7 craziest things connected to the Internet

Cows. Crops. Sewers. Thanks to the 'Internet of Things' trend, the world is now full of crazy, wirelessly connected stuff. Here are some of the wildest.

Christmas trees

gallery connected things

This Lonely Christmas Tree brings the season's greetings by lighting up when its owner receives a YouTube comment or an e-mail. The festive little pine is the brainchild of Make magazine freelance writer Matt Richardson.

"I was just talking to a friend one day about making things online, and we were joking about what would cheer up a lonely Christmas tree," Richardson says. "It's a neat sort of proof-of-concept project to show how you can connect really anything to the Internet these days."

Richardson used Arduino, an open-source programming language and microcontroller used in many "Internet of Things" devices, to connect his tree to the Internet.

"I'm kind of a geeky guy and I like to mess around with code," says Richardson, who is currently studying for his master's at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. "But even for people who don't have the technical know-how, it's getting easier every day."

  @julpepitone - Last updated September 18 2012 09:05 AM ET

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