Earlier this year we had "Paranoid" Now we have Alexagate Both are devices that disable the microphones on Alexa and Google Home devices, adding an additional cost to smart home convenience in the name of privacy

The Alexagate, like the Paranoid Home Wave, attaches to the Amazon Echo device and interferes with the microphone by emitting a loud ultrasonic wave that is out of human hearing range, but probably out of the hearing range of your dog However, the Alexa Gate costs $99, twice as much as the three $49 Paranoid devices and the Echo Dot

That may be because, like the infomercial Clapper of the past, Alexagate can be turned off and on with three loud claps In other words, if you want Alexa to dim the lights or open the door, clap three times and voila! Amazon's voice assistant will start listening to you again [You can also turn off the Amazon Echo's microphone

Alexagate is made by Brooklyn-based MSCHF, which seems to specialize in quirky and annoying tech gadgets and stunts

Shirts made of other brands' logos, a Chrome extension that lets you watch Netflix at work disguised as a conference call, a bong made of squealing rubber chickens, a Cuss Collar, "a collar that makes your dog yell abuse every time it barks," all of "The Office Slack channel that recreates every episode of "The Office," and more (Business Insider ran a fun profile of the company a few months ago)

MSCHF's website is worth checking out if only for its impressive artistic industrial reimagining of how a site should behave As for whether you should buy the $99 Alexagate along with the $49 Echo Dot, that's up to you