GeekSugar

Old-School Candlestrip Goes New School in Look

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:02:17 -0700

Power outlets have become such a big part of our lives that there's really no use in trying to ignore or disguise them - why not embrace the look of a power outlet, or appreciate the mess of cords that power your life?

That's the idea behind the Candlestrip, too - long, tapered candles that can be fired up without a cord - but you "plug" them into the base that holds them. What an innovative design that also happens to be ironic, clever, and yes, pretty.

The Candlestrips are not on sale yet, but will be by this Summer - in case those Summer storms knock out your power, you know the appropriate candle to light.

3D Cubic Switchplate: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:35:37 -0700

Outlets are usually a source of stress - there's rarely enough of them in your place to feed your gadgets, and they've definitely never been high on any scale of pleasing aesthetic home tech. You could change all that with these 3D Cubic Switchplates ($9), which embrace the utilitarian nature of the outlets and light switches by framing them and making them look a lot cooler. (It worked for cords!)

Of course, I think most people would prefer to camouflage the outlet, especially when it's got cords coming out of its face.

So tell me: Do you like the switchplate cover?

The Hang On Outlet Holds Your Loose Cords Securely

GeekSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:00:20 -0700

Since I love uncommon ways to keep power cords stowed away that are still aesthetically pleasing within your home's decor, I was all eyes when I came across this simplistic cord holder. The Hang On Outlet, designed by Paulo Oh, has created this user-friendly cord holder that makes unplugged cords look neat and tidy.

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The JackPC Socket Is A Jack Of All Trades

GeekSugar — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:30:28 -0700

This is definitely a must-have gadget for all the die-hard geeks out there.

Featured on Engadget and TechEBlog the JackPC Socket is the mack daddy of all wall sockets. With a 500-MHz AMD RISC CPU, 128MB of memory, 64MB of flash memory, a VGA connector and Internet Explorer 6.0, it's basically a condensed version of what you see on the back of a CPU. The JackPC is designed to connect to a 'terminal server' or Citrix based environment where processing is handled by servers instead of PCs. On that note, visit the site for a more detailed description.

It's priced at $392 and will be available in a few weeks.

Eubiq's Unique Power Outlet Track

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:00:32 -0700

In older homes and buildings it can get really tiresome trying to maneuver your workstations near sparse power outlets. I feel like I'm the queen of power outlets and multi power plug dividers, so I was pleased to read Eubiq's has designed a system with moveable power outlets on tracks to help rectify this problem. Featured on coolest gadgets, the tracks devices come with multiple outlets along the maximum 3.6 meter that you can adjust to your liking. Add more outlets as you need them and don't worry about child safety as each socket and track grounds any conductive object it touches. Check out the site for pricing and purchasing info.

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Eco-Friendly Outlet Banishes Power Vampires For Good

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:50:52 -0800

Vampire power month may be over (how appropriate that it was in October, no?), but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to find ways to reduce our electric bills! We are living in a digital world, which means nearly everything needs to be juiced up to work. I've already got my laptop working overtime at the office and at home, so you can imagine that I'm a pretty powerful energy vampire on my own. But I wouldn't be if I had this outlet.

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A concept design I found while cruising Yanko, the Switch outlet allows you to keep your appliances plugged in (no more unplugging your power strip), but with a simple rotation, it cuts off all power to your gadgets, so you aren't draining electricity when it's not needed. Way to be eco-friendly and efficient! Power vampires, be gone.

BeadBoard Outlet Desk: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:43:30 -0700

Used to be (well, still is), you had a desk and you just figured out how to plug your electronic life into it, particularly laptop cords and such. Nowadays you can get furniture that's built for such modern uses, like Pottery Barn's Beadboard Space Saving Desk ($500), which features a five-plug outlet in the cabinet.

It's like having a charging station built in to your desk, and the drawers slide both ways, so there's no jerry-rigging necessary to get your tech organized on it. The only thing is that I'm not in love with this rustic look. What do you think?

Plug Into This Cute Robot Power Strip

GeekSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:44:50 -0800

I love it when someone takes a boring household item that we all need - like a power strip - and turns it into something fun. Case in point: the Electric Man power strip from Urban Outfitters. This cute robot-shaped power strip has four grounded outlets - one on each of the little guy's appendages. The main power switch is on his side, and you can see whether or not he's powered up by checking the red light above his heart. Add it to the list of cute robot goodies on my wish list!

Would you use this power strip? And in case you missed it, check out the equally cute car power station I found the other day.

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How Do You Feel About News Outlets Pimping Their Twitter?

GeekSugar — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:33:55 -0700

So here's the thing: I like to follow news sources on Twitter to get news updates and alerts, but I think it's kinda weird when they incorporate and pimp their Twitter on their newscast.

A station here in SF literally has a whole segment dedicated to Twitter @replies and asks viewers to "send in their Twitters" to the station. I love how tech is being used more and more in everyday life, but I just think that sometimes it can get a little too in your face. Remember when Ashton raced CNN to a million followers? Who could forget, right?

Am I totally off-base here, or do you agree that reputable news outlets should use Twitter to relay news, and not use it to try and make news? How do you feel about news outlets pimping their Twitter?

We've Finally Found Each Other, Revolving Power Strip

GeekSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:00:50 -0700

Charming but old Victorian apartments have their drawbacks - besides having plaster walls that are hostile to mounting flat screen TVs, they also have very, very few outlets. And that is bad news for a geek.

With power strips and squids adorning my every available outlet, it's a pretty cord-crowded existence. It's partly messy because strips are in yes, a strip form, which is not the most efficient thing for lamps, chargers and other gadgets that take up different places in my apartment. The Revolve Power Strip, however, looks to be efficiency incarnate, wrapped up in a clean, pretty white package (you know how I love white gadgets).

The Revolve is one of those things you wonder why it took so long to make - outlets that spin! Of course! It doesn't look to be available for sale just yet, but I'll be on that waiting list with my credit card in one hand and a pile of cords in the other.