Author Archives: Nigel

Full Name: Nigel Powell Website:
Info: Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don't we all?
Bookmark This! February 18, 2008 posted by Nigel

Wakerupper – cool online telephone reminder tool

Wakerupper. Today’s the day for daft names, but the application certainly looks interesting enough. Register and sign in and you can set up alarm calls to be sent to your phone via SMS whenever you want. It’s beta, US only from the looks of it and features other cool functionality like recurring calls and voice reminders as well as text. Do you think this has more use than a simple alarm function on your mobile phone? Answers on a ringtone…

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Bizarre February 18, 2008 posted by Nigel

The Gold Dress – or 275,000 ways to say ‘it’s heavy, Malcolm’

This gold dress contains 325 Austrian gold coins, weights 8 kg and is valued at $275,000. Speechless.  Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewellery K.K. has created a dress using 325 Austrian gold coins issued to commemorate the Vienna Philharmonic, which it will display for a week at its store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district. Two men’s jackets also using gold coins, together valued at about 127 million yen, will also be shown. Tags: gold+dress, fashion, bullion

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Bookmark This! February 18, 2008 posted by Nigel

Bit Che – meta BitTorrent search tool

Bit Che. Now here’s an oddity, and not just the name. It’s a free downloadable meta BitTorrent search engine which scans over 60 sites for the files you need. Having it as a downloadable instead of online as in youtorrent probably makes it more resilient, so for that reason alone it’s probably worth a bookmark.  Bit Che makes searching for torrents simple. It quickly searches lots of torrent websites for files and easily organizes the results. Bit Che allows you…

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Bookmark This! February 18, 2008 posted by Nigel

World’s Healthiest Foods – stay fit, stay happy, eat serious

World’s Healthiest Foods. Admit it, you want to live for ever doncha? Well here’s your chance. Eat nothing but these food types for the rest of your life, avoid all city air, sunlight, tap water, car journeys, stress and Mel Gibson movies and you might just do it. Me, I’m thinking, pfaff…turnip greens? Pass the honey mustard fries. (click on food name links for more info)  Turnip greens are supercharged with so many different nutrients, their consumption can help prevent or…

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Gadgets February 16, 2008 posted by Nigel

Cube3 7 inch TV/DVD Entertainment Centre – small, cubic and flexi-plastic

Cube3 7 Inch DVD/TV Entertainment Centre Combo. Good to see that the dear old retro, black plastic, micro-sized, HiFi system has had a facelift, isn’t it? Plays DVDs of course and has one of those clever USB slots in front for your MP3 player. Not only that but it’ll rip your CDs to the USB stick too, which is jolly wheeze. The impressive thing is the 60W RMS speakers, which means loud. LOUD. £119.99.  As well as giving you the standard features…

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Gadgets February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

In-Reach Child Tracker – the wireless fence for digital tiny tots

In-Reach Child Tracker. It may look like some sort of warden issued prison shackle, but this child tracker…well it acts like a warden issued prison shackle. If tiny tim wanders outside your custom configured boundary, then a small but thankfully non-nuclear ballistic missile will be fired at he/she to ensure that they never do it again. Or something like that. $44.95.  This child tracking system is perfect for giving your child some freedom and giving you peace of mind. The child…

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Gadgets February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

Sunspotter – wooden telescope lets you watch the sun

Sunspotter. This small wooden telescope beams a 3 inch image of the sun onto a white screen so you can track and trace sunspots as they race across the surface of our solar cousin. Best thing is, it saves buying a new pair of eyeballs every week. $349.00.  The Sunspotter is an innovative, wooden, folded-Keplerian telescope that uses a system of mirrors and a powerful 62mm objective lens to project a brilliant 3″ solar image onto a white viewing screen. Easily…

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Gadgets February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

Gator Electric Guitar and iPod Case with Speakers – possibly the weirdest iPod dock in the world?

The Gator Electric Guitar and iPod Case with Speakers is quite possibly the strangest music combo we’ve ever seen anywhere. A 600 denier gig bag for your Flying V ‘leccy guitar, complete with a full blown MP3 player/iPod dock and integrated battery powered speakers. I would love to have been a fly on the wall during that particular product marketing meeting, wouldn’t you? $89.99.  This rockin’ Gator Lightweight Electric Guitar Case from the I-series gives you the ability to play your tunes…

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huh..? February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

GMail problems?

Brian over at Gizmodo posts about problems with Gmail/Google Mail, and I have to say that he’s right. There’s something not quite right with the service. I’ve definitely noticed delays in messages coming and going, as well as messages disappearing completely in both directions. I even discovered that an account retrieval I’d set up had mysteriously just switched itself off without warning (I only discovered that my emails weren’t arriving properly by accident).  Another colleague tells me that his service simply won’t…

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Bookmark This! February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

PlotBot – cool free online collaborative screenwriting application

PlotBot. Fancy yourself as a bit of a screenwriter, do you? Have some friends who think they also could do better than the professionals? Well here’s your chance. This interesting little application uses a combination of wiki style editing, an Ajaxified interface and clever code to provide a cool screenwriting environment for individuals or teams to create amazing works of art. Or Rocky XX, whichever comes first. The interface is very simple to use, and the application sticks to all the formatting conventions, so you can be…

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Bookmark This! February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

KZTechs Software Suite – free Windows repair tool kit

KZTechs Software Suite. A comprehensive suite of free software tools for monitoring, checking and repairing a Windows installation. The most useful component is the System Repair Engineer, which is a nice thing to have handy if your Windows suddenly starts doing strange things. Apart from the fact that it should highlight any suspicious processes going on, it’s super useful to have all the tools in one place. Tags: kztechs+software+suite, microsoft+windows, repair+utilities, freeware

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hmm..interesting February 15, 2008 posted by Nigel

20 Worst Foods in America – yum? um…

20 Worst Foods in America. Ouch!  Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it’s the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. (As you read, keep in mind that 2,500 calories a day is a reasonable intake for the average guy.) We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium. The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America….

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Gadgets February 14, 2008 posted by Nigel

RESPeRATE – the blood pressure lowering device

RESPeRATE. So it’s an interactive breathing device which helps you take control of your blood pressure and lower it to safe levels. We’re talking bio-feedback hooked up to a breath control regime. It’s nothing new, and you’d probably do just as well, if not better, with a properly structured course of meditation. But hey, it’s got buttons. And whoo, a shiny screen. $290.00. (Flash animation demo)   Using a breathing sensor, RESPeRATE automatically analyzes your individual breathing pattern and creates a personalized…

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cool tech February 14, 2008 posted by Nigel

ISV PenandMouse – the computer mouse that thinks it’s a pen…an LED light…and a memo taker

ISV PenandMouse. New Korean pen shaped computer mouse which comes with a detachable wireless 2.4GHz dongle and a special mouse pad. The rechargeable battery lasts for 10 hours in use and 10 days standby, and you can buy it in a number of alluring colours. I like the look of it from an ergonomic point of view, especially since the thing offers up three buttons and a scroll wheel function. It also seems tailor made for laptop users with its pocket friendly…

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