D_Skins are transparent sheaths which are designed to protect optical discs from scratches and smears. Yeah, I remember how excited we all were when the smiling man from the ministry demo’d CDs on television by smearing jam on them. ‘These disks are impervious…’ he lied. ‘Your vinyl is fragile and dead…’ he blustered. Creep. What’s the truth? Optical disks suck at robustness, they scratch quicker than a kneecap in brambles and they deteriorate in ordinary light at a terrifying rate….
Read MoreMonthly Archives: May 2009
SiteShoter – free website screen grabber robot
SiteShoter is a quirky little freeware program which could be extremely useful in the right circumstances. It’s designed to take regular screen grabs of any website you choose. It can also be set up to take shots of a list of URLs too, and you can set the intervals at seconds, minutes or every so many hours. Now I’m not sure whether you’re going to be wanting to grab a site image every second (think of the storage, Ma), but…
Read MoreiPadio – broadcast from your phone to the Internet
iPadio is a new online service which lets you set up and broadcast your own Internet radio station – as well as phlog (phone blog) news and information -from your mobile phone. They also call it phonecasting, so take your pick of terminology. The whole thing is free, you can embed the podcast p’cast on your web site or Facebook account via Twitter, and the interface is really clean. Visitors can sign up to RSS or subscription delivery of your dulcet…
Read MoreRed Bull Diet – file this under “What Not To Do”
In what surely must be a fantastic definition of “Biggest Loser” we have this Red Bull Diet story from New Zealand. A 23 year old mother from Auckland, lost 45kg in eight months by drinking nothing but Red Bull and handfuls of breakfast cereal. In a bizarre twist of fate she now claims to have ongoing health problems from drinking 10 to 14 cans of the energy drink every day. Sure, she went from 105kg to 60kg, but drinking nothing…
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Night Light Wall Clock – an illuminating way to keep track of time
The Night Light Wall Clock works 24/7 to help you track the progress of your life. By day, a mild mannered wall clock, through the hours of darkness a gently illuminated Clark Kent of a night light. $19.96. This is actually a lot more useful than you might think – how many times have you got up in the middle of the night, turned the light on, discovered it was the wrong light, turned the right light on and disturbed some member…
Read MoreUSB Fidget Golf – swap your pen twitching for something more geek
USB Fidget Golf gizmo connects to your computer’s USB port and gives you a finger tapping, ball bouncing way to relieve the stress of cubicle life. Your office colleagues will probably welcome the silence as you stop the tuneless humming and desk banging. £12.99. Do you happen to have a bad habit of fidgeting around at your desk whenever you’re bored in the office? Well instead of twirling pens and drumming your fingers on the table much to the annoyance…
Read MoreFloating LED Key Chain – for messing around in boats
The Floating LED Key Chain can help keep your goodies out of Davy Jones’ formidable locker. Equipped with a large flotation bubble, this nautical key chain has an LED that strobes when it hits the water. It needs two LR1130 button cells but it can only hold 2 keys. That’s the price of all the built-in, heavier-than-water technology I guess. When you’re not on the water, the big red button on the side lets you use it as a torch….
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Solar & Hand Cranked AM/FM Radio – big wheel keep on turnin’
This Solar & Hand Cranked AM/FM Radio is definitely green. I mean, lookatit. Totally green. We think this is the future of eco gadgets in general. A nice little solar charger for daylight and a hand crank for night. All the bases covered, see? $24.95. Never be miss an important game or your favorite NPR show again with this handy AM/FM radio. Powered by the sun’s rays it will play for seven hours when fully charged. Or use the hand…
Read MoreBdule – cool Windows based Twitter and Facebook freeware looks v. healthy…
Bdule is a new Windows freeware program for Twitter and Facebook users. The Windows only software is basically a desktop client, and it looks pretty nice. You get to set up multiple accounts of Twitter in different template layouts, and the ability to search Twitter directly from the page is great. Unfortunately it looks like it’s been released just a tad too early, which is a shame. First, there’s no way to add more account instances once you’ve set things up…
Read MoreBaby Name Wizard – everything you ever wanted to know about names…and more
The Baby Name Wizard is a collection of information and tools to help you understand everything you need to know in order to make that all important decision. There’s an encyclopaedia, a name finder (‘natch), a name mapper and more. Who would have thought the name Lucy comes from the word lux, for light? BabyNameWizard.com is the online home of Laura Wattenberg, author of the bestselling book The Baby Name Wizard and creator of award-winning tools that have helped the…
Read MoreLayoff – could be the official game of the financial crisis
Layoff is one part Bejewelled, one part Dilbert and all snark. Rearrange your workforce to cut costs but don’t you dare try and layoff the businessmen. When times get tricky, beg for a bailout, keep your money and start again. A facts ticker along the bottom of the game helps you maintain the rage. LAYOFF uses a simple casual game paradigm to comment on the current state of the US financial crisis. Both friends and strangers face tough times in…
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Ferret posts this week
Here’s a quick round-up of Red Ferret posts from the past week for those who missed them. Enjoy. Doctor uses power drill to save boy’s life – The guys and gals over at Gizmodo… Jewel Rose USB Flash Drive – fashion pin combines geek chic with some chest-top computing – This Jewel Rose USB Flash Drive… Auction Desktop Tracker – freeware to track and manage your eBay auctions – Auction Desktop Tracker is a… Ships – awesome free ship simulation…
Read MoreRio LED Shower – your shower needs more disco
The Rio is an LED shower extravaganza. With 96 LEDs and 3 different colours you can program light shows via the included keypad or just kick back with one of the 12 built-in patterns. The shower head itself is 400mm in diameter so just like any other shower, if you stand under it while it’s on, you’ll get wet. There may be a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, it needs mains power, hopefully that doesn’t mean to the shower head, but…
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Ultimate MHub One-Dock Station – one dock to rule them all…
This Ultimate MHub One-Dock Station really does do it all. It’ll accept your memory cards, your USB devices, your iPhone/iPod, your Blackberry, in fact the only thing it won’t take is your back chat. So if you need to plug it in, this is the beauty you need. Pity your poor laptop though. $68.00. Now you have Ultimate MHub One-Dock Station, the Ultimate One-Dock Total Solution, with Premium Mat Silver Finishing (like MacBook), which comes with 1 x iPhone/iPod sync…
Read MoreIndoor Barking Dog Deterrent – stop that noise!
No, no no, it’s an Indoor Barking Dog Deterrent, not detergent. That would be silly wouldn’t it? Washing your dog silent. Anyhoo, this puppy – arf! – ultrasonics the poor mutt into an abjectly obedient and quiet beast. Which ain’t bad value if you breed turtles. [Eh? – Ed] $49.95. This patented device quickly and humanely restores peace and quiet to a home vexed by a dog’s excessive barking. No special collar is required; when a dog barks within 25′ of the…
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