What the Tech? Mother’s Day Gifts

Moms may never show disappointment over a Mother’s Day gift. Even the really bad ones.

“Oh I love it”, she says. Then you find it in a closet a year from now.  But moms and grandmas may find these tiny tech gadgets will be helpful and pretty cool.

If mom likes fixing up the house, she’ll love a small gadget called a Nix sensor. It’s for painting or touching up the walls. Even if she saved the can, paint fades over time and it’s nearly impossible to get a perfect match when you’re touching up an area. The Nix sensor accurately reads colors regardless of light hitting the wall. She simply places the sensor on the wall next to what you’re touching up. Nix shows the exact color she needs to match. No need to use paint sample cards for a “close enough” result. Nix shows the color code you can take to the paint counter along with the brand of paint you should try first.

Cooking meats has never been easier than using a sous vide gadget I’ve you’ve never seen one you’ve probably eaten a steak at a restaurant that was cooked sous vide. The Anova sous vide precision cooker is the best kitchen gadget I’ve ever purchased. Drop the chicken, steak, fish, or anything into a vacuum-sealed bag and then place it into a pot or plastic storage bin filled with water. Sous vide heats the water to a precise temperature and the meat cooks only to that temperature. In an hour or so a thick piece of chicken, pork, fish, or steak is cooked thoroughly while she does something more fun. The Anova Sous Vide precision cooker has a smartphone app that shows you what temperature to cook at to get the meat rare, medium, or well done. Once the time is up just throw the meat it in a pan or a grill to sear it. I’ve even made some killer creme-brulee using sous vide that came out perfectly. If mom hits the gym, a set of Bluetooth earbuds will be music to her ears.

Apple AirPods are an easy choice for iPhone users but I recommend Bose Quiet Comfort noise-canceling earbuds. These earbuds have the best sound I’ve found and whether I’m in the gym or on an airplane, I hear nothing but the music. More importantly, the battery lasts weeks before needing to recharge. I take mine to the gym four times a week for an hour at a time and I usually only need to recharge the earbuds after about five weeks. The charging case keeps them going for quite a while.

My favorite gym gadget is the Tapplock fingerprint lock. Rather than needing a key or combination, I just put the lock on a locker and close it. When my workout is done, I press one button on the lock and then place my finger on a fingerprint sensor to open it. The battery in the Tapplock lasts a very long time as well.

And for her protection, the Birdie is a small gadget that fits on a keyring. When she’s out and feels unsafe she can just pull the tab on the Birdie device to trigger a very loud siren or alarm. There’s also a bright flashing light to scare away whatever is making her feel unsafe and alert people nearby for help.