a few ideas for loving homes with more energy than me

Sports drink ibuprofen style

I’m a sucker for sports drinks, sure you can just drink water but when thirstbuster tells me I’m going to feel refreshed, I believe them. But being close to 40, sports isn’t what it used to be and while energy and hydration are only a drink a way, I still need pop a few motrin after every workout. No longer, Motrin-aid combines two great feelings, relief from pain and the quenching rush of red number 5.

Netflix Mood Ring

Imagine a hard day at work is done, the fridge is full of beer, and you have a commitment free night ready for the taking … too bad all you have from Netflix are art films and documentaries. It seemed like a good idea at the time, a documentary about documentaries. If only you knew what your mood would be by the time the movies actually got to your doorstep.

Well, now you can. Part psychotherapy, part online scheduling, part new age luck, the Netflix mood ring actually predicts what your mood will be before and after watching movies in your queue. Adam Sandler movies have a right time and a right place - but only if you plan ahead.

Hey, you put your coke in my snickers!

My friend David (to protect his identity, let’s just call him David Beck) doesn’t seem to feel satisfied by a Snickers bar. So he usually chases it down it with a Coke and handful or so of Sugar Babies. Which is all fine and good - but why the extra step? When I want soda I don’t want to wait to put down the candy and lift up a whole other can - I want it now!  And when there’s a will . . . imagine edible candy tubes inside your favorite bar, keeping your soda fresh, effervescent, and ready for that cola Niagara rush, where sugary fluids navigate the cheapest chocolate, caramel and nougat in a simple return to Eden.

Capitalist Records

moneyjuke.jpgJukeboxes are great. Great, if you like libraries and socialized medicine. So… what I want is a jukebox that only plays the music *I* like. How? By paying more. Hear a song you don’t like it, outbid it. I mean, what do you want more: That fiver in your pocket, or that Vanilla Ice song haunting your waking moments for the rest of the evening?

Dude, where’s my resolutions?

It’s 2008, what’s your New Year’s resolution? Actually, what was yours last year? What about the year before? Do they relate? Have you made any progress? What have you learned from the experience? Well, we all want to lose weight, but what we really want is for Web 2.0 to save us from having to think too much. resolutionsand that where My Resolutions comes into play. Welcome in 2008 with all the Tufte visualization goodness to keep off those unwanted 15 pounds and see how it’s inner-connected to staying up too late, not brushing your teeth enough and wanting to connect more with friends.

Gimme Gimel, Driedal hi-powered slots

hanukkahslots.jpgIf you’ve ever wondered why driedals need to be made out of clay … then hi powered digital driedal slots should be right up your alley.  Watch all of your Chanukah dreams spin before your eyes as your chances of a gorgeously gimel payday come round, and around.. and around again.

conversation over the sink

me: How about hot dog flavored toothpaste?

him: Hmm.  How about hot dog flavored condoms?

Pocket Pharmacy

Sometimes you just know that you’re headed for headache danger … a meeting at work, a visit with in-laws, a noisy train ride. At that moment you wish with all your might that the Costco size bottle of headache pills that you picked up on sale was somewhere within arm’s reach. But unless you’re a raver, you’re probably not carrying a bottle that could choke a pharmacist. So what to do? Well, the first thing to do is make the pills wafer-thin and delicious. But why stop there? How about a wallet-size EZ-peel card containing 6 quick dissolving strips, all in a row? You can even throw on some Listerine and Benadryl to keep it company.

Urine can save the world, or, Pee on my floor and die

warning signHave you ever peed on the floor and said “I wish I could save the world?” How about “I wish this would clean itself up all by itself?”Well, now both are possible, with the Peelectric Bath Mat. It works likes this: A highly conductive film lines the bathroom floor around the toilet. Renegade urine collects on the film and its electrostatic potential is converted to energy. How? (Wow, I just proposed a clean source of energy and you no longer have to clean the bathroom floor and you ask me how?) The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged when coming into contact with another. Happy? It’s all summed up in the simple formula, P=mc2.Once you have the electricity you can fold the energy back into your own home’s power grid. Alternately, set the Peelectric on “penalty mode” if you’re tired of people peeing on the floor. In penalty mode, the film is electrified to send a small reminder shock to Mr. Leaky.It’s Peelectric! Boogie Woogie Woogie!

Horn of Plasma

plasmaHorns

Certainly plasma T.V.’s are amazing spectacles of technology, coaxing gas to arrange itself so we can watch the remake of the “Bionic Woman” in all its highly defined glory. But why the crappy speakers? Does the home theatre industry have some sort of strangle hold on T.V. manufacturers. With the Horn of Plasma ( also works for LCD’s, CRT’s or anything with a really cheap speaker built in) you can amplify, smoothify and beautify any sub-par sound into audio excellence. All it takes is the acoustically optimal shape of a horn and the daring to go back in time, to hear forward in sound.