The Ferret loves virtual reality. That’s why the Ferret loves things like the Frames Direct Frame Finder Virtual Try-On. A digital photograph, an upload and speccy heaven. ‘Try on thousands of frames without leaving home.’

Retro Future. Ah, Smell-O-Vision and RocketMail. Those were the days! ‘The Retrofuture is a concept based on a simple question: what happened to all that futuristic stuff which was supposed to change our lives by the year 2000? Stuff like rocket belts, flying cars, food pills and inflatable homes…They all failed. But as they failed something new was born–an imaginary universe called Retrofuture, a place where implausible and unfeasible plans continue to live and thrive, where yesterday’s tomorrows are still…

So when is a Flash game not a Flash game? When it’s a new live online cattle auction [Flash] at Stampede Cattle. Gives a whole new meaning to the term flash fried, don’t it? ‘Since launching its real-time online cattle auctions…Superior Stampede has sold up to 30,000 head per month to a base of nearly 4,000 buyers nationwide…The auction features photographs and data for each lot, creative animation, a shot clock, live auctioneer and interactive bidding.’

Went to an eBay press day yesterday, and there, nestling amongst some rather funky items – like a swish Harley Davidson motorbike – that the company had brought in to show us, was this puppy. Lady Penelope’s original FAB 1 Rolls Royce model used in the Thunderbirds Are Go! movie. Now I may be daft, but I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would want to spend over �51,000/$90,000 (Reserve Not Met) for an 8 foot long,…

The Book Machine may be the kind of disruptive technology that does to the publishing and book retail business, what the Internet is doing to music. ‘The BookMachine is an automated device that can produce a soft-cover, perfect bound, standard-format book on customer demand within three to five minutes…the customer uses a touch screen display to select a book by author, title, subject matter or publisher…The textual content of the book is sent via satellite to the…BookMachine…The customer can now…

The Envirascape Rain Forest machine. I have to admit that when I first saw the pic of this I thought it was man sized, which would be super cool. Anyway, for those with work stress – and a very strong bladder – this could be a useful desk toy. ‘A relaxation fountain and sound machine in one. Sound Sensor� allows fountain colors to change according to the sounds in your environment. Rainfall can be adjusted from a gentle shower to…

The Electronic Pet Flea Exterminator. Got pet? Got fleas? Not any more ya don’t. �14.99. ‘This product emits an electronic charge strong enough to kill fleas on contact, yet so mild that your pet does not feel it. It is highly effective, practical and safe to use as no chemicals are used. To use you simply brush your pet�s hair with the comb and the fleas will instantly be killed on contact.’

Invis*****. Anonymous web blogging service. Not hugely user friendly, but hey…it’s free OK? ‘Once you’ve created your anonymous blog, you can post to it by signing your message with your PGP key, and sending the signed copy via…’ [Update: I’ve pulled the link. It may be a spoof or maybe not, but as Emily points out, it hosts a Diary of a Paedophile weblog.]

Super boffins at P2i in the UK have come up with a new liquid repelling material which can be coated onto consumer electronics like mobile phones, as well as clothing, glass, wood et al. The clever thing is that they’re using a plasma technology – which I completely do not understand – to apply the coating in nano-metre thicknesses. This makes it invisible, cheaper and more effective to apply, which I suppose means that it should actually work as advertised….

Picked up Woot! from Engadget’s adbox today. Interesting name and concept. They’re selling an $800.00 18″ LCD monitor for $499.00 today, so it may be worth a bookmark, although sales are strictly on a no support or comeback basis. ‘woot.com is an online store and community run by the employees of a 10 year old consumer electronics distributor…We sell 1 item per day until it is sold out or until 11:59pm central standard time…There is a maximum of 3 units…

Kick-Off! [Babel]. $194.00 ish. An automated computer crash monitor and restart gizmo. Plug your power cable into the dongle, the dongle into your USB port, and pop off for a cup of tea or something. If the gadget doesn’t sense any activity on the PC for a user specified time (e.g. 5 minutes), or it senses that an application has crashed, it will try to restart the machine automagically. Great for web servers and the like, eh?

Hold the press. 500 Nigerian 419 scammers arrested in Nigeria. Weak, greedy, gullible people all over the world relax at last.

Plastic Surgeon Review. Clearly an early work in progress, but fascinating nonetheless. Epinions for facelifts? ‘Did you recently have plastic surgery? Why not share your experience with the world? Write a review of your surgeon, let the world know about your plastic surgery outcome. Were you happy with the outcome of your surgery?’

Windsave. Wind power for the ordinary householder. ‘Windsave has developed a unique slow turn generator which provides supplementary electricity from wind power at very low wind speeds, into properties without the need for batteries..it can be fitted to most buildings either as a single unit (e.g. houses) or as a multiple framework of units (e.g. for commercial premises).. by providing supplementary electricity into your mains the Plug ‘n’ Save system reduces the amount of electricity that you need to buy…

There is in this world, no question, a small and unremarked group of people who desperately need to exhibit power over their fellow man. We’ve all met them; traffic wardens, nightclub bouncers, bad tempered air stewardesses. Now, especially for them, the ultimate power symbol – the Professional Security Wand. Yes, now they too can stand at the front door of their home and wave down all comers for illicit metal with a supercilious air and a threatening glare. Oh the…