Monthly Archives: December 2007

cool tech December 21, 2007 posted by

IDE to SD Card Adapter – embed an SD/MMS slot in your desktop PC

This IDE to SD Card Adapter is a pretty cool way to embed an SD slot into your PC to read all those camera cards and stuff. You can even boot the system from the SD card if it has the relevant O/S on it. No drivers needed, the host simply sees the memory card as an IDE drive. Fantastico, eh?Terribly geek of course, but we still love it. $24.99.  The IDE To SD (MMC) / MS adapter is an…

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cool tech December 21, 2007 posted by

Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap – turn your digital SLR into a 3D camera

The Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap is a split frame beam splitter which mounts directly to the camera body. Once in place you effectively take two shots every time, which are adjusted automatically to produce a 3D effect when viewed through a conventional 3D viewer. Priced at around $93.00 for digital SLRs.  For the technically minded the 3D Cap has a matched pair of focusing lenses, focusing range from one meter to infinity. F/11 lenses, focal length 38 mm. The 3D Lens in…

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Bookmark This! December 21, 2007 posted by

BitNami – the pre-packaged open source software portal

BitNami is an open source software portal with a twist. All the software is packaged up into discrete installation bundles called ‘stacks’ which run in their own space and can be uninstalled just by deleting the files/folders. This makes it super easy for someone to install and test an open source program, like say WordPress or Drupal, on their local machine before going for a full on server install. It’s a great idea, which deserves to get more air play.  We’d…

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hmm..interesting December 21, 2007 posted by

Better Driving Please – report bad driving and make our society a safer place to be?

Better Driving Please is a new type of vigilante social network where you try and get someone put in jail for bad driving by reporting them to the site forums. Now granted there are a huge number of dorks out there driving like idiots, but I’m just not so sure how effective this is going to be in getting them stopped. One man’s bad driving is another man’s hustling to the office, and I’ve seen plenty of bad driving by…

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Bookmark This! December 21, 2007 posted by

Cryptainer LE – free encryption keeps your data safe and your mind at peace

Cryptainer LE. Free encryption software stores your private data in deeply secure containers on your disk. The program also provides a quick and easy encrypted mail service using your existing email client. Neat.  Cryptainer LE is a freeware utility from Cypherix. It is a 128 bit disk encryption software that is a “miniature” version of Cryptainer PE and Cryptainer. It creates encrypted containers (vaults) of upto 25 MB each to store any type of data. You can encrypt files and…

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Gadgets December 20, 2007 posted by

Eye-Vac Pro Electric Dustpan – stationary vacuum cleaner outwits Roomba

Eye-Vac Pro Electric Dustpan. OK, so here the idea is that you just focus on the sweeping, and the Pro will suck up your dirt when it gets close enough. No bending, straining or other stress on your poor body. Sound nice? Yeah well good. The thing turns on when debris comes within range of its sensors, comes with HEPA filters and also lets you know when it’s full. At which time, presumably, you have to bend down to empty…

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Gadgets December 20, 2007 posted by

180s JVC Earwarmer Headphones – warm ears, warm sounds

180s JVC Earwarmer Headphones. What to say? They’re earwarmers with integrated headphones. So…ah…they warm your ears. While you listen to your music. Does that about cover it for ya, or do you need more? £29.95.  Now you can battle the elements in comfort with these combined ear warmers and headphones for MP3 player, CD player or other portable audio device. The versatile Tec Stretch Earwarmer headphones fuse the warmth of ear warmers with the crystal clear sound of JVC headphones,…

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Gadgets December 20, 2007 posted by

Digital Talking Light Switch Cover – the night time messenger…click and listen

The Parrot Digital Messaging Light Switch Cover is a fascinating piece of kit. Replace an existing light switch cover with this puppy and you’ll get a light switch that replays a 20 second voice message when someone turns on the light. This could be hours of fun. “Don’t touch that fridge!”, “shut the door when you leave, dufus”, “I’ve left you and gone to Alaska to breed chickens”. That sort of thing. Not sure how useful it’s going to be…

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cool tech December 20, 2007 posted by

Japanese Virtual Makeover video technology – change appearance with the flick of a switch

The Japanese have apparently developed a new video technology that lets you experience a new virtual hair and make-up style makeover using just a camcorder and some clever software. This news clip is far too short – and Japanese sounding – to give us much detail, but the images speak for themselves. If anyone knows what the product is and a website location I’ll post the details here in an update. Tags: japanese+virtual+makeover+video, fashion, video

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Bookmark This! December 20, 2007 posted by

Summize – delivering public opinion on products for shoppers

Summize is an interesting new site which trawls the web sucking up reviews, opinions and reports on products which are then delivered as a simple set of icons and gradings. The aim is to remove the chore of hunting for product reviews and give a fast snapshot of public opinion on a product or service. The summaries are based on a simple colour coded chart icon which shows at a glance how users rated a product on sites like Amazon,…

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Bookmark This! December 20, 2007 posted by

Jacquie Lawson Greeting Cards – beautiful, elegant digital greetings

My friend Chris just sent me a Jacquie Lawson Christmas Card, and it’s fab. This English artist has a quaint olde style web site, a 15th century cottage, this kitchen table family business and a beautiful range of over 100 high quality e-cards that are worth the giving and the receiving. Delightful. Check out this Rocking Horse for instance.  Of course, an e-card service of this kind cannot be operated free of charge and to cover the enormous costs of servers and suchlike….

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Fun & Games December 19, 2007 posted by

USB Desktop B-Ball Arcade – it’s a slam dunk you laptop layabouts

The USB Desktop B-Ball Arcade runs off your computer’s USB power instead of using batteries. That’s because it’s clearly much easier to carry around a full blown Pentium 9 laptop with 20 inch screen and 102 key keyboard than a set of Duracell AA batteries. Anyone could tell that, you Luddite-addled dufii. $9.99.  Take a break from your work day or homework to get in some quality court time! Now you can play arcade basketball right at your desk with the…

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cool tech December 19, 2007 posted by

BandLuxe C120 HSDPA USB Dongle – add high speed mobile data to your laptop

BandLuxe C120 HSDPA USB Dongle. Apparently it’s the smallest HSDPA USB dongle in the world. Comes with some nice 4 colour LEDs, supports Mac, Linux and Windows and gives a stonking 7.2Mbps throughput at peak. Which is pretty darn fast my boy, you’ll need to be careful how you use all that raw untamed speed, because as you know with great power comes great responsi…[that’s enough – Ed]  HSDPA/WCDMA at 2100 HSDPA 7.2Mbps EDGE/GPRS/GSM at 850/900/1800/1900 USB interface Very attractive size – easy…

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hardware December 19, 2007 posted by

SentrySafe USB Fire Safe – the world’s first fire and water resistant data safe with USB connectivity

The SentrySafe USB Fire-Safe is the world’s first USB connected fire and water protected data safe. At last, a USB peripheral that is actually useful! The safe will protect up to 120 CDs and DVDs for 2 hours in intense heat ((up to 1850 degrees) and eight inches of water for 24 hours. The USB connection lets you keep your computer data backed up to a 2.5” hard drive inside the safe. Nice. $519.99.   * LCD electronic lock with programmable pin access and…

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