September 2008 - Page 7 of 9 - The Red Ferret JournalThe Red Ferret Journal

Free Software September 8, 2008 posted by Dan

MakeInstantPlayer – go anywhere media packaging

MakeInstantPlayer is a simple, codec-free, media file creator for distributing video files. MakeInstantPlayer wraps the video file with a playback program called MPlayer and a splash screen if you wish, into a single executable .exe file. MPlayer will be familiar to anyone who has used the indomitable VLC media player in that it just works. Throw any media file at MPlayer (except Real and WMV9) and it will either play it or not, no codec hunting required, just run the…

Gadgets September 8, 2008 posted by Nigel

Reminder Center – keeping track of everyone and everything

The Reminder Center is an erasable white board, audio recording, post-it noting family communications device which comes with 512MB of memory and a seven inch colour LCD for showing off family snapshots to all comers. Whether it’s worth handing over a cool $199.95 smackeroonies for the privilege is something we’ll leave to your taste and discretion, but suffice to say that a small cork board on the fridge would probably come in quite a bit cheaper. Put the center on…

Free Software September 8, 2008 posted by Nigel

Quick Delete – quick and dirty POP3 mailbox manager

Quick Delete is a small utility designed to make it easy to view and delete messages from your POP3 email account without having to log in. Why? Well sometimes you can get super large or corrupted messages in your mailbox which clog up the system and this is the best way to delete them and free up the system so your desktop email client can start working again. The other method of clearing things is to use a service like…

cool tech September 8, 2008 posted by Nigel

Toyota Crown hybrid using noise canceling tech – quieter ride at head height

Toyota engineers have implemented noise canceling technology to quieten down their new Crown Hybrid car. The system uses three microphones and the same number of permanently-on active phase speakers to achieve the desired hush. It even works when the music system is playing, but all at head height (no quiet feet then). Does anyone else think it’s weird that the hybrid makers should be trying to make their vehicles quieter while the electric car makers are thinking about adding engine…

reprise September 7, 2008 posted by Red

Ferret posts this week

Here’s a quick round-up of Ferrety posts from the past week for anyone who missed them. Enjoy. Most Common English Words – I spend most of my working day… SmartDisk FireLite Xpress 120 – external disk storage with a view – The SmartDisk FireLite Xpress 120… Introducing the hybrid Ford Pickup – America’s finest truck gets a modern makeover…ish… – The folks at HEVT (Hybrid Electric… Flight Memory – track your life aloft – Flight Memory is an interesting… The…

Gadgets September 6, 2008 posted by Nigel

Germ Guardian – cordless hand vac and air sanitizer in one weird shape

Germ Guardian is one of those combo products that probably sounded great in the design meeting. What could be better than a cordless vac with a built in UV air cleaner? When it’s not sucking up pet muck, it can sit there spewing out germ free air for all to enjoy. Now, what shape shall we make it? How about grey plastic weird…? $99.99. Germ Guardian is launching a first-of-its-kind rechargeable Cordless Hand VAC + UV-C Air Sanitizer in one…

Free Software September 5, 2008 posted by Dan

Picasa 3 beta – photo storage and organisation done simple.

Picasa 3 beta has just been released by the Google machine and it’s looking pretty darn good. If you’ve never used Picasa then do yourself a favour and give it a try. As well as having a pretty advanced bunch of photo fixing tools, Picasa keeps your entire photo collection at your fingertips by scanning and organising all the photos on your hard drive or network with just a mouse click. Picasa 3 goes even further with a bunch of…

Fun & Games September 5, 2008 posted by Dan

ATM Piggy Bank – what a novel idea

Wow, I bet you’ve never seen one of these before, it’s an ATM piggy bank! Really? Everywhere you say? Well do you have to use a keycard with a PIN to get your money out? Ok, well does yours keep a running total every time you deposit money so you always know how much is in your account? Hmm, does it let you deposit coins and notes? Ok ok. Well this one has a little sign that says “OPEN” and…

Awesome September 5, 2008 posted by Dan

The Eclipse 400 – zoom zoom ZOOM

I don’t usually call inanimate objects pretty but one look at the Eclipse 400 and I was hooked. This must be one of the prettiest planes I’ve seen for quite a while and I’m not really a plane person. Designed by Eclipse Aviation as a business/sport plane, the Eclipse 400 is a single engine, V-tail jet aircraft. The things is, it’s a sports plane so it’s not very big. In fact it can only carry 3 people plus the driver…

Gadgets September 5, 2008 posted by Nigel

Hoverboard with Seat and Basket – scoot your way out of the peak oil controversy

Yep, no question. Oil at $200.00 a barrel will definitely make this Hoverboard with Seat and Basket a much more attractive proposition than we would ever believe. My, doesn’t that basket look real cute, stuck out there like that. Wonder if we can get alloys…? $1,339.95. Dual Performance Modes – The operator can chose the “Econo” or “Turbo” performance mode on the throttle control to either go “twice as far, half as fast”, or “twice as fast, half as far”,…

hardware September 5, 2008 posted by Nigel

Buzzball – the instant sicky machine

Buzzball is a prototype fun vehicle which appears to be designed to make the ‘pilot’ throw up as fast as possible. This almost certainly will result in smeary windows and some serious hilarity from everyone *outside* the craft. Inside, well…let’s just say barfball would probably be a better description. Once the Buzzball is in motion the pod maintains an upright position until the pilot turns, causing the pod to rotate inside the ball against the direction of travel, which applies…

Free Software September 5, 2008 posted by Nigel

YAWCAM – yet another webcam…ah…cam

YAWCAM is a free Swedish webcam program with a couple of nice features, to whit a scheduler and motion sensing functionality. The other nice bits include a page designer, FTP upload for remote storage (pretty essential if you’re using it as a security cam controller) and a ban list so you can ban people you don’t like from watching your drying paint video stream. Simple, sweet and useful, just like freeware should be. Yawcam features: .: Video streaming .: Image…

Free Software September 4, 2008 posted by Dan

Avidemux – multi-format video editing and creation freeware

Avidemux is an open source, lightweight, video editing program with a surprising list of features. It reads most common types of video files; .avi, .mp1, .mp2, .mp4, .asf, .flv, .mov and more using a wide variety of codecs. You can do all the standard video editing things like cutting, splicing and so on in the familiar timeline-based linear editing layout as well as apply filters to fix video problems, sharpen images, import digital photos and resize video. Avidemux goes a…

heh heh! September 4, 2008 posted by Dan

Diggerland – a hole load of pun

If you’re sick of the whole roller-coaster/thrill/Disney type of amusement park, and you happen to be passing through England, be sure and drop into one the four Diggerland theme parks. They’ve got 4 parks scattered all over England so there’s bound to be one near you. They have drive-yourself dump trucks, excavator rides and even an excavator-driving stunt team. This isn’t pretend stuff though, you really do get to learn and drive professional earth moving equipment, all under professional supervision…

Gadgets September 4, 2008 posted by Nigel

Zub Zen Watch – plastic green timepiece kind of tells the time

The Zub Zen Watch is the kind of chic, elegant and oh so useful timepiece that must make Swiss horologists heave. Imagine you’ve been working all your life to perfect the art of split second accuracy and along comes a blob of green plastic priced at $140.00, what would you do? Yep. A departure from standard timepieces, this wide-band unisex watch with alarm displays the progression of time graphically from left to right, featuring vertical bars for hours and minutes….

Monthly Archives: September 2008