Dan, Author at The Red Ferret Journal - Page 68 of 78The Red Ferret Journal

Gadgets April 6, 2009 posted by Dan

Gold Bullion Mouse – celebrate the financial crisis in style

Nothing says hang the financiapocalypse like bling, and in order to be truly tasteless, wireless bling. This gold bullion wireless mouse should fit the bill nicely. The mouse is 3 buttoned, with a clickable scroller and is rechargeable via a USB port. Mac and PC compatible and only �24.99. Oh and it’s not made of gold, in case you were wondering how they could make them so cheaply. It seems only right that computer mice, which were once real brick-like…

Gadgets April 6, 2009 posted by Dan

Blue Line Metal Weather Station – classy weather station

Desktop weather stations are pretty utilitarian-looking but the Blue Metal Line Weather Station from Oregon Scientific stands out from the crowd. It’s got all the usual weather station bits including weather forecasting, indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity and barometric trends for the previous 24 hours. $US98.95 from Amazon. The Blue Line Metal Weather Station displays slim styling and a refined metal finish. Ideal for use on a desk or table in any room of the house, you’ll have all…

Fun & Games April 1, 2009 posted by Dan

Tauntaun Sleeping Bag – stay warm without the mess

This Tauntaun sleeping bag just popped up on Thinkgeek and it’s what every budding Star Wars fan Dad should get for their littlies. It’s stylish and has all the trimmings you’d come to expect on a real tauntaun. There’s a saddle, intestine patterns on the inside and even a light sabre zipper pull! Hopefully it doesn’t come with genuine Tauntaun smell though. $US39.99. UPDATE: Yeah I know, April Fool. Where’s my editor? Isn’t he supposed to pick these things up?…

Bookmark This! March 31, 2009 posted by Dan

Read Green Initiative – environmentally friendly magazines

With print ad revenue declining and Mike Elgan (The Raw Feed) trading barbs with Brian Lam (Gizmodo) on magazines vs blogs, print magazines don’t seem to be a great investment at the moment. But what if the magazines were free and you could read them anywhere? The Read Green Initiative (not to be confused with Dharma) is an online magazine subscription service. Sign up with them and receive a free one-year subscription to one magazine in the Zinio stable. You…

Gadgets March 27, 2009 posted by Dan

Springfree Trampolines – extra bounce without breaking your head

Springfree Trampolines make just that, spring-free trampolines. Instead of springs they use flexible fibreglass rods around the perimeter of the jumping surface to cushion your fall. This makes the Spring free safer as there’s no ring of springy steel death to harm the youngin’s and as a bonus it gives you a nicer bounce. The 6′ high safety netting also uses fibreglass poles so you won’t find yourself coming down hard on a steel pole after a bad bounce. The…

general March 25, 2009 posted by Dan

Lowel Ego Light – simple desktop photography lightsource

The Lowel Ego Light is a compact, easy-to-use lightsource for product photography and hobby studio work. Designed with the Ebayer or hobbyist in mind the Ego is quick to assemble, folds away easily and gives pretty darn good results. Check out Bakerella for some examples, which incidentally is where I found the Ego Light. The food bloggers love ’em! So what does it do? Well you get the most flattering results in photography when your light source is really big….

Gadgets March 24, 2009 posted by Dan

Podcaster – all in one podcasting USB microphone

If podcasting is your thing then check out the Podcaster from R�DE. It’s a “broadcast quality” cardioid USB microphone with a shockproof capsule mount to keep out the external noise. It also has a 3.5mm stereo headphone output built into the microphone body with a volume control so everything is easy to get to. It comes with a 3m USB cable and a stand and you can also get a studio arm for the real professional touch. Just plug it…

Gadgets March 23, 2009 posted by Dan

Spout Popper – gives that caulking gun the finish it’s always wanted

Caulking gun tips are painful. You’ve got to trim them at the right angle and you’ve got to stop them gunking up and drying out. Well the Spout Popper can take care of all that for you. For just $US4.99 the Spout Popper can cut the tips off 3 different sizes of caulking tips at the perfect 45� angle. It even has a built-in puncture tool for bar fights making small holes in the end of the caulking spout or…

Bizarre March 20, 2009 posted by Dan

YouTube comments – apparently they mean something

If this Canadian movie poster (click to enlarge) spotted by The Daily Dairy can be believed then You Tube comments are now being used in movie promotions. What’s next, blog comments for product endorsements? We all know about YouTube comments, we’ve all seen the xkcd comic and what happened next. If this is true then that’s it for me, I mean why bother any more? Game over, good night, thanks again, toodaloo and don’t forget the lights on the way…

Bizarre March 20, 2009 posted by Dan

Bicycle Built for 2000 – People imitating computers imitating art

Bicycle Built for 2000 is a recording that was created using 2088 different people’s voices assembled into a single song. Each person was asked to sing a small snippet of a song that they had just heard and submit it via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The song snippet they were asked to replicated was actually a recording of a machine singing “Daisy Bell”, made in 1962 as the first example of musical speech synthesis. The final outcome is a cacophony of…

Gadgets March 20, 2009 posted by Dan

Roll and Store Rolling Pin – What else would you do with the inside of a rolling pin

So it’s not quite the usual Red Ferret gadget faire, but I couldn’t resist. The Roll and Store Rolling Pin is made of clear acrylic and stores 9 plastic cookie cutters. It’s a 46cm rolling pin with silicone handles and the whole thing is dishwasher safe (except the handles). $AU18. The Roll and Store Pin is a rolling pin like no other. Sure, it’s a fantastic rolling pin but what makes it even cooler is the set of nine fun…

but is it art? March 20, 2009 posted by Dan

Wrap Around Corner Frame – a photo frame that sees around corners

You know all those corners in your house. Those unused corners? Well that’s just wasted photo display space my friend. Hop on over to Photojojo and pick up one of their Wrap Around Corner Frames and let the house-spruicing begin. The frame holds between 7 and 12 pics of various shapes and sizes. Fits any corner (any 90� corner that is) and is made of lacquered wood. $119, or if you blog about it, it’s only $99. Now that’s webby…

Gadgets March 19, 2009 posted by Dan

Cube 3 iPod Dock – all in one mini entertainment unit

The Cube 3 is an iPod dock with extras, or it’s a mini entertainment centre with an iPod dock. Whichever way you roll it, it’s got tonnes of features for not much space. It’s got a 7″ 16:9 built-in LCD tele that plays free-to-air digital television (European I think so DVB-T?), it plays DVDs, CDs, has a picture viewer, MP3 player, MP4 player, radio and the piece-de-resistance, the iPod dock which charges and plays. But wait there’s more. It pumps…

Gadgets March 19, 2009 posted by Dan

Sonic Cleanse – scrub your face clean with ultrasonics

Sonic Cleanse is a ultrasonic face cleaning system that uses silicone pads and soft vibration to scratch the gunk right out of your pores. See that stuff on the brush near her face? That’s what came out of her pores. No, I can’t back that up, it’s probably just soap. $US19.98. Sonic Cleanse gives you clearer, smoother, softer skin while washing away makeup and everyday residue. Gentle vibration massages face while cleaning and it’s safe for every day use. Features…

software March 19, 2009 posted by Dan

Totally Rad Action Mix – changes your photos from drab to fab

Photoshop Actions are like macros for Adobe Photoshop. They allow you to create scripts replicating tasks to take the drudge out of photo retouching. You can make your own of course or download/purchase other people’s actions. The Totally Rad Action Mix is a range of actions published by Boutwell Studios. The actions are geared more towards portrait and wedding photography but you can use them for whatever you wish. It’s far simpler to see what they do by using them…

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