The Tunewriter III multi-function music system may look uber retro, but it contains enough smarts to move your music and audio from olde worlde analogue to brash modern digital in one swoosh. Just connect up the included USB cable between the unit and your computer and use the free Audacity software to do the recording bit. Also contains an AM/FM radio and twin speakers. $179.99. The Tunewriter III is the solution for your irreplaceable vinyl or cassette tap collection, stored away for…
Read MoreMonthly Archives: July 2010
Heated Hammock – recreate those sweltering years at will
Lazy days in the sun not enough for you? Need some more sizzle in your life? Well try out this Heated Hammock, which will warm your body up to a nice comfortable 122 F via some heating elements and a rechargeable battery pack. Weird product of the week award? $299.95. This is the only hammock with four heating elements woven into its surface. The heating elements generate up to 122º F of radiant heat to gently warm you from the…
Read More3M MPro150 – hands on with this cute little pocket projector
The 3M MPro150 is one of a new breed of pocket, or pico, projectors, distinguished by uprated brightness, increased internal memory and improved functionality. I’ve been testing one out for a while, and first reports are that it’s a cracking piece of kit, which offers a wide range of value for both business and pleasure. The first surprise is the build quality of the device. It comes complete with a full set of cables, manual and charger as you’d expect, but…
Read MoreTVIX HD N1 Media Player – smallest (and cutest) HD media player ever
My but this new TVIX HD N1 Media Player is cute. Not much bigger than a desktop PC speaker, this puppy contains a 400Mhz processor, 128MB of memory, an HDMI port (1080p full HD), plus a bunch of other ports including USB, an SD memory card slot and Ethernet connectivity. It’ll play back Xvid, AVI, MPEG, .ISO, VOB, .FLV and Uncle Tom Cobley video, as well as all the audio formats you can think off and supports an optional USB WiFi…
Read MoreAnimated Weather Widget – cool free weather widget for Windows
This Animated Weather Widget freeware (warning music!) for Windows offers an interesting new take on the desktop weather motif. Instead of just supplying a boring old pic, the developers have crafted a fully animated widget with lots of customisable imagery to make the program interesting. There’s the usual forecast information available, culled from a choice of the better weather services around the world, but you also get realistic animations for things like rain, snow and cloudy spells. It’s global, has auto…
Read MoreOut of The Box – the clever smartphone user manual
This Out of the Box smartphone packaging concept incorporates a clever interactive design which is focused on helping the user get to grips with all the features of their new handset. The idea is you plonk the phone into the manual and as you turn the pages you’re guided to the right things to do, and buttons to press, to set up and use the product. It’s a cool idea and all, but I really can’t see mainstream handset manufacturers shaving cash…
Read MoreWhat Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain – scary…but fascinating
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain is an excellent, clear and interesting article on the physical effects of one of the Western world’s favourite legal drugs. Who would have guessed that it actually isn’t a stimulant at all? Not me… For all of its wild popularity, caffeine is one seriously misunderstood substance. It’s not a simple upper, and it works differently on different people with different tolerances—even in different menstrual cycles. But you can make it work better for…
Read More9 Cool Free Website Theme Generators
This list of 9 Cool Free Website Theme Generators is pretty neat. If you’ve ever wanted to create a quick and dirty website but didn’t have the time, energy or coding skillz to spare, then one of these could be a solution. They’re mostly blog focused of course, but Wix, Weebly and the very cool doTemplate are standouts which are definitely worth checking out. So, if you are not well-versed with coding, you still can create beautiful blogs or websites…
Read MoreLe Bistro Portion Control Feeder – pamper your pet at all times and in all weathers
The Le Bistro Portion Control Feeder ensures that your animal is treated like royalty when you’re out and about. Not only will it automatically dispense the precise amount of pet-tastic grub your little precious demands and deserves, but it will also play your choice of national anthem and raise a tiny flag over the dish to provide the final perfect flourish. Or something. $79.95. This programmable feeder automatically dispenses precise pet food portions so that your pets follow their recommended diets,…
Read More4.6 inch GPS Navigator – priced to drive your wallet happy
This 4.6 inch touchscreen GPS Navigator features Windows CE, a built in speaker, 64MB of memory, a 2 GB SD memory card and a 1200mAh battery. It will guide you to your destination by speaking instructions through your car stereo via an FM transmitter, and will also act as a MP3 player, ebook reader, photo album and MP4 video player. But what’s really remarkable is the fact that the whole kit, including car charger and mounting kit is a mere…
Read MoreWise Hammer – find it, flash it, bash it
This Wise Hammer contains a stud finder as well as a heavy metal bit for hitting nails. Hold the handle up against the wall, watch for the flashing light and bleeping sound and then bash your nail into the centre of the stud every time. Genius? $29.98. To find stud edges, place the butt of the handle against a wall and move it until the red light flashes and hammer beeps. Use the built-in nub to mark the edges to…
Read MoreHitachi Life Recorder – 2 weeks battery life, 3 months of your life
Hitachi is busy preparing to release a wearable ‘life recorder’ which will use 3 axis accelerometers to record a person’s activities. We’re not sure how this can be termed life recording, it seems more like velocity recording, but then again it’s a start. Probably. What we really need are miniature clip on camcorders with 1 month battery life which can store months and months of sound and audio of everything you do. Good luck with the editing though. The company…
Read MoreComodo Anti-Spam – freeware prevents spam from hitting your email inbox
Comodo Anti Spam is a freeware program which protects your email inbox from those nasty spam messages. It does this via a whitelist service which allows messages through from people you trust and permit, and also by running a challenge/response service with any message from a sender it doesn’t recognise. These challenge response (e.g. please send us the word in the attached image) things are a pain for senders, but useful if you’re seriously under attack by spammers. My anti-spam system is called…
Read More15 Ways to Clear Your Desktop Clutter
I don’t have any desktop clutter. Nope, not a thing. My desk is as pristine as the day it was purchased. Ooh look…a pink pig in the sky, over there. If I *did* have a cluttered desktop/life/psyche, then I’d probably take a quick squiz at this 15 Ways to Clear Your Desktop Clutter page. [Note: the Belvedere for Windows freeware sounds interesting. Oh, and if the Warpia Wireless Dock thing that is mentioned works as poorly as their Q-Waves product for…
Read MoreHow Much Energy Does Your Website Use?
How Much Energy Does Your Website Use? Interesting little service which analyses your website’s power consumption on load. I’m happy to report we’re significantly under the average. Goodness knows which sites are lighting up a bulb for over 25 seconds. Enter your website address below to find out how much energy is used each page load! Tags: how+much+energy+does+your+website+use, ecological, online+application
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