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Gadgets June 17, 2009 posted by Dan

SCD530 DECT Baby Monitor – monitors baby and all

This serious-looking bit of kit is the SCD530 DECT Baby Monitor from Philips. As well as transmitting the usual goos, gahs and wahs from the other end of the house it also warns you if the temperature spikes/drops or if the humidity goes south. Because it uses DECT the signal should be interference-free as well as secure. The parent-end of the setup is rechargeable and can be used continuously for 24 hours even up to a distance of 300 metres….

Bookmark This! June 17, 2009 posted by Nigel

Media Watchdogs – 12 ways to check if your news sources are lying to you

(Photo: Flickr) With the mainstream media in apparent terminal meltdown and the nascent new media machine still trying to find its feet, it’s getting hard to know who to trust when it comes to obtaining the facts surrounding the current news stories. Only a couple of days ago someone asked me who they could trust in terms of unbiased reporting, and I had to confess I was stumped. So it occurred to me that it might be useful to provide a…

Cool Web Apps & Sites June 17, 2009 posted by Dan

Nokia Sports Tracker – don’t get lost getting fit

Sports Tracker is a Fitness Diary application for Nokia phones (N, E or Symbian 40) that does everything fitness fans need. Firstly it uses the GPS in your phone to record your run/cycle/walk including distance, position and speed. If you take photos with your camera along the way it logs where you took them. If you’re listening to music it records what you were listening to during the workout. Finally if you’ve purchased the optional bluetooth Polar heart rate monitor…

Gadgets June 16, 2009 posted by Nigel

Akuma Apache Helmet – crash lid with attitude

The Akuma Apache helmet comes with twin rear LED lamps for ‘higher visibility’, plus a handy front facing reading light for looking at maps, or maintenance work in the dark. Thoughtful touches, no? Oh and it comes with a wall charger for the rechargeable batteries. $349.00. The AH-64 Apache was built to endure front-line environments and to operate during the day or night using state of the art electronics. It only made sense to design and engineer a motorcycle helmet…

future tech June 16, 2009 posted by Debra Atlas

Nokia works to eliminate cell phone chargers

Nokia is working on the cell phone of the future – one that won’t need recharging. The Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, UK is designing a prototype that harnesses ambient radio waves (aka electromagnetic radiation from antennas, TV masts, WiFi transmitters). This new tech will convert electromagnetic waves into electric signals which it harnesses for power. A current prototype can grab 3 to 5 milliwatts of electricity,although it seems you need 50 milliwatts to recharge a real life cell phone….

Bookmark This! June 16, 2009 posted by Nigel

HR.net Lite – free human resource service for your small business

HR.net Lite is a free human resources web service which gives you all sorts of goodies for managing your employees big company style. It’s free for small firms with up to 15 employees, for those with larger needs, there’s the usual range of commercial offerings. Rather strangely, the company seems to think that forcing you to sign up via a clunky application form is the best way to get customers. Sigh. Sometimes you’ve got to wonder eh? Anyway it’s worth…

Bookmark This! June 16, 2009 posted by Nigel

Opera Unite – super cool tech turns the web browser into a web server

I’ve been playing around with the new Opera Unite technology, and it is indeed very cool. Not so much because it’s new – the features and ideas behind it have been around in different forms for years – but because it brings these services together under one roof and makes them ultra simple for web newcomers and those who just want fire and forget simplicity in their lives. The Opera people have basically turned their web browser into a system which can share…

Gadgets June 16, 2009 posted by Dan

PlugLock – keep those pesky wall warts in their place

Large DC power transformers (or wall warts) are the scourge of power boards everywhere. Sure you can buy special power boards to fit them, but the sheer weight of some transformers mean they can fall out very easily, especially if they’re hanging down. Well not anymore, now there’s the PlugLock power board. The board itself was designed especially to go into the back of AV racks so it has plenty of space between sockets for fat wall warts or even…

Gadgets June 16, 2009 posted by Dan

Logotype Computer Fan – turns your PC case into a dashboard

Hey gamers. Have you ever looked at the 8 fans in the side of your rig and thought about all that wasted space? Well think no more. Now you can use your fans as system monitors. The Fresh Technology Company of Taiwan have this range of Logotype Computer Fans. Using LEDs on the fan blades you can display fan RPM, time, date or you can supply art that can be programmed at the factory to your specifications. It’s not just…

Awesome June 15, 2009 posted by Dan

Files Over Miles – browser to browser file sharing

Files Over Miles seems to be the easiest file sharing site ever. Choose the file to share and upload it. Files Over Miles will then store the file in the machine’s RAM and generate a unique URL. Email that URL to the recipient and when they click it the file will be slurped to their machine. It uses AES128 so it’s secure and it doesn’t go through any other servers. There are a couple of limitations and both the sender…

Gadgets June 15, 2009 posted by Nigel

VibraLite 8 Vibrating Watch – buzzers give your alarms a punch

This VibraLite 8 vibrating watch is clearly designed to help our more forgetful brethren keep up with life, liberty and their to-do list as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, we can’t help thinking about a Desmond Dekker song called the Israelites or something. Weird fact of the day. $149.95. The Vibralite 8 Vibrating Watch has a large display, 8 alarm settings and Auto Reset Countdown Timer option that gives extensive combinations of variable and interval reminders. Eight Alarm Settings for preset reminders….

Eco Friendly June 15, 2009 posted by Nigel

SolCHAT – solar powered hands free unit provides eternal comms

The SolCHAT solar powered hands free system, lets you chat away while keeping your eyes on the road, all the while knowing you haven’t killed any trees, spent any fuel rods or burnt the carbon dry in our fragile ecosystem. In other words the sun is your friend. No news on night time talking, so maybe it’s good to get in some quality silence? $99.99. Talking on your cell phone and driving safely just got easier–and greener. Mount the solCHAT…

Eco Friendly June 15, 2009 posted by Debra Atlas

Wind powered motorbike helmet helps you power your way through traffic

(image – Flickr) In the “so wacky it just might work” category, Taiwan students at Cheng Shiu University have invented a motorcycle helmet with five integrated wind turbines to power the bike’s headlights, turn signal lights and tail lights. The helmet starts generating energy when the bike’s running and distributes the power using a Bluetooth transmitter. Four batteries embedded into the helmet store the electricity generated by the fans. The gadgets in this bizarro product will cost around 1,000 Taiwan…

Gadgets June 15, 2009 posted by Dan

Maverick Nica – innovative bluetooth headset

It’s hard to write innovative and bluetooth in the one sentence but the Nica bluetooth headset looks like it fits the bill. Instead of the usual design of microphone boom and ear canal insert, the Nica instead clips over your ear like a one-eared sports headphone. The headset itself doesn’t poke into your ear it just rests on top with cushion around the edge for comfort and it comes with a left and righthand ear loop. To recharge the Nica…

Free Software June 15, 2009 posted by Nigel

PhoneRa – just how safe is your mobile phone?

PhoneRa is a simple freeware program with a simple goal, to help you find out what the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) for your make and model of mobile phone. Why? Well the SAR indicates how much radiation the phone is beaming into your brain via your earhole, so it might come in handy one day when you’re chatting to a doctor about your hot ears. Anyhoo, it’s free, regularly updated (although there are definitely recent phones not on the list of…

Monthly Archives: June 2009