GBTV #589 | gdgt, Star Wars Force Trainer, bing Photo Contest, Kiddo Kidkeeper, Energizer USB Charging Clip
Posted on: July 2, 2009
Posted in: Video
Posted by: Cali Lewis
Shownotes:
We heard about gdgt last year when Peter Rojas and Ryan Block announced it and have been looking forward to finding out exactly what it’ll be. Now we know. It’s a cross between social network, wikipedia and a database. You can create an account and associate yourself with gadgets you’ve owned and you currently own. You can rate those gadgets and you can edit specs if you see a mistake. You can follow me at user.gdgt.com/Cali and see an introductory video by Veronica Belmont here.
The Star Wars Force Trainer should be a big hit this Christmas season. It attaches to your head and when you start concentrating, it floats a ball.
bing is holding a photo contest. There will be a series of rounds, and on August 3rd, the winner will be seen on the homepage.
Instead of tying your kids to a leash, there’s another option based on RFID. It’s called the Kiddo Kidkeeper. The alarm will sound when your kid moves too far away.
Energizer has a Camera Battery USB Charging Clip that will charge your camera batteries via USB.
The promo code at Angie’s List is GEEK. It will save you 25% on a membership.
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July 2nd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Brickhouse has a product like the Kiddo Kidkeeper. It is called the Brickhouse Child Locator. What is cool about this one is that the parent unit has a directional pointer.
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/locator.html?gclid=COXgtePyt5sCFRZCagodC0UHAA
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Can any of these child locators yank the kid back toward you if he wanders too far? Sometimes non-tech is the better way to go.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I have to agree with Chris about the physical child lead. My 2 year old love wearing his backpack with attached lead, and I know that if he starts walking/running towards danger I can stop him. Much safer than hearing a beep as he runs in front of a bus.
Sorry Cali, but this time low tech wins for me.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
The idea is to create a personal robot, a Murgatroyd, for every youngster who has parents able to afford one. This is the future, the ideal.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Honestly, when my 3 year old was on his backpack leash thing, it was never because I wanted to know where he was. As others point out, it was to keep him from going where he shouldn’t. I don’t need a beeping beltclip to tell me my kid is too far away, because, whether he’s tethered to me or not, I actually watch him. Sorry, Cali, but I don’t even think it’s a question of high-tech vs. low-tech. I think the leash and the locator meet different consumer needs, they aren’t competitors to each other, imo.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
With a nearly 10 month old, I’ve gotta agree with the others on the Kiddo Kidkeeper… It’s not enough to know that he has gone too far away, I need that ability to keep him physically from danger. Sometimes, those few seconds count! (we have a hard enough time keeping him out of trouble now!) :-)
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I only needed to use the kid leash once and it was at the Grand Canyon. It worked perfectly and kept my very active son safely away from the edge. For safety, a beeping keychain just doesn’t cut it.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
A new GBTV is up: GBTV #589 | gdgt, Star Wars Force Trainer, bing Photo Contest, Kiddo Kidkeepe.. http://tinyurl.com/mgxw7y
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:50 am
Lots of others saw the same problem with the Kiddo Kidkeeper. The restraint systems seem cruel to the uninitiated, but they do give kids a sense of freedom with limits AND without the need to constantly hold the hand of a tugging toddler. I have seen kids attempt to dash into the street, approach unfamiliar dogs, and just plain keep running – and it’s amazing how far they can go in a crowd in just a few seconds.
My mother had to make one out of rope attached to the cothesline to keep me in the yard while she was hanging laundry and doing other outside chores. Yes, there were complaints from at least one neighbor but as I had already wandered to the end of the street and onto the highway several times while she was distracted with my baby sister, well, you get the idea. That was 1960….
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Great news from Portugal! Não sei quantos espectadores tens em Portugal, mas eu sou o 1º! Continua o bom trabalho.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I once saw a kid attached to a wrist leash once. We were on a bus and I thought it was very strange and it made me wonder about the mother. After watching the kid for 10 minutes though I saw exactly why the mother wanted to keep him close. He wasn’t a rotten kid or anything but he was very energetic and seemed like he would talk to anyone. It was fascinating to watch this 6 year old try to make conversation with everyone around him and I found it a little strange too because at that age I was morbidly shy. I think the mother realized that her kid was far to trusting of strangers and wanted to be sure he wouldn’t walk off with one.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I agree about the kiddo thingy. You need to physical restraint. Otherwise it’s a moot point.
It’s not being cruel. But kids sometimes think it’s a good idea to play hide and seek while in the mall or crowded street and if you have more than 1 kid then it can be challenging to keep an eye of each one all the time while you are shopping or otherwise distracted outside.
If you’re son/daughter has ever been lost, you wouldn’t think it’s “cruel” much worse is having your kid posted in a Child Lost poster at the grocery.
Just my 0.02
July 4th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I agree about the kiddo leash thing too. The first thing I thought of when watching this was the kid darting out into traffic. No amount of RFID will help with that.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
If/when you have a toddler, you will get it. When my grand daughter get’s in her head to run, I simply can’t keep up.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Gonna have to chime in with a vote for child leashes. They may be a tad disturbing, but I have a friend whose niece was grabbed from right next to her and her sister in a store, and after chasing them she was just barely able to dive and grab the child before the kidnapper reached the front door and the getaway car. True story.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Hey all!
About the Duracell Charger thing… if it’s over $2, don’t get it! This is weird that Cali would mention it, but I just received 6 of these things that look identical to the Duracell pics (color and all). Oh, and free shipping! Go here:
https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15264
And no, I’m not making a referral off this. If you prefer, do a Google search for:
“USB Powered Universal Cell Phone Battery Charger Keychain with Auto-Polarity”
July 8th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
DOH! Sorry, I meant “Energizer” instead of Duracell.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Cali Cali Cali, you clearly don’t understand the terror that parents go through when they have a child that they can’t control. As a father of 4, I have 3 kids I can trust but one that for whatever reason, spent about three years of her life trying to get away from us. Turn around to put something back on a shelf and she’d be down the aisle and around the corner. Walking through the store having this alarm going off on my belt constantly is a good way of having security asking you if there is a problem.
We purchased a child leash and it was the best $10 peace of mind we’ve ever had. Of course we felt like horrible parents doing it, till we noticed other parents. It’d much rather feel the tug of my kid trying to leave then having to react to a beep and then trying to figure out which way to go. I feel horrible for that parent that barely got their kid back from the kidnapper, no parent should ever have to go through that. Analog kid holsters ftw.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I was never comfortable with the idea of a kid leash. That is until we went to Knotts Berry Farm (an amusement park in SoCal) and my wife insisted on using it. I quickly realized with the enormous crowds at the park that day, it would be near impossible to find our 2 1/2 year old if he decided to explore!!!
Now I laugh at how judgmental I was of parents… before I was one. :D
December 24th, 2009 at 7:02 am
I like the idea. I’m giving this a thumbs up.