Video Surveillance Clock

 

How many times have you thought to yourself, “if only I could have caught that on camera”. And perhaps you’ve even thought about hiding one of those video cams in the house somewhere in an attempt to catch a baby sitter, a house worker, one of your wayward children, or even a misbehaving spouse you might be suspicious of? Admit it, we all have a little spy in all of us, right?

Well, if you want to perform a little inconspicuous video snooping and catch someone in in the act that you might suspect, then have a look at the Video Surveillance Clock from Hammacher Schlemmer.

The Video Surveillance Clock is a smartly designed, attractive analog clock that has a motion-activated video surveillance camera and microphone built in. In fact, the video camera and microphone are so brilliantly concealed, it’s almost impossible to tell this analog clock is actually a video camera in disguise, no matter how  closely you examine the device.

Go ahead, have a look at the detail picture above, can you tell where the video camera is located? OK, I’ll give you a clue, it’s the small little black dot above the numeral 12. That’s it, pretty well concealed, don’t you think? No one will suspect your attractive clock is actually a video camera taking a picture of them. A very clever undercover spy gadget!

The clock’s camera image sensor is able to capture video at a resolution of 720px by 480px with a viewing angle of 62º at a distance of nine feet away from the object. And the embedded microphone is sensitive enough to pick up sound clearly from 16 feet away.

The Video Surveillance Clock can also take still photographs at a resolution of 1280px by 960px. Videos and images are stored on a 4GB microSD card included with the clock. The storage is sufficient to capture up to six hours of AVI video or hold up to 52,000 JPEG images. The surveillance clock can also support a higher capacity 8 GB microSD card if you need even more storage capacity.

Once you’ve captured videos or images, you can easily download the content to a computer with the included USB 2.0 cable. The lithium batter is also recharged with by attaching the clock to your computer through the USB 2.0 cable. A single 3 hour battery charge provides up to 1 1/2 hours of video recording time.

But remember, this is a motion-controlled camera, so 1 1/2 hours of recording time is actually a lot of start-stop video surveillance time. And the same full charge provides up to 18 months of stand-by-time if no video recording is actually activated. So you don’t have to constantly check on your video surveillance clock to see if the battery charge is still OK.

The Video Surveillance Clock is compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac. Dimensions are 2 3/4 inches in diameter with a depth of 3/4 inches, and the clock weighs 3 ounces. The video surveillance clock is definitely the perfect device for inconspicuously monitoring a room or office.

 

The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro

 

The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro is an audible pacing device specially developed to help competitive swimmers find their right pace for their strokes. The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro is water proof and is light enough to float on water should the swimmer loose it during practice. Although almost all of the device’s features are customized to meet the needs of swimmers; bikers and runners can also benefit from the Tempo Trainer Pro. As exhibited by all champions, a steady and consistent pace will win the race and the Tempo Trainer Pro will make you a champion.

The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro has a very loud beep that can be clearly heard under water. As the name of the device implies, the Tempo Trainer is similar to a metronome. The human brain naturally hones in on the consistent and repetitive tempo emitted by the device which actually helps you stay in the zone.

You can adjust the Tempo Trainer Pro to function in three different paces or modes, depending on your stamina and fitness level. The first mode is called Mode 1 which produces one beep in strokes per second. Next is Mode 2 which produces three beeps in strokes per second. Lastly, there is Mode 3 which produces a single beep in strokes per minute.

The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro also comes with a replaceable battery, which makes this gadget easy to maintain for the long run. Another exciting feature on the Tempo Trainer Pro is the ability to synchronize with a pace clock or stop watch so that the athlete can also keep track of their time.

The Tempo Trainer Pro unit is so small it fits perfectly under your swimming cap without causing any discomfort. It can also be clipped on to your swimming goggles. For bikers and runners, a dry land clip is included so that the Tempo Trainer Pro can be attached to your clothing.

Available: Amazon

Price: $69.99

Defusable Alarm Clock

 

Like any other ordinary college student, I have always had a hard time waking up early for classes. I was always skipping my morning classes even though I set 3 alarm clocks to wake me up daily. That was then that my mum decided to do something about this issue when she finally found out. I was surprised to receive an email from her the other day in which she attached a picture of this clock.

I was, of course, surprised when I first saw the bomb-shaped alarm clock or its correct name the Defusable Alarm Clock. Then, as I looked closer at the image only did I realize that it was actually an alarm clock. It works like any other ordinary alarm clock with the normal alarm beep or the snooze feature. The big red button, when pressed will then activate the countdown, just like a bomb would look like in the movies.

Once the countdown starts, I would only have 10 seconds to choose the right wire to cut out of the four. Only one wire will stop the countdown and another detonates the whole thing all over. Once it is detonated, the wires are randomly assigned on their role again. The wires are easily replaceable everytime it is cut.

 

I am very excited to have this alarm clock to be added into my personal ‘collection’ of clocks and but I am certain that this would be the standout among them. Mum was as excited as I am about it too. Waking up every morning would be so challenging that you won’t be missing any sun rise anymore!

[Source: Project Lab]

The Omnipotent Alarm Clock

 

If you have a habit of cancelling out your alarm when it goes off and end up oversleeping in the morning, the Omnipotent Alarm Clock may be perfect for you. I don’t know exactly how many alarms you need to wake up, but this unique alarm clock has 21 alarms that can be set for specific times and programmed to different buzzers or 20 different AM/FM radio stations. Talk about variety!

14 of the alarms equipped can be set to go off at two different times, which is especially useful if there two people with different morning schedules using it. The other seven alarms can be set to go off at the same time every day. Like most alarm clocks, the Omnipotent Alarm Clock is equipped with a stubborn sleeper’s favourite snooze button.

The time interval between alarms can be adjusted from just one minute to thirty minutes for a little extra sleep, and can even be programmed to be reduced to half the time each time it is pressed. If you need it, you can also set nap timers from 20 minutes to two hours.

The options on the Omnipotent Alarm Clock can also be easily tweaked with just two dials and a few simple buttons, and it also has an input to connect your MP3 player to. The alarm clock weighs 1.75 pounds and retails at $59.95. It may be slightly more expensive than your typical alarm clock, but would you prefer to be late for work yet again?

Available: Hammacher

Price: $59.95

Star Walk 3.0

 

Star Walk 3.0 is an astronomy application for iPhone users and it is founded by Vito Technology Incorporation. This application is easy to be used by anyone at any age. It allows you to pinpoint your iPhone to the sky in order to view the exact location and information about the stars, satellites and constellations in real time.

The first thing you will see when you run the Star Walk 3.0 application is today’s information. You can find out what time the sun rises and sets as well as how the moon is going to look like two weeks later. You can either click (x) or (<) or (>) to find out different dates.

If you want to move about in the sky, just press, hold and drag to whichever direction you wish to go. In addition, if you would like to check out an object, just click on it and you can even zoom in or zoom out. For more information regarding the object, just click on the (i). If you wish to see how constellations, stars or even satellites aligned during a specific time of the day, just click on the upper right hand clock for you to expand it. Also, click on the minute’s portion of the clock and fast forward if you would like to view how the daily cycles of the stars look like.

Click on the bottom right hand corner and numerous options will appear on your screen. These options are sky live, picture of the day, bookmarks, location, settings as well as help option. If you would like to search for a specific planet, and then go to your bottom left hand corner, click on the search button and then type the name of the planet. In addition, this Star Walk 3.0 Astronomy Application is worth every penny of yours because it is a great educational tool.

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