Joy of Gadgets

Ok, this really isn’t a gadget. It’s a shirt. But it has meaning to anyone who grew up on the West Coast of the U.S. over the last several decades.

While trying to figure out why the hell gas has dropped to below $2 in my neck of the woods–not that I’m complaining, mind you–I discovered yet another victim of the global economic implosion: Mother’s Cookies.

I know that over the years, I’ve eaten my share of these little animal cookies covered in frosting and sprinkles. They weren’t something I had all the time, being a treat and all, but damn, they were good. They were part of growing up.

Unfortunately, Mother’s Cookies had to shut their doors in October of 2008 thanks to the rising costs of fuel, flour, butter and sugar. Oh, and of course, the ability to find credit.

Meanwhile, you can commemorate these tasty little cookies by purchasing this shirt from Cloth Moth for $25.

Image via Wikipedia

When I went to a trade show in March, I was at the San Jose Civic Auditorium attending a party. I came across this phone booth (pictured left) with something important missing–a phone!

Why is this useful? If you’ve ever attended a concert at the San Jose Civic, you know it’s loud! If you want to make a phone call, you might use your mobile phone, but you need something like a phone booth to dull the noise.

In a place like London, phone booths have a very distinctive look. However, like everywhere else, they are going away thanks to the proliferation of mobile phones. Those phone booths that still exist probably aren’t getting used all that much. However, it’s nice to have just a booth for privacy or asthetic reasons. You may even want a completely functional phone booth “just in case.”

British Telecom is allowing local councils the ability to pay an annual maintenance fee of £500 (or about US $888) for the privilege of having a fully functional telephone booth, roughly half if they only want the structure. Of course, some phone booths are considered landmarks and can’t be removed without approval from the local authorities.

I think it’s a good idea to keep a couple of phone booths around. Not everyone has mobile phones and they don’t always work as you expect. It’s a public safety thing and would be rounding error in a city budget.

Cellular News via MobHappy

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As I ran across a rather ridiculously priced alarm clock not too long ago, I couldn’t help but think of my old, dead friend, the Timeband Model C-6110. It was made by the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor.

My mom bought this clock somewhere between 1976 and 1977–at least that’s when I first remember seeing it. I ended up with it, eventually. It was in more or less continual service up until it died about this time last year.

It’s your basic run of the mill alarm clock with two important features: it could keep on ticking if a momentary power glitch occurred, and it had an alarm that could wake the dead. My wife hated it for that very reason. Needless to say, that function rarely got used after I got married.

I have no idea what this clock cost. Whatever it was, I’m sure we got our money’s worth. It lasted far longer than anyone thought it would, I’m sure.

If you’ve ever listened to the album Joe’s Garage by Frank Zappa–highly recommended–you’ve heard the phrase “It looks just like a Telefunken U47.” As a kid, I had no idea what it was, or if it was even real.

Turns out, it is a real thing. Specifically, it’s a microphone originally sold and distributed by the German radio and television company Telefunken in the late 1940 thru 1958.

Apparently, Frank Zappa collected and used vintage German microphones like the Telefunken U47. In fact, his collection was restored between 2005 and 2007 by Telefunken USA, a company that is dedicated to repairing various vintage Telefunken microphones as well as creating faithful reproductions.

Telefunken USA has a couple of different recreations of the Telefunken U47, this one being the Telefunken U47V Long Body. Using a combination of new old stock parts along with custom-made parts, these microphones are hand-assembled to be as close to the originals as possible.

According to Telefunken USA, the U 47V is big and warm, with a velvety upper mid-range and top end, making it an excellent choice on many sources including vocals, upright bass, brass instruments, and acoustic guitar.

The mics are only available through Telefunken USA and due to the nature of the parts they use, quantities are limited. I have no idea what this might cost, but if you’re looking for a high quality mic, this might be the one for you.