Brilliant UFO abduction lamp.
Your blood puddle pillows are in.
Clean your dishwasher with Lemonade Kool-Aid.
Clever light bulb design.
Days Ago digital day counters are small gadgets that attach to your food containers via suction and magnets to keep a running count of how many days ago you put your leftovers in the fridge.
Scrabble furniture.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Your blood puddle pillows are in.
Clean your dishwasher with Lemonade Kool-Aid.
Clever light bulb design.
Days Ago digital day counters are small gadgets that attach to your food containers via suction and magnets to keep a running count of how many days ago you put your leftovers in the fridge.
Scrabble furniture.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Home Automation via Cellphone by Plutohome
Perhaps taking cues from gadgets such as the telephone controlled thermostat and the telephone controlled oven, Plutohome produces a home automation appliance that is, conveniently, controllable via your bluetooth cellphone. The unit is, however, a lot more than simply a home automation PC. In their own words, Pluto is:
the only all-in-one solution for your home that seamlessly combines media & entertainment, home automation, security, telecom and computing. You can control your whole house with a mobile phone, a touch-screen tablet or a web-interface. A Pluto system is like an appliance - not a computer. It is self-configuring, maintaining and updating. No technical skills are required to use or install Pluto.
There are some interesting features on the Pluto, such as television programs following you (or your bluetooth enabled cellphone, more specifically) as you walk from room to room, the ability to instantly turn any television into a videoconferencing unit, using your bluetooth cellphone as a remote control, and the system sending live video to your cellphone upon intrusion detection, as well as turning all the speakers on in the house to give you the chance to scare the potential burglar off, or perhaps make a dangerous new friend.
The software is free and open source and installs on any PC. The company recommends that if you plan a large system with many concurrent processes (streaming video on one TV with a video conference on another, for example), you'll want more in the hardware department, naturally. As far as peripherals go, the company is supposed to list it's recommendations here, but unfortunately, doesn't seem to list anything yet.
Utilize Unused Telephone Lines to Make a Home Intercom System
Markus Wandel has created a nice DIY home intercom howto, complete with schematics and usage instructions:
If you can manage it, get two speakerphone-type phones. Leave them in "speakerphone" mode continuously and pound on the keypad to attract the attention of the other end.
Heh. Via Boing Boing.
If you can manage it, get two speakerphone-type phones. Leave them in "speakerphone" mode continuously and pound on the keypad to attract the attention of the other end.
Heh. Via Boing Boing.
Skype Releases Version 2.0 With Video
Skype, the incredibly user friendly VOIP client, just added video capabilities to it's software package. Skype is one of the best internet apps out there because, besides looking good and being intuitive, as many have said before: it just plain works. The sound quality is great, and stands up flawlessly when compared to a regular POTS system. Sticking it to the phone company is always nice, too.
via Digg
Internet and Telephone Controlled Oven with Refrigeration
According to the TMIO (Tonight's Menu Internet Ovens) website, the Connect Io Intelligent Oven allows you to begin cooking your food remotely, via either a telephone or internet connection. The idea is that you prepare your food ahead of time and place it in the oven, which keeps the food refrigerated until the cooking process is initiated remotely. Throughout the process, the display on your web browser exactly matches the display on the oven itself, in real time. Program, command, and control your Connect Io oven remotely through your cell phone from anywhere in the world. No matter where you are, send commands over the Internet from your computer through a standard web browser.
Anywhere in the world? Sure, this might be handy to use from work or even to monitor your food from the pc in the other room, but who are they marketing to with 'from anywhere in the world'?
Make Your Own Skype Phone Adapter
If you've not already wired up your pre-existing POTS system to your VOIP system, you may be interested in this DIY project that walks you through the creation of a telephone-to-VOIP adapter for your wired or cordless phones. From the site:Just imagine: You can walk with your wireless phone chatting with Skype friends for free, you can make free call to your mom if she is connected to the Internet...Skype wireless phones are expensive, VoIP adapters cost ~$60, but you can make it for free if your have details.. from old TV, Radio or other electronics.
Telephone Controlled Thermostat
It sucks coming home to a cold house. Unfortunately, if you've programmed a timed temperature drop in your home in order to save energy, you may have experienced this upon coming home early or off schedule. Avoid such a predicament with a telephone controllable thermostat that allows you to call home and chat with your heating system, giving you time to work things out.
Talkingthermostats.com offers this device, of which you can hear a sample of here.
Categories: telephone thermostat energy efficiency gadgets hvac toys automation cool michaeldouglas
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Cordless Cube MP3 Player Speakerphone Combo
If you're looking to consolidate the mess of wires and electronics in your home office, this might be the place to start. At a paltry 11 ounces, the cube impressively crams a 2.4GHz cordless speakerphone, an MP3 player and an FM radio (that pause automatically during calls) into a 3 1/4 inch cubed space. The unit comes complete with LCD screen, usb jack (w/cable) and SD card slot.
A 10 Dollar Linux Answering Machine
From the 'Because we can' file...If you:
have $10, need an answering machine, have a Linux box and have some spare time on your hands, then you may be interested in making your own linux based answering machine. This howto will walk you through the steps to get you up and running with a geek badge called the linux based answering machine.
VoIP by Jake
If you're using a VoIP service like Vonage in place of a traditional POTS system and find yourself missing the convenience of multiple phones scattered throughout the house, you may be interested in doing what Jake Ludington did to integrate his VoIP service into the preexisting telephone wiring in his home.
Recent stuff from HouseHacker:
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