Alarm clocks seem to be one of the most up-and-coming sectors of the gadget world, or at least a popular playground for designers with wacky ideas. It seems like a day rarely goes by without some new, creative, and kind of crazy alarm clock popping up on our radar screens. Far be it from us to keep such wacky toys from you, our cherished readers, so here I present to you the Ventriloque.

While some alarm clocks allow you to wake up to vibrations in your pillow, a torturous memory game, or a wild chase, the Ventriloque wakes you up to a very familiar voice … your own. It records a personal message to yourself, such as "today is going to be just like every other day. Why bother?" Or, you know, something more motivating than that. It's up to you. You can record anything else you want, of course, but I think the idea of waking up to your own voice is just strange enough to be awesome. Of course such an oddity doesn't run cheap: $95, plus shipping from France. Oh la la; I'll pass. — Adam Frucci

Ventriloque, via Uber-review