Sometimes when I go looking for a hardware product to discuss, I end up finding something else that is even more interesting. After a discussion in the office that didn’t lead to anything particular interesting, I decided to talk about USB keyboard lights. If you didn’t read Keep Your Devices Charged With USB Wall Plates, you may want to read it first.

Quite often when I’m doing a training session, the lights in the room will be dimmed so that the projected image is clearly visible. I was smart enough to get a laptop with a lighted keyboard when I last went shopping, but I always found a USB light to be really helpful. As you can guess, they plug in to the USB port on your laptop (or elsewhere) and provide enough light to see the keys clearly. A huge seller is the Goal Zero Luna USB LED Stick Light. Heck, you could even power it with the USB wall plates discussed last week to use when reading a book. Definitely an accessory that everyone should have.

After I found the light, I found another really cool product from Goal Zero. At right is the Goal Zero Small Adventure Kit. Look carefully and you’ll see it had two small solar panels that charge a set of batteries (included). It also includes a light and a USB port. So if you go somewhere that power isn’t readily available, you can use this to charge your phone or tablet.

While it may seem like you’ll always have a way to keep your devices charged, that may not always be the case. What if you are at a sporting event and you are using your phone or tablet heavily? I know I’ve watched my battery zoom towards empty in those situations. With something like this, you can keep the juice flowing. Of course it would also be great if you have gone camping or someplace else where you don’t have power.