Inflatable Chimney Pillow Stops Drafts (and Santa)

The Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector (TLD100) shows you where there’s room for improvement in your home’s thermal insulation. If your chimney is a cold spot in your house, you’ll probably have felt the draft without needing the TLD for that. But what can you do about it when you still want to be able to make use of the chimney sometimes? This energy saving chimney balloon might be the answer.

Free Remote PC Support for Your Relatives – Netviewer

A few months ago, we posted an article on ShowMyPC, a free software package that helps you to control someone else’s PC remotely from your own chair at home. Ideal for helping relatives and friends when they're stuck with their computer. But when I’d been using ShowMyPC for some time, I noticed that it didn’t work in every situation. When either myself or the other person was working from behind a strict company firewall, connection wasn’t possible. In that kind of situation, Netviewer Support can help out.

Telescoping Ladder now Extends to 15.5 Feet

I love telescoping ladders. They’re extremely compact and easy to stow compared to the classical alternatives that always get in the way in your basement or garage. Those are really difficult to handle when you need them around the house – or worse, elsewhere. The telescopic alternatives, however, often weren’t up to the “serious” tasks on your roof or drainpipe. But now the new models reach up to 15.5 ft!

Paint Your House Fast – Dulux Weathershield BackPack Roller

Time to paint the masonry of your house once again? It’s not the most pleasant of chores, and it’s either too hot, too cold, too windy or rain is expected shortly. You might want to get it over with quickly, then. That’s exactly what the Dulux Weathershield BackPack Roller System should help you to achieve, and they claim you can get it done twice as fast as normal.

iPod Dock and Universal Remote – Philips SJM3151

Recently, we posted an article on the Bexy iMirror iPod docking station and remote control. We liked it from the start because, contrary to most iPod docks, you can even see and select the tracks on your iPod on the iMirror’s screen. One commenter on the article pointed me to the Philips SJM3151, which has roughly the same functionality but also includes that one feature that I was really missing in the Bexy – the SJM3151 is also a universal remote control!

Rechargeable Batteries that Don’t Lose Their Charge – LSD cells

NiCd rechargeable batteries have been around for decades, preventing tons of toxic battery waste, before the new NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) types were designed to cure the old NiCd’s “memory effect”. So far so good but, until recently, no one has ever managed to make a rechargeable battery that kept its charge for prolonged periods. When you take your point-and-shoot camera out of the drawer a few months after fully charging the batteries, it barely has enough charge left for a few pictures. Or your portable DVD player quits on you in the middle of a film.

Now the new low self-discharge (LSD)(don't get too excited, it's a legal substance) batteries from Sanyo (eneloop), Panasonic and other manufacturers finally seem to have this issue under control.

Extra Trunk Space or Bike Carrier – Westfalia Portilo

A bike carrier is commonplace nowadays, and so is the car rooftop box. But what if your needs vary and you don’t have a station wagon that can easily accommodate your rooftop box? The Portilo from Westfalia is an original new approach that can be either bike carrier or extra trunk space, depending on the needs of the moment.

Solar-Powered Bluetooth Headset – Infinite Standby Time

What’s the advantage of Bluetooth headsets anyway? Admittedly, you don’t have a wire dangling around, but on the downside it’s yet another device that you need to charge. And now you have two batteries that can run out in the middle of a phone call and two chargers to plug in. Here's an excellent solution to that problem.

First camera with built-in projector – Nikon COOLPIX S1000pj

It’s never been our intention to cover every new digital camera or every small advancement or gadget in digital photography, but since a projector built into a camera is something radically new – and a world-first – we think that the Nikon COOLPIX S1000pj deserves its place on this blog. It allows you to take pictures or shoot videos during any event and show them to the participants before they’ve even left.

Free Backup Solution – The Software Is Already On Your PC

Have you backed up your PC lately? No? Do you hear that strange sound coming from your hard disk? Maybe it’s too late already! Just kidding, but it’s very unwise not to make regular backups, and there’s no reason not to do so. There’s a free backup solution in the shape of the XCOPY command that’s part of every Windows installation and can be automated.

Freeloader Pro Solar Charger Charges all Your Gear (yes, even your reflex camera)

We’ve written a few articles on travel adaptors and multi-chargers that help you to get rid of cable clutter and charge all your devices through one single charger. This solar charger takes the idea a step further and allows you to give those power-hungry devices a full charge without being bound to a power outlet for a few hours. Several of these are around, but this Freeloader Pro even charges those high-voltage Li-ion batteries needed for DSLR reflex cameras or camcorders.

tesa Insect Stop – Adhesive Fly Screen for Use in Holiday or Rented Home

We’ve written several articles already on mosquito repellents and how to stop mosquito bites from itching. Better still is to keep mosquitoes and other annoying insects out of your home, a fly screen being the best solution to achieve this. When you spend your vacation in a rented home or a hotel, however, you’re not going to install framed fly screens when they’re not already installed. Now tesa has a solution for you with the adhesive “Insect Stop” and its Easy On / Easy Off feature.

Secure USB Memory Stick – Personal Pocket Safe

The amount of data that you can store on today’s USB flash drives is really impressive. The downside is that ever more sensitive data is stored in those memory devices and they’re so tiny that they’re easily lost or forgotten. This can lead to sometimes funny or juicy, sometimes embarrassing or outright dangerous, loss and leakage of all kinds of information – from celebrity private pictures to secret company or government data. Fortunately, the new generation of USB memory sticks offers some optional security mechanisms to avoid future embarrassment.

Air Cooler PLUS – The Alternative to an Air Conditioner or Swamp Cooler

If you can’t stand the heat but can’t physically install an air conditioner in your home, you have few options left. You can either use a compact, cheap but inefficient fan or the good old evaporative cooler or swamp cooler, which isn’t much better. Now there’s the Air Cooler PLUS, which doesn’t need an opening to evacuate the heat but that’s still more efficient than the other options. And you can move it around your home to cool whatever needs to be cooled.

The $0.01 Drill Dust Collector – Ceiling Model

You've probably already seen the wall model of our do-it-yourself (and make-it-yourself) drill dust collector. Because of the many requests, and being confronted with the need ourselves, we've done extensive research to produce a ceiling model as well.