Folded it’s no thicker than an inch. Fold it out and pour in the coals and you have a pretty competent looking picnic grill. So far so good. The problems comes later; when you want to go home again. Better grill early and give it lots of cooling time… Yours for GBP 20:- (about USD 39:-)brbr
It has three LED lights, a magnetic mount and it can be turned in any direction. To boot, it is heat resistant up to 176°F. Its magnet foot will attach to any ferrous surface, like a grill or a spatula. This is very well, but we think we could find lots of other uses for it. The limits of our, and your, imagination is all that’s stopping us. And the prize tag, of course… USD 15:-.brbr
It is supposed to work just like any other electric shaver. Minus the batteries or the power cord. Just turn the crank to shave anywhere you feel the stubble. One minute of turning gives two minutes of shaving. Seems to be the perfect gift for the frequent traveller or camping enthusiast. Or the guy that has a five o’clock shadow already before lunch. Sold with travel pouch with a mirror, cleaning brush and a power adapter just in case you couldn’t be bothered with the cranking. Yours for USD 46:- at the manufacturer’s own website.brbr
We bought one of these Kyocera ceramic mandolins recently, because we were curious to see how a ceramic blade would compare to a steel one. And it has not disappointed. The blade is almost too sharp, so the handle for whatever you’re slicing is not to be ignored. Any macho chef stuff is hereby strongly discouraged. We’ve cut most anything on it. from cheese via ham carrots without any sign of the blade getting duller. It is promised to stay sharp ten times longer than a steel blade, so we’ll see. Another feature is the easy adjustment of the cutting thickness. All you do is turn a square rod on the back of the mandolin. There are four different thicknesses available – 0.5 mm, 1.3 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm. Machine washable. It’s available for instance on Amazon- for USD 24:95.brbr
We bought this cable organizer in Bangkok in February. A store called Playground had a clearance sale (it looked as though they were moving or going out of business). The store is (was) located at 818 Soi Sukhumvit 55. The idea is you put the plastic ring around one of the legs of your desk, and push the cables into the different slots in the ring. Works very well, as long as the table leg has a big enough diameter. The slots have different sizes to accommodate different size cables. We bought the cable ring for THB 65:- (about USD 2:-) on sale, and it was the very last one they had. It had been THB 215:- (about USD 3:85) so it was quite a bargain. Too bad they didn’t have any more.brbr
We have mentioned a similar idea before. That was when we found a vinyl player that could burn to CD. Now, we have found one that is one better. The Ion LP2CD Converter can write to MP3, too. And if you need to tweak the sound a bit afterwards, it comes with software that can accomplish this; EZ Vinyl Converter 2 (EZVC2) for PC and EZ Audio Converter (EZAC) for Mac. The whole thing is USD 399:95, with Gracenote MusicID software that will analyze the vinyl record and fetch the name of the artist, album, and songs from the ‘netbrbr
We don’t know if we’re going to laugh or cry over this one. Of course it’s a pretty smart idea to let you get away from taking your boots off if you’re just stepping inside to pick up a screwdriver. On the other hand it’s kind of frightening to think that enough people walk into houses with muddy boots or wellies enough times to make boot slippers like this a marketable product… Made out of felt with a no-slip stripe on the soles. Hand wash only. Available in two sizes. A pair of the smaller slippers will set you back USD 29:50. The bigger ones are a bit more expensive.brbr
Hydroelectric power is generated when moving water passes through turbines. And that goes for any kind of moving water, not just rivers. So the idea hatched by Leviathan Energy to use water moving through the sewer system could work, too. That means you could help power your house or community every time you flush the toilet. According to Tree Hugger (and Wired) Leviathan’s scalable turbine could be installed on a municipal system, or fitted to your own toilet to make use of the potential power just running down your drain. And if that is possible, why couldn’t a similar turbines be fitted to the water mains, letting us generate power from incoming water as well.brbr
After some 195 projectors were stolen from London schools in the first three months of 2005, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) proposed a simple and low-cost design solution. It suggested that all educational equipment could be produced in a bright and distinctive orange color so that they would be easily identifiable and more difficult for criminals to sell on. Potential customers, it was thought, were likely to find the orange units less desirable and might also know that the orange color meant it was stolen property. According to Becta, the orange idea had an immediate beneficial impact. In the London Borough of Havering annual thefts of projectors and other electronics from schools had exceeded GBP 150,000:- (about USD 293,000:-) in one year. But with the orange projectors and other security measures, such as etched and forensic marking on the equipment, burglary rates fell substantially. Brilliant! More on British Design Council.brbr
Part of the Smart Stuff editorial team has suffered from a bad back for years. On occasion acute lumbago has had to be treated by our favorite chiropractor and plenty of acupuncture. Now, this ergonomically designed handle, an easy addition to straight-shaft tools, could have saved us on several occasions. By changing the position and angle of one’s grip, it helps reduce back strain, fatigue, and stress injuries caused by repetitive movements. Sounds like Gospel to us. The handle is made from ABS plastic, and it can be used on any long-handled tool, such as a rake, broom, shovel or mop. USD 9:95.brbr
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
