on promises made on a Web site or on the box. And in light of the psychic damage the bad ones can do, today we’ll sing a few praises of the ones I’ve had that are worth welcoming into your home.
Topping my list is a desktop weather station from Brookstone. At first it seemed like a high-tech novelty that would soon find a final resting place in a junk drawer.
But it offers the current temperature, projected high and low for the day and the forecast at a glance, and not a day passes when I don’t give it a look. Unlike weather stations that require wireless or wired sensors in the yard, this gadget gets weather information using its built-in receiver. There’s no installation required, just add batteries and go.
It senses your location automatically and the small screen offers a 5-day forecast that has been at least as accurate as what we get from other sources.
Brookstone carries this device in its online catalog at http://www.brookstone.com. Look for the 5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster priced at $85.
Next is something I wish I didn’t need - a wireless home security system to detect prowlers.
Most home security systems, especially those that are monitored, can sound an alarm if someone breaks into your home. But this system warns you while the prowler is still outside.
I bought The Reporter Expandable Wireless Alert System from the online Radio Shack catalog. It comes with a receiver and a wireless sensor that can warn of movement in your yard, in a garage or carport or on a patio. I paid $80 for the system (Catalog No. 49-429) and another $50 for a second wireless sensor (the receiver can handle four remote sensors).
I worried it would buzz constantly as trees waved in wind, or as my beagle moved about the yard. But in about a month of constant operation there has only been one false alarm.
The only downside is the unit’s cheap plastic appearance. Some assembly is required but once you decipher the instructions, it is a five minute job.
My interest in the next item was sparked by an online review of a gadget that will hit the market in 2008 from the Swiss Army Knife company.
It’s a cooler made for laptop computers. You place a laptop computer on top of it and built-in cooling fans keep the laptop from overheating.
Laptop computers - unlike desktop models - are not designed to run 24/7. They get hot to the touch if left on constantly and that heat can eventually hurt the circuitry. With the growing trend to use a laptop as a family’s main computer, many laptops are left on for hours if not constantly.
The Swiss Army Knife product isn’t on the market yet but there are other laptop coolers available now.
You needn’t buy one. Just pick up a cake cooling rack and rest your laptop computer on it. The heat from the bottom of the laptop creates air currents beneath the rack and that ventilates and cools the computer. It’s not as efficient as a fan but offers enough protection for most laptops.
That’s my take on some useful home gadgets. It’s my firm opinion that Buddy would approve of them all.
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By George
November 2, 2007 3:15 PM | Link to this
I have one of those cat boxes and LOVE it. It’s great at keeping odors down for lazy folks like me who hate cleaning litter boxes. (It reminds me of “Thing” in the Adams Family. “Thing” appears out of nowwhere, gets rid of the smelly stuff, then hides itself again.
That home security system sounds interesting. I may go visit Radio Shack….
By Bill
November 2, 2007 8:54 PM | Link to this
Hey George, could be that the one I had was sort of out of whack. All I can tell you is that I miss Buddy the Maine Coon Cat but not the cat box.
Yeah, the Radio Shack thing really works well. Interestingly it seems to work even better in winter - makes sense, it operates by detecting heat so a warm body stands out more in the cool air than it would in the hot air. Or so it seems.
But I’ve really been pleased with it. Besides warning of intruders, I know that the UPS guy is at the door - with the latest gadget - before he rings the door bell.
By Mark
November 3, 2007 7:22 PM | Link to this
You mean your UPS guy actually rings your doorbell????
By Bill
November 3, 2007 8:21 PM | Link to this
Mark, truth? Yeah, he leaves stuff and rings the door bell .. he doesn’t wait but does ring the door bell.
By Jody
November 4, 2007 8:21 AM | Link to this
My UPS lady even calls and leaves a message on my answering machine if she thinks I am out of town so that I will pick up the message and notify a neighbor that I have a package sitting outside. That neighbor will then retrieve the package for me. That is the beauty of living outside of Atlanta.
By Jody
November 4, 2007 8:31 AM | Link to this
My UPS lady even calls and leaves a message on my answering machine if she thinks I am out of town so that I will pick up the message and notify a neighbor that I have a package sitting outside. That neighbor will then retrieve the package for me. That is the beauty of living outside of Atlanta.
By Alden
November 5, 2007 1:05 AM | Link to this
I have seen at Brookstone store through Couponalbum.com gorgeous home & garden accessories at discounted prices….!!
By One
November 5, 2007 9:54 AM | Link to this
I love useful gadgets…….but I have found one that is a total waste!! The Roomba is a joke!! I wish I could return it for a refund (it’s been a while), but I soon realized that they are not all they are cracked up to be. It doesn’t pick up well (no matter how clean the filter and brush), and controlling it sucks……..it just kinda randomly cleans, missing spots and debris in here and there. The Roomba sucks!!!!!! I want my money back!
By Al
November 5, 2007 8:08 PM | Link to this
Rule of thumb on gadgets: If it’s an “As Seen On TV” gadget like the ones often seen in infomercials, wait for it eventually hit the stores before purchasing it. Three advantages to this: (1) If the item makes it to store shelves, there’s at least a slim chance that it’s more than just complete junk (in other words, it might actually work, but this is no guarantee)… (2) by purchasing it at the store, you bypass the unpleasant experience of the phone order, including the operator who is instructed to lean heavily on you to buy other products…and (3) ir it is junk, you can easily return it to the store for a full refund (instead of the painful and near impossible task of returning it via shipping without geting some sort of hassle).
That said, here’s my recent experience with the “Listen Up” device, touted to “turn normal hearing into extraordinary hearing!” — TOTAL JUNK, complete waste of time, took it back to the store for a quick, easy and full refund.
By Danton Vale
November 14, 2007 4:40 AM | Link to this
Hey!!! I am Neil, Recently I found a shopping site Couponalbum.com which provides fresh coupons, coupon codes, deals & thousands of free gifts..!!
By BobbyWoontz
November 14, 2007 4:14 PM | Link to this
As far as that AccuWeather wireless weather forecaster by Brookstone, it’s fine, but doesn’t keep an accurate current temperature for my tastes. Would you believe off by 13 degrees compared to The Weather Channel’s current temperature? And I live in a city that’s one of the five picks to choose from. Today, on a balmy 70 degree afternoon at 3:30 pm, the wireless forecaster lists the current temperature as 55 degrees. The Weather Channel lists it more closely to the accurate temperature at 68 degrees. And this thing is supposed to be updated every 15 minutes??????