If you think your travel alarm clock is the most evil little invention on batteries, think again. Your travel alarm clock - that wicked little thing that rudely jolts you awake so you won’t miss an early-morning flight - is not evil enough, at least not to manufacturers. Unlike the meek travel alarm clocks of yore, today’s breed of alarm clocks are not only smaller and louder, they are capable of greater villainy.

Skeptical? Believe it or not, there are alarm clocks that not only wake you up, they make sure you wake up alert and angry. The Donation Alarm Clock is one good example. Each time you hit the snooze button, it donates gobs of cash to the charities you hate. Try hitting the snooze button eight times in a row and you just might discover your account emptied of the week’s savings. This is a good gift to give to perennial latecomers, and that friend who often loses his job because he always comes in two hours early - for the next workday.

Then, there’s the Sonic Bomb Clock which is exactly what it claims to be - a sonic bomb, only it doesn’t destroy buildings and decimates populations, it destroys your sleep. It can ring loud enough to wake the dead or, when turned mute, vibrate violently enough to fling you off the bed. With ringers on, the Sonic Bomb Clock will not just wake your daughter up, it will ensure the whole neighborhood wakes up with her, too.

And what of the cousin who sleeps like the dead? That same cousin who slept through a fire and would have certainly become barbecue if not for the firefighters who carried him out on their shoulders while he was in mid-snore? Get Cousin Ted the Flying Alarm Clock. Not only could it create the worst racket ever, the only way to turn it off is to run after it - no easy feat because the clock is configured to leap off the nightstand and jump about in the air.

Yes, the new generation of travel alarm clocks is capable of greater villainy, but they get the job done. Get your friends and family their bedrooms’ resident little evil now.