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All of us morning-haters have wanted, at one point or another, to throw the alarm clock to the floor. It’s not its fault we need to wake up at an ungodly hour, but since we can’t get our anger out on another thing… What usually stops me is the fact that I use my cell phone as alarm clock, and it would be a bad idea indeed to break it.

The Throw Alarm Clocks make our poor anger management their selling point. What can be better than an alarm clock that needs to be throw to be turned off? Beside offering a way to deal with the horror of waking up, these clocks also make sure you won’t just go back to sleep. It might be easy to reach out a hand and push a button, but when you have to throw a ball hard enough to make the alarm stop you’ll probably be half awake already.

You can choose one of four styles (cricket, golf, and football or footbal special edition silver) and they have all the standard features: time, date, LCD display, alarm/hourly chime. Just don’t throw them too hard, because they can still get broken.

How much under $29.99?
Some: ~$17.95 on BoysStuff.co.uk.

Via Coolest Gadgets

In order to sell yet another iPod case, you have to bring something new, something to make people go “oooh!”.

The Smoy Photo iPod Case makes me go “umm?”. The case itself looks stylish and it’s made from brown vinyl. But then comes the photo frame… which looks like my grandma’s embroidery. The model is nice though and it comes in four colors, but the purpose defeats me: why would you put a photo on your iPod case of all things?

Oh well. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t get people who have photos in their wallets either.

Anyway, the case fits an iPod Video/Classic and the fabric is thin enough to operate the scroll wheel without removing the player from the case. I don’t get that either, because there’s no photo of the front of the case, but it sounds like there’s not plastic bit to cover the wheel, like in most cases.

How much under $29.99?
A little: $28.00 on Shanalogic.com.

Via Chip Chick

It might sound weird to people who’ve never heard it live, but rain sounds can add something very special to a tune. I first saw this instrument (called a rainstick) used by a band that plays medieval melodies and it’s fascinating.

A real rainstick made of wood could be difficult to obtain however, but this Rain Maker is easily available. It uses metal balls instead of sand, but it gets the same sound of pouring rain. Beside the obvious musical use, this can be very helpful to help you unwind (rain sounds calm me), keep a child busy (”Rain inside a stick? Whoooa”) or even get him or her to sleep.

This is more of a musical instrument than a toy, but I bet parents would be thrilled if they manage to convince a kid that a rain making stick is better than a loud whistle…

How much under $29.99?
Some: $17.45 on OtherlandToys.co.uk.

Via Coolest Gadgets

I’m taking care of a friend’s cat, so I am one again debating if I should get one too. The problem is that I like to travel and I don’t have anyone to leave a cat with… All these automated pet feeders give me hope, though.

This Automatic Pet Water Bowl uses the laws of physics to refill. You can attach a garden hose or a water bottle and gravity will keep the bowl full, while float value ensures auto shut off against overflowing. This way, you can leave for a limited period of time and be sure your pet will have all the water it needs, especially during summer.

How much under $29.99?
Exactly $29.98 on ShopGetOrganized.com.

Via bookofjoe

It can be frustrating to have 60GB of music on your iPod and not being able to share it with your friends (or innocent bystanders). The obvious solution is buying a pair of speakers, but which one?

I can’t be the judge of that, but if you’re a fan of building blocks (known to the rest of the world as Lego, although the company doesn’t appreciate the brand dillution) give the iPod Building Block Speakers a chance. Even if they’re not an officially licensed product, they look exactly like the real thing, and they also offer the advantage of size: 2.5″ long x 1″ tall x .75″ deep. Just throw them in your pocket with your iPod Classic, Nano or Mini and you’re good to go!

How much under $29.99?
A little: $24.99 on PerpetualKid.com.

Via BoingBoing

I love cats, so understandably I end up with quite a lot of cat-themed merchandise… (Although nothing beats a real live cat jumping on your bed at 4 a.m.)

Maybe the humor is too subtle for me, but the Pussy Whipped Tote Bag would make sense if a man wore it, right? Because men is what the phrase is about… That aside, the picture is very cute and the interpretation hilarious. It even lets you play innocent and pretend you thought it was merely a (tasteless) joke about cats and blenders.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $19.99 on CafePress.com.

Via FashionablyGeek

Summer is coming closer and closer, and I am having nasty flashbacks. Working on the PC in a room with no air conditioning means one thing: heat. Heat from the sun and heat from the computer. Or, if you’re particularly unlucky, heat from a laptop sitting on your legs.

Although colorful and silly gadgets are not my piece of cake, the USB Flower Fan is not that bad. The sky is overcast, so pastel green and pink cheer me up right now, and the thought of coolness on a hot day is awesome. The flowers boast “strong wind” so, even keeping exaggeration in count, they should at least move the air around a bit. The fan can be powered by USB or by batteries, so you’re not tied to the computer if you want to use it.

If you think it’s much too colorful for an adult, I’m sure children would love it. And we’re not the only ones who need to keep cool in summer…

How much under $29.99?
Some: $11.5 on Gadget4All.com.

Via Chip Chick

Playing with your food is bad - and extremely messy, if the food in question is chocolate. But some nice Japanese people thought about it and made it easier for us.

It not really chocolate, but it damn well looks like it… The Meiji Chocolate Bar Puzzle is a game that looks like a chocolate bar. It’s got Tetris-like pieces, but it’s actually called Pentomino (”penta” because each piece has 5 squares) and the goal is to completely cover the play surface in with the tiles, without overlapping and empty squares. There are 2339 solutions, by the way.

But let’s admit it: the game is not that important. It’s the fact that it’s chocolate! I admit it’s probably useless and only good to impress your friends… but that’s sometimes worth it. $7 worth? That’s for you to decide.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $7.22 on Strapya-World.com.

Via TechDigest

I am not a Star Trek fan (except when it comes to making fun of the silly plots), but this is cool! It would’ve never occured to me that the Enterprise is the perfect shape for a bottle opener. Congrats to the inventive people who did this.

The Enterprise Bottle Opener is Picard’s ship - with a big hole in it. Of course, it can’t fly like this, but they had to do something with it! So they shrunk it, coated it with metal and made it a bottle opener. A very cool-looking one I might add, which is sure to impress your sci-fi geek friends.

How much under $29.99?
A little: ~$24 on Red5.co.uk (preorder).

Via DVICE

I’m getting a bit sick of all the “let’s be green” babble, but I agree with many of its points because they refer to one thing: wastefulness. I’m not saying you should never throw anything away, but people should give more attention to reusing their things. Whenever I breach the topic with people who, in my opinion, throw shit away too easily, I get one reply: “it’s my money, why do you care?” Which is, as much as it pains me to say, true. It’s a matter of education, in the end: my parents taught me not to waste and it stuck; it’s not related to money issues.

So this is not for the wasters. They would think the Squeezit Toothpaste Squeezer is pointless. But I am sure I’m not the only one who tries to squeeze the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube and feels irritated when I can’t… (a bit of OCD maybe?) The Squuezer makes it easier to completely empty tubes of anything from toothpaste and shaving cream to cosmetics. (Imagine all that make-up foundation that remains on the walls of the tube!)

And, to address this before it comes up: no, I don’t think buying a device to avoid wasting something is wasteful in itself. There’s no reason you can’t use this for years and years and compensate for any waste of resources you caused by buying it. And no, I can’t think of any easily available household item that could replace it without being uncomfortable to use.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $5.95 on SeenOnTVProducts.net.

Via Coolest Gadgets