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Light up any situation with the one-of-a-kind Luminoodle light strip

By Lulu Chang May 30, 2017

luminoodle strip light 5b5ae2e788e86cba12e06c559b1d54d3 original — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Why hang a lantern from a rope when your rope can be the lantern itself? For those of us wishing to solve multiple problems with a singular solution, there’s Luminoodle, a USB lighting offering now available on Amazon following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Meant for campers who don’t want to carry both rope and a lighting source, this 5-foot strand of bright, waterproof, and USB-powered LEDs will illuminate even the darkest of nights. Promising to be between 10 and 20 times brighter than your average Christmas lights, Luminoodle says it’s “the most adaptable, intuitive, and portable string lighting system ever created.”

Whether you’re going camping and need a light source for your tent, or need to be able to see into the back of your closet, or simply want to backlight the latest addition to your art collection, you can use Luminoodle. Unlike other strings of lights, this product is waterproof, flexible, and capable of being hung, strung, hooked, stuck to, or wrapped around almost any object.

Better still, the Luminoodle features two “modes” of operation. You can either take advantage of its length, hanging the noodle up with its Noodle Ties (included with your purchase), magnets, or by creating a Luminoodle loop; or you can create a lantern with the lights. Thanks to the included rip-stop nylon bag, you can stuff the entire length of your string lighting into a single contained pouch, and create a concentrated light source capable of diffusing light and spreading it 360 degrees.

And no matter what scenario you find yourself in, Luminoodle can provide the light. It doesn’t get soggy when it’s left in the water, as the LED strip is totally surrounded in a single-piece silicone tube, creating an IP67-rated (capable of withstanding submersion in water up to 3 feet) waterproof light.

The Luminoodle starts at $20 on Amazon, an is available for Prime shipping.

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Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

Smart Home

Wyze’s new Light Strip Pro dazzles in up to 16 different colors simultaneously

Wyze Light Strip Pro

The smart lighting market is full of innovative, attractive products, all of which are equally likely to blow a hole right through your wallet. Philips Hue and LIFX are particularly guilty of high-priced products, but no one can deny their quality. Now Wyze is back to its usual game, providing that same high level of quality on a product with a much lower price point. The company has announced two new products: The Wyze Light Strip and the Wyze Light Strip Pro.

The Wyze Light Strip comes in two lengths. The 16.4-foot version is $26, while the 32.8-foot version is $36. Both sizes have free shipping. The downside is that the strip can only display a single color at a time, but there are more than 16 million colors to choose from.

Smart Home

How to decorate your home with light strips

Colorful lights, when done right, can make your home look cool and futuristic. LED light strips have come a long way, which means you can ditch the year-round Christmas lights for something cleaner-looking. LED strips are thin and flexible, so you can put them places traditional bulbs can’t go, like under cabinets and inside of drawers. This means they’re also functional -- they can shed a little light on what’s going on in the back of the fridge or under the bed. Some versions can even be cut to size.

Your options for where you want to put LED strips are limited mostly by your imagination, where you have an outlet, and where you don’t mind a little tape or glue. We’ve rounded up some Instructables and how-to videos to help you get started.

Smart Home

Skeptical about UV light sanitizers? We put one to the test

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We’re living in strange times, and the few things we know we can do to protect ourselves involve washing our hands and sterilizing surfaces and objects regularly. But who wants to waste all that paper or sanitizing wipes to clean our phones and other objects? Enter the growing popularity of the UV-C sterilizer. How do we know it really works? Well, we brushed off our 6th-grade science skills and put the Coral UV Sterilizer and Dryer to the test.

While many people are turning to UV phone-sanitation boxes to keep their devices clean, there are limitations. For starters, they can only sanitize a phone. On a good day, a phone is a huge germ collector, (it has been cited repeatedly that a phone has more germs than a toilet) and should definitely be one of the first things you sanitize. In fact, all high-touch items (think: Glasses, earbuds, iPad, remote controls, keys, etc.) should be cleaned/sterilized frequently as well.
The hypothesis: UV-C machines can kill germs on our devices
The Coral UV has all the certifications you’d want including EPA testing and FDA approval. According to the company’s co-founder and CMO, Titus Tse, “The UV-C light emits a UV-C ray at the correct wavelength that actually disinfects and kills the bacteria, viruses, and germs.”