The Secrets of Life & Words of Wisdom is billed as an ‘inspirational orb’. Which means it’s an electronic version of those motivational posters you see in small town business offices everywhere. Just hit the button and you’ll get pearl of wisdom quotes from people like Churchill, Jefferson, Aristotle and Sting (nah just kidding). 365 of them, one a day. $29.95 and remember – a pewter custard bowl will never satisfy your thirst. Put this inspirational orb atop your desk, nightstand, kitchen…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: March 2009
LED Marquee Alarm Clock – combo clock messages and wakes you up at the same time
We’re trying to work out the utility of an LED Marquee Messager Alarm Clock. So it wakes you up with an alarm, check. And then scrolls a user entered message for you to read? Like what? What could possibly interest you enough at that time of the morning? You’re fat! I’m dumping you! Took the Ferrari! Nope, doesn’t work for us. $39.99. The LED Light Marquee Messager is a portable alarm clock that features a scanning display for time and/or messages….
Read MoreCal-Q-Tek 2000 Calculator Watch – retro style never looked so good
The Cal-Q-Tek 2000 Calculator Watch. Aw man, I remember these things. They were awesome, in a ‘you didn’t actually wear one of those did ya dad?’ kinda way. Actually I didn’t, I went completely stupid and stumped up a ridiculously large sum of money for a Hewlett Packard HP01 which I’ve still got stored in a drawer somewhere. Wow I was proud of that watch. Anyhoo, this beauty is a mere $14.99, so don’t delay, geek out today (hey, that…
Read MoreHuman Powered Light Bulb – save power and surprise a friend
This Human Powered Light Bulb is the perfect credit crunch gift for the friend who has everything. It works by converting static electricity into illumination, although of course you won’t be able to light up your house with the little critters. But you knew that, right? And as an added bonus you’ll avoid static shocks as you walk across the carpet. Bargain! $4.95. Hold on to one of the light bulb wires and walk across your carpet, dragging your feet as…
Read MoreCalibre eBook management – cross platform freeware for all your eBook needs
Calibre is an open source eBook management program which lets you manage, convert and read ebooks on your PC, Mac or Linux computer. It will convert books from HTML, TXT, PDF into Sony’s LRF format and comes with a rather cool reader interface as well as hooks into the iPhone Stanza product as well. One other useful feature is the ability to access your book library remotely via any Web browser and/or email client. Useful. If you’re into eBooks, this is a nice…
Read MoreTenderWarehouse – new job auction service makes it easy to find local contractors
TenderWarehouse is a brand new job auction which focuses on providing a marketplace for small contractors and it does it very well. The no frills service is a cinch to use, and offers lots of value for both sides of the equation, those looking for services and those offering. People looking for work can add a ‘tender’ in a matter of a couple of minutes, by entering details, location and if they want, a target price. Registered contractors then are…
Read MoreRead Green Initiative – environmentally friendly magazines
With print ad revenue declining and Mike Elgan (The Raw Feed) trading barbs with Brian Lam (Gizmodo) on magazines vs blogs, print magazines don’t seem to be a great investment at the moment. But what if the magazines were free and you could read them anywhere? The Read Green Initiative (not to be confused with Dharma) is an online magazine subscription service. Sign up with them and receive a free one-year subscription to one magazine in the Zinio stable. You…
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Learn Cyrillic alphabet in 5 minutes – brilliant expose of those strange letters
This utterly brilliant Read the Cyrillic Alphabet in 5 Minutes post manages to teach the basics of this alphabet in a few paragraphs, and it’s actually not that hard to learn. I’m gobsmacked, having struggled mightily with trying and failing to understand Moscow road and tube signs back in the day. It’s actually not all gobbledygook, fantastic. Now if someone could do this for Japanese and/or Chinese we’d be set. It used to be that when I saw Russian words like this–…
Read MoreFlux Capacitor – get back to the past without passing go
Bolt this Flux Capacitor to the bulkhead of your aut0–m0bile and instantly gain the power to travel through time. The designers of this replica have improved upon the original, so this model does not require 1.3 gigawatts of power (or a lightning bolt) to achieve transmogrification, just 3 AA batteries. Isn’t progress wonderful? And it has knobs? Magical. $249.99. Use the two knobs to adjust the lights. One adjusts the sequential lights behind the temporal firing pins and the other adjusts…
Read MoreLucky Voice Karaoke Party Box – turn your computer into the ultimate Karaoke machine
The Lucky Voice Karaoke Party Box plugs into your computer and turns it into a full featured Karaoke machine capable of driving the dog insane and your neighbours to Alaska. It comes with a year’s subscription to the LuckyVoice.com Karaoke service which has 6000 songs with lyrics awaiting your every pleasure. The box comes with echo and sockets for two microphones (oh noes!). £49.95 including free noise abatement law pamphlet. Thanks to its squawk-disguising echo effect, Lucky Voice makes even sub-Scooch singers sound vaguely bearable….
Read MoreUrilift – pop up public urinal makes a Dr Who type appearance when the pubs shut
The Urilift public urinal lurks underground all day like some strange nocturnal beast, and then rises majestically at 10pm every evening just in time to satisfy the urgent need of drunkards looking for somewhere to relieve themselves. Goodness only knows what this does to your mental state if you’re intoxicated and happen to be standing next to, or on top of the thing when it starts to rise. You’ll probably take months to recover from the shock. Anyway, you get a…
Read MoreWW2 Tribute Sidecar Motorcycle – unusual transportation for the eclectic collector
Looking for an unusual mode of transport for the family? Why not order a custom reproduction WW2 Tribute Sidecar Motorcycle from CJ Sidecars of Beijing for your needs? They come in all sorts of interesting colours and styles, and look sturdy enough to handle most day to day commuting needs. I particularly like the model with the attachable pram at the rear. The Costco car park will welcome you and your camo-mobile with open arms. Really. We pay tribute to…
Read MorePanda USB Vaccine – stop malware attacking via USB drives
Panda USB Vaccine is a free software utility designed to disable autorun from a USB key/drive and so protect against malware attacks on your computer system. It can either be installed directly on the USB drive or on the computer to stop autoruns completely. V. useful if you’re in a vulnerable job or state of mind. Panda USB Vaccine is a free utility from Panda Security Research which helps prevent malware infections due to the autorun feature of Windows Operating…
Read MoreMicrosoft Telescope Web – astonishing space telescope application gets webified
The amazing Microsoft Telescope Web Interface adds simplicity and functionality to the wow-ness of the original. It’s powered by Silverlight – which for the sneering classes, is starting to power some pretty cool stuff like the video on demand services of Sky – which works really well as a streaming technology! How cool is this…? Well try a zoom in from a space view of earth… …to a view of the East Village in New York. Totally amazing. There are some great tours…
Read MoreYouTube Edu – education gets a fab new home
YouTube Edu is proof that there’s no part of the world that the Web can’t touch in a significant way. It looks as though the Google machine has gathered together a bunch of educational video material to make a portal for online learning which could revolutionise the genre. C’mon, to have a chance of watching Professor Leonard Susskind of Standford University expound on Einstein’s general theory of relativity? Priceless. Oh and the time limits have been removed, so we’re talking full…
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