The Bat Conservatory House claims to house bats so they will eat up all your mosquitos.  Which is a great idea but what about bats?  Aren’t bats scarier than mosquitos?

It’d be hard to understand why you’d want to be bitten by bats than mosquito given how much bigger they are.

Because one bat can devour 600 mosquitoes or other insects in just one hour, installing a Bat Conservatory nearby can protect you and your family from insect bites and greatly reduce the need for environmentally hazardous mosquito repellents. Made of Western Red Cedar sawmill trim, this handsome slatted shelter provides respite for approximately 40 bats. Mounting hardware not included. USA.

via ohgizmo

Here’s a cool innovation, a portable fireplace called Travelmate you can take anywhere with you.

The coolest thing about this porta-fire is the fact that you can place the fireplace in the middle of your livingroom instead of stuck at a corner permanently.

travelmate portable fireplace by conmoto is made of black powder-coated steel and glass with adjustable steel fuel-holder, burns on bio-ethanol liquid fuel. liquid fuel not included

the traveling fire, the technology of smokeless fire combined with a weather resistant powder coating offers one thing in particular: releasing the fire from being in a fixed place in the home.
travelmate makes it possible to set up an individual, full-value fireplace and source of heat that really sets the mood, with no complications and wherever you want it, on the carpet, on the dining table, nest to the sofa, on the terrace, or in the garden, now the atmosphere of the fireside can be enjoyed anywhere.
the formal design as a stylized suitcase unmistakably conveys the notion that this is an item not bound to any fixed location. a cheerful fire blazing in the unit completes the concept of a fireplace that really wants to be free of its shackles. the glass pane, with is held on with magnets, is only removed in order to light the fire. once the glass pane has been replaced, the fuel tank can be opened and closed, using the stainless steel slide at the front of the fireplace, thereby allowing the flames to be regulated from the outside. now the glass pane once again the fire.

via techfresh - conmoto

Here’s a really cool DIY on how to make a PID controlled fridge.

For this project, you will need to grab an icebox, thermoelectric cooling part, and a PID.

Heck, if you want to skip the steps, you can also get a Kimchi refridgerator, which does the same thing.

I had an old beer cooler sitting in the garage that Kylie picked up on the street a while back. It uses a Peltier thermoelectric cooler to cool the inside and can achieve sub-freezing temperatures.

Since I didn’t want to leave the cooler on constantly, and below freezing is actually too cold for solder paste, I decided to add a PID controller to the cooler to create a solder paste fridge for the garage. To do this, I needed the following items:

via make

Check out these glass-blown eye lamps you can order that are exact clones of your actual eyes.

The hand blown glass eyeball lamps made by Glassblower Livio Serena in Murano are based on exact clones of your actual eye color. Order them through 5.5 Designers.

via shinyshiny - ifitshipitshere

Finally, you wil be able to give your dog an automatic pet door that will activate via RFID.

PlexiDor Electronic “reads” the key code on the RFID key and opens only for your pet. Panel unlocks and slides up like a mini garage door. The main frame has a low profile of just 1 5/8″ in thickness. Door plugs into household outlet or can be hardwired.

via engadget

- news

Check out the EcoShack, a portable summer shelter designed for great air-flow and sustainability.

It’s a change from my regular old tent but it could be great for a permanent shelter for the summer on your backyard.

I must say the setup doesn’t look too pleasing to do but maybe worth it for a summer-long setup.

Designed by Ecoshack founder Stephanie Smith and inspired by shelters used in Asia for centuries, the Nomad is a fully-enclosed, eco-luxurious, portable outdoor room. Create a sanctuary in your backyard.  Also great at spa resorts, luxury campsites and hotels.

via inhabitat

Buy the Nomad Yurt here for $9700 and don’t break your arms, maybe sell a kidney.

You can guarantee hours of fun with these “Old Fart” Slippers.

You can now “fart” when you walk! These nice fluffy and fuzzy black slippers come equipped with a built in whoopee cushion that lets you “pass gas” as you are roaming around. You will now be able to blame your “farting” problem on the slippers. One size fits most.

via prankplace

With our society calling out for more organic stuff, with some people even operating a home-farm, the Topsy Turvy hanging tomato grower lets you grow fresh, organic tomatoes in your apartment/house without taking up much space.

At $19.95, I’d get a bunch of these and start growing some fresh tomatoes for my ultimate spaghetti dish.

When the Topsy Turvy™ planter is used, the tomato plant is planted in a planter that is suspended in the air, instead of in the ground. Because the plant is in the air, and will never touch the ground, staking, caging, bacteria, ground rotting, fungus and small animals are all problems of the past. In addition, you get to do all of the necessary work while standing up instead of bending over - sucker and trim with scissors, water and fertilize through a built in top funnel, and harvest tomatoes at chest height. There are also no holes that have to be dug to plant, and weeding is all together eliminated.

via firststreetonline

If you are thinking about controlling electronics in your house via wireless LAN and ethernet, this INSTEON Central Controller might the perfect product as it has also been designed to work with most PDA phones including the iPhone.   For a limited time, the SmartHome.com is also giving out a free iPod Touch so get them now if you need one.

INSTEON Central Controller is an affordable and flexible central controller perfect for enhancing any INSTEON home automation network. NetLinc integrates INSTEON technology with any web-enabled mobile device through Wi-Fi and cellular communication, allowing you to control or create timers for INSTEON devices or scenes from inside your home, in the backyard, at work, in the car or on vacation halfway around the world! Whether you are a DIYer, an electrician, or a home automation integrator, you will enjoy the ease with which programming and discovering of INSTEON devices is accomplished. A simple plug-in installation sets up in minutes and will allow a web-enabled phone or PDA to control your INSTEON network from almost anywhere. NetLinc has been designed for optimal use with an iPhone or iPod Touch as a mobile touch screen; however, there are customizable user-downloadable server applications that provide a flexible interface for any web-enabled device. As and added feature, NetLinc includes IP camera support, giving you the versatility to incorporate watching and controlling your IP enabled surveillance cameras through you web-enabled interface. NetLinc puts the power of managing your entire INSTEON home automation network in the palm of your hands.

via smarthome