There’s plenty to love in the world of gadgetry--and plenty more that makes you scratch your head. When a great idea marries up-to-the-minute technology, its offspring can be absolute genius. Think iPhone, iPod, or even the Swiss army knife. From simple to complex, the best gadgets are cleverly designed and born of a well-perceived need, while others, no matter how clever, seem to try to fill holes that don’t really exist. When ingenuity gives way to poor judgment, the results are often what we consider a waste of a perfectly good battery.

 

 

Are you kidding? You can’t stir your own coffee?
Self-Stirring Mug
$29.95
Just in case your fingers are super tired, the battery-operated propeller at the bottom of the mugs spins at 3,000 rpms, automatically stirring your beverage at the touch of a button. You still need to use your arm to lift it though.

 

 

 

No wonder they’re lonely . . .
Pekoppa: Toy Plant for Lonely People
$22
For those starved for interaction of any kind, this plastic plant will bend forward when spoken to, supposedly mimicking a human being’s nod. The plant, which remains idle until it is addressed, has an IC chip placed in its pot that enables it to identify rhythms in human speech and respond accordingly. Now you can delete your profile on Match.com.

 

 

 

Aren’t there children starving somewhere?
Diamond MP3 Player For Dogs
$2000
This diamond- and gold-encrusted MP3 Player for your dog apparently plays stress-relieving music according to what it perceives your pet’s mood to be--all for only $2000. Hmmm . . . unstoppable music coming out of a thing dangling from your dog’s neck; their highly sensitive ears must love that.

 

 

 

As if getting out of bed in the morning weren’t fraught enough already . . .
Digital Flying Alarm Clock
$39.99
This gadget takes annoying to a new level. The rotor, which buzzes and flies up to nine feet, won’t stop flying around your room until you get out of bed, catch it, and put it back in its base. If you choose to hit snooze, a buzzer will go off every seven minutes for an entire hour. You might as well get up. Now isn’t that a lovely way to start the day?

 

 

 

What’s the matter with a real candle?
Flickering LED Remote Controlled Candle
$9.95
The makers of this product actually use the fact that you won’t burn your eyelashes off when you look closely at this “candle” as one of it’s key selling points.

 

 

 

Slippers with headlights. Need we say more?
BrightFeet Lighted Slippers
$39.99
What did we ever do without these? Fall down the stairs in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom? Thank goodness someone had the good sense to pursue this idea. Although, we wonder if you need a flashlight to find your slippers . . . Maybe if you just sleep with them on, you would never be in danger of the dark.

 

 

 

Do you really want light beaming up through your pillow while you sleep?
Glo Pillow - Wake With Light
Not yet for sale.
While we get the idea of using gradual light that simulates the sunrise, and in turn awakens the body gently over a period of time, instead of jolting it with a sudden alarm, we’re just not sure we want our pillow to glow. Or to rest our heads on anything that needs to be charged. (Night sweats, anyone?)

 

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In fact, why rest at all?
Pillowsonic Integrated Stereo Pillow Speaker
$18.95
We love the “learn while you sleep” angle to the sales pitch. This pillow comes with speakers built right in. And, as we all know, there’s always something to fill your head with, and now you need not waste a single moment keeping your brain from being fed.

 

 

 

If you’re that close, it might be too late . . .
Radiation Detector Watch : Gamma Watch
$250.00

This watch comes with a built-in radiation detector and displays dose rate as well as cumulative dose. The alarm will alert its wearer when the user-defined limits of radiation have been reached. By the time the alarm goes off, though, we think you might already be toast.

 

 

 

I see London, I see France . . .
The Brief Safe
$11.00
This is a safe disguised as a pair of underwear, complete with skid marks, to stash your cash in. Apparently the would-be thief will look no further. Probably not. The only danger might be if the prying one decides to do your laundry.

 

 

 

From the Fred and George Weasley School of Wizardry . . .
Annoy-a-tron
$9.99

This small, inobtrusive gadget is a chirping device designed to confound its listeners as to its exact location, thus driving everyone within earshot mad. Fun stuff.

 

 

 

In case you don’t have enough wireless signals caressing your body . . .
'Skin-tenna' wireless signals creep over human skin

Ostensibly made with the medical community in mind, this device enables a wireless signal to travel along your skin by taking advantage of the “creeping wave” effect, which allows waves to travel along a surface. Apparently skin is a great conductor. Slightly creepy, but so is medicine.

 

 

 

Checking the time can now give you a headache.
Nooka Watch
$130
Instead of a traditional watch face (boring!), this watch has four bands across the top that can tell you the time, provided you have enough time to figure it out. The top band reflects hours 1 through 6; the next, hours 7 through 12; the next, minutes; and the last band shows seconds.

 

 

Just another thing to plug in . . .
The Hypnotic Jellyfish Aquarium

$59.95
An artificial jellyfish LED fish tank. You might think it’s cheaper to have fake fish, but with energy prices the way they’re going . . . we’re just saying . . .