Wired hates that, even though our cellphones are wicked cool, there’s a distinct lack of development in the area of practical gadgetry. Umbrellas—really, there’s no way to improve that? (Oh, right.) And so on, and so forth.

Capturing that zeal, Wired lists 12 gadgets that, and I quote, are “just crazy enough to work.” Super! Included therein: a solar cooker, which I gracelessly post here; some sort of earthquake-proof bed, which would be handy for any number of our continental U.S. readers right now; and a crank-powered radio, the scientific principles of which I learned in high school, proving that America’s public school system isn’t entirely broken.