Big Bang Alert: The lightning-obsessed experience
Here’s another product in the category of “great technology – terrible product”. StrikeAlert builds a pager type device to warn you about nearby lightning strikes – up to 40 miles. Great. That gives you plenty of time to find a big tree for shelter!
Now, how obsessed and fearful of being struck by ligthning would someone have to be to carry around this thing 24 hours a day?
Maybe a better idea is to mash this up into an ipod – which could be triggered to play “stormy songs”.
A good application of this technology would be a power bar that reacts to potential hits before they happen. Maybe the “early warning” power bar would have a USB connection that would warn of approaching lightning! Now that’s worth it!
Tags: StrikeAlert
Obviously, you’ve never lived in Florida!
I think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’d get one just so that I can monitor approaching storms under the cover of my porch. If only they sold the thing in Canada!
In Canada, just get to Boutique Meteo in Montreal! $90 CAD for th StrikeAlert II! (btw – only the french site works…)
http://www.boutiquemeteo.com/
BTW – my favourite storm song – Daniel Lanois “Under a Stormy Sky”
http://www.daniellanois.com
I also found it on Amazon and they will ship to Canada, but it’s about $100 US with shipping. Pretty pricey for something which I can also do the old fashion way (counting between the lightning strike and the sound of the thunder).
I’ll look to see if I can’t hack something together myself using my mac and a radio receiver. Of course, by then I’ll up for a whole lot of wasted time and probably a hundred bucks worth of radioshack parts.