We don’t usually go overboard on water filters, because they’re mostly boring, but this puppy has a couple of things going for it. For a start the Zuvo Water Purator hits your incoming tap water with five – count ‘em – five separate cleansing technologies, ranging from the ultra effective ozonation, to the ultra effective UV light to the ultra effective particulate filtering. In other words this is industrial scale filtering on your sink top. Pretty impressive. Secondly and no less impressive,…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: August 2009
Red Ferret Competition Reminder – win an ioSafe Disaster-proof Hard Drive
Quick reminder folks, we’re running another competition, this time to win a 500Gb USB ioSafe Disaster Proof Hard Drive. You can find the competition details here and remember it closes on Friday the 7th of August. Tags: gadget, competition, iosafe, iosafe+competition
Read MoreNikon Pro Battery Grip – keep your DSLR running with some standard AA batteries
This ingenious Nikon Battery Grip holds six standard AA batteries and converts the power into juice your Nikon D200 can use through the adapter. Now why can’t they do that for every DSLR camera type? It would save lugging around extra batteries, all you would have to do is pop into the nearest store and buy some refills. £99.59. Pro Battery Grip for the Nikon D200, has the same function as MB-D200 # It can hold 6 AA batteries or…
Read MoreAmphibious Hybrid – the “take me anywhere” car
The Amphibious Hybrid is a car unlike any other. This cool looking concept car – designed as part of an industrial design course project – uses an intelligent wheel system that transforms depending on the terrain. On paved roads, the wheels become rubber tires. Open them a little for traction on snow or ice, or open them up all the way to work as paddles that act as a propeller on the water. It all runs on batteries, with an…
Read MoreTruFocals – technology leaps to the aid of bifocals
These TruFocals glasses are either an inspired idea or the daftest thing ever to hit main street. And we’re not sure which. Readers under 45 can now toddle off and wash the dog or something while I address our older constituency. OK set? So, remember bifocals? Well now they’ve been geeked. These glasses offer a slider mechanism on the bridge which adjusts the vision for near and far in one sweep. So when you need to see the road sign you can adjust…
Read MoreEasy 3D Creator – freeware screensaver maker
Easy 3D Creator is a freeware program for making cute little screensavers for your computer. You remember screensavers right? They were invented to prevent screen burn on old CRT monitors. Now they’re just a toy for the rich and affluent with no real value at all. But who cares eh? Not I, Mrs Miggins, not I. With Easy 3D Creator you can create stunning 3D screen savers in a few minutes with no programming. All you need is to set…
Read MoreBlacklist Check – go here if you think your email service has been hacked
Blacklist Check is a free online service which will check to see whether your email domain has been blacklisted for transmitting spam or malware. It searches through a comprehensive 147 lists, which means if there is trouble they should find it. A very useful resource and especially valuable if you notice email messages going missing in increasing numbers. One for the bookmark pot. This test will check a mail server IP address against 147 DNS based email blacklists. (Commonly called Realtime blacklist,…
Read MoreNero 9 – Ubiquitous burning software now freeware
I’ve never bought a copy of Nero, it’s always been included with CD and DVD burners that I’ve purchased. Well now it’s even freer, Nero 9 is anyway. Nero 9 freeware burns just CDs and DVDs, it’s a 55Mb download and it doesn’t expire. You’ll need to have XP SP2 or 2005 MCE or above. Stop shoving and form an orderly queue. Mac people? Sorry didn’t see you down the back there. Umm, nothing to see here, move along. What’s…
Read MoreFissler CookStar – blitz your Ramen with style
Dude, you may be a struggling student, but there’s no need to slum it in the culinary department with one of these on your dorm desk. The Fissler CookStar is a somewhat state of the art induction hob which can roast your Ramens quicker than you can say hot-dog party. German engineering at its finest methinks. $299.00. German-engineered induction cooking also features instant heat, via a dramatic, frameless-ceramic glass top that quickly wipes clean. And because induction cooking heats the…
Read MoreRevolabs Classroom Wireless Amplification – for beatboxing professors
The Revolabs Classroom Wireless Amplification system makes it simple to add a wireless microphone and speakers to a classroom or lecture theatre. The kit comes with a wireless lapel mic and charging cradle, wireless receiver and a pair of powered speakers. The wireless mic is apparently impervious to RF interference from PDAs and phones (darn kids and their texting), runs for 8 hours and can be recharged to 85% in 45 minutes. Priced around US$849. The Revolabs Classroom Wireless Amplification…
Read MoreCompushade Netbook Visor – as if those screens weren’t tiny enough…
The Compushade Netbook Visor is designed to make it all but impossible to read the tiny x inch screens on the latest over-hyped computers to emerge from Far East Inc. I mean, c’mon, a netbook visor? What next an iPhone cosy? Sheesh! $22.95. Subnotebook screens can be very difficult to see when used outdoors or in brightly lit rooms. The CompuShade laptop hood solves this problem by dramatically reducing glare. The shade is easy to attach with the included adhesive-backed hook-and-loop fastener…
Read MoreCool.con – the funky Korean remote control
It took us a while to work out what this funky little Cool.Con Korean implement is, but finally we realised it’s a television remote control. That’s not to say it couldn’t be a lettuce washer in a different language, but in Korean it certainly looks televisual to us. It is however possible, and here again we’re reaching for the stars dear reader, that the gizmo also doubles up as some sort of accupressure health gadget, hence the little golden…
Read MoreMobile Scope – add-on zoom for your mobile phone camera
This Mobile Scope is a clip on zoom lens for your mobile phone which will deliver an 8x close up shot of anything you care to snap in the vicinity. Now I can already hear you asking that all important question…does it blend? But we’ll leave that for the moment and just say that the image quality probably won’t be *quite* as good as your Nikon D5000. £39.95. More oil and vignette sauce anyone? Mobile phone photography is improving all…
Read MoreQwicKey – USB credit card swiper with more
QwicKey is another USB credit card swiper scanner, just like this one. You plug it into your PC and when the nice website asks you for your plastic approval just swipe and order your stuff. QwicKey goes a couple of steps further and provides a password manager allowing you to use an authorisation card as a token. It also has online form completion and all your sensitive details are stored remotely. The service is US$49.95 for the first year and…
Read MoreClipping Path – the Photoshop specialist master service
If there’s one task that most people want at some time or another in their photographic life, it’s to remove backgrounds from their images. Photoshop experts know this is just a matter of using the right tools and selectors, but for the rest of us the job is a pain, especially for complex images. Enter Clipping Path, a specialist Photoshop service which will take your photo and lovingly tweak it with a mask to remove backgrounds, add shadow and generally…
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