Knight Car
£29.95
Forget the moustache of Magnum P.I, Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight was the king of 1980s TV detectives. A pseudo-vigilante acting against criminals who operate, not on the wrong side, but above the law, he formed a confusingly homoerotic partnership with KITT. The Knight Industries Two Thousand, a car that seemed to develop new gadgets every week, could leap through the air with a touch of the turbo boost button; drive itself and spoke in an oddly condescending voice.
It’s possible to recreate episodes of the show with this gadget. Although it lacks the ability to jump, or do anything other than go forwards, backwards and turn, it does have a miniature version of the famous front scanner.
Solar Powered Plant Pot
£19.95
Well here’s something that you thought you’d never be able to find. It seems so obvious now, but solar powered plant pots have not existed for long. Sticking to the gadget maker’s policy of innovation not invention, what we’ve got here is the combination of solar power (currently in vogue), plant pots (timeless) and LEDs (the gadget bit). Essentially what we’re looking at is a plant pot that glows in the dark, either white, or in a succession of ever changing hues that can turn a simple plant into a modern art installation.
The pot is powered by a small solar panel, attached by a three metre cable to the pot. In the day it generates energy and lights the LEDs, giving a glow throughout the night. They are perfect for the garden, roof terrace, or outdoor area of any kind, making a striking feature out of something commonplace and turning your garden into something from Close Encounters.
Microsoft Wireless Mouse 6000
The life of a left-handed person is a constant up-hill struggle against prejudice, small-mindedness and scissors which are a little bit awkward to use. So when a company like Microsoft releases a product which is supposed to make life easier – a wireless mouse which is so powerful that it can operate a computer 30 feet away and has been ergonomically designed to snuggle comfortably into the hand like a smooth and tactile pebble – it comes as little surprise to the world-weary left-hander that it’s not for them. Trying to use this mouse with the left hand would result in at best a painfully slow working method, and at worst a broken wrist. To be fair, Microsoft isn’t obliged to produce versions of its products that cater to the elite left-handed market, and other left-handed mice are available. But it still hurts that even Bill Gates and Co. care more about making a quick buck than providing their cack-handed brethren with tailor-made computer peripherals.
Biodegradable Picnic Wear
£14.95
At first glance, biodegradable picnic wear might seem like a good idea; there’s nothing worse than hiking to the top of a massive hill, looking upon the unspoilt vista, and then spotting an empty crisp packet and the remnants of a scotch egg at your feet. Cleaning up after yourself is, along with closing gates behind you and leaving the sheep alone, an essential part of the Country Code. And that’s why biodegradable cups, plates and cutlery might not be such a good idea. The fact that they rot away to nothing after a month or so is very commendable – but surely that will just serve as a litterbugs’ charter? The overwhelming temptation to leave all of your rubbish behind because it is ‘made from cassava’ will probably be too much for some, and what follows will be anarchy. Just because something is made from a vegetable doesn’t mean that you can just leave it lying around anywhere, as anybody who has ever slipped on a banana skin will tell you.
