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Finally, a way to become the envy of all your friends (and a lot of passers-by): the Party-A-CarGo, a self-contained beer kegerator/entertainment system.
What does that mean exactly? A big box you can mount on your car that can offer the three ingredients for a perfect weekend party: beer, music and TV. And it goes for a long time without needing a battery recharge… about 160 beers and 12 hours of music.
The booze part is a complete CO2 kegerator/jockey-box set-up that contains:
- 5-gallon cooler jockey-box set up
- Commercial regulator with gauge
- 5 lb. CO2 tank
- Keg tap D-system
- Faucet wrench
- Drain tray
The entertainment part is also pretty impressive:
- 230 watt, 6 X 9 speakers
- 10″ subwoofer
- 2 or 4-channel amplifier
- CD player
- Satellite radio
- LCD screen with TV tuner
So it’s pretty straightforward now: you need to buy it (although the price is not listed, it looks like it goes for about $2800 - see here), fill it with your favorite brand of beer and go party!
See a video of the kegerator put to work after the jump.
If you think your teen can’t be trusted to drive a cat without speeding, just don’t give it to him/her. Or, if you want to be a control freak, try the tiwi.
All right, it’s not that bad. Seeing how many drivers make serious mistakes out of inexperience or attempts to be “cool”, a nagging talking box can help prevent some of them. The tiwi alerts the driver if s/he exceeds the speed limit, breaks or accelerates too fast or takes a turn at a high speed.
But the rest of the features seem a bit too controlling (ok, a lot). Parents can get notifications when their teens leave school, home, or any other area they wish to define and get alerts whenever the driver breaks a rule, such as not wearing a seat belt or speeding.
There might be a point here if you have a real trublesome child, but for most of them I think it’s an exaggeration. If you don’t give them some freedom, how will they learn to get by on their own?
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As you might have noticed (the sweltering heat, the sun, the sweat…), it’s summer. And you know that feeling of getting into a car that’s 10 degrees hotter than the outside (which is already too hot). It would be awful nice to be able to get the car cooled down without turning on the AC and walking around for 5 minutes until you can actually touch the steering wheel.
Of course, there is a solution: a Remote Car Starter. It’s packed with features you’ll find handy in any season: turn on the air conditioning or defrost from a distance, leave your car running while taking the key with you or auto-start your engine - all of this from up to 1000 feet away. It’s got security features to ensure it can’t be driven without a key, and the LED mounted on the dashboard might prove useful as a thief deterrent (how would they know it’s not an alarm?)
Just one thing you have to be careful about: it doesn’t work in manual transmission cars. Also, be sure to check if your particular make and model can be equipped with one.
Perhaps you dream that one day you will be rich enough to own a luxurious mansion with an attached big garage with 3 or so cars, plus the necessary house staff including a butler to make you feel like a British lord. Well, sorry to break it to you, but for most of us that’s just a dream that will never come true.
But (if you’re good at pretending) you can imagine that you have someone taking care of your precious garage at all times - without having to actually hire a person. The Garage Butler is a smart little device that makes sure the garage door shuts when it should. It can be programmed to close a certain time after it opened and it will automatically close when it gets dark.
It will play nice with your already existing opener and it doesn’t require any drilling to be installed (but be prepared to spend half an hour getting it on the wall and working).
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The biggest downside to living in a big city, in my opinion, is the hours you waste every day stuck in traffic. Imagine how much you could get done in that time! But since you have a big steering wheel in front of you, it’s difficult to hold anything in you lap or in front of you and still be able to advance from time to time.
That’s when a car laptop desk comes into the picture. The CarGo Desk Mobile Laptop Desk mounts on the passenger chair and can be configured in countless ways according to your specific needs because it’s modular. The available options are:
- Hinged and lockable cover with non-skid surface for mobile vehicle organizer file folder compartment
- Slide-out desktop with non-skid surface that can be used in left-hand drive or right-hand drive vehicles
- Retractable handle
- Ball bearing wheels
- 400 watt power inverter
- TSA approved mechanical combination locks
- Laptop lock-down system - attaches to large top and secures laptop to CarGo Desk mobile vehicle organizer with key lock
- Ballistic nylon computer case with carrying strap and additional storage compartments
- CarGo Guard security system - prevents theft by securing CarGo Desk contents and the CarGo Desk itself inside vehicle with aircraft grade cable and TSA* approved combination locks
- Cell phone mount
- GPS mount
- PDA mount
- Printer mount
Of course, you could always go with one of the pre-built models, which range from about $150 to $330. For more combinations of the modules, see after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Not all car owners know much about cars. And, as long as there’s people paid to know this stuff, there’s not much incentive to find out. Until you end up with a problem you need to solve and you’re clueless about the way your car works…
The Closed-Hood Car Jump Starter is a very simple solutions for those with little or no car mechanics knowledge, or for people who prefer not getting their hands dirty. Dead battery problems are usually solved with a lot of messing around under the hood, which is neither fun, nor clean. But this jump starter kit makes it as easy as possible: all the unfortunate driver has to do is find someone with a working vehicle and then connect both ends of the cable in the respective cigarette lighter sockets. 5-10 minutes later a green light will go on to indicate the car is good to go.
I never understood why some car manufacturers put the clock in a position visible only for the driver. Is the person in the passenger seat forbidden to know the time? It’s easier for the driver to see the time if it’s on the dashboard, but that doesn’t mean a second clock isn’t needed.
Since you can’t embed another clock in the car (well, you could but it would be difficult), a viable alternative is the Car Projector Clock. It displays the time and date wherever you want it and can be easily mounted with the double backed adhesive tape included. It’s powered from the cigarette lighter socket and comes with an on/off switch (so be sure you turn it off when you leave the car, or you might find your battery drained…).
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If just knowing how fast you’re going isn’t enough and you want more details about your car’s performance, the K.A.T. Matrix 3-Axis Accelerometer is the thing for you.
This smart little device can measure your braking force, cornering, horsepower, G-force, 0-60 second acceleration and 1/4-mile time/speed and can be mounted on your windshield with the included bracket (just make sure your state/national laws allows it). It’s battery powered, so you won’t have cables in the way, and the included 3 AA batteries will power it for about a year.
So, if you’re really proud of your new car or just curious about its performance, $60 shouldn’t be too much for this gadget.
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Driving when tired and/or sleepy is a bad idea, but sometimes there’s just no other option. And, if you’re a professional driver, you’re bound to make a few trips while exhausted. The “obvious” solutions like playing loud and energetic music don’t really work, so the Anti Sleep Driving Alarm offers a different and more effective solution: loud, annoying sound.
You wear the device behind your ear and you don’t even know it’s there… until you tilt your head more than 30 degrees, when it emits a high-pitched alarm which will probably jolt you back to the real world. Hopefully before you crash into the can on the other lane.
Obviously, relying on something like this is a bit risky, but it can’t hurt as an extra safety measure, especially since it won’t break the bank at only $14.99.
If you’ve got an open face helmet which is great, but just doesn’t have that je ne sais quoi, you can try to spice things up a bit. Turn a few heads, scare a couple of old ladies…
The Silly Helmet Covers will certainly make people stare at you. And why wouldn’t they, when you ride past with a spiky helmet that looks right out of Conan the Barbarian? (You might not be Arnold material, though.)
You can see the covers and decide which works best on your helmet on the Silly Helmet Covers website and buy them from eBay for $36 a piece.
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