Tibroc Radio Controlled Concrete Finisher – Messy Construction Just Got Fun

Yeah, looking at everything on this blog, I am sure the last thing you expected was a piece of construction equipment… but bear with me, it’s good stuff.

So a long time ago I worked a summer on a construction site for a tile company. It was rough work: every day I went home filthy, sore, exhausted, and completely sick of mexican music. I’m pretty sure that was the summer I decided I would go to college and be a writer, and probably never touch a shovel again.

Housing communities are built in phases, so different homes have different crews working on them depending on which phase the house is in. Next to the house I was working on, concrete finishers were putting huge driveways in – as far as I was concerned concrete finishing is the worst job on the site! While tile installation was rough, nothing was worse than being a concrete finisher. Concrete finishing is not only a messy job that leaves you caked in concrete but long, tedious, and hard on your back. The guys would have to smooth it out manually using blocks of wood, trowels and who-knows-what-else. During our worst days my coworkers and I would say “Hey, at least we’re not finishing concrete!”

But a few days ago, during my minimum of 10 hours a day on the web, I found this thing called the Tibroc Radio Controlled Concrete Finisher – now I am jealous of the concrete guys. I had no idea concrete finishing could be such a blast! This concrete finisher is remote controlled which basically takes the messiest job on the construction site, which is concrete finishing if you’re not following me, and makes it the easiest job on the site. If the guys I worked near had the Tibroc Radio Controlled Concrete Finisher, and I am sure they wish they did, the tile company would have needed to find a new employee!

So, if you work for a concrete company, check this thing out. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of homeowner about to install a patio or driveway, check this thing out. You’ll thank The Gadget Man later.

I included a picture of it in this blog, but you can find more info no their website: http://www.tibroc.com

You can also see some more pictures of it here: Tibroc Radio Controlled Concrete Finisher Gallery

Peace,

The Gadget Man

SmartNav 4 Hands Free Mouse – Levels the Playing Field for Computer Games

So say you are online playing your favorite first person shooter, like “Counter Strike”, when one person in particular starts to really lay the smack down on you. “Who is this guy?” you may ask yourself. “How did he get so good at this?”

Wouldn’t it be a slap in the face to find out that the person who beat you… no, wait… embarassed you is confined to a wheelchair as has no use of their arms or legs? That’s worse than the time a ten year old kid gave me the beating of my life at an arcade game, then said, “Who’s your daddy now?” (it’s okay; I stuffed him in a trashcan and then hit on his mother)

The SmartNav 4 Hands Free Mouse makes this scary idea a possibility. By using an infrared camera mounted on your computer monitor, the SmartNav 4 picks up movement from a small, self-adhesive reflective dot that you can put on your head, your microphone, or your hat. Simple head movements control the mouse and the included software allows to you to adjust the speed at which the cursor moves. You can click by using hot keys on your keyboard, optional switches for your hands or feet, optional voice command software, and optional dwell clicking software that clicks when the mouse hovers in one place for a certain period of time.

Speaking from experience, this thing isn’t just for those with disabilities. If you are like The Gadget Man (you should be so lucky) and you work at a computer all day, the SmartNav 4 Hands Free Mouse can improve your productivity as well as help relieve/prevent carpal tunnel. If you play games like “Counter Strike”, this gives you an unbelievable advantage.

So check out the SmartNav 4 Hands Free Mouse if you haven’t already – and if you manage to convince your boss to buy it for you, please, tell me how you did it!

SmartNav 4 Hands Free Mouse is available at a bunch of places, but http://www.activeforever.com seems to have the best price, and they have a video of a quadriplegic using it while playing “Counter Strike”.

Now let’s give those ten year olds a beating,

The Gadget Man

The Annoy-a-Tron from ThinkGeek – Office Revenge Taken to a Whole New Level

Ever have that coworker that just really ticks you off? The one that goes out of their way to get on your case and irritate you to the point of homicide? Of course you have. There’s one in every office. The time has come to exact revenge on that individual. It’s time to show them what annoying really is. It’s time for: The Annoy-a-Tron!

The Annoy-a-Tron takes “annoying” to a whole new level. How annoying? We’re talking Fran-Drescher-with-cold-singing-opera annoying. Okay, maybe that’s just painful, but it’s still pretty bad.

Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the Annoy-a-Tron emits a “beep” every few minutes at 2 KHz, 12 KHz, or alternating. Best of all, the time between sounds varies between 2 and 8 minutes, so the victim is unable to time the beep and find the device. Hiding this clever device is easy, thanks to the built in magnet. Attach it to the underside of a desk, behind a phone, behind a filing cabinet… even in an air conditioning vent or drop ceiling (the latter I know from personal experience). It runs on a standard watch battery for about 3-4 weeks, after which time that annoying coworker will probably need therapy.

The Annoy-a-Tron is available for $9.99 at www.thinkgeek.com. ThinkGeek has dozens of cool gadgets, so be sure to check them out. You’ll probably see a lot more of them on this site.

Here’s to your coworker’s misery!

The Gadget Man