There are college students who have never lived in a world without The Simpsons. Now that everyone's favorite Springfield family has made it to the big screen we felt the time was right to rank the greatest tech inventions that have appeared on the show. From Professor Frink to Uncle Herb, we've got enough inventions for Homer to count on all eight of his pudgy, yellow fingers.

If that's not enough, check out some gadgets you can actually take home in PC Magazine's roundup of the top 10 Gizmos for The Simpsons Fans.

1. Professor Frink's Sarcasm Detector
Yeah, sure, that's useful. Well, actually it is when you live in Springfield. Perhaps the good professor's greatest invention, we only get to see the Sarcasm Detector's potential for a few seconds in the same episode in which Lisa and the Springfield chapter of Mensa attempt to turn America's most oddball town into a utopia.

2. Professor Frink's Tap Dance Shoes
When Lisa decides to take tap lessons she's met with a heavy dose of reality: she can't dance at all. Try as she might, she's worse than a drunk, three-legged cat. To avoid humiliation at her school's recital she enlists the help of Springfield's smartest man, Professor Frink. He outfits her shoes with a technology that causes them to strike the floor at any percussive sound. Lisa aces her recital and brings the house down. When the applause starts however, the shoes go haywire as only one of Frink's inventions can.

3. American Toilets
When Bart prank calls Australia, the resulting phone bill angers the Aussies so much that they demand that he travel to the land down under to receive the traditional punishment, the "boot". The US government acquiesces to avoid an international incident and sends the family Simpson abroad. Once there, the US consulate unveils a nifty little invention that actually gets toilet water to spin down the drain the "proper, American, way." Homer is moved to tears and so are we.

4. Stephen Hawking's Boxing Glove
When Lisa joins the town chapter of Mensa and tries to transform Springfield into a utopia, things go horribly awry. The end culminates in a showdown of Springfield's elite intelligentsia. When the smartest people in Springfield can't agree on how best to turn the town into shangra-la, who should roll in but the real world's smartest man: Stephen Hawking. Not satisfied with having the highest IQ on the planet, Dr. Hawking has a spring-loaded boxing glove that packs a wallop. With one push of a button he lays out Seymour Skinner.

5. Homer's Automatic "Yes" Birdie
When Homer becomes morbidly obese so that he can qualify as disabled and work from home, he devises a simple bit of technology to automate the security check of the nuclear power plant's core reactor. By attaching Uncle Herb's bobbing birdie toy to his computer, he sets himself up for lazy bliss. But when the automated check keeps going despite an imminent core meltdown Homer manages to put the town in mortal danger—again.

6. Monorail
There's nothing on earth like a bona fide, electrified six car monorail. When Mr. Burns is caught dumping toxic waste in the town park he's fined three million dollars, which the town must then decide how to use. Marge suggests using the money to clean up Main Street, and sanity almost prevails until an old-fashioned conman makes an appearance and changes the town's mind. In maybe one of the greatest song-and-dance numbers in the history of the show, Springfield votes to build a high-speed monorail going from Springfield to, well, Springfield. When Homer becomes the train's conductor its pretty clear everything is about to go wrong...

7. Mr. Burns' Sun Blocking Disk
When Groundskeeper Willy accidentally discovers oil on the school grounds prompting a drilling operation, Mr. Burns intercedes with a slant drilling operation and pulls the rug out from under them. Unsatisfied with just stealing from the school he decides to completely block out the sun thereby making everyone in Springfield completely dependent on electricity. This one is a classic, and it would have been higher on our list if it had a song and dance number ala Monorail.

8. Uncle Herb's Baby Translator
After Homer ruins his brother's car manufacturing company, poor Uncle Herb is reduced to little more than a hobo. When Herb shows up seeking refuge, he stays with the Simpson family. While there he comes up with a shoe-in money-maker: the world's first baby translator. Herb makes a mint and showers the family Simpson with gifts.

Post by Alex Ivey