As you can see, the +-Water is meant to be attached to the end of faucets. It will then display the equivalent cost of the water flowing out of the faucet. It can also display the volume of water consumed in liters. It seems practical right? But if we give it a little more thought we’ll see that it’s barely useful.

I think the biggest flaw with this concept is that the device can only measure the water flowing out of the faucet it’s installed on. Unless you live in a prison cell, you’ll most likely have more than one faucet, not to mention other devices that let water in, like the ones in your bathroom or on your garden.

Not only would we need to install this add-on on each of those devices, all the add-ons would have to be networked in some way so that they display the total amount of water consumed by the whole house, because if they each show readings only for the valves they’re connected to then we’d still have to add them all up.

Still, I can see what Young-Suk Kim was trying to do, and I really would appreciate having a utility meter that displayed my consumption in real-time, and not in terms of volume or kWh but in terms of money, even if it’s just an estimate. But having meters all over my house would give me both too much and too little information, because all I really need to know is my total consumption.

[via Yanko Design]

The clock is controlled by a PIC18F2550 microchip, which handles the two servos that control the hour and minute needles. AndyO drew up the beautiful clock face using DesignCAD, then printed it on matte photo paper and mounted it on acrylic. The clock’s case is laminated mystery wood. AndyO honestly doesn’t know what wood he used, but he thinks it might be spruce. The three buttons on top of the clock handle a couple of functions, mostly setting an alarm and toggling the front lamps.

The only thing I don’t like about AndyO’s clock is that it needs to connect to a PC to sync the time as well as control other settings, hence the USB connection at the back. It’s basically a beautiful but brainless clock, relying on a custom program that AndyO also made to adjust the clock’s settings. AndyO didn’t mention if the clock has to be connected to a PC at all times, but I’m assuming that that’s the case since he says the clock constantly communicates with the PC to make sure the time is correct.. I’m pretty sure some enterprising individual will copy the look of the meter clock and make a pretty penny out of it, but if your DIY skills are up to par with AndyO’s, you can check out Digital DIY for the full how-to.

[via Hack-a-Day]

The 2-inch Mint Cube features a striking cubic design that’s punctuated by large analog meters on three sides of the cube. One gauge is a traditional VU meter, another tells you how much battery life remains, and the last one tells you what station the built-in FM tuner is dialed to. The gauges each have a bright backlight, which makes them easy to read in the dark.

On the top of the player are ten deep-set analog buttons, like the ones you might find on an old Sony Walkman. Press in the MP3 button and it stays in place until you press FM button, which pops the MP3 button back out. Very retro indeed!

Now mintpass says they designed the Mint Cube with men in mind, but I don’t see any reason why they can’t be for cool girls too. Geeks don’t discriminate! If only these things actually existed, then guys and girls could both buy them. For now, enjoy the virtual gadgetry.

[via Unplggd]

According to Yllas, the artist who created these robot sculptures from old electronic parts, camera lenses, and other surplus junque – she was planning on building an evil robot. Instead she ended up with this guy, the Not So Evil Found Object Assemblage Bot. He’s available over at the Nutzen Bolts Works shop over on Etsy.

Designed by FlashWear, the same guys who brought you the popular T-Qualizer, a VU-meter on a t-shirt, the tabletop Speaqualizer is their latest in their line of light-up creations. Just throw a few AAA batteries into the back of the frame, turn up the tunes, and watch the electroluminescent bars dance to the beat of your music.

Available in two styles, the TQ Raver (rainbow colors) and the TQ Chiller (cool jewel tones), each Speaqualizer panel will set you back about $38 USD.

Just press the clearly marked face button on Wi-Fi Detecting Watch, and it’ll indicate signal strength on a scale from 0 to 8. It’s a handy way to tell what direction you need to move in to get a better connection when you’re sitting at your neighborhood coffee shop. In addition to the wireless signal strength meter, the watch offers world time clock, alarm and calendar functionality, and a bright EL backlight.

The Wi-Fi Detecting Watch is available from ThinkGeek for about 30 bucks.