Dan, Author at The Red Ferret Journal - Page 73 of 78The Red Ferret Journal

Gadgets December 11, 2008 posted by Dan

Digital Photo Frame Keyring – perfect for Grandmas

We found this Kaiser Baas 1.5″ digital photo frame keyring in our local office supply super-mega-jumbo store and it’s quite nifty. It can hold around 70 photos and accepts either JPG or BMP files which it displays on a 1.5″ screen. The little screen is pretty ho hum, colours are bluish and you’ll need to find the right angle to view the photos clearly but it’s usable and quite bright. The screen looks like a colour mobile phone screen from…

diy December 10, 2008 posted by Dan

Honda HP450 Power Carrier – your new wheelbarrow is ready Mr Tracy

Looking like something Brains might have designed, the Honda HP450 Power Carrier is a high capacity, petrol-powered wheelbarrow with go-anywhere rubber treads and a get-out-of-my-way attitude. Driven by a pull-start 163cc, 5.5hp 4-stroke engine the HP450 can carry 450kg on level ground or 250kg up a 25� slope. It’s equipped with a hydrostatic transmission with two forward gears and one reverse and it can run continuously for 2.5 hours on a tank of fuel. They’re easy to drive too, just…

diy December 9, 2008 posted by Dan

USB Rocket Launcher hacks – where do I begin?

USB rocket launchers were cool …. two years ago, but now everyone has one, even that annoying Joe bloke in Accounts. Well if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool geek and in a hacking mood you can go several times better. Invent Geek has instructions for hacking a USB rocket launcher and adding an Airsoft pellet gun. Not only can you defend your territory cubicle, you can actually go on the offensive. Watch out though, these things fire pellets at 250 feet-per-second and…

Gadgets December 8, 2008 posted by Dan

Lily Floating Solar Fountain – frogs not included

The Lily Floating Solar Fountain is a no-installation-required, floating solar-powered fountain. Just toss it into a sunny pond or pool and away she goes. It comes with 3 different spray nozzles and when in full sun the fountain can pump 210 litres an hour and launch water 45cm into the air. The best bit is it stops tinkling when the sun goes down so you won’t lie in bed needing to go to the loo. �39.14 from the lovely people…

cool tech December 5, 2008 posted by Dan

Fitness Cube – resistance is mobile

The Fitness Cube is a 30-in-1 exercise machine disguised as a high tech piece of furniture. Easily moved and weighing 15kg, the Fitness Cube is designed to blend into a modern lounge room and replace the industrial-look of current multi-purpose exercise machines that take up so much space. Everything you need is hidden away under the lid, including mats and a slide out bench. There’s a range of bars and straps to work most areas of your body as well…

Fun & Games December 5, 2008 posted by Dan

Electric Paper Plane Launcher – perfect for lectures

The key to any experiment is repeatability. If an experiment can’t be duplicated, it can’t be verified, just ask the Cold Fusion people. Now if you’re a budding aerospace engineer and you need to test your plane designs then you need repeatability people. That’s where the Electric Plane Launcher comes in. Capable of launching planes at over 30 mph this should be all you need to start work on the new Concorde. Best of all it’s powered by 1 AA…

Gadgets December 4, 2008 posted by Dan

SmartBolts – A little stress never hurt anyone

We’re going a bit specialised here on Red Ferret today, but I think you’ll cope. These are SmartBolts, they tell you when they’ve been tightened sufficiently and when they haven’t. The little coloured dot on the head changes colour as the bolt is tightened, red for undone, black for correctly tightened. The visualiser works by compressing a small compartment filled with fluid so there are no moving parts and the bolts will last +20 years. There’s also a high resolution…

Gadgets December 3, 2008 posted by Dan

CSI Stick – covert cell phone analysis

Do you or someone you know have a cellphone that needs analysing? Then you need the CSI Stick. The CSI stick is a covert-ish cellphone information grabber capable of downloading everything off a cellphone just by plugging it in. Attach one end of the CSI stick into the rechargeable power supply and the other end into the phone to be analysed, select which type of data you want and wait for the lights to blink. So far the stick only…

general December 2, 2008 posted by Dan

Dirt Bag – Funny name, semi serious stuff

Keep dust, dirt and small furry animals out of your computer with a Dirt Bag. Designed to fit loosely over your computer the Dirtbag is made from a special breathable material that allows clean air to be drawn in via the computer’s fan. All the dust and dirt which normally ends up residing on your heatsinks is collected on the outside of the bag. The bags last about 12 months, they have special access holes for your optical drives and…

Gadgets December 2, 2008 posted by Dan

Cricket Laptop Stand – folds up neat and tidy

The Cricket laptop stand is a neat little travel accessory that can prop up your laptop to a better viewing position while improving the airflow underneath it. The front legs are telescopic and adjust to almost any width whilst the back leg can be tweaked to raise your screen. You can also use it for tablet PCs to improve the writing angle and it supports up to 5.5kg (12lbs) which should cater for most “portable” machines. When you’re done it…

Awesome December 1, 2008 posted by Dan

Auditorium – gorgeous flash game that sounds just right

I just stumbled across this gorgeous Flash game called Auditorium. The idea is to direct the acoustic particles to the correct audio meter using various tools, but it’s very challenging and there many solutions. Five minutes and I was hooked! Give it a try. [Update – Oops, it’s only a demo at the moment with a full game to follow soon. The creators are also looking for beta testers if you’re keen.] Auditorium is about the process of discovery and…

Gadgets December 1, 2008 posted by Dan

PureCart – shopping carts so clean you can eat out of them

Make sure your customers are protected from all those nasty bacteria with the PureCart shopping cart purification system. Just like a carwash for your shopping cart, the PureCart applies a highly-effective, safe, yet unnamed, antibacterial solution to the shopping carts to sterilise them, with no rinsing required. Kills 99.9% of staphylococcus, E.coli, salmonella, listeria, yeasts, fungus and moulds. Coming soon to a dirty shopping trolley near you. I don’t know, are we taking this anti-bacterial thing too far? We’re just…

cool tech November 26, 2008 posted by Dan

Aten CS661 USB KVM Switch – join your PCs at the hip

The Aten CS661 is what’s known as a KVM switch or a keyboard, video and mouse sharing device. The CS661 simplifies the whole idea and shares KVM via a USB cable without requiring any kind of network. Aimed squarely at professional on-the-go people and home users, the KVM can only be used between two Windows PCs, running anything from 2k to Vista. Getting connected is simple, plug the local end of the switch into the local PC and the remote…

Video November 25, 2008 posted by Dan

Met Player – brings the Metropolitan Opera to your desktop

Believe it or not opera is cool, it’s chock-full of drama, action, lust, drama, singing, drama, violence and a bit of drama thrown in for good measure. Sure there’s lots of singing but it’s great singing. The Metropolitan Opera in New York is doing their bit to get the word around with Met Player a streaming video service broadcasting over 150 full length operas, in HD and SD with subtitles as well as Audio-Only. There’s a free 7 day trial…

huh..? November 25, 2008 posted by Dan

Delete Fly Swatter – warning no undo

You can probably figure the Delete Fly Swatter out for yourselves. “No Esc for flies” indeed. $US7.99. Pretty handy for us antipodeans now that summer’s around the corner. This handy flyswatter works on Windows or Macs, easily erasing “data” you will NOT want to recover. Think of it as a backspace for bugs! The high tech plastic is flexible yet strong, and it hangs from the handy bead-chained loop. Tags: delete+fly+swatter

Author Archives: Dan