This is it: the first Gadgetbox of the rest of your life. I mean, technically, so is last week’s. And next week’s. But, like most mortals, we must stay locked in the present by the spatial/temporal ties that bind us. Until, that is, someone puts a time machine into a DeLorean, telephone booth, police call box, or adorable Japanese man. Anyday now.
But until then, there are still roughly nineteen shopping days before Christmas. So this week, here’s our first selection of potential gifts from the halls of gadgetry and gizmoetry (rhymes with “poetry”). Take your pick of a tool that sheds some light on the subject, a shirt that will make you the most popular person in the lands of the geek, or a remote control car that pays for itself. Heck, take them all!
Screwdriver has LED, but lacks vodka, orange juice
 |
Tools are the hallmark of any true gadget-lover. Technology is only as good as your ability to take it apart and make it better . The trouble is that manufacturers don’t often make it as easy as you’d like to take things apart: sometimes it’s even hard to see where the screw is. That’s just one place that the Spot-On #1 screwdriver comes in handy. This flat tip 1/4” screwdriver features a long-life LED built into its tip. Just press the switch on the handle and let there be light! All for just $25.
It would be kind of nice if the Spot-On had tips that you could switch in and out—what if I want to use to it with a Phillips-head, or Torx, or heck, an Allen or Robertson screw? (Having a type of screw named after you is apparently the second most coveted award in the US, right after the Congressional Medal of Honor). Then I’m back to holding a flashlight in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. Unacceptable! Ooh, and they should probably make it ratcheting as well. And magnetic.
Then again, I suppose if I wanted one screwdriver to rule them all I’d probably just go with the sonic version and be done with it.
[hat tip: Dan Frakes]
Call me when it does WEP
 |
Listen up, kids. Back when I was a wee lad, shirts were just for wearing. They kept us warm in the winter and in the summer prevented us from searing our flesh barbecue-style. Pure and utter utility. But then came along a forgotten genius, a man—admit it, a woman is far too smart come up with this—who said: “can’t a shirt do more ?”
Yes, Virginia. Yes it can. And thus was born the Wi-Fi Detector Shirt from Think Geek. Sure, its front-mounted animated display will show you the current strength of a detected Wi-Fi network (802.11b or 802.11g—sorry ‘n’ fans), but we know what the specs you want to see, so don’t worry: it is indeed 100% cotton . The display is even removable, so you can toss the shirt in the washing machine, or avoid getting mistakenly labeled as a terrorist. And it’ll run for hours on a pair of AAA batteries in a concealed pocket—presuming, of course, that you can afford a pair of AAA batteries after paying $30 for a t-shirt.
But really, it’s way cooler and more useful than just putting a clock on your shirt. I bet you dollars to big giant clocks that Flavor Flav wishes he’d thought of this first.
Driving for hidden treasure
 |
I know I’ve been down on convergence before, but really only when it doesn’t make sense. Whatever brilliant mind devised the combination of a remote control car and a metal detector, I tell you: that fellow deserves a screw named after him. I mean, think about it: who wants to spend all their time sweeping some weird looking device back and forth over the ground, looking like your high school janitor buffing the floor? Nobody. Nobody wants that.
Designed by folks at the London Science Museum, the RC Metal-Detect-Car is a futuristic-looking offroad vehicle that boasts its own metal detector. Drive it around and it’ll alert you if it passes over anything metal. Test it out with the included set of replica gold coin (it’ll prepare you well for all the completely useless items you’ll find with your metal detector). And when that gets boring, you can always use the remote control car to teach your kids about driving. See, it’s an educational toy.
This modern of marvel engineering will cost you just $83, but if you manage to find even one real doubloon, it could easily pay for itself. Let’s be frank, though: you might find the quarter that dropped out of your pocket last week, but that’s probably about it. In my neighborhood, anyway. We’re kind of short on pirate loot. More’s the pity. Arrr.
[via Coolest Gadgets ]
That’s this week in gadget-stravaganza. We’re back next Wednesday with another installment of this holiday season Gadgetbox.