Secret Passageway Switch is the first step toward building your own Batcave

By Rick Marshall Published November 18, 2011

It might be a while before you’re able to complete your secret lair, but you can take the first step toward building it with the Secret Passageway Switch.

Available via Vespoe, the switch turns a hardcover book into a switch that can open a secret door to your subterranean headquarters… or simply turn on a lamp. Basically, it can control anything with a standard plug, so the possibilities are endless. (Want a coffee? Here, let me flip this secret coffee-maker switch!)

Recommended Videos

Okay, so maybe the possibilities aren’t exactly endless… but it’s still a fun little gadget.

Just imagine having all of the appliances in your house operated by cleverly corresponding novels. It would drive people insane.

The Secret Passageway Switch sells for $50, but can you really put a price on that level of diabolical amusement?

Rick Marshall

Former Contributing Editor, Entertainment

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Topics

Cars

Hyundai isn’t giving up on hydrogen cars, but don’t expect one in your driveway anytime soon

Hydrogen gets a maybe; hybrids get a warning.

Hydrogen cars have spent years in the same waiting room as flying taxis. They’re always almost here, but no commercially available product exists for interested buyers. So when a Hyundai manager pushed back on the obituary, I was immediately curious.

To be clear, Hyundai hasn’t announced a new car. The big news here is that its Australian arm says hydrogen is “not dead” for passenger cars. Apparently, the automaker is still evaluating a next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell car if it can find buyers (via CarExpert).

Emerging Tech

AI doesn’t have to turn evil to put you at risk

An AI assistant that agrees with everything you say might feel like the perfect companion — until you need someone to tell you you’re wrong. That’s one of the more immediate dangers behind the idea of AI “going rogue.” A chatbot can cause harm without developing intentions of its own. It can reinforce a false belief, encourage an unhealthy attachment, or follow instructions planted by someone trying to hijack it.

On October 15, AI safety company Alice announced new software to address those everyday risks. Working separately with Inflection AI and AI21, the company says it helped train NVIDIA’s Nemotron models to resist harmful conversational behavior and malicious instructions while preserving their usefulness.

Emerging Tech

Elon Musk says Neuralink’s brain implants could help people with paralysis and blindness

Neuralink's Telepathy helps people control computers through thought, while Blindsight aims to restore visual perception.

Elon Musk has revealed ambitious plans for Neuralink, and they go beyond controlling computers with your thoughts. The company is developing two brain implants, Telepathy and Blindsight, aimed at helping people with paralysis and severe vision loss. Musk also believes future advances could help people regain control of their hands and legs by reconnecting the brain with their limbs.

How Neuralink's Telepathy can help people with paralysis