More often than not, the random assortment of gadgets that find their way onto my browser have absolutely no use whatsoever.

But every now and then I stumble upon (trademark!) inventions that can truly improve our quality of life.

Invention #1 – Whiskey Stones

The disappointing side of having your favourite single malt on ice is the fact that ice melts. When ice melts, your drink is diluted. And when your drink is diluted, it might not be exactly to your taste requirements.

Shake off those afternoon melt blues with Whiskey Stones – small little cubes of soapstone joy that not only chill your beverage, but leave it untainted.

Toss the stones from the freezer into your tumbler, be incredibly smug, rinse and repeat.

Invention #2 – The Rovio Wi-Fi Roaming Bot

This little character has so many potential applications its almost hard to know where to begin.

Let’s start with how it works: The Rovio bot is remotely controllable over the internet via your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad or PS3. That means that while you’re in Tokyo, you can send your little bot zipping around the Atlantic Seaboard apartment on any number of errands, including snapping photos, video and audio and streaming it back to you. From there you’re free to share the media any which way you want. There’s also a 2-way audio speaker on the bot, so you can play mind games with your dog and gauge it’s reaction.

Pretty much everything about this little guy is well thought through, right down to the way it charges. In other words what you have is the ultimate spybot, completely under your control.

Ya, I’m not 100% sure how this will improve lives. But I can FEEL it, and it’s awesome.

Invention #3 – The Ion Profile LP USB Turntable

The thing that makes your vinyl collection so special is that special vinyl sound quality, right? That perfectly imperfect, slightly scratchy, smokey vibe. Sadly, vinyl won’t last forever. MP3s will probably last a lot longer.

And here we have a beautiful marriage of the digital and analogue worlds. Plug your turntable in to your PC via USB port, slam on some vinyl and burn, baby, burn.

The Ion Profile converts your treasured vinyl tunes into MP3 format right there and then, saving them on your PC and preserving that special vinyl sound for the foreseeable future. Of course the MP3s will never be a substitute for the real thing, but it’s good insurance against potential heartbreak as your vinyl ages.

Til next week.