Originally this was going to be something about Black Friday sales, but whilst browsing the interweb I came to two conclusions.

1. Nearly every site on the internet advertises Black Friday sales right on their front page.
2. The sites which do directly feature sales, collect the best Black Friday sales from said sites.

So, with approximately 100% of the internet already on top of this Black Friday thing, I thought I’d focus on something that traditionally goes completely ignored on Black Friday.

Safety.

Yes, since today is the day millions of shoppers will be packing stores and attacking their wares without a single regard towards basic decency and safety, why not highlight a product aimed at providing just that?

The turn signal gloves from Zackees are aimed at providing bicyclists and skateboarders a much needed alternative in making their intentions known to pedestrians and motorists around them. It gives the non-motorized street travelers of the world an electronic turn signal of their own, and requires little more than a hand movement in the appropriate direction to activate.

Even better, knowing their product will primarily be bought by hipsters, Zackees paid special attention to the style of the gloves, so wearing a turn signal on your hands looks as un-nerdy as humanly possible.

There’s no guarantee for success in the gadget market, but when you create something that is practical, useful, stylish, clever, and innovative it’s usually a good sign that your product will find an eager market. We’ll see if that holds true when the turn signal gloves start crowdfunding on December 9^th through Kickstarter.

As Bevis, Buthead, and Blink-182 informed me before I was able to make the conclusion based on my own experience, work sucks. Sure it might not suck for those people that have those “jobs they actually like,” but for the rest of us normal people, it most certainly does.

Sometimes though, it can suck worse than other times. Especially when its right before the end of the day, and some menial task appears preventing you from leaving at the prearranged time. Or, alternatively, when nothing is keeping you from leaving at the prearranged time, except for your desire to be literally anywhere but where you are right now, preferably with a beer in hand that will mute the knowledge that you’ll be right back to the grind soon.

While many of us have developed our own methods for getting out of the whole work thing a little early, one developer came up with a unique approach to the issue and has been kind enough to share it with the rest of us.

It’s called the Happy Hour Virus, and it “breaks” your computer so you can feign dismay and duck out early owing to the sudden lack of functional computer. The virus comes in three flavors (blue screen of death, broken monitor, and kernel panic) all of which are purely cosmetic and can be removed by hitting the escape button. Use couldn’t be simpler as you just head over to the happy hour virus website, choose your favorite poison, and get your best acting chops ready for the rest.

It’s a ballsy maneuver to be sure, and likely to backfire against the user in the worst way, but when it’s 1:00 on a Monday when you know damn well it should be at least 4:00, consider taking the risk* and utilizing the Happy Hour Virus to get home, or the bar, right when you want to.

*WARNING: Risk not advisable

The sound quality of the average mobile Bluetooth speaker is so great that for many the deciding factors in buying one have quickly shifted to price, portability, and ease of access and use.

While more than a little unconventional, the Lyrix Jive speaker from Digitial Treasures is an intriguing blend of all those qualities. That’s because along with the usual array of Bluetooth speaker features such as speakerphone capabilities, the Jive also has some less than usual attributes which are headlined by its suction cup base. By incorporating this simple addition, the Jive finds itself in the unique position of being quite possibly the most versatile and mobile speaker around, considering that you can stick it to just about any surface and have it ready for use.

While certainly a little gimmicky, that’s never a bad thing as far as gadgets are concerned as long as that gimmick is interesting enough to make the gadget desirable. In this case, the amazing range of placement options the simple addition of a suction cup allows (especially in the shower) makes this a compelling buy for those in need, while the $39.99 price tag keeps it from hurting the wallet too much.

I’ve mentioned a few HUD assisted driving products recently, but I’ve never mentioned my resentment of the fact you can’t really wear any of them, thus depriving me of the chance to live out some “Halo” master chief fantasies while on a commute.

Thankfully the Skully P1 is here to pick up that particular slack in the HUD assisted driving department. It’s a motorcycle helmet with a built in heads up display in the interior of the visor that provides you with blind spot information, GPS, and a host of other driver assistant tools. Among them, the most intriguing has to be a rear view camera angle that allows the rider to get a rare safe look behind them. Adding to the cool yet actually safe features list, is the built-in smartphone integration which lets you field calls and texts as well as control your music while riding through voice commands.

I’m actually disappointed this is only being advertised as useful for motorcycle riders, when its uses in everything from paintball to zombie apocalypses are evident. Perhaps they’re trying to get away from the 80’s sci-fi evil biker image this thing can attract if not carefully handled, but they can’t stop me from wanting this despite my intentions to use this for anything but riding a motorcycle. In fact the only thing likely to stop me is the Skully P1’s price available on request policy which will deter many from living out there sci-fi fantasies through this amazing piece of technology for quite some time.

There are some burdens, like hang overs, we learn to live with because we come to accept them as the way things are. A big part of the reason the gadgets world is great, is because it’s essentially the combined effort of a group of people trying to make those burdens as few as possible. However, even in that effort there are a few added burdens that not always get addressed properly.

Thankfully one of those few burdens may soon be getting addressed thanks to a Kickstarter project for the ChargeDrive. Essentially the Swiss army knife of cell phone accessories, the ChargeDrive combines a charger, a stand, a tripod, and a USB flash drive in the hope of eliminating the burden of dragging around all the accessories needed to get the most out of your cell phone.  It’s about as large as an older model flash drive so the size is about right, and its clever design which includes a base that folds out into a sturdy tripod supported by the flash drive handle, and charger that only requires a USB drive on the other end, mean it looks to be practical as well.

If I had to throw a complaint here, it’s that the charger set up is better for a laptop, but otherwise this is a hell of a design. The problem with devices like this in the past, is that they incorporate a design just isn’t visually appealing, and often detract from the supposed usefulness of the all-in-one. That doesn’t appear to be the case here, and the inclusion of a tripod into the usual accessories combinations without ruining that design is genuinely inspired.

Going for an early backers price of $39, the price is about right for the ChargeDrive if it really is all it looks to be. Jump on this now then, while you have the chance.