Whoever devised this universal wrist charger: get out of my head, you can’t afford the rent. Also, thank you.
Group road-trips can create a unique quagmire. Most cars come equipped with fewer cigarette lighters than the car actually seats. Fine for smokers, since it’s a given they’ll all probably have their own lighters. For everybody else, that creates a whole different problem: charger usage.
Everyone’s phone will need charging eventually. As conversations drift, people will whip out iPods, portable game systems and the like. You know what eventually happens, though: batteries die. Sometimes, they die fast. When various devices croak simultaneously, every passenger has an impassioned and convincing argument for why they should have a lease on the cigarette lighter. And woe betide those who have no charger, once restlessness sets in and License Plate Bingo has reached the end of its natural 15 minute lifespan of interest. Mario, like a hover-board over troubled water, can’t save you without power.
This Universal Wrist Charger has a lithium-ion battery, and like almost any good gadget worth its salt, charges up with a USB plug-in. Once it’s juiced up, it will charge any mini USB-compatible device, including an iPhone, PSP, Nintendo DS Lite and DSi, to name just a few. It comes loaded for bear with the USB wrist-band battery, a mini USB cable, charger output cable and nine connectors for various devices.
Forget adapters. Adapt yourself.
Way back in the second season of The Office (otherwise known as the Best Season Ever, way before marriages and babies and the heinous invasion that was Will Ferrell), there was a scene between Jim and Pam that I’ll never forget. Capping off an impromptu dinner date of sandwiches on the company’s roof, watching Dwight and Kevin set off fireworks, Jim lent Pam one of his earbuds and they self-consciously swayed together to the strains of the Travis tune “Sing”. It was perfection in its awkwardness, and ever after, the idea of sharing earbuds with someone seemed like an utterly romantic notion.
But let’s be real here: earbuds can be all kinds of funky (and I don’t mean in the “get down wit yo bad self” way), so it’s often one instance where sharing is decidedly not caring. But all hope is not lost! Instead, get your randomly romantic groove on with the Robot Headphone Splitter Jack key chain.
Plug the little guy’s noggin into your iPod’s headphone jack (the device works with any music player/phone that has a standard 3.5mm jack), then plug two individual sets of headphones into its eye sockets. And before you can say “easy peasy, fresh n’ freezy”, you’ll be sharing your playlist with your favorite partner in crime – or swaying, as the case may be. Grilled cheese sandwiches and multiple seasons worth of sexual tension not included.
Now we’re talking! This is an application for alternative energy I can truly get behind. I’m a renter who can’t afford solar paneling and lives nowhere remotely near the closest hydro-electric or wind-powered source of juice. But show me a convenient way I can harness solar energy and keep my personal-electronics party going, and my attention is yours for the taking!
The FreeLoader Portable Cell Phone Solar Charger weighs only 6.5 ounces and measures 4.7 inches long by 2.4 inches wide by .67 inches thick. But with a full charge, it will power an iPod for 18 hours, a PSP for 2.5 hours and a PDA for 22 hours. The Li-ion rechargeable battery can be powered up via USB adapter in as little as three hours or up to eight hours via the solar panels, but takes three to four full charges before it reaches its optimum capacity. Once reached, though, it can store that juice up to three months – endurance that few cell phone solar chargers can boast.
The device includes a master cable with 11 adapter tips compatible with devices ranging from iPhones to standard cell phones and PDAs; digital cameras to GPS units; and it also supports several portable gaming systems including the Nintendo DS Lite and PSP. So let the sun shine, already! I’m cheap, and solar power is free.
The world has remade, rebooted, rehashed, reimagined and redone so many already great things, but often times nothing whatsoever was actually improved from the original to the updated. On the other hand, sometimes brilliant advancements and evolutions arrive whose appeal we can’t deny enjoying, even if the old stuff always holds a place in our hearts.
Take recording technology, for example. Vinyl never completely died. Hipsters, discerning audiophiles and the fortunate ones who remember the halcyon days of Hi-Fi appreciate that stalwart recording technology’s unique nuances (and limitless, nostalgic iconography of music history’s greatest days) and will forever embrace it. On the other hand, this is the information age; portability and instant accessibility is king, and a Hi-Fi-tricked-out Prius would just price anybody right out of ever owning one. But here’s one hot hybrid well worth setting your sights on.
The Crosley USB Record Player means you’ll never have to make up your mind, picking up one and leavin’ the other behind. This portable throwback is encased in a stylish black or tan case with all the simple character of a vintage component. The three-speed, belt-driven turntable will play 33.33, 45 or 78 RPM records with a diamond-stylus needle and dynamic full-range stereo speakers and adjustable tone control.
But here’s your real kick in the head: should you feel so inclined, plug in the equipped USB cable to any computer and use the included software suite to convert your vinyl treasures to portable mp3 back-ups, or your CD collection.
If you treasure your vinyl library, don’t ask yourself, “is this worth the price?” Don’t even necessarily ask those musical treasures’ collective monetary worth. Ask yourself, would my heart break if losing those records cost me more golden musical memories than any dollar amount could buy back? Maybe you can’t afford not to have a USB turntable converter in your home audio equipment collection.
Something about the Donkey Kong legacy has always rubbed me just a little bit the wrong way. Remember, Mario started out a do-gooder playing defense, making a beeline to Princess Pauline and avoiding Kong’s barrels but never so much spoiling for a fight. Then came Donkey Kong Jr. That chunky plumber went on the offensive and kidnapped the Simian Superman, leaving a young ape all alone facing the world. Come on, that’s making things personal. That’s involving family. Don’t be that guy, fat man. Don’t be that guy.
That’s why I’m not really sure I could abide by the unique, alternative rules of Jenga: Donkey Kong Edition.
It’s a pretty standard Jenga game overall that most people have played at least once. Pull the blocks, replace the blocks, don’t send the tower tumbling. Ah, but scope out the original Donkey Kong tower of girders along the one side in glorious 8-painted-bit glory! The ball’s now in your court: play by Jenga’s traditional rules, or spin the spinner and advance the “Mario” piece up the tower and once more into a smack-down with a certain tradesman who just never knew when to back off.
At the very least, Donkey Kong Jenga is a nice little collectible showpiece. But I just can’t help but wish someone had fashioned some alternate rules wherein one player keeps advancing Mario upward, and another player is tasked with removing strategic pieces one by one, until imaginary ton after ton of rubble and girders hurdle downward onto the douche’s melon. Maybe it’s just me. ;)
