The Red Ferret Journal

The Taga Trike Baby Stroller combines the clunky utility of an urban tricycle with the darn useful convertibility of a baby buggy. So now mum can ride to the shops, get off, do a quickie conversion and push baby round the store without having to break stride. Almost.

The video makes it look almost too easy (note how they make a strategic cut during the switch) but there’s no doubt that it’s got a whole load of usefulness packed into the concept there. You can even stealth it onto a train or bus. The only thing missing is a funky basket for all the shopping. Priced at £1,495.00 and available in a variety of colours.

This Stylophone Beatbox is as ugly dull as its forbears, but we had to feature it because of one thing. The crazy face marketing video. It’s got to be one of the funniest product promos we’ve seen in a while. Awesome lads. (btw snark aside, it looks like a fun machine).

T.E.D. – Torrent Episode Downloader – is a free program for TV junkies who need to keep up to date with their favourite programs. Missed an episode? No problem, just fire up TED, add the show and it will automatically hunt out and download the Torrent file so you can play catch up viewer later on. Marvellous.

2012: End of the World? The scientists and New Age folk square off in this cleverly done visual map of the arguments for and against a coming cataclysm. You may have your own view, you may not. This will do nothing to change your opinion, but you may find it interesting. Or not.

[PS: the new movie 2012? Paf! Not so much information, more like candy floss. Sugar sweet and instantly forgettable.]

A short request to the PR folk out there. Please don’t send us any more press releases relating to:

a) Gadget cases. Have you any idea at all just how AWFUL these things are? What, they keep your handheld warm, cosy, safe and BORING??

b) iPhone stands. Who cares? No really.

c) Plastic screen protectors for cell phones. Mind numbingly dreary.

d) iPod docks. Ditto. Unless they’re nuclear powered and come with a signed copy of The Audacity of Pope.

e) Cutesy USB flash drives. Double Ditto. We’ll look at the ones with an integrated pancake maker, but that’s it.

f) Anything really boring that you’ve decided will sound better with Xmas in front of the name. Like The Xmas Furby. Or similar.

We know you’ve got a job to do, life is difficult and clients are demanding pigs. But do have a heart. Please.

Let’s face it, if you’re an Internet retailer there’s no way you’re going to lose out by selling a geeky toy for your pet kitten is there? Cue the Bolt Interactive Pet Laser Toy, a magnificently technical piece of…um…technology which guarantees to entrance your little furry friend for all of 10 minutes or until the sound of a can being opened occurs, whichever comes first. Bonus points for including an automatic mode. $19.99.

The eBoard Neo is a new electric skateboard which accelerates from 0–20 mph in 4 seconds. Which is strange since it has a top speed of 14mph. Mmm…’K, whatever. Range is 13 miles and it’ll take you around 4 hours to recharge the thing. Dunno about you, but I’m not too sure I’d enjoy propelling myself around the planet at 14 miles every hour on a plank of wood. Especially on our infamously dodgy paved streets and walkways.

The ClimbStation is a computer controlled motorised climbing simulator, which provides custom flavoured climbing for all-comers. Not only does it offer various levels of difficulty (up to 12 levels), but the touchscreen interface also provides feedback on calories burned and toe-nails lost. Or something. The unit is priced from €29,900, which is probably cheaper than buying a mountain.

SIM Book. Oh look, it’s a contact address book which is designed to look like a large SIM card. How clever. I guess that’s to make sure you remember it’s for your friend’s phone numbers, address and stuff rather than their hat sizes. Now if only the thing made phone calls too. Priced at £3.49.

TV-Browser is a free web browser based Electric Program Guide (EPG) which comes with all the smarts you need to track and manage your television viewing from day to day and month to month. To say it’s chock full of features is an understatement, from reminders to favourites to ratings and multi-lingual support. The only slight problem is the interface which feels as if it was born back when 8–bit was the state of the art. You almost expect the thing to go beep every so often.

Anyhoo, design is a very subjective matter as we all know, and that aside, there’s no doubt that this is just about the best free EPG out there at the moment. It installs your local/national channels faultlessly, offers a lovely set of customisations and really comes across as very useful indeed. Oh and it supports plugins too as the icing on the cake. If you’re feeling the need to take more control of your PVR viewing experience, then this software is definitely something you should download.

Here’s a selection of 7 Fun Games Which Are Also Good for the Brain. What, puzzle based casual games which are fun to play, and yet exercise the brain? Sounds too good to be true, don’t it? But actually it’s true, they are definitely cool games and they do make you think a bit. Which is Good!

There’s no reason why maps should be boring, and Worldmapper proves it. The idea is to deliver a range of maps – over 700 in fact – which reflect interesting datasets, rather than just supplying bland generic information.

So for example there’s a map which focuses on population and has a bloated Asian section and a skinnier Europe and US to reflect the different population densities. It’s a clever way to grab a quick visual overview of a dataset. There are also animated maps on the site which are fascinating (click on the Income one for a bit of an eye-opener).