Valodas is a no-frills freeware language learning program which comes with a set of useful features designed to bring your vocabulary up to scratch at your own pace. The interface may be spartan, but the functionality looks to be rather good, with things like flash cards, book text import and a wide range of language dictionaries available for download. I found the concept to be good, but let down a little by the unreliable nature of the dictionaries, especially the…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: May 2010
Mainz Quantum Interface – another small step towards a quantum computer?
German scientists have succeeded in doing something unimaginable with light and atoms which will probably, maybe, one day lead to a real live quantum computer. The Mainz Quantum Interface is so complicated to explain that only people with an IQ of over 190 can understand it, but from our cursory examination it appears to involve temperatures of just above absolute zero and levitating atoms 200nm above an incredibly thin glass fibre filament. Watch this space? As was demonstrated by the…
Read MoreCeramic Speakers – banish the plastic and do your music a favour
These Ceramic Speakers certainly look cool, and if the building material is anything to go by, they probably sound cool too. The things are made of iron, porcelain, ceramic, cork and birch, not a drop of nasty plastic in the room. Comes complete with a diddy amp and some instant street cred for your MP3 player or laptop. $495.00. With porcelain and cork enclosures, custom-made drivers and a Tripath amplifier, this is an audiophile’s dream. The high-resolution sound has such nuance and…
Read MoreMedisana No Touch Infrared Thermometer – no more tongue gnashing
So this Medisana No Touch Infrared Thermometer apparently gives fast and accurate readings of body temperature from simply pointing it at a target forehead. Hold it 5cm away from the head and the reading is delivered in about 1 second. Note that the thing needs to ‘acclimatise’ to the room temp first, before a reading can be taken, which can require 30 mins. So patience is a virtue for your patients. Priced at 49 CHF (around $42.00). The temperature is taken above the eyebrow…
Read MoreES Hacker Adapter – the l33t way to make friends with your local police force
The ES Hacker Adapter appears to be a standard high power USB WiFi adapter packaged up with some unspecified hacking software, designed to crack user names and passwords on WiFi networks. I suspect the software is the usual cracking freeware you’ll find on the warez sites, which means it will be very hard to use if you’re not a tech minded soul. Anyway, the Chinese company which sent me the info seem to think it’s worth shouting about. This Adapter is a Hacker…
Read MoreRIOT – awesome freeware tool for optimising your images
RIOT (Radical Image Optimization Tool) is an awesome freeware program designed to let you magically reduce your photo file size while retaining the quality of the original. Everything about this program reeks of quality, from the fact that it automatically and instantly lets you work with a smaller version of the image without messing with the original, to the ability to tweak image settings such as contrast, rotation and metadata. By far the best part of the software is the ability…
Read MoreMalware Tracker Map – bird’s eye view of nasty software from bad people
This Malware Tracker Map gives a depressing view of the global level of suspected and confirmed malware attacks by country and region. What’s worse is the fact that it’s obviously incomplete and a fraction of the real total. What a weird world. The ESG MalwareTracker Map shows data of malware infections collected from our diagnostic report logs of computers scanned by our SpyHunter Spyware Scanner. The data is updated daily and it displays malware trends for a 30-day period. The…
Read MoreEye Tracking HeadCam – awesome tool needs a bit of design work
This Eye Tracking HeadCam is an awesome piece of geek tech. The thing basically uses four cameras to track your eye movements and capture whatever you’re looking at. Unfortunately it looks like something out of Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory at the moment, but imagine if the tech could be designed into a normal style of eyeglasses, very cool. Watch the videos for a demo. The EyeSeeCam is a rig that attaches to your noggin and points a camera wherever your gaze falls. There’s actually four…
Read MoreThe iPhonekiller…
Behold, the iPhonekiller. Like most of my designs of the last six years, iPhonekiller is an Open Design, meaning, its design CAD files can be freely downloaded, copied, modified and produced by anyone, without special tooling, under a Creative Commons license. The iPhonekiller is compatible with all iPhone models, also the future ones, and with iPads. Tags: iphonekiller, gadget
Read MoreUSB Flash Drive Cufflinks – fashionable tech at your fingertips
These USB Flash Drive Cufflinks make me laugh. The thought of someone disrobing in a boardroom meeting to upload their PowerPoint slides (or worse still, hooking their cuffs up to the projector while scrunched over the table) is just too risible for words. Anyhoo, if you’re a shoot the cuffs kind of guy, here they are, at $195.00 a pair with 2GB on each sleeve. Now introducing the perfect pair of cufflinks for work. 2GB USB Flash Drive Cufflinks (2 GB each,…
Read MoreSky Factory eScape – the ultimate digital cinema window on the world
The Sky Factory eScape product is a ‘virtual window’ which combines a realistic looking window frame with a wall mounted HD LCD flat screen to deliver a selection of scenic realtime videoscapes into your drab blank wall life. Obvious isn’t it? The result is a little slice of ‘exotic somewhere else’ in your room, as you can see from the demo video. A Hawaii shorefront on a beautifully sunny day could be kinda pleasant if you’re stuck in a basement doctor’s waiting…
Read MoreWireless Home Intercom System – talk room to room and avoid meeting people
This Chamberlain Wireless Home Intercom System gives you the power of communication through walls, with none of that nasty, germ spreading, eye contacting, spit risking human contact stuff. You’ve got a 1000 feet range on this puppy, which means you probably never have to meet another person ever again. Adjust meal times right and you’ll be able to just hang out and fester in the garden shed for ever. Perfect. $119.95. Unlike lesser models that transmit a signal through a home’s electrical…
Read MoreRS-7 Camera Strap – for when you need to hang with your camera
We all know the bigger the camera the better the photographer right? So this makes the Black Rapid RS-7 Camera Strap a must have to save on the chiropractor bills at the end of a day’s shooting. Very simple but effective. Fix camera to strap and hang across the shoulder, just like that. Takes the weight off the neck and gives you quick access to the camera when you need a fast shot. Priced at $59.00 – camera not included. It’s constructed…
Read MoreMP3 Direct Cut and Merge MP3 – two super cool freeware programs for specialised audio file editing
The free MP3 Direct Cut program gives you quick and dirty direct editing of MP3 audio files without having to decompress them, which means the results will be higher quality. Comes with pause detection and an ID3 tag editor so you can easily split up long tracks into smaller more digestible chunks. Very useful. At the other end of the scale we find Merge MP3, which…you guessed it…lets you merge multiple audio tracks into one recording. You can sort the files into any order you…
Read MorePlaystation 3 Cake – yum
Can I love this Playstation 3 Cake please? With edible controller and games? Sheer artistry. Debbie is pretty good at baking. Tags: playstation+3+cake, yummy
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