Third World Farmer is a free, online simulator depicting life on an African farm. Originally developed by students in the IT University of Copenhagen, it evolved into its current form with input from professional gamers and relief agencies. The game puts you in charge of an African family who must farm to survive and earn money. Each turn of the game represents a year in which you must plant crops, raise livestock, avoid dodgy foreign investors, survive wars and somehow…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: August 2008
Park Right … park by laser!
You know that problem you have when you’re parking the car and you come in too fast, brake too late and you hit the wall? Well it turns out it’s avoidable. Grab one of these Park Right parking “la-sers” and you’ll be set. Just stick it to the roof with the included Velcro tape, plug it in (110V only) and the laser switches on when it detects the car approaching. All you have to do is press the b ig…
Read MoreMini Blast & Fallout Shelter – cheap uncomfortable survival for your family in case the worst occurs
This Mini Blast & Fallout Shelter is designed to protect you and yours in case the unthinkable happens and the X-Factor returns for another series. It can hold around five people and water, and costs around $1500.00 to build plus whatever you spend to bury it in the garden. As far as we can tell, it’s the only Simon Cowell proof structure of its kind in the Western world (although the Iranians apparently have their own version) so you should…
Read MorePod Driver – iPod look-a-like is really a USB memory stick, shhh don’t tell Steve…
The Pod Driver is a cute likkle iPod wannabe which is really a USB memory drive. It comes with a 1 or 2 GB capacity and a letter from a Mr Jobs stating that you may or may not be sued sometime on Wednesday the 30th, weather permitting. From £18.99. Whether you’re fanatical about the iPod and have collected each and every version released, or maybe you’ve just been biding your time for the model that’s right for you. Whatever…
Read MoreMatryomin – the strangest musical instrument in the world?
The Matryomin is a theremin electronic musical instrument built into one of those Russian dolls called Matrioshka. It’s Japanese built – where else indeed? – has a five octave range and is just about the weirdest thing ever to see and hear. Watch this amazing video of a full Matryomin orchestra and dare to disagree. Priced from around $400.00. Matryomin is the unique, original erectronic musical instrument invented by Masami Takeuchi in 1999. It is a type of theremin – oldest electro-musical…
Read MoreDIY Mobile Phone Barcodes – create your own cell phone barcodes for fun and profit
The kind folk at Nokia have set up a web page to let people create their own mobile phone barcodes. You can choose between the QR and Datamatrix formats, and the images can be embedded anywhere you like for people to snap and use. You can create mobile codes for web URLs, plain text and telephone numbers, and any camera phone with the right software should be able to read and decipher the code to deliver the information you want. I’m trying…
Read MoreThe Phone Car – weirdness
Dude builds a Phone Car to advertise his telephone company. It has a ringer instead of a horn. I guess it’s not road legal right? THE PHONE CAR: Created by business owner Howard Davis as a way to promote his telephone company, Datel Communications. It’s been featured in many magazines, including Motor Trend and Weekly World News. Exhibits include the Petersen Automotive Museum in Beverly Hills, as part of the exhibit of art cars. The Phone Car is built on…
Read MoreMcGuider – how to turn your mobile phone into a satnav with one SD card
McGuider is a GPS satellite navigation system on a stick. Or SD memory card to be more precise. No manual software installation needed. Just insert the card into your mobile phone card slot and the software auto-installs and finds your GPS chip (or dongle if it’s separate to the handset). After that it’s navigation time. The maps are TeleAtlas and it works on Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets. Shame they couldn’t make it a Java application to really open up the…
Read MoreMixTurtle – YAMSE (yet another music search engine)
MixTurtle is a music search engine. Nope, no idea why it’s a turtle and not a rabbit or rhino. Anyhoo, I’m writing it up because I like the logo. Yeah, shallow R’US right? Actually it’s not a bad effort, so let’s take a closer look. Clean interface. Check. Super fast search. Check. User playlist creator. Check. Flash streaming player. Check. Substantial music database. Check. Play total stored playlist with one key press. Nope. Hmm…shame… Worth a look if you’re in the…
Read More12V In-Car Microwave Oven – fast food for trendy travellers
This 12V In-Car Microwave Oven proves that you can never make ‘em too small, or too black for those travellin’ treats. Plug it into your cigarette lighter socket and roast that hog on the hoof. £89.98. Meals on the move! · Compact and portable · Fast cooking speeds · Powered via 12V cigarette lighter socket or direct to car battery – both leads supplied · Robust steel construction with heavy-duty handle · LED screen with touchscreen operation · Up to…
Read MorePure Gold Keyboard – the ultimate plug and weigh accessory for your geek creds
The Kirameki Pure Gold Keyboard is one way to prove your sad geek creds to friends and family. Ah…actually scratch that. It’s one way to prove something altogether less exciting really, isn’t it? Oh and yes you’re rich or stupid enough to want to wear your keyboard caps away in double quick time. Hey listen, I’ve got an iPhone app you might want to look at…. $359.00. Kirameki Pure Gold Keyboard coated with 100% pure gold leaf by Wazakura Studios. Not…
Read MoreJabra SP700 Car Speakerphone – at last a hands-free device that is actually really useful
I’ve been playing with a Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone for a while and oooh! I tend to stay away from this kind of tech, because it’s a bit sales vehicle boring, know what I mean, but this is the first hands-free product which has really made me sit up and take notice. It’s not just because it looks pretty cool either, although it does. All black shiny ‘use the force, Luke’ like. Nope, it’s because it adds value to my mobile life…
Read MoreMonitter – live Twitter monitor lets you browse your life away, one tweet at a time…
Monitter is a new Twitter browser which lets you monitor Twitter for up to three key words at a time. Should you find any of your life left over after squandering it on this innocuous and yet oh so dangerous pastime, then why not embed the thing in a widget on your website too? That way you can spread the infection properly. Oh and did we mention you can limit it geographically too? Marked under ‘scary tech’. Tags: monitter, twitter, online+application
Read MoreNissan Eco Pedal – helping to make drivers more fuel efficient
Car makers Nissan has announced the Eco Pedal, a computer controlled accelerator pedal which will indicate to the driver if they’re using more fuel than required at that time. The system works by monitoring live consumption and transmission efficiency and then calculates the optimum acceleration rate. Drivers will also receive a visual clue from a green light embedded in their speedometer. If you start driving sloppily the accelerator pedal will push back to indicate that you’re being naughty. Golly, the…
Read MoreGraspr.com – instructional videos done with elegance and style
Graspr is a new video service which provides a platform for anyone to upload their ‘how-to’ videos for the world to share. You want to learn how to skateboard backwards singing the French national anthem? Cool. You want to teach people how to fillet macaroni cheese? No problem. There’s a bunch of these sites out there, and we’ve featured a fair few, but what made us sit up and take notice with this one is the beautifully clean design, and…
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