Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Klip Kids - Teaching and Time Out Timer
Posted in:
The Erase-o-Matic degausser uses rare earth magnets enclosed in a specially formulated case to zap magnetic data media such as diskettes, cassettes, VHS, zip drives and all that kind of stuff. Its bigger brother will do for larger media and hard drives. Are we allowed to say we love the name? It’s so…homely isn’t it? Like Robbie the Robot and Lassie. OK, enough of that. The base version is priced at $395.00. zzzzztpfffzsttzing.
All tapes should be passed once then rotated 180 degrees and passed again. A hard drive (end A first) should be passed once, rotated 180 degrees and passed again, then (with end B first) pass it again , rotate 180 degrees and pass again. These multiple passes will ensure that all portions of the media will receive maximum exposure to the powerful magnets within the media pathway.
posted by Nigel
Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 7:41 am
Previous Post: Klip Kids - Teaching and Time Out Timer
Previous Post: Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car - not just green but awesomely open source too
Next Post: Erase-o-Matic - the simple, silent, zero power data zapper
Posted in:
Klip! Kids is a timer for disciplining teaching children. After you shove them in the naughty cupboard under the stairs you can make sure you’ve really locked them in there for an hour using this timer. Easy to hold, big display, alarm, stopwatch and clock. Just program in a countdown and it will be displayed via numbers and the large bar graphic. It can be stuck on the fridge with the included magnet and needs one CR2016 watch battery. US$19.95
This slim, personal timer is designed with the busy parent in mind and features fun, kid-friendly colors and an hourglass shape that’s easy for small hands to grasp. Features a built-in belt clip and detachable lanyard for easy carrying. It’s light enough to throw in mom’s purse for road trips and outings or store it conveniently at home using the matching stand (included) or fridge magnet
Tags: gadget, gadgets+for+kids, klip+kids
posted by Dan
@ 7:39 am
Previous Post: Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car - not just green but awesomely open source too
Next Post: Erase-o-Matic - the simple, silent, zero power data zapper
Previous Post: Twaitter - Twitter scheduling platform
Next Post: Klip Kids - Teaching and Time Out Timer
Posted in:
The Riversimple car may look a bit like a Batmobile that’s shrunk in the wash, but this tiny vehicle may well change the way cars are made in future times. It’s not just the fact that it’s a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that you can’t buy, but only lease (with fuel).
Nor even that it is aimed at car clubs rather than individuals in order to try and reduce the total number of vehicles on the road. Nope, the big thing is the company’s desire to encourage open source principles to apply to the manufacture and design of the product. Pop along to the wiki pages at 40Fires and you’ll be invited to contribute to make the whole thing a better mousetrap.
To say that we’re impressed is an understatement. The root designs are all Creative Commons licensed, although at the moment you’re not allowed to set up a commercial operation using them (in order to stop big muscle bound conglomerates taking over). They’re planning on charging a paltry $10.00 for a manufacturing license to cover costs as well. You go for it guys, this is an awesome idea, and let’s hope it really takes off in a big way.
The licensing issues are very complex (patent law is not copyright law; cars are not software) and we don’t pretend to have all the answers. It is quite possible that our license may in the end not meet the strict requirements of the Free Software Foundation. But all we really care about is that the license works to ensure that the cars can be built in hundreds of different variations around the world, by local companies and entrepreneurs as well as big multinationals if they like, and that no one company (whether Ford or Riversimple) can dominate the market and keep the ideas to itself.
posted by Nigel
@ 7:39 am
Previous Post: Twaitter - Twitter scheduling platform
Next Post: Klip Kids - Teaching and Time Out Timer
Previous Post: Design Your Own Fragrance - make like a pro perfumier at home
Next Post: Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car - not just green but awesomely open source too
Posted in:
Twaitter is a tweet scheduling program for Twitter. Your scheduled tweets (aka Twaits) can be set to go out at a certain time, or you can schedule recurring tweets … for whatever reason. There’s also a calendar app that shows you when you sent all your tweets providing you used the Twaitter client. Twaitter will also check your spelling, translate or add shortened URLs. They are also working on an RSS Feed for the client.
Perfect Timing: Ever had an idea for a tweet, but wanted to wait to send it at a specific time? With our enthusiasm (unhealthy addiction) for Twitter combined with our gallant attempt at adding enhancements to the Twitter platform, we know you’ll “love” to Twitter on Twaitter.
Tags: twaitter, twitter+client, twitter+scheduler
posted by Dan
@ 7:38 am
I use Twaitter every day to promote my business on Twitter. The site is really easy to use and free! They are putting together a pro package that I'll probably upgrade to.
Comment by Jason D Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Previous Post: Design Your Own Fragrance - make like a pro perfumier at home
Next Post: Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car - not just green but awesomely open source too
Previous Post: Shapeways Stampmaker - design your own stamps
Next Post: Twaitter - Twitter scheduling platform
Posted in:
This Design Your Own Fragrance Kit comes with everything you’ll need to create your own special smells, except taste, style and a nose worth anything more than picking. It comes with six fragrances in the box and you can, of course, buy more if you find your talent leading to greater things. We can’t help thinking that one of these kits plus a good long read of Basenotes, the website which lists the components of over 13,000 perfumes, might indeed help you turn into the new Coco Chanel. Or maybe not.
Simply dip the blotters into the blend bottles and give them a sniff. Once you’ve selected two you like, make a fan with the blotters and waft them around. This changes the aroma dramatically and gives you an idea of the scent that would be created if you combined both blends. Try several combinations, adding and removing blotters as you go. Once you’ve chosen your favourites, calculate how many millimetres of each blend you require to fill the 20ml atomiser. You can even make up a name for your new concoction…
posted by Nigel
@ 7:37 am
Previous Post: Shapeways Stampmaker - design your own stamps
Next Post: Twaitter - Twitter scheduling platform
Previous Post: Read It Later - super web page bookmark tool looks fab
Next Post: Design Your Own Fragrance - make like a pro perfumier at home
Posted in:
Shapeways is a 3D printing website that can make pretty much anything you can design. They have just expanded their repertoire into stamps with Stampmaker. Stampmaker takes any type of grayscale image and turns it into a bump map. the brightest parts become the raised bits of the stamp, the darkest parts are the base. The finished stamp is 9cm × 13 cm and costs US$25.
With the Stampmaker you can turn your digital images to stamps and stamp everywhere and anywhere. Turn your drawings, your photos or any vector graphic into a stamp.
Tags: stampmaker, design+your+own+stamps, make+your+own+stamps, diy+stamps
posted by Dan
@ 7:36 am
Previous Post: Read It Later - super web page bookmark tool looks fab
Next Post: Design Your Own Fragrance - make like a pro perfumier at home
Previous Post: PDF Pirate - lawsuit waiting to happen perhaps?
Next Post: Shapeways Stampmaker - design your own stamps
Posted in:
Dan alerted me to the most wonderful Read It Later bookmarking tool and I’ve got to say it looks superb. Think of it as a bookmark manager on steroids and you’ve got the picture. Install it into your browser or iPhone and one click saves the page for future access. In default mode it just saves the URL, but check the ‘offline’ mode box and every page you select will also be saved locally on your hard disk.
The advantage of this is you have two choices of access, either centralised, so you can access your reading list from any computer anywhere with a browser, or locally if you fear the information is likely to disappear or you don’t have a net connection, say on a plane. Unfortunately it’s not quite as sophisticated as the most wonderful Scrapbook plugin for Firefox, which will save all the formatting and layout in a literal snapshot, but for simple offline reading and research it’s certainly a rather cool tool.
It would definitely benefit significantly from a folders option, so you could save different categories of content in separate folders. But that’s bound to come sooner or later. It also has a neat synch feature which lets you synchronise the central repository with any of your devices, which is very useful for home/work life balance. And of course there’s tagging, sorting and searching. Oh and did we mention ‘save all tabs’? Nice.
Read It Later allows you to save pages to read later. It eliminates cluttering of bookmarks with sites that are merely of a one-time interest.
posted by Nigel
@ 7:35 am
The trick Nigel, is to use it with the Firefox bookmark manager as well so when you add something to Read It Later, you can also add a filter tag.
It's very easy, just use the icons on the URL bar, the Red Tick saves it to Read it Later, then click the yellow star and add a filter tag to the bookmark entry. Then when you come to read your entries, use the drop Read It Later icon and enter whatever filter you like.
Have a look here under Sorting, Searching and Tagging: http://readitlaterlist.com/firefox/
Thanks for the offline site tip, didn't know about that one.
Comment by Dan Ferris Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 8:05 am
Hmm…a bit fiddly? :)
Comment by Nigel Powell Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 8:39 am
Previous Post: PDF Pirate - lawsuit waiting to happen perhaps?
Next Post: Shapeways Stampmaker - design your own stamps
Previous Post: Cubicle Door Stickers - bring some stylish privacy into your drab grey life
Next Post: Read It Later - super web page bookmark tool looks fab
Posted in:
PDF Pirate looks to us like trouble brewing a-plenty. What does it do? Well apparently it removes all protection from PDF files. We haven’t tried it because we’re good boys and girls, but we’re sure that someone will spend time on there. Probably some Adobe lawyers.
pdfpirate.net – free, online and no limits pdf restrictions remover
posted by Nigel
@ 7:33 am
There are also open source PDF viewers that can be rigged to ignore the relevant flags.
Comment by Mynameistoolong Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 2:23 pm
some useful app we've got here
Comment by markp Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 3:20 pm
sucks
Comment by har Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 9:39 pm
Previous Post: Cubicle Door Stickers - bring some stylish privacy into your drab grey life
Next Post: Read It Later - super web page bookmark tool looks fab
Previous Post: Yakkay - the bicycle helmet that thinks it’s a hat
Next Post: PDF Pirate - lawsuit waiting to happen perhaps?
Posted in:
These Cubicle Door Stickers are designed to give your cubbyhole a touch of class and style. Why settle for a gaping entrance hole, when you can add a full set of door trimmings and have people wait humbly in the corridor for you to summon them forth? Well that’s the idea anyway. Combine this with a 4000 volt electro-shock welcome mat and you’ll be golden. Or fired. $5.99.
Just stick some Cubicle Door Lock Stickers to your boring cubicle wall, and suddenly it will appear you have a door. Each set includes a few different locks, some peepholes, and even a doorbell button. The first time someone pauses before entering your cubicle to wonder if they should ring your doorbell, you’ll know you have gained a few more power bars. Eventually, your power in the office will grow and grow and you’ll have a real office with a real door - all because of your investment in some Cubicle Door Lock Stickers.
posted by Nigel
Wed 01 Jul 2009 @ 11:51 am
Previous Post: Yakkay - the bicycle helmet that thinks it’s a hat
Next Post: PDF Pirate - lawsuit waiting to happen perhaps?
Previous Post: Doppelganger Robots - twin yourself with a mechanical buddy, buddy
Next Post: Cubicle Door Stickers - bring some stylish privacy into your drab grey life
Posted in:
The Yakkay Bicycle Helmet from Denmark, comes in two parts. The hard bit which protects your noggin from damage and a cute cover part which lets you style the thing to resemble a normal hat. We’re particularly taken with the pink ladies version, which reminds us of a time when men were men and tiffin on the lawn meant cucumber sandwiches and cream. Or something. The optional ear warmers are a nice touch too, and we like the fact you can change covers on a whim or to match your outfit. Priced at £90/€105/$145.00 complete.
One YAKKAY cycle helmet can be fitted with any of a range of stylish covers, making it a fur hat, a peaked cap, a sun hat – each in several different colours and fabrics. Yakkay Smart One helmet no coverYAKKAY’s Smart One helmet is certified to the tough European helmet safety standard EN1078 and can be worn without a cover
posted by Nigel
@ 11:42 am
Previous Post: Doppelganger Robots - twin yourself with a mechanical buddy, buddy
Next Post: Cubicle Door Stickers - bring some stylish privacy into your drab grey life
Previous Post: Fat Free CRM - cool open source customer management tool
Next Post: Yakkay - the bicycle helmet that thinks it’s a hat
Posted in:
The Xian Chaoren Sculpture Research Institute in China makes customised doppleganger robots aka your very own android twin. I think the heads and eyes move, or something like that. Apparently they’re popular with museums, exhibitions and egocentric billionaires. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that Dave”. Riiight.
Xian Chaoren is rated as a Model Company by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Arts. It is the first and the largest Chinese company to specialize in simulated silica gel figures (super-realistic sculptures). Its work has filled the void of super-realistic sculptural arts in China. Its artistic work and craftsmanship have reached an advance level in the world. Xian Chaoren injects fresh energyi nto the museum displaying, design and production industry.
posted by Nigel
@ 11:25 am
Previous Post: Fat Free CRM - cool open source customer management tool
Next Post: Yakkay - the bicycle helmet that thinks it’s a hat
Previous Post: 2D Driving Simulator for Google Maps - Get lost
Next Post: Doppelganger Robots - twin yourself with a mechanical buddy, buddy
Posted in:
Fat Free CRM is a new free open source customer relationship management (CRM) tool which looks rather nice. It features group collaboration, task management complete with scheduling and overdo listings. Throw in stuff like lead management and a snazzy contacts function and you’ve got a pretty nice piece of software all round. Small companies should take note.
Fat Free CRM is open source Ruby on Rails-based customer relationship management platform. Out of the box it features group collaboration through task assignments, campaign and lead management, contact lists, and opportunity tracking.
posted by Nigel
@ 10:12 am
Previous Post: 2D Driving Simulator for Google Maps - Get lost
Next Post: Doppelganger Robots - twin yourself with a mechanical buddy, buddy
Previous Post: Caterpillar D7E - Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bulldozer
Next Post: Fat Free CRM - cool open source customer management tool
Posted in:
If Ships is too slow for you then take a spin through the city of your choice with this 2D Driving Simulator for Google Maps. You’ve got a choice of driving a car, truck, bus or big rig and it’s complete with turn indicators, odometer, speedometer (your choice of units) and either maps, photos or both. Chose your city and floor it. Hours of fun.
This is a top down view automobile simulator (well, something like that) powered by Google Maps API for Flash. You can drive around the world without gas :)
Tags: 2d+driving+simulator+google+maps, google+maps+api
posted by Dan
@ 9:13 am
I'll billing you for the half an hour I just wasted on this :D
Comment by Chris - LG BLog UK Wed 01 Jul 2009 @ 3:04 pm
It is weirdly fun isn't it?
Comment by Dan Ferris Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 12:01 am
Previous Post: Caterpillar D7E - Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bulldozer
Next Post: Fat Free CRM - cool open source customer management tool
Previous Post: Universal Device Car Mount - too many things, not enough windshield…
Next Post: 2D Driving Simulator for Google Maps - Get lost
Posted in:
Just because your vehicle weighs 25 tonnes and demolishes hills and forests doesn’t mean it can’t be environmentally responsible. The Caterpillar D7E (warning Flash website) is a diesel-electric “hybrid” bulldozer. Diesel-electric heavy machinery is pretty much de rigueur for those huge mining dump trucks and large locomotives, however it is new for bulldozers.
Caterpillar claim the D7E is 25% more efficient at moving material than the equivalent D7R. The hybrid design also means that it does away with the driveshaft, a bunch of clutches and all those stupid engine belts that need replacing. Less parts mean less transfer losses and less friction. The engine is slightly smaller than the equivalent D7R so the savings turn out to be about 24 L of fuel/hour over 8 hours and a 10% increase in efficiency. The design of the D7E has also been streamlined so that it can be rebuilt and reconditioned more easily, effectively recycling the whole thing.
The D7E is designed to consume fewer resources during its working life. That helps your business cut costs…and it helps protect the environment while preserving valuable resources for future generations.
Tags: d7e, caterpillar+d7e, diesel+electric+bulldozer, hybrid+bulldozer
posted by Dan
@ 8:56 am
You can see more on http://www.mycattv.com ! It was shown in Paris a few months ago!
Comment by David Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 9:29 am
Previous Post: Universal Device Car Mount - too many things, not enough windshield…
Next Post: 2D Driving Simulator for Google Maps - Get lost
Previous Post: Skype Travel Mouse - click, scroll and chat
Next Post: Caterpillar D7E - Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bulldozer
Posted in:
I think it’s safe to say if you own one of these Universal Device Car Mount thingies, then you’ve probably got too many toys. Get rid of some. Sort your life out, you sad poppet. And that tiny sucker looks a bit feeble to me, so make sure your gadget insurance is up to date. You may also have trouble actually seeing out of the front glass once the thing is installed, but hey, it’s a small price to pay for street level flaunting, isn’t it? $29.99.
The most practical and convenient in-car holder on the market has just got even more convenient as it is now available with TRIPLE goosenecks. This allows mounting of THREE items at the same time so that it can hold a mobile phone and a sat-nav device and MP3… simultaneously. A strong suction mount allows the holder to be easily installed or removed on the inside of a windscreen within seconds and it can be set in the preferred position by adjusting the flexible goosenecks.
posted by Nigel
Tue 30 Jun 2009 @ 7:59 am
Just wait a couple of months because TomTom will have a single fitting for the car that will hold your iPhone and a GPS app also. You do know, that an iPhone is a - phone - an MP3 player - and soon to be a fully fledged GPS unit, among other things, don't you?
What's that sirron?
Your iPhone can't do it now for free? ;-)
Comment by Dan Ferris Wed 01 Jul 2009 @ 7:43 am
The new TomTom app, will be sold with a car mount which will also charge the iPhone and maybe play music through your car's speakers. I don't believe my iPhone (original version) Does GPS for free. You must be an Obama user.
Ron, be nice or be banned!
Comment by Nigel Powell Wed 01 Jul 2009 @ 1:13 pm
Touchy - touchy. PC is getting too much in this day and age. I am nice. Trust me.
Previous Post: Skype Travel Mouse - click, scroll and chat
Next Post: Caterpillar D7E - Diesel-Electric Hybrid Bulldozer
Previous Post: iPlayer - hardware video decoder for the Nintendo DS
Next Post: Universal Device Car Mount - too many things, not enough windshield…
Posted in:
There’s only one thing better than a Skype Mouse and that’s a Skype Travel Mouse. This 800dpi USB mouse is also a VoIP slide-action handset with an LCD screen and keypad. It has a built-in mic and speaker with volume control so you can use it as a speaker phone or it can belt out your tunes when you’re not yakking. Don’t worry, you’ll only look slightly dorky talking into you mouse. AU$49.24.
This Skype Travel Mouse can not only be used as a mouse, but also can be used as a VoIP phone. You can also use the phone as a speakerphone, allowing for hands-free operation. This is a great solution for the computer user who uses Skype or another VoIP tool.
Tags: gadget, voip+phone+mouse, usb+mouse+voip+phone, skype+mouse+phone, skype+travel+mouse
posted by Dan
@ 7:55 am
Previous Post: iPlayer - hardware video decoder for the Nintendo DS
Next Post: Universal Device Car Mount - too many things, not enough windshield…
Previous Post: Heavy Metal Nut Cracker - minimalist nut cracker
Next Post: Skype Travel Mouse - click, scroll and chat
Posted in:
The iPlayer is a media player cartridge for the Nintendo DS, DSi and DS Lite. Instead of having to recode your video in order for the DS to play it, the iPlayer has an onboard video decoder chip that does all the work for you.
It can play pretty much any format including; avi, mov, RealPlayer, wmv, DivX, Flash, 3GP, asf and mpeg. It will play anything up to 640×480 reliably, higher resolutions may cause choppiness. It can also play most audio formats. It comes with a microSD-to-USB adapter dongle so you can easily upload your files to microSD (microSDHC up to 32Gb) and stick them into the DS via the iPlayer. No word on prices or where to buy them yet, but keep an eye out.
The name “iPlayer” means to play movies and musics. iPlayer is a media player card for Nintendo DS users, which is designed with a high-performance decoder chip inside, allowing hardware decoding, will be able to play the main format of videos directly without converting.
Tags: gadget, iplayer, video+player+nintendo+ds, ds+video+hardware+decoder
posted by Dan
@ 7:50 am
Previous Post: Heavy Metal Nut Cracker - minimalist nut cracker
Next Post: Skype Travel Mouse - click, scroll and chat
Previous Post: Bit.ly Creator - Firefox plugin lets you shorten long URLs with smarts
Next Post: iPlayer - hardware video decoder for the Nintendo DS
Posted in:
Somewhere in the dim, dark past an ancestor of someone’s picked up a rock and smashed open a walnut. Now you can relive that historical moment with the Heavy Metal Nutcracker. It’s powered by gravity so if the batteries go flat you’ve got other issues, the ball is in a cage so you won’t lose it, it looks good sitting on a desk and won’t get tangled like Newton’s Cradle. Bargain, €34.99.
A design deliberately kept simple and very tactile to use, the Heavy Metal Nutcracker works on the principle of gravity. To use, just raise the large, smooth steel ball to the top of the U-brackets. Then let it fall, and feel a sense of satisfaction as you watch and hear is it crack open the nut, waiting on the base below.
Tags: gadget, nut+cracker, heavy+metal+nut+cracker
posted by Dan
@ 7:40 am
Previous Post: Bit.ly Creator - Firefox plugin lets you shorten long URLs with smarts
Next Post: iPlayer - hardware video decoder for the Nintendo DS
Previous Post: 7 Types of Amazing Invisible Ink - and how to use them…
Next Post: Heavy Metal Nut Cracker - minimalist nut cracker
Posted in:
Bit.ly Creator is a neat Firefox plugin that lets you quickly turn a long page URL into a short one, just by clicking on an icon on your Firefox menu bar. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to link the shortened URL to your bit.ly account dashboard so you can’t track link use once created, which sort of defeats the purpose of the whole exercise. Nevertheless it’s a pretty cool add-on.
This add-on gives you easy access to the http://bit.ly/ URL shortening service via a toolbar button, the tools menu or the main context menu. The currently opened URL, that of a selected link or a selected URL in any text field can be shortened. The resulting URL will be automatically stored in the clipboard (can be disabled).
posted by Nigel
@ 7:35 am
Previous Post: 7 Types of Amazing Invisible Ink - and how to use them…
Next Post: Heavy Metal Nut Cracker - minimalist nut cracker
Previous Post: US Debt Clock - don’t look!
Next Post: Bit.ly Creator - Firefox plugin lets you shorten long URLs with smarts
Posted in:
Yo secret freaks. Here’s 7 Types of Amazing Invisible Ink for your delectation. With instructions for use. Vinegar and red cabbage? Really? Outstanding.
Hundreds of liquids, from fruit juices to specially formulated chemicals, can be used as invisible ink. Here we explore six [sic] of the most interesting and accessible types. We hope you’ll be inspired to make your own invisible ink at home. With a bit of practice, you too can become a master of steganography (which is the art of writing hidden messages, in case you didn’t know that already!)
posted by Nigel
@ 7:33 am
Previous Post: US Debt Clock - don’t look!
Next Post: Bit.ly Creator - Firefox plugin lets you shorten long URLs with smarts
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Seems a tad expensive!
Comment by Steve Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 6:18 pm
Hmm… Don't use diskettes or zip drives anymore. That leaves tapes, easily destructible by other means. Wouldn't really trust it on hard drives, plus for $395, I can get in a lot of frustration reducing whacks with my short handle 4 lb sledge and anvil.
Take that for all the years of PITA, computer, WHAM!
Comment by sean Thu 02 Jul 2009 @ 9:34 pm