electron zoo

NOTE: This is my first podcast ever! If you want to hear my melodious voice rather than reading this post, just download the MP3 file to your computer or MP3 player. It runs 2:15 and weights 2.1 MB.

For those of us who occasionally wake up wearing our shoes, here are five gadgets you won't remember using in the morning.

The Ring Thing
Because I've never seen anyone keep their pants on using a belt buckle bottle opener, I insist you consider a Ring Thing or wear tight pants. Or both. If the Ring Thing isn't hardcore enough for you, professional grade bottle opener rings are bigger, sturdier, and faster to use.

Reef Fanning Sandals
These Reef sandals have a covert bottle opener hidden in their sole, for those days when you head out with your flip flops, a 6-pack of Heineken, and nothing else. They come in multiple color combinations, including black & tan.

Travel Bar To Go
With a flask, a funnel, a corkscrew, ice tongs, a stirring stick, and even two collapsible shot glasses, you'll seriously outclass the hobos drinking from paper bags when you're boozing in the park mid-afternoon.

Shot Glass Ice Molds
Sorry about the intended pun, but these are the coolest shot glasses ever. Freeze water or juice to have everything on the rocks. And if your guests leave their glasses all over the place, you can just clean up afterwards with a hose.

Ashhole Bottletop Ashtray
If you've ever been to a party where everyone's ashing their cigarettes into a beer bottles, this might seem like a good idea. Until you ask yourself, if you had this ashtray on-hand, why would you ash into a beer bottle?

Although I avoid calling this website a blog in public, I do use blogging software to keep it up to date … or out of date, depending. In that vein, I’m keeping up with the times by updating to a 2005 blogging app … just in time for 2006. Oops. (I’m now using WordPress instead of Blogger. I signed up for Blogger in 2001 and had been using ever since.)

While moving my site, I redesigned it and got rid of some old posts I wrote in 2001 and 2002. Many of them weren’t relevant or worth keeping up anymore, but I did find some oldie-but-goodie links to share.

• Boring North Pole webcam. Originally posted in June 2002. Oh by the way, it’s dark there from October to March, so this webcam publishes blank, black photos six months a year. (See above.)
• The Haiku-o-Matic. When I posted this in April 2002, one of my favorites was: alien life form / lays its eggs within my chest. / my shirt is ruined.
• What do you do when the world’s about to end? Many of you may have answered DRINK!! — but when? Be sure to keep this handy Apocalypse Drinking Game on hand to be sure you’re playing by the rules. As useful today as when I first posted it in April 2002.

I hope you enjoyed these highlights, because I spent an hour following old, broken links and reading “Sorry I haven’t posted lately” posts in order to gather them for you.

Up next? A new 5 Gadgets post is coming your way this week. And if you want to leave me new comments, that would be swell — I lost all my old ones in the move.