Monthly Archives: December 2006

Gadgets December 30, 2006 posted by

Railz Snowskate – from sidewalk to slush puppy

The Railz Snowskate is billed as a skateboard for snow. It comes with all the same terminology, trick tech specs and a small video to show us all how easy it is. Convinced yet? $89.95.  Take your skills from the asphalt to the snowy slopes with this transformed board. * Perform all your favorite skateboard tricks in the snow * Patented design skis and rails help to provide the pop for ollies and kickflips * Board comes with custom grip pad for…

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opinion piece December 30, 2006 posted by

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 1 – Dualphone 3088 for Skype

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 1 – DualPhone 3088 for Skype. Any product which delivers disruptive technology to the mass market gets our vote, and this home DECT phone is our numero uno top product choice for the year for just that reason. For the first time ever there’s a non-geeky, no computer way to make Skype calls at home, and better still, you can switch between Skype and your conventional landline calls at the touch of a button. Installation is…

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Gadgets December 29, 2006 posted by

Home Pizza Maker Oven – stone the doughs

The Home Pizza Maker Oven. Stone base, 3 temp controls, super fast warm up. It may not give you a ‘real’ pizza like the professionals, but it’s probably better than the alternative home cooking methods. £60.45.  The oven has a removable traditional stone base. This delivers intense heat, absorbing any moisture, ensuring your pizza has a crisp base right from the centre to the crust. # The stone can be removed, allowing you to insert the deep dish pan which makes…

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opinion piece December 29, 2006 posted by

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 2 – MojoPac

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 2 – MojoPac. Despite a raft of teething problems at launch, we have to give this software product a huge thumbs up for enabling seamless portable computing via flash memory devices. Just load up the program on your USB drive, iPod or other USB memory device and you can carry around a complete copy of your main computer environment from PC host to PC host. What makes this…

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Gadgets December 28, 2006 posted by

Color Changing Heat Indicator Spoons – ready cooked

These Heat Indicator Color Changing Spoons change colour at 120F when the food you’re heating in the microwave is hot. $9.50 for a set of three. [Via Stylehive]  These 3 colorful spoons are meant for microwave meal preparations only. Plastic spoons change color at (120 F) when food is hot. Simply heat, stir & serve. Spoon can remain in microwave while food heats, avoiding countertop mess. Heat resistant up to 250 F.

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opinion piece December 28, 2006 posted by

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 3 – PrinterAnywhere

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 3 – PrinterAnywhere. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones, even if the technology is super clever. This little software program lets you print your document on any printer in the world which is connected to the Internet via a computer running another instance of PrinterAnywhere. You can also share your home printer, so that friends and family can print documents or photos directly on your machine from…

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Gadgets December 27, 2006 posted by

Hero Waterproof Digital Wrist Camera – happy snapper

The Hero Waterproof Digital Wrist Camera. With 32MB of memory offering 360 photos we instantly realise that this is no way a high resolution camera, but hey any kind of image at 30 feet down must be interesting right? For some reason it also includes a self-timer. Hmm…not quite sure how that’s supposed to work down in the deeps. $79.95.  Shockproof and waterproof # Can be used up to 30 feet deep # Polycarbonate water housing protects the camera # Pivoting neoprene strap allows for on-the-fly photos…

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opinion piece December 27, 2006 posted by

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 4 – Plantronics Voyager Headset

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 4 – Plantronics Voyager 510 USB Headset. This Bluetooth headset can be used for both cell phone hands-free and for PC based VoIP calls, which makes it an extremely flexible and useful tool. Use it at your desktop to make wireless Skype or SIP calls as required, and then take it out with you as a paired headset for your mobile phone. It’s very lightweight, the audio quality is superb, and…

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general December 26, 2006 posted by

Talking Tapes – chat rub

Talking Tape. Rub your thumb nail along the ridges and listen to the message. Five different messages (‘congratulations’, ‘happy birthday’, etc) and 20 tapes to a pack for $19.58 (£9.99).  One method is to hold one end of the strip between your teeth. Then, when you run your nail along the strip you hear it talk, but no-one else does. Or you can stick one end of the strip to an inflated balloon or a paper cup using sticky tape….

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opinion piece December 26, 2006 posted by

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No. 5 – Vox For Skype

The Red Ferret Journal Top 5 Products of the Year 2006: No 5 – Vox For Skype. We’re only at the start of the global communications revolution, and leading the pack is the VoIP skillz of Skype and its family of add-ons. Vox For Skype gets our vote as a Product of the Year 2006 because it is the most complete version of the many Skype for mobile phone products on the market right now. It runs on any cell phone (no downloads) and gives you…

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announcement December 25, 2006 posted by

Happy Holidays to all our readers – wherever you are

A very very Happy Holidays to all our readers and friends, and a big thank you to our supporters in the blogosphere and beyond. Too many to list here, but you know who you are. We really appreciate your patronage, and look forward to many more hours of fun and laughter in the New Year. Pip pip! [We’re going to be running on a reduced format for a few days until the mince pies have started to settle down, so…

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Bizarre December 25, 2006 posted by

Ear Scratcher Elephant Strap – Japan: 1, World: 0

The Ear Scratcher Elephant Strap. Just weird. Too weird. [via Textually]  Fitting neatly atop your index finger, this elephant’s trunk is a slightly curled, conventionally styled ear scratcher. (Do they have ear scratchers in the US? It’s kinda like cleaning with a Q Tip but less disposable and more satisfying.) It’s made just short enough not to reach your eardrums, so you can scratch away without jeopardizing your hearing.

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reprise December 24, 2006 posted by

Ferret posts this week

Here’s a quick round-up of Ferrety posts from the past week for anyone who missed them. Enjoy. Potenco Pull Cord Power – pull for power without batteries – The Potenco Pull Cord Power System… RoadBox – vehicle accident camera – The RoadBox is a vehicle accident… AllSportGPS – turn your phone into a performance monitor – AllSportGPS turns your mobile… Humble Voice – artist community done right – Humble Voice. Somewhere deep in my… Arcaplay – community game site –…

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Gadgets December 23, 2006 posted by

iHome Water-Resistant Media Player Case – splish splash friendly

The iHome iH19 Water-Resistant Media Player Case.  Ferret reader Davin Peterson tells me off for always mentioning the iPod at the expense of other good alternative media players out there like the Creative Zen V Plus, and I’ve got to agree that the iPod is certainly not the only game in town, just the best marketed. Anyhoo, here’s a product which will hold them all, so no complaints on that score, eh? £59.99 from all good swimwear outlets (just kidding).  Take your…

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Bookmark This! December 23, 2006 posted by

Hobo – the ultra fast web app builder for Rails

Hobo is a super fast web app builder for Ruby on Rails which has just been launched by my good friend Tom Locke. It’s cool because it automates a lot of the Rails stuff, while at the same time offering enough power and flexibility to cope with any kind of customisation or styling that you may need. The screencast – which shows a complete classified advertising web application being built in 5 minutes – explains it a lot better than I can, and I…

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