alerts

We all have days when we just don't want to talk to anyone, especially those office pests who think nothing of barging into our private sanctuary without warning. (You know who you are.) That's where the "Memo Motion Sensor" is indispensible.

This handy little gadget can record a 10-second message and play it back to whomever enters the room, informing them of your whereabouts, instructions or anything else you'd otherwise leave on a Post-It note that might or might not be seen, according to Coolest-Gadgets. Even an inspirational message, if you're so inclined.

It'… Read more

The AMBER Alert program has come a long way since its freeway-sign origins, making particularly good use of online and other technologies to raise awareness about the perils of child abduction. Its latest brainchild involves one of the most accessible devices in the digital world, the USB drive.

The "AMBER Alart Child ID Kit" is designed to store as much personal data on a child as possible in one place that can be immediately turned over to law enforcement officers in an emergency. Gadgets Weblog says there's no limit to the type of information that can be … Read more

This may seem silly if you haven't experienced parental sleep deprivation, but anyone who's cared for a newborn for any length of time will undoubtedly understand its usefulness. The "Itzbeen Timer" tells you how long it's been (get it?) since a baby's last nap, feeding, diaper change or anything else you're sure to forget a minute later.

Could a pencil and paper do the trick too? Sure, but that assumes you can remember your own name after the first week back from the hospital. In addition to alerting you for each appointed task (… Read more

Shoe phones are so passe. If Maxwell Smart were around today, he'd most certainly have some GPS footwear instead.

A company called Quantum Satellite Technology plans to market a pair of shoes with built-in satellite transmitters and "panic buttons" that can immediately signal the location of the footwear, according to The Raw Feed. Let's hope that they can't be hacked to penetrate the "Cone of Silence."

You've been playing with your video glasses and have finished boring your friends with a lame impersonation of Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge, so it's finally time to use them for their intended purpose. And let's say you're in the mood for a DVD you picked up at the last Star Trek convention. The last thing you want to do is lug around a huge player with your new headgear; that would instantly negate whatever coolness you've managed to achieve despite the "Spock Lives" T-shirt.

ezGear, known for making accessories for media players … Read more

We certainly could have used a service like this before experiencing a personal dose of "Black Friday" hell this year. Rather than flip through page after page of newspaper inserts and retailer Web sites, and then gamble on whether the items are really in stock as promised, we would have much preferred the kind of one-stop shopping that iTrackr claims to provide.

The Florida-based company says it monitors the inventory of 8,578 Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, EB Games, Sears and Target stores across the country. Based on your zip code--and a $1.99 fee--iTrack promises to … Read more

Her penguin fixation aside, we have to agree with Craving colleague Caroline McCarthy in her stand against the "color-changey phenomenon." In fact, the issue has become increasingly dire ever since.

Readers of this space will note that we have been warning of egg-based subversion for some time, usually under the guise of audio devices. Then this week, what began as a misguided psychedelic revival crossed into the sinister realm of the Ovo Underground with these color-morphing eggs from HouseOfRave.com. The "Oggz," as they are known, are supposedly harmless accent lights that "change color like … Read more