Excess-Baggage Charges are a Thing of the Past This is another great example of original and out-of-the box thinking. In the past we’ve covered several solutions to traveling light and compact. This article, however, is about traveling heavy – but without paying excess-baggage charges. Read on...

Recycle your hand-basin water to flush your toilet – SinkPositive Some time ago, we wrote an article on the Caroma toilet, which is a space- and water-saving combination of a toilet and a hand basin. Apparently, this kind of solution has been popular in Japan for a long time. It’s a great solu...

25+ Tips and Products to Travel Light and Compact It’s hard to imagine what people (oops, I almost said ladies) take with them on a short business trip. Their luggage looks like they plan to travel around a continent for the next six months. A real vacation luggage assembly, in its turn, makes y...

Replace Your Fluorescent Lights with LED Lights With a combined target of a reduction in energy bills, a reduction in carbon emissions and other “green” considerations, many people have gone through the process of replacing their incandescent light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent...

Overview of Rechargeable Battery Technologies Lately there’s been a lot of buzz in the rechargeable battery world, after a number of promising new technologies have been hyped on the market. Now is probably the right time to get an overview of the advantages and drawbacks of the different types ...

PowerGenix Rechargeable Batteries Give 1.6V Output Every few years advances are made in rechargeable battery technology; relatively recently, we saw low self-discharge types appearing on the market. But the drawback during the last 30 years has always been that the underlying technology generated ...

Affordable Stairlift Alternative – StairSteady Throughout the western world, the tendency is to provide the necessary means to enable elderly people or people with disabilities to remain self-sufficient, allowing them to live at home longer. One problem that many of those people face, however, a...

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 f...

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, unt...

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�...

Avoid Excess-Baggage Charges with this Balanzza Portable Scale Baggage restrictions are becoming increasingly severe as airlines try to compete with ever decreasing tariffs while fuel prices skyrocket. For us travelers, it’s very tempting to buy those cheap souvenirs or clothes at our destinatio...

Videotape your Journey as Proof in Case of a Traffic Accident Even when you have a minor car accident and you’re confident that it’s the other person’s fault, it can happen that your insurance rejects the claim. Even if you’re well insured, this can occur in situations where it’s your word...

Charge all your Battery Types with the ReZap Battery Doctor – even Alkaline Batteries Given the overly high price of good alkaline batteries, I switched to rechargeable NiCd and NiMH batteries long ago. They work quite well, but the voltage is 1.2 volts instead of the 1.5 volts that some devices ...

Make Your Infrared Remote Control Work At Any Angle Today's infrared-controlled equipment is better than those of a few years ago in the sense that many infrared remote controls now work at almost any angle. Even so, you might still be using older equipment or less well-designed new devices t...

Wireless Motion-Sensing Light Switches Do you often forget to switch off the lights in your garage, basement or laundry room? Did you ever consider installing an energy-saving motion detector to switch the lights on and off automatically, but didn't fancy the effort or want to spend your money ...

Caroma Water & Space-Saving Toilet with Integrated Hand Basin When I first saw this toilet by Caroma, with its integrated hand basin, I was astonished by the simplicity of the idea. Why did it take more than a century to come up with something like this? I still can't decide if I find it br...

Skype Mouse Combines Mouse and Phone – Unclutter your Desk Since the arrival of Skype and other internet telephony services, many of us are saving a great deal on our phone bills. Since the arrival of Skype, though, yet another device – a phone handset – has to be connected to the PC with yet...

Radiator Booster Increases Heating Efficiency and Speed Compared with “traditional” radiators, convector heaters warm up a room very quickly and don’t send half of the energy into the wall to which they are attached, but often they are built into the floor or they are mobile and work on elect...

Make Your Worn Cell Phone or MP3 Player Shine Again (Displex and others) When did you last buy a new mobile phone, MP3 player, or other multimedia gadget? Can you remember the feeling when you took it out of the box? Wasn't it shiny, new, sexy, something to cherish, the most beautiful you've ever ...

Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector TLD100 – Insulate Your Home Energy-saving has not exactly been a top priority in the past. But now that global warming and rising energy costs are making our priorities change, it's ti me to see where there is room for improvement. Most houses, excep...