If only Japan's Kuchofuku recognize their potential, they could make a killing here in India. In a country where the temperature gets so hot, that some people save on cooking fuel by cooking their food right out in the sun - this Japanese company would have a huge, I mean HUGE demand for their products.

Kuchofuku is famous for products like their Air-conditioned Bed and clothing. And now, they've come up with an air-conditioned cushion to keep your butt cool. Seriously. I'm told its the latest rage in personal cooling.

Called the Suzukaze (which means "cool breeze"), the cushion keeps you elevated from the chair so cold air could come in directly from underneath. No more fretting uncomfortably with wet pants and wet chairs during summer. Using new materials and energy-saving fans, Suzukaze cools you in your seat without consuming much-needed power and emits almost no noise at all.

In regions with perennial summer, like most of India, discomfort during hot weather occurs with accumulating moisture on the seat, and Suzukaze helps dissipate this moisture and keep the seat fresh. Best of all, it really takes very little energy. One month of use, for eight hours a day, according to the company. will cost only five cents. You can't get cooling for any lower than that. The makers of this product hope that it will help lessen the usage of air-conditioners, thus saving energy and money.

A Super material
To promote free airflow, the Suzukaze uses a Super Spacer material that is soft and flexible, which transfers the comfy-ness of the seat you’re sitting on through the cushion to your...uhh...body. The built-in fan inside the cushion pumps over 170 liters of air per minute through the cushion, causing the dissipation of the heat and moisture around your buttocks that cause discomfort and sweating.

Three models to keep the butt cool
The company has three versions of the Suzukaze on the market.

1. The Standard version is the basic model, battery-powered with the Super Spacer material inside.

2. The High Grade version uses a more durable dual-layer Super Spacer and takes the power saving to...well...another level with just a flip of a touch sensitive switch that turns the fan on/off depending on whether you’re sitting there or not.

3. Finally, for those on the road, they have a model made purely for use in the car seat. It connects to the car’s power adapter. With gas prices fluctuating the way they are, the power savings of less A/C use will pay for this device in no time.

Specifications:
Models: Standard (S)/ High Grade (HG)


• ***High Grade model incorporates seat-sensitive on/off switch, plus dual-layer material for durability.***
• Super Spacer material
• Size: 41 x 56cm (16 x 22”)
• Belt length: 45cm (17.7”)
• Cushion weight: 272g (S) / 356g (HG)
• Battery pack weight: 44g
• Air flow: 108~198 (S) / 108~192 (HG) ltr/min
• Battery pack (AA x 4)
• Power consumption: 18 hours continuous use on “high”

Car Seat Model:

• Size: 41 x 61cm (16 x 24”)
• Belt Length: 60cm (24”)
• Weight: 310g
• Includes car power adapter
• Standard version material
• Air flow: 174 ltr/min

Most important of all, the Suzukaze butt cooler is Eco-Friendly. Even if you use it every day for 8 hours (on rechargeable Eneloop batteries), your monthly electricity use will be a mere 5 cents! Can you imagine that! You can save money on fuel as well by utilizing the Car Seat model instead of cranking up the A/C. Using the High Grade model for it’s seat-sensitive on/of switch saves even more power.

The unit can be powered via an AC adapter, car adapter or rechargeable batteries, and the built-in fan moves over 170 liters of air per minute in order to "dissipate heat and moisture around the buttocks that causes discomfort and sweating." Well, when you put it like that, $91 seems like a real bargain. If you still have doubts, watch the clip.



When you see the big picture, it is more economical and energy-friendly to always deal with climate matters on a personal level anyway. You know this is only the beginning, but don't you think you would prefer to control your own comfort level with your clothing or furniture, economically, rather than have one centralized source or everyone in the room, that gobbles up a humongous amount of power ?

Product Page :
You can buy the Suzukaze Air Conditioned seat cushion from the Japan Trend Shop.

-end of story-

We've all had those moments - you know, where you try to plug in two electronic appliances next to each other, but they all use weird shaped plugs designed by idiot designers to make your life all the more difficult than it already is? Don't tell me you don't damn the manufacturers to hell for eternity when you get home after picking up a new electronic toy and you go to plug it in only to find out that the giant power adapter/plug that comes with it takes up more than its share of outlet space? Most electrical and electronic products come with giant plugs these days.

There is a perfectly fine extra outlet for your other equipments, but you can't use it since the damn giant plug is smack in the way. To top it off, there is a good chance that the wall outlet is the only one in the room that you can use.

A 360 Solution
It seems that 360electrical has been in this very situation and designed an outlet to take care of it. With 18 distinct positions, all you have to do is plug in your bulky plug and turn until it clicks into a position that provides enough space for the other socket.


360 outlets are actually very easy to install even if you’re a novice do-it-yourself-er. But double check you know what you're doing, you don't want to electrocute yourself, do you? Make sure you turn the power off at your breaker box or fuse box before attempting any installation. Check out 360electrical's installation instructions for a detailed step-by-step tutorial. We like the idea, it sure does promise to take care of the oversized plug situation.

Be sure to read the FAQ on the 360electrical website though.

The extremely functional, and wonderfully clever, outlet is available for a mere $10. It even comes in 3 colors; beige, white, and black!

360electrical currently has only the duplex outlet in production, but they are soon coming out with plug-in adapters and power strips.

You can buy 360 Electrical outlets online, at hardware stores that sell electrical products, and if you're a contractor or a builder, you can find 360 Electrical outlets through one of these great electrical distributors online or at a distributor near you.

-end of story-

Ah...you finally bought that new printer, didn't you? Feeling pretty good about yourselves, uhu?
With so many advertisements and offers touting those Printers with impressive features and high quality printouts, how could you miss it? And the feel of that sample photo printout the salesman slipped into your hands pretty much made up your mind, didn't it? You just had to buy it, yeah thats what I keep hearing all the time.

Printers have become so much more affordable in recent times, with the cheapest inkjet and laser printers costing just about Rs.1500 and Rs.6000 respectively. That is the picture we see, at least in the beginning. What is obvious, but really known only to a handful few is that you don't spend much of your hard earned money on the actual printer, but on the INK.

A typical inkjet cartridge costs Rs.500 for black & white, and a color cartridge is priced at Rs.750, all for a massive Ink capacity of 8ml. Printer Ink is is the real earner for the dozens of manufacturers putting up their latest models on the market every day.

My Printer's Dirty Secret
That in itself is not that bad. I can live with that, if not for a startling fact. The dirty secret of my printer. I don't know if this is the case with all printers though more than a few of my friends also reported it to be true once I told them about this, but I strongly urge you to check your printer. Well, you can't do jack shit about it, except stop printing and throwing out your printer altogether.

I would definitely not be aware of this dirty little secret of our home printers(or any printer for that matter) if not for this informative video.



The Dirty Little Secret of Inkjet Printers - video powered by Metacafe

Who knew what is going on inside your inkjet printers? Yikes, I for sure did not. A lot of that ink, which costs you three times more per milliliter than a Rs.20,000 bottle of the finest champagne, is pouring down into a sticky well of useless black slime. Holy fuckin' hell, what a waste.

My solution? Stop printing altogether
I came to know that I don't need to make prints, like in ever. If I really need to get a printout, I now go to that Print shop in the next street. I know its not the ideal solution for everybody, but it sure is the ideal solution for over 80% of home users like me. Ditch that piece of overpriced junk and save yourself a shitload of money and stress.