X-Setup from Xtec is a mega Windows customiser utility, with which you can alter just about every part of your Windows installation. It’s free for home use and will let you customise over 750 different Windows settings, including Internet Explorer, Office and things like network settings. A very cool utility indeed, although you may want to be careful with some it’s more powerful tweaking abilities. Works with all current Windows versions.

Celestia is an absolutely fab space exploration proglet – or 3D space simulator as they call it – which lets you zoom around the universe as though you were in your very own Starship Enterprise. Of course you won’t be able to blow anything or anyone up or anything like that, but still and all the views of Pluto and assorted planets are stunningly done. And it’s free.

I’m not a Mac person, but this ‘ere OmniWeb certainly looks like a nice browser to be going on with. It appears to have a load of nice features and looks, of course, absolutely gorgeous. Check it out, Apple folks.

A short tale. I was at a press party the other night, and working the room taking snaps of the attendees was a professional photographer. In his hands was a rather splendid looking Nikon D1x digital camera. Naturally curiosity got the better of me – even though I’m a Ferret and not a cat – and I asked him what he thought of his toy. His words should send a chill down the 35mm film camera industry. “I love it,…

Gully’s Aqua Tank is a PC with difference – it’s got a fully functional fish tank (complete with teeny guppies) installed in the top section. If you have to ask why, then you obviously (sheesh!) don’t get the point of case modding. Actually, it is a bit weird I suppose, but no worse than trick painting the side of your Transit van (and whatever happened to custom cars anyway?) There are no reports on whether it was necessary to install…

One day we will all be able to plug any device into an Internet port and log on instantly with no configuration, setup or other dismal hassles. How do I know? Well these people are working on it, and if they manage to bring it off they will be my heroes. :-)

Here’s a small article suggesting that the Web is more than a little bit distracting when you’re trying to get work done. Hmm, yes. Of course the words – Excuse. Avoidance. Work. and Obvious. do spring to mind here. Just to prove the point, why not visit the rather funny but totally useless clickonthisstupidwebsite.com? You know you’ll regret it.

What the Font (sic) is a neat little resource for graphic designers who come across a font they like and need to identify it quickly. Simply upload a scan of said font onto the site and it will be compared against their database to hopefully provide a match.

OK, I’m really really trying to figure out why you would want one of these puppies, and it’s not working. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good application for a mouse pad on a screen the size of a walnut, but I can’t think of it. Anyway just in case you have better luck than me, here’s the Targus PDA Mouse. [Via Twomobile]]

Apparently a Russian space shuttle (cloned from the US I believe) is to be auctioned this month by a Los Angeles radio station. Not sure whether it’s a spoof or not (or whether this has…er…Russian approval) but it’s a kooky story, if only to try and work out who would possibly want to buy the thing. It would certainly be one way to out-do the Jones’ in Beverly Hills I suppose. [Via Slashdot]]

Got a Palm or PocketPC PDA? Need a watch? Then why not check out the Fossil PDA watch. This $145.00 device is billed as the ultimate PDA companion, which basically means that you can upload information from the PDA into the watch using their infra red ports. Address books, to-do lists, calendars and memo pad data are all supported, although it looks as though there’s not much you can do with it once it has been loaded onto the watch…

A quite spooky but illuminating look at the effects of the drug Ecstasy on the brain. Apart from anything else, this clever graphical slideshow provides a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious mechanical workings of our grey matter. If you have ever wondered how your brain interacts with your emotions you should watch this and learn.

Light up the World is a nice initiative to help provide low cost lighting for the developing world using white LEDs. Apparently this technology is very efficient and has minimal power requirements, which makes it perfect for illuminating the needy third world. It’s kind of sad that here we are in the 21st century and still there are whole swathes of the planet which do not have this most basic of facilities.

So tell me, why would you want to place a pub in your garden? Maybe because you have no friends? Or maybe because you need more? Anyway for all those with too much money – around �8000.00 it seems – and liitle desire to leave the comfort of their own home, we present the Keenmac Smok’n Salmon Garden Pub.