We all know the story. We're happily watching a TV show, or working on our computers with the TV on in the background when the show cuts to commercial. Not just any commercial either, one of those grainy, low budget commercials that you know was filmed with a HandyCam in the parking lot of a sleazy local car dealership, where the salesmen feel the need to yell about how crazy they are to lower prices and how they've got way too many cars on their lot and they need you to buy one before the boss finds out. Annoying enough, but the killer is that because the commercial is homegrown and aired on your local affiliate, it's about five times louder than the show you were just watching, making you scramble for the remote to turn the sound down.

Enter the TV Volume Regulator. This unassuming gray box sits on top of your TV and will automatically adjust the volume in subtle amounts to make sure the sound level stays constant. If the volume strays too high, the regulator turns the sound down, and if the volume strays too low, the regulator cranks it up so you can hear what's going on. Same with moving between channels - some channels are louder or softer than others, and the volume regulator tries to keep the sound consistent while you're channel surfing. This handy gadget is available for just under 50 bucks, a pittance to pay to never have to scramble for the remote to turn down a screeching car salesman ever again. [via OhGizmo]