Gadgettes, the blog

Most of the time, you get everything BUT the kitchen sink. But being that we're the Gadgettes, we've decided you deserve a little something extra. So we decided to give you a kitchen sink too.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Misting kitchen sink

Water Lounge Offers Relaxing Stink Control

Gorenje unveils new generation of kitchen appliances at IFA 2009 (thanks Karl!)

Rhapsody approved for iphone

USB Posture Alert Reminder will set you on the straight and narrow

Fug
Hoof shoes (thanks Sparkman!)

Why Didn’t I Think of That
Powerbridge (Thanks Cameron!)

What a concept
Mobile office cube

It’s About Time
Timetable Keeps Office Meetings Short And Sweet, Well Short At Least

A propos (of) nothing
Monopoly Online Uses Google Maps As The Game Board
Aaaaaand FAIL

What the hell?
PlayStation gender detection

E-MAIL
After searching around for more Bugatti related appliances I found that they are all part of a set of appliances that Bugatti make, to complement the Coffee maker, tea kettle and toaster there is also the Bugatti Vela Blender.

and the Bugati Uma electronic Kitchen Scale With Timer.

Unfortunately I think these the only appliances left in the Bugatti line so I don’t think this warrants it’s own segment on the show

Much love
Khalid from England

Jason,
What’s up with the same t-shirt 2 weeks in a row?

Love the guys
Ross

were you aware that you have a wiki? I didn’t make it, and it has almost nothing on it. The real reason that i brought it up is that you guys commonly mention how many segments you have. There is a page that manages to keep track of the common ones.
with a little housekeeping, it could be an interesting way to take care of that mess of things like “golf crap” that are very uncommon.
Daniel

Convergence: The occurrence of two or more things coming together. In this case, cars and couches, shoes and bathtubs, and last but not least, showers and aquariums. Try to wrap your brain around that!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 137

OK. Maybe not everything in today's show is super cute, but it gives the ladies the chance to speak in exaggerated falsettos. Jason, on the other hand, balances all the cute with an unintentionally awkward joke about one of the newest segments. Oh, you'll see.

EPISODE 127

Candy Comfort Earphones are comfy and kitschy

PBS Sprout makes iPhone apps for preschoolers

Yuruppy, a virtual-pet petting gizmo

Australian IT expert invents the shoe phone

Could the Bra Dryer save your lingerie?

You know what will make you forget all about the dire state of the economy right now? Spending large amounts of money on expensive and lavish gifts for yourself. It's true. We tested that theory and it worked!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 111

Robotic coffee slave makes sure you’re always full of caffeine

Castelli cycling apparel keeps you warm all over with NASA fabrics

Walking power plant: Docomo unveils prototype power shoes

Pratone chair

Focus Design’s SBU electric self-balancing unicycle

Margarator makes you frozen drinks wherever you go

Aerosystems speakers: iPod docks for the wealthy

A PROPOS (OF) NOTHING
Cover your monitor the Martha Stewart way

CELEBRITY TECH WATCH
Britney wants you to tweet her baby one more time

PRETTY
Motorola Aura, superattractive fancy phone for the tech-challenged

PINK WATCH
Who wouldn’t want a lavender phone? Oh, right. Me.

Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708 for girlie gamers or boys who like pink laptops

TOOL TIME
Jagermeister tap machine

WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?
Robotic plant finds the sun, stays alive despite your neglect

BONUS LINK
Chimp on a Segway

VOICE MAIL
Tony the Student: Your tool friend will still die

E-MAIL

Hello Gadgettes and Jason,

Not sure if you've covered this yet, but I stumbled upon this page and I thought it would be appropriate for your "What the Hell" segment.

At the time of writing, it seems that the medium size is still available, but the small size is sold out… REALLY?

Keep up the great work,
Kayo

Hi Gadgettes!

I give you the Mangroomer - for that hairy backed man in your life! (my slogan)

I spotted the Mangroomer (official slogan: Maintain Yourself) in Target earlier today and had a little chuckle. My cellphone pix couldn’t really do it justice so I was hoping there was a Web site. Ah, yes my dreams were answered, complete with neutered male atop a spinning platform.

It bills itself as “The future of men’s grooming.” It’s the essential do-it-yourself electric back shaver, the essential private body shaver (ewwwww!), and the essential nose and ear hair trimmer.

Love the show!

Kathy from San Diego, Calif.

Hi.
So here we have the Action Mobil Globecruiser. It's essentially the end-product of an RV/Grave Digger (famous monster truck) wuzzle.

It's so manly, the front grill even says man, hahahaha. Love it.
And look, in the last picture, its fording a river! Imagine trying to do that in your wagon on the Oregon Trail!!!

For a mere $670,000 and $800 per fill, you too can have a piece this…

Men!!

Have a great week everyone,
Karl

In the spirit of Kelly Baby Watch, we explore the many reasons why now is a really good time to be a child. Us grown-ups can still have a little fun too.
Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 96

Sega Dream Dog DX
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/06/sega_dream_dog.php

Edible legos: Yay or nay?
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/5775

Ultimate Star Wars Lego Death Star
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_ultimate_star_wars_lego_death_star_10257.asp

Go ahead kids: Draw on the fridge
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-9976657-32.html

Swim-Ring amphibious PC pool toy
http://www.popgadget.net/2008/06/amphibious_pc_p.php

The Fusion Table
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-9967625-32.html

Three-person ping pong table is more inclusive
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/06/threeperson_pin.php

Why didn’t I think of that!?
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-9976892-32.html

New segment: Golf crap
Big Daddy Driver cuts the grass around your golf ball
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/06/big_daddy_drive.php

What the hell?
High heel crib shoes
http://www.popgadget.net/2008/06/high_heels_for.php

E-MAIL:
Hey guys,
One use of the refrigerated medicine cabinet that you guys didn’t mention on this weeks show was for medicine. My father in-law is diabetic and must refrigerate his insulin, and whenever I go to his house I always find it kind of odd that he keeps all that stuff in the refrigerator. I think this would be great for him that way he doesn’t have to keep his insulin and needles and stuff next to the butter anymore. Just thought I would mention this use.

Thanks,
--David

To Gadgettes,

My nan always used keep her lipstick in the fridge (also she kept her rings there, but that was to hide them from her son who wanted to sell them when he inherits them, which he won’t.) but instead of moving her fridge to the bathroom, she moved the mirror to the fridge. Genius.

Love the show and Lindsay!
--Mark, Australia.

Hi Dear Molly, Jason, and Lindsey

My name is George and I am a second year physics grad student at UC Berkeley and work in a basement lab for most of the day (and listen to Gadgettes, BOL, and other CNET shows). Anyways, you were talking about the toothpaste drool removal kit and I have to say I could have used one of those. I often rush to lab in the morning so I have to brush my teeth really quickly at 8 a.m., getting some of that drool on my T-shirt and people in my lab look weird at me when they see it.

:((
I loooove you all
--Ghe

A Ponderage** about hot water during Gadgettes 95

Well if Water could get hotter,

Wouldn’t it eventually turn to Steam …

You cant really Clean yourself in steam can you but,

You get a Sauna!!! Yeah Saunas!

--Patrick

**(I do not know if that is a word)

Hi Molly, Jason, Lindsey, and baby awaiting Kelly,

Maybe Molly remembers but I’m the guy from Kobe, Japan, who wrote to clarify what the Japanese call the mobile phone straps (keitai awhile back.

Well, the karaoke talk on Ep. 95 inspired me to write again. Molly, you’re absolutely right. The K for karaoke does stand for regret. The Japanese word for regret happens to be ‘kohkai’.

Keep up the great work gals (and guy),

--Terrance

I am a big and vocal fan of Zappos.com for all things shoe. Huge selection, decent (if not bargain) prices, and free shipping. Returns are dead simple, and my love for Zappos has, at times, bordered on actual zealotry.

So, when the Gap Empire introduced Piperlime, I wasn't buying. It seemed like a Zappos rip-off with a more yuppie-friendly design scheme, and even though I'm a Banana Republic card holder and Gap Empire devotee, something about Piperlime just didn't work for me. Plus, they gave me the Web site hard sell--a constant barrage of coupons and insinuations that my BR outfit just wouldn't be complete without some Piperlime pumps. Feh.

But this weekend, I had a little bit of a Piperlime revelation, thanks to, well, my child. See, he won't wear shoes. In fact, if you put anything but Robeez on his delicate little tootsies, he shrieks and growls and moonwalks until you remove them and set his soles free. So, a friend told me about See Kai Run shoes, which have a more flexible sole than the standard Old Navy fare, and might be more palatable to Mr. Picky Toes. When I googled them, Piperlime had them for less than Zappos, with the same free shipping. Plus, checkout was super easy, since I could use my Gap Empire log-in and get all my saved info, just like I do at Zappos. I got to wondering...could Piperlime be better!? I decided a super-scientific evaluation was the only way to go. Let's begin.

Price
I found the See Kai Run shoes at Piperlime on sale for $25, down from $38. Zappos had a much bigger collection of See Kai Run shoes, but they were all $42, with nothing on sale at all. These Naturalizer Memento wedges are $59 at Zappos and $55 at Piperlime. A quick scan seems to suggest higher prices at Zappos across the board, and Piperlime has a much more price-conscious presentation--"great finds under $75," or "Fantastic finds under $100" under handbags.

Plus, according to recent reports, Zappos no longer matches prices from other retailers and has stopped offering free overnight shipping. Now, both Piperlime and Zappos offer the same free four- to five-day shipping, although Zappos will often "upgrade" you to two-day shipping. However, the price discussion leads directly to...

Selection
Zappos may be more expensive, but it's also the source for all kinds of designer brands that Piperlime simply can't match. Piperlime doesn't carry Badgley Mischka, Cole Haan, Marc by Marc Jacobs, or Marc Jacobs, for that matter. There's no Baby Phat, no Michael Kors, no Stuart Weitzman, and absolutely no D&G Junior. Then again, that keeps Piperlime's ratio of $500 shoes versus $50 shoes on a much more realistic plane than Zappos.

Even where there is brand crossover, though, Zappos has many more options. There were 27 choices in the aforementioned See Kai Run brand at Zappos and just 8 at Piperlime. And while Piperlime also offers handbags, Zappos has taken its shoes-and-bags formula and branched out into accessories, electronics, sunglasses, kids' clothing, and even watches. Mission creep? Maybe, but Amazon hasn't gone wrong with its one-stop shopping approach.

Ease of use
Zappos has been on a bit of a marketing spree lately, announcing its rollout of the new categories mentioned above, along with plans for a redesign that will make the site substantially easier to use. They haven't given a date for that redesign, though, so for now: my GOD is Zappos a pain to navigate. They know it, so I don't want to go on too much, but it's just a weird, kludgy, crowded little site that feels a bit like a tiny little boutique crammed with an entire Macy's worth of goods. You strongly sense that you might stumble upon something fabulous, but you've got to be willing to spend a whole Saturday there.

Piperlime, on the other hand, has the clean design of all Gap Empire sites, and once you get past its standard useless splash screen, makes excellent use of the left-hand nav to promote within appealing categories. Choose from "The weekend shoe," "Fabulous flats," "Designer favorites," "Fantastic finds under $75," or by category or brand. Here, the lack of selection feels more like something you can wrap your head around, and you have the sense that you'll find what you're looking for.

But design alone isn't enough, and Zappos has a killer feature that Piperlime can't touch: the user reviews. At Piperlime, I can sort by Featured, Price (low to high or high to low), or What's New. At Zappos, I can start out by determining shoe type, heel height, size, width, and color, or just hit "Sandals," where I can then drill down by all the previous categories, plus "new," "name," "low price," "high price," and the Holy Grail: "popularity." That one click gives me the most highly rated shoes in the category, and they're rated by the people who actually bought and wore the shoes. BOOM.

I can't tell you how valuable this one thing has proven to be, over and over, when it comes to ordering shoes online. I've ordered shoes half a size too big, thanks to Zappos, and had them fit perfectly. I've rejected adorable flats when five people in a row said they were miserably uncomfortable. Anyone who orders shoes or clothes online knows that fit is the ultimate crapshoot, and Zappos' user reviews take so much guesswork out of the ordering that I'd bet it contributes to a much lower instance of returns overall.

Customer service
Piperlime has matched Zappos on free shipping and free returns, but Zappos has bought the love of women everywhere with the free overnight shipping...that it no longer offers. It's definitely a blow to the brand to discover that some of its most customer-friendly features, like free overnight shipping and price matching, are gone. Still, I ordered running shoes from Zappos last week, and they were here within two days. I can't say much about Piperlime in that respect, as I just placed my first order today. I did, however, get an e-mail that said the shoes should arrive within seven business days. I'll tell you one thing: if it really takes seven days for those shoes to get here, Piperlime won't be beating out Zappos anytime soon.

But as I said, Zappos' best feature is not just its customer service. It's its actual customers--the ones who take the time to review shoes and offer tips as to sizing, fit, and comfort so you can actually buy with confidence. It'd take a lot of mistakes and mishandling of orders to undue the value of that community.

The verdict
So, winner? Well, I only have four categories in my little head-to-head, and I seem to have ended in a tie. From a purely emotional standpoint, I'm still a Zappos fan, because I think the idea of customer reviews for shoes is sheer, unparalleled genius. But check back with me in a week or so to see how it goes with the kid-shoe adventure. Piperlime is coming up fast from behind.

EPISODE 84

The Duck Show
http://duckshow.com/

Meet Tengu the Next American Idol
http://chipchick.com/2008/04/meet_tengu_the_next_american_idol.html

Pool-cleaning robot powered by the sun
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9910173-1.html

USB Home Pregnancy Test Kit
http://www.everythingusb.com/pteq-usb-pregnancy-test-14515.html

KickTrak pregnancy monitor
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/review_kicktrak.html

Itch Cat Scratch Pad
http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/itch_cat_scratc.php

Stop Motion Paper Mario
http://chipchick.com/2008/03/stop_motion_paper_mario.html

Glow-in-the-dark swing
http://www.babygadget.net/2008/04/sense_light_swing.php

“Trunk cam” captures nature closer than ever before
http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/trunk_cam_captu.php

A propos (of) nothing
LED running shoes light the way for safe exercise
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/led_running_sho.html

PRETTY!
Velocity Mobile breaks into the smartphone biz
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9909840-1.html

What the Hell:
MTV takes its designs beyond the telly
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9910095-1.html

Pinkwatch:
Microsoft takes tips from Shiny Shiny and paints Vista pink
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/microsoft_takes.html

VOICEMAIL:
A Jack This Thingie announcement!

Hi Molly, Kelly, and Jason -
Remember that wifi donation alarm clock
(the one that donates money to your least favorite organizations in an attempt to get you out of
bed) that you guys mentioned back in December on episode 71 and mentioned in passing on a recent episode. It was an April fools joke from this year as well as last year. Sad but apparently true.

Also, Kelly - I think I remember hearing you talk about how you knit. Do you know about Ravelry ? Yes it is another social networking site but it also also allows you to search for patterns based on a number of different criteria (and see how other people’s projects turned out), search for yarn, buy some (good) patterns online and download them via PDF, ask and receive help for a number of fiber related issues, etc etc.
Also it currently has over 100,000 members and has been public (though not out of beta) for just under a year. Oh and - I see your monster felted bag and raise you hand spun yarn with eyeballs ! And things you could make with said yarn
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27006347@N00/2175309012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23399115@N07/2368048910

Love the show and have been listening since the begining, Adam (aka Knitguy) knitguy.com

*********************

Hi Gadgettes!

Thanks for making my commute to work bearable.

I do believe that the covers that go over the golf clubs are called “Golf Club Cozies”. And if they’re not, then they should be because that’s what I call them. (btw, I don’t play golf, I think it’s a stupid game, if you can call it that) Myra

********************

Hello Molly, Kelly, and Jason,

So somehow my husband and I got into a conversation about playing golf, neither of us play golf except for an occasional round of the mini variety.
Anyways, I mention to him the Stars Wars Golf Bag that was discussed in the Episode 83 under the “Tool Time” category. His reply? “The only way I would want that is if the golf clubs inside of it made lightsaber sounds.” He then went onto explain that when just holding the golf club it would make the “wooom-wooom” humming sound, when swinging it would make the “woosh-woosh”
sound, and when you hit the golf ball it would make the “keesh” striking sound. Those are the best spellings I could come up with to describe the sounds a lightsaber makes, to be fair I Googled “spellings of lightsaber sounds” and came up empty handed. I found this all very amusing so I though I would share it with you. For the record my husband is not a tool (I know a tool when I see one), just a geek that I adore. Anyways, I love the show and look forward to it each and every week!

Sincerely,
Heather