Car Umbrella Drainer

Argh, not another monsoon shower. There is, however, nothing worse than trying to quickly get into a car while you're struggling with an umbrella. By the time you've succeeded in getting both yourself and the brolly inside, the interior resembles the rain-swept cliffs of Dover. Bad enough there's a pool forming on the carpet, it's soaking through the seats and ruining the leather. The Car Umbrella with Drainer comes in handy here, and is a simple if effective way to catch all that water rolling off your umbrella. The device looks like a giant mug which you slot into one of your cupholders, and provides a holder at the same time for your brolly. Alternatively, being, ah, frugal Asians, you can grab those free grocery bags at the supermart as a substitute.

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Via OhGizmo

Price: US$19.98
Availability: At Get Organized
Device: Umbrella holder with drainer
Specs: Includes 39-inch umbrella, nylon

Walkie Talkie Watches

Before you sniff at these as toys right out of Spy Kids' crazy gizmo lab, these Walkie Talkie Watches were apparently considered competent enough for the Nowegian Winter Olympic team at last year's Winter Olympics. What's good enough for world-class professionals has gotta be good enough for us plebs, right? Speaking of handy, these two-way radios pack full clock function, voice activation, stopwatch, alarm, backlight, a 3km range, and 300 channel combos for discreet yakking. What, no Bluetooth or FM radio onboard? Guess, you can't have it all with the battery being so tiny. No licence is needed, though it's best to check with the local authorities. Other than that, be warned that wearing this chunky watch with antenna can imbue you with an instant nerd halo.

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Price: US$107.98
Availability: At I Want One Of These
Device: Communicator watches
Specs: Headset with PTT button attached, auto channel scan and squelch control, five melody call tones, compatible with all Walkie Talkies at 446MHz, splash-proof, battery low indicator, after initial 24-hour charge, full 6-hour charge will provide 40 hours of standby and 2 hours of continuous talktime, requires rechargeable Lithium battery (included), mains adaptor, 10 x 7 x 5cm, circumference up to 7cm

Lazer Trip Wire

Mission Impossible-type trip wires? At a low-cost US$20, you get to play Ethan Hawke and secure the perimeters against dastardly co-workers swiping your tidbits or stationery without permission. There's just no respect for personal cubicle space these days. Just don't expect any red beams here since special effects are the purview of Hollywood. Instead, the Lazer Tripwire shoots unseen rays, or infrared light to be exact. To set up, you align the primary and two secondary units so the IR light and light sensors on each are aligned to form an invisible protection barrier. Once connected, a "system armed" will sound. Any attempt to disrupt a beam will result in a 5-second 48db alarm. Now all that's needed is to program a USB Missile Launcher to target the intruder and take no prisoners.

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Via Shiny Shiny

Price: US$19.99
Availability: At ThinkGeek
Device: Personal security system
Specs: 1 master unit, 2 secondary units, Mist Bottle to "see" beams, requires 6 AAA batteries (not included), about 5.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches

Flying Alarm Clock

Talk about time flying. Well, this devious little alarm clock is the best thing you can give your worst enemy. The moment the alarm sounds, the propeller unit launches off and flies around the room. Even if it doesn't whack you in the face for a rude awakening, you'll still have to get up, locate the propeller, and return it to base because that's the only way to turn off the infuriating alarm. Either way, you're sure to be wide awake by then. Lovely!

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Price: US$39.20
Availability: At Firebox.com
Device: Alarm clock
Specs: About 14 x 14 x 10cm, requires 4 x AA batteries

Waterproof Paper

Reasons to consider this: Google Map doesn't get all mushy and fall apart on you in the rain. Your soufflé for once doesn't collapse because the recipe is well splattered with milk, egg, flour and butter stains and you can't make out the amount of ingredients. Those coffee mug rings are a thing of the past! Reasons not to consider this: Who in the right mind would be out in the rain reading a map in the first place? Your dog's poo rolls off the slick waterproof surface before you can say "shit". You can't use the excuse of a soggy parking ticket to plead innocence. It's US$30 for 25 sheets, for pete's sake!

Via Red Ferret

Price: £14.95 (US$29.33) for 25 sheets
Availability: At Memory Map
Device: Waterproof paper
Specs: N.A.

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