Monthly Archives: January 2008

cool tech January 23, 2008 posted by

Powerstick – power from a USB port, transfered to your gadgets

Powerstick. Plug it into the nearest USB socket to fill it up with electricity. Then use the adapters to charge up your gadgets on the move. $69.95 with nine free connectors for most common devices and mobile phones. Juicetastic!  Double your talk time on your cellphone or listen to hundreds of extra songs. The Powerstick allows you to do what you have to do and more of what you want to do anytime, anywhere. EASY TO USE – Plug the Powerstick…

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Gadgets January 23, 2008 posted by

Non Non Radio Wave Shut Device – stop them eavesdropping on your chats

Non Non Radio Wave Shut Device. Quirkily named device shuts down the transmission of radio waves on the spy bug frequencies. Range ‘approx 10 tatami mats’ , battery life up to 8 hours. Apparently they have a problem with over inquisitive parents in Japan? 8,400 JPY/$78.50.  Aren’t you too much nervous about eavesdropping? Before getting hung-up, please try NON-NON. NON-NON cuts wiretap radio wave. Even if bugs are trapped in your room and keep picking up your talking, NON-NON shuts…

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Bookmark This! January 23, 2008 posted by

Stickk – achieve your goals by agreeing to a commitment contract

Stickk is a free online service that is designed to help you achieve those nagging goals that always fall by the wayside once life intervenes. You know the sort, stop smoking, lose weight, marry Brad Pitt. The idea is you set up the goal and then commit to it through a signed contract with the site. To make it even more binding, you can add a financial element to the contract, which goes to a nominated person or charity via Paypal if…

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Bookmark This! January 23, 2008 posted by

Dewey Name Card Designer – create your own business cards online

Dewey Name Card Designer is a cool tool for creating business and name cards for private or commercial use. It’s a snap to use, just drag and drop elements using the Flash interface and throw in some text and you’re done. The service comes with some free logos and layout templates, or you can upload your own stuff if you prefer. When finished you download the finished JPG artwork to your hard disk for use on a website, in email or…

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cool tech January 23, 2008 posted by

Ubiq Window – interactive touch screen windows arrive on Europe’s high street

Ubiq Window. This new display technology lets you access information on computer screens from behind the glass. You can search, select and even web browse using just your hands and eyes, like the estate agent client pictured above. It’s an interesting combination of traditional media and a modern interface, and provides useful 24/7 access, although it may be arriving too late to save the long term future of the retail industry. Here’s a news clip showing this interactive window technology in action in London. [Thanks Kevin]  Otimmo is a real estate…

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cool tech January 22, 2008 posted by

Readius Mobile Phone Reader – portable widescreen e-paper device in production

Readius. So, the famed e-paper device is apparently finally in production, but as a mobile phone, and a full year after first being shown off in prototype form. The HSDPA tri-band handset with MP3 player, Bluetooth, SD slot and a whopping 5 inch greyscale e-paper display also comes with a super long battery life of around 30 hours *in use*, which the company says is equal to 10 days between battery charges, which must make it a serious contender in the e-book…

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Gadgets January 22, 2008 posted by

Yamada CD to MP3 Converter and Player – rip, burn, save and watch

This Yamada CD to MP3 Converter and Player is a totally unremarkable DVD and CD player and auto-ripper, save for the fact that it’s a measly £34.99, which makes it a darn site cheaper than a lot of other rip and play solutions out there. And it’s got a USB slot and memory card reader in the front panel. And it’s a DivX player too. Whizzo!   Feature-packed DVD player • Back up your music collection to an external hard drive…

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Gadgets January 22, 2008 posted by

The ATAX All Terrain Axe – my, what big teeth you have grandma…

The ATAX must be the ultimate survival tool. Made of 1095 tool steel (?) and weighing 16 oz, it boasts a catapult mechanism, a hammer, nail remover, rangefinder, inclinometer, wire cutter, nut gripper (?), animal skinner (yew), compass, clock, sundial and of course an axe. Phew! Now where’s that bear you want me to wrestle? $199.95 (with instructional DVD video).  We only had 100 of these made initially and we sold out almost immediately. We then sold the next batch of 100…

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but is it art? January 22, 2008 posted by

Message Tape – the geek communication solution

Message Tape. Such a terribly nerfdy cool way to communicate. Stick the tape where you need it, then use the supplied black marker to black out panels to make letters which form the message. Yes yes, of course you could use the marker to just write on some blank white tape, but where’s the FUN in that, eh? Or the profit? From £5.00 a roll.  The tape can be used to label boxes when you move house, to impress your date…

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cool tech January 22, 2008 posted by

Bug Labs opens for business – gadget Lego gets its game on

Bug Labs. CNET calls it the Lego of gadgets, and who are we to argue? Basically it’s a snap together collection of components which you can assemble in different ways to get different functionality. So, for instance, you can snap a digicam module together with a GPS module and get different uses out of the core box. The centrepiece is a small Linux powered with 128 MB of RAM, battery, USB and ethernet and four connectors for modules. It’s a nice idea…

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cool tech January 22, 2008 posted by

Asterpix – annotate your video footage and make it work harder for you

Asterpix. A rather clever service which lets you annotate your video footage with hyperlinks and information which pop up while the video is running. Adding text and stuff to a video is super simple, just select a video from any standard source like YouTube etc, and run through it while clicking on the Add Note button wherever you want an annotation. It works well and is pretty user friendly, although it would be nice to have slightly more formatting flexibility for the…

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Bookmark This! January 22, 2008 posted by

Really Worried – help and advice for free

Really Worried is a new community website which combines group therapy with a nice purple colour and lots of helpful advice. The idea has been well explored via places like AskMetafilter, but this version looks like it could be a friendly place to unload a worry or two. Relationships, pets, legal, money, it’s all here.   Hello. ReallyWorried is a place to seek or share help and advice on just about any worrying topic. It works on the simple notion…

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cool tech January 21, 2008 posted by

iPod Retro Cardboard BoomBox – pump up the volume for cheap

iPod Retro Cardboard BoomBox. We’re talking flat-packed, cardboard crafted, retro styled, battery powered, shoulder mounted, iPod dockin’ speaker system. Just don’t try gettin’ jiggy wit it in a downpour and you should be fine. Perhaps. Once the people around you stop laughing. Maybe. £19.95/$39.10.  Despite its lowly price tag and cardboard construction, the iPod Boombox produces surprisingly crisp, powerful sonics. It’s perfect for a quick blast, particularly if you’re playing a few retro tunes or bustin’ some old-skool moves in front of…

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cool tech January 21, 2008 posted by

Safe Turn – wrist mounted bicycle indicators for safer swerving

Safe Turn. Strap these onto your wrist/s and let those crazy SUV nutz know where you’re heading when you want to make a turn.  Customisable to operate at different angles so you can tailor them to fit in with your particular arm waving technique. A$19.95. Video.  The Safe Turn Indicator is a new Australian invention. It is a small, portable, automatic bicycle light indicator that easily clips to the wristband that is provided or to your own glove. Unlike other…

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cool tech January 21, 2008 posted by

CIGS 52W Folding Solar Panel – power up for power rangers

CIGS 52W Folding Solar Panel. There’s none of your piddling little iPod charging solar tech here, this puppy will push out a whopping 52W of power from its state of the art Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide panels. And you can link up to three of these together and re-charge a small village post office while you’re at it. Juicy. $880.00.   * 12V output for video and digital cameras; laptops and dvd players * Flexible high performance CIGS solar cells * Multi-section…

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