Around The Home

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, and for me a few rounds of toast and a spot of rousing music on the radio is the perfect way to start off the day. UK kitchen appliance manufacturer Breville has taken those two kitchen favorites and merged them into one device – the Radio Toaster. Its smooth lines, matt black/silver finish and silver circular speaker give it a 1950s retro feel, but the AM/FM radio's display is digital rather than analog, and it also includes some modern toasting innovations to help users get the best bread-browning results. Read More

Scientists may be working on things like increasing the efficiency of solar cells, finding new methods of filtering water and growing hardier strains of wheat, but they have been woefully neglecting one important task for decades ... creating a better way of closing plastic bags. Currently, options include twist ties, spring-loaded clips, plastic tabs and zip-lock bags. The first three of those aren’t particularly sturdy, while it’s often difficult to get zip-locks to seal properly. Perhaps, however, all of us frustrated plastic-baggers might have better luck with the recently-released Pull Ties. Read More

At the present moment, much of north-eastern North America is buried under one of the biggest snowfalls to hit in over 50 years. Much to the chagrin of home-owners throughout the region, that means a whole lot of shoveling. While it might not require a huge amount of energy to shovel one’s sidewalk – in fact, sometimes it can be kind of invigorating – it’s the bending and lifting that really makes it unpleasant. Various ergonomic shovels have been invented over the years to address this issue, such as the wheeled Sno Wovel. A simpler product is now available, however, in the form of the SnowBow. Read More

Nobody likes the smell of a just-used bathroom – and no, we don’t mean a bathroom in which someone has just bathed. That’s one of the reasons bathrooms have ceiling extractor fans, although installing the wiring and ducting for such hardware is a hassle that it would be nice to avoid, if possible. The Odourbuster is an invention that reportedly does away with the need for a fan, by taking those nasty odors and sending them where everything else went – down the toilet. Read More

One of the best things about the Internet, besides the sharing of ideas and bringing together like-minded people and all that stuff, is the opportunity it affords us to buy weird things. While said weird things can come in all shapes and sizes, often the most prized and intriguing are the one-of-a-kind handmade items. If that’s what you’re seeking, then one of the best places to look is on Etsy – for the uninitiated, it’s kind of like an eBay devoted solely to things that people have made themselves. We took a snoop through the website, searching specifically for quirky science and/or technology-related thing-a-ma-jigs. Here’s a look at some of what we found. Read More

Jerry Seinfeld once commented that when you’re moving, your whole life becomes centered around finding cardboard boxes. While some moving companies will sell boxes to you, after the move you’re then stuck with them, and end up either recycling them after just one use, or filling your basement/garage/attic with the things. If you don’t want to scrounge for free boxes or waste the ones you get, however, there is now an alternative – you can rent some reusable polyethylene Frogboxes. Read More

British home designer Duncan Jackson recently joined forces with architectural firm Piercy Conner to transform an 1880 defense tower in Suffolk, England into a stylish and accommodating home. The defense tower, being a historically-registered building, was transformed whilst maintaining its structural appearance and integrity. The project came with a list of obstacles, including the tower's round structure, minimal windows, 12 foot-thick walls and wetlands environment. Despite these hurdles, the joint venture successfully created a contemporary home with an abundance of light, warmth and a streamlined interior design. Read More

It can be a tricky business, determining when grilled meat is properly cooked inside. You could buy a probe-equipped thermometer, but that would still need to be checked periodically – if you’re entertaining guests out by your barbecue, checking a thermometer is something that you could easily forget to do. What someone needs to invent is a cooking thermometer that notifies your iPhone, iPod or iPad via Bluetooth, when your steaks have reached the desired internal temperature. Needless to say, such a product has, in fact, been invented – it’s made by iDevices, and is called the iGrill. Read More

Of all the things we expected to see on display at CES in Las Vegas, a garbage can was not one of them. Nonetheless, amongst the tablet computers, 3D camcorders and iPhone apps, there sat the simplehuman sensor can. Like some other “touchless” garbage cans, its built-in sensor detects when someone is nearby, causing the can to obligingly open its lid. What makes it special – perhaps – is the company’s claim that the can’s “multi-sense” technology can adapt to what the user is doing. Read More