While it is well known that I once did a burlesque show under the name TrickleStar in Weimar Germany, many of you don’t know that TrickleStar is also a system for shutting down idling hardware next to your TV or PC. I’m here to tell you, my kleine Kuchen, that it’s really great.
Think about your own sad situation: you have a computer or TV that you turn off. The constellation of devices that orbit these central devices remain on or in a standby state. The TrickleStars solve that problem by turning everything off when the main items are off.
How does it work? The TV model has three cables – a power-in, a “master” cable, and a “slave.” When juice is flowing to the master device, the slave turns on. A small wheel sets the sensitivity – some TVs, unfortunately, aren’t fully off when you expect them to be and that’s that. Nothing else to fiddle with. You can even connect a power strip to the slave cable, thereby turning off multiple devices at once.
Don’t worry: the ‘Merican model has ‘Merican plugs.
The PC model is a bit different. This model senses if your computer is on or off via USB. Once juice stops flowing to the USB ports the slave cable turns off. I currently have my monitor, printer, external hard drives, and vibrating chair attached to the TrickleStar and when I’m done with work for the day – at around 1pm – the rest of the devices turn off.
Obviously you don’t want to connect mission critical items to the TrickleStar stuff. TiVos and cable boxes are out as is your pressure washer and Aibo charging station (you want that stuff to be available at a moment’s notice). Otherwise, you’re good to go.
Where the magic happens
The PC model costs $24.95 and the TV model costs $34.95. They are all available at TrickleStar.com.