Clever Germans with their Notebook Cushion with breathing bumps. The laptop sits on the bumps and air travels around to cool the thing while in use. Much better than laptop cushions which don’t have bumps. They make things too hot, don’t they Maude? £25.50. Conventional cushions are unsuitable as notebook supports. The air can’t circulate and the accumulated heat could damage your notebook. This comfortable lap cushion makes a difference: Six non-slip rubberized plastic nubs, 1cm (1/3″) in height, are fixed…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: December 2009
Looftlighter – Lighterfluid free barbecuing
The Looftlighter has been kicking around Scandinavia for a few years, the idea came about after a horrible lighter fluid flavoured barbecue. Basically it’s a paint stripping gun morphed into an electric firelighter. Powered by 110 volts, it will get you some sparks and embers in 15 seconds courtesy of its 1,000�F breath. The bit underneath that looks like a hook is a hook and a bottle opener. US$79.99 from ThinkGeek. It all began 1997 when theatre director Richard Looft…
Read MoreSolar-Powered Garden Insect Theatre – Spy on your bugs
With its solar-powered light, the Solar-Powered Garden Insect Theatre offers a sustainable insect habitat that attracts moths, lacewings and butterflies into your garden. The solar panel charges the internal battery by day, then lights up the insect theatre by night. The battery automatically turns off at daylight to recharge. The insect theatre is made from sustainably grown timber and treated with an environmentally safe wood preserving agent. Insects get in and out of this cool habitat through holes in the…
Read MoreWeTransfer – Super simple big file transfers
There are a bunch of websites and services that help you transfer large files about the place. WeTransfer looks like it may be the simplest. How simple? Well here’s the user interface: Yep, just upload your files, enter the recipient’s email address, enter yours and type a semi-serious message. Press “Transfer”. Completely free, no registration, no signup, no anything. Maximum file size of 2Gb and the file stays on the server for 2 weeks and you can send it to…
Read MoreHotchocspoons – Can’t talk, eating
I know, this isn’t a foodie blog, but it’s nearly Christmas and this is pretty darn cool. Hotchocspoons are hot chocolate mixes, wrapped around wooden stirring spoons. Just heat your milk and stir in the spoon to dissolve the chocolately goodness. They come in 46 different flavours, for kids and adults inlcuding one that is 85% cocoa. Prices vary but they’re around euro 50 for 20 spoons. [Via Incredible Things] Of course our core product is the Hotchocspoon. We couldn’t…
Read MoreStar Wars Weather – We’re doomed
Star Wars Weather grabs the worlds’ weather from Yahoo! and translates it into one of the familiar Star Wars locales; Bespin, Hoth, Tatooine, Yavin 4 and even Alderaan. If it says anything about Kamino I’d stay inside. Hot, dry with the occasional Sarlacc … Tags: star+wars+weather, weather+website, star+wars
Read MoreConcrete Canvas Shelters – Brilliant Shake-and-Bake Buildings
Concrete Canvas Shelters are fast-to-deploy, hard shelters that need only water and air for construction. The shelters are made of “concrete cloth”, a flexible material made from a mix of cloth fibres and concrete mix, with a PVC backing on the inside. To erect the shelters, the inner liner is inflated via an electric fan. As the liner expands it lifts the concrete cloth into the Nissen hut shape, which is pegged out and the canvas is then hydrated with…
Read MoreDigital Video Camcorder With Optical Telescope Lens – Got zoom?
Is your current camera zoom making you feel inadequate? Can’t quite zoom close enough for the action? Chinavasion can help with this Digital Video Camcorder with Optical Telescope Lens. The camera is a 30fps digicam that shoots in MPEG4 and stores it on SD card. It can also shoot 12 megapixel stills, has a built in flash and a 3″ TFT flip-out screen. The camera doesn’t have a native optical zoom but it does have a 4x digital zoom and…
Read MorePowerPlus Swallow – Windup bike light and phone charger
The PowerPlus Swallow is a windup powered, front and back bike light set. The charger is built into the white-LED-equipped headlight and 1 minute of winding the charger will give you 8 minutes of headlights, or 60 minutes of flashing headlight and taillight. You can detach the headlight/charger from the bike mount and the charger does double duty as a phone charger. Available charging tips include Nokia, Sony, Siemens, SonyEricsson and mini USB/iPod sold separately. �19.99 for just the lights…
Read MoreDejaClick – Record web browser macros
[Click to enlarge] DejaClick is a Firefox addon that will record what you do in Firefox and play it back for you on demand. If you need to enter complex information into a website regularly, then Deja Click can not only save the URL for you, it can record which links you need to click and which information you need to enter. All you have to do is click the Deja Click Super Bookmark and it will drop you right…
Read MoreHonolulu Seawater Air Conditioning – Keeping cool via the abyss
Cold seawater will soon be pumped from the ocean’s bottom to cool more than half of downtown Honolulu. This $240 million project by Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning LLC owned by investors in Hawaii, Sweden, and Minnesota, and managed by Renewable Energy Innovations – could cut the city’s air conditioning electricity usage up to 75% while slashing carbon emissions and the use of ozone-depleting refrigerants. A five-foot wide pipeline will run hundreds of feet below the ocean, suck up thousands of…
Read MoreScenegrabber – Make storyboards from movies
Scenegrabber lets you take a group of screenshots from a video file and create a story board. You can generate the grabs automatically or by hand and you can define the size of each image. Works with most video formats. Very useful for frequent reviewing of long videos without having to scroll through them. Scenegrabber.NET is freeware and provide you an easily way to create sceneshots from movies. You can grab manual or automatic frames from a movie and join…
Read MoreTaxi Mittens – All hail
Sure, these Taxi Mittens aren’t hi-tech, they’re not a gadget, they’re not battery powered and they’re not rechargeable. They’re just yellow mittens with TAXI sewn into them, and I like ’em. US$65 but currently out of stock though. [Via SwissMiss and A Cup of Jo ] Tags: taxi+mittens, mittens
Read MoreFerret posts this week
Here’s a quick round-up of Red Ferret posts from the past week for those who missed them. Enjoy. Mini Monocular – For binocular haters – If binoculars aren’t your thing,… World’s Most Realistic Vector Art – unbelievably stunning artwork pretending to be photos – This page featuring the… Top Gear’s Answer to Caravaning – I was a mite impressed with Top… Stereo Neckphones – hip hop round your shoulders – These Stereo Neckphones are just a… Barbie Doll’d Up Nails…
Read MoreWooden Car Hanger – Stops you getting wrinkles
I’m not 100% sure why you need this Wooden Car Hanger, every car I’ve ever been in has a hook for your coathanger above the rear door, but it doesn’t look this good. This hanger attaches to the headrest poles on the front seat and gives you somewhere to hang your coat while you drive. Not sure what it does for rear passenger survivability in an accident though. US$29.95 from SkyMall. This real wood hanger is perfect for keeping shirts,…
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