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Bookmark This! August 7, 2009 posted by Nigel

LED Droop – the fight to improve the efficiency of our LED lamps

This long but interesting ieee Spectrum article takes an in-depth – and very scientific – look at the mystery surrounding the drive to make our LED lamps more efficient. The problem, known as droop in the trade, means that LEDs cannot be manufactured to emit more light, because the output drops off significantly above a certain wattage. That’s apparently why most household LED lamps only go up to 20W or so. It’s a fascinating, albeit geeky, tale which shows how much science…

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hardware July 28, 2009 posted by Nigel

Taser Shockwave – the new improved area denial tool

The Taser Shockwave is disturbing in one of those “you now have 15 seconds to comply” ways that’s hard to explain. Designed to provide ‘increased safety and stand-off capability during hostile situations’, this menacing array of taser muzzles can be combined in multiple groups to offer the perfect ‘pesky student’ clearance device for those times when things are getting a little embarrassing for an administrative body. The Shockwave can shoot a barrage of tasers at a warm body up to 25…

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Awesome July 23, 2009 posted by Dan

FreeLoader Pro – fun fun fun in the sun sun sun

Now don’t get me wrong, solar rechargeable gadgets are a great idea if that gadget spends all day in the sun anyway. As for leaving your phone, camera or MP3 player lying around catching some rays? Not such a good idea. That’s why gadgets like the FreeLoader Pro are so brilliant. Basically it’s a pair of flip-out solar cells with a rechargeable battery all in one simple unit. It comes with most of the common phone (Nokia, iPhone, Samsung, LG,…

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Bizarre July 13, 2009 posted by AndyB

10 Really Weird Printers – spreading the message with style

All too often printers are the victim of their own functionality. Because they’re so good at placing ink onto bits of paper, people choose to ignore the creative capacity of these clever machines. Thankfully there’s a select group of valiant pioneers pushing the boundaries of print technology in weird and wonderful directions, inventing and building unusual (and occasionally pointless) printing machines. Here we take a look at 10 of the wackiest printers around. [Photo from Flickr]

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Gadgets July 2, 2009 posted by Nigel

Erase-o-Matic – the simple, silent, zero power data zapper

The Erase-o-Matic degausser uses rare earth magnets enclosed in a specially formulated case to zap magnetic data media such as diskettes, cassettes, VHS, zip drives and all that kind of stuff. Its bigger brother will do for larger media and hard drives. Are we allowed to say we love the name? It’s so…homely isn’t it? Like Robbie the Robot and Lassie. OK, enough of that. The base version is priced at $395.00. zzzzztpfffzsttzing. All tapes should be passed once then…

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Awesome July 2, 2009 posted by Nigel

Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car – not just green but awesomely open source too

The Riversimple car may look a bit like a Batmobile that’s shrunk in the wash, but this tiny vehicle may well change the way cars are made in future times. It’s not just the fact that it’s a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that you can’t buy, but only lease (with fuel). Nor even that it is aimed at car clubs rather than individuals in order to try and reduce the total number of vehicles on the road. Nope, the big…

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Gadgets June 9, 2009 posted by Dan

Back in a Flash – computer backup and recovery via USB

The Back in a Flash data recovery tool is a USB-based backup device housed in a USB key. When inserted into a PC it automatically backs up everything in My Documents (Mac version coming soon) and its subfolders to the Back in Flash drive. Back in Flash isn’t a one-trick-pony however, you can also use it to boot a PC that is having OS issues. The drive comes with a pre-installed Linux-based Windows-esque OS that will allow you to open,…

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Eco Friendly June 9, 2009 posted by Debra Atlas

GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater – world’s first Energy Star water heater

The new GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater – set to premiere in late 2009 -gives you the hot water you want, using half the energy you’d expect. The system takes natural heat from the ambient air and transfers it into the water, thereby saving around $250 per year in heat-up costs. The electronic control system gives you set and forget control, and the onboard sensors enable the device to self-monitor and notify the homeowner of potential problems. This trendy looking…

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Awesome June 8, 2009 posted by Dan

Propane Powered Lawn Trimmer – clean air lawn tech

Lehr make a range of propane-powered garden equipment including this Propane-Powered Lawn Trimmer. Propane is brilliant as a fuel as it burns much cleaner than petrol, and propane engines are simpler and lighter. The Lehr Trimmer runs on propane from an ordinary 16 oz gas bottle which you can pick up from any hardware store. Just screw it in and away you go, no mess, no choke, no priming. The engine is a 25cc four-stroke so it’s quieter than a…

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Awesome June 5, 2009 posted by Dan

Code X Yacht – Formula 1 powered ultra boat built by the Cylons

This amazing look machine is the Code X Yacht, an ultra performance hybrid sports boat. She’s powered by a pair of Ilmor Marine 710 horsepower V10 Formula 1 engines that push along at 90 knots (167 km/h). There is also a bank of solar cells to charge the lithium ion batteries and run the electric motors. Running on electrons will only get you 9 knots but it does mean you can slip out silently while basking in the sun. The…

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Bookmark This! June 4, 2009 posted by Nigel

Carcoon Server Shield – your own personal portable computer clean room

The Carcoon Server Shield is a portable, blow up computer clean room which you wrap around your precious hardware to prevent dust and nasty bits ruining your hard disks and all that precious data. The air ventilation system keeps the machine at a happy temperature as well as clean and dry, and you’ve got little access holes to get at the computer when you need. Cool stuff, and rather useful if you’re in a rural setting and need some serious…

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Gadgets June 3, 2009 posted by Dan

8Gb USB Flash Drive Voice Recorder – discreet audio recording for the modern keyring

This 8Gb USB Flash Drive Voice Recorder is a sly bit of tech. First of all it’s an ordinary 8Gb USB flash drive, but switch it on and you’ve got 160 hours of covert audio recording. The built-in rechargeable battery lasts for 4 hours and presumably it charges via USB, doesn’t say if you can record with it plugged in though. US$99.95 for the 8Gb version, or there’s a 2Gb version that holds 40 hours for US$49.95. Easily Record Your…

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hardware June 1, 2009 posted by Nigel

Manual Hard Drive Destroyer – aka the platter mangler

This Manual Hard Drive Destroyer seems to be quite effective in rendering a disk full of data safe from prying eyes. Actually we’re guessing that if you really really wanted to retrieve the data, and had CIA levels of cash, you probably could. Which is why +600 degrees of furnace fire is really your only choice if you want to make sure your information is gone for good. It takes less than 15 seconds to destroy each hard drive. All one needs…

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Gadgets May 30, 2009 posted by Dan

Checkpoint Flyer – laptop bag built for flying

The Checkpoint Flyer is a special type of laptop bag. Apart from looking pretty cool it’s designed to streamline it’s way through airport bag inspections, especially in the US. The Flyer has been designed so you don’t need to remove the laptop from the bag for it to be x-rayed yet it still complies with the Transportation Security Administration guidelines. The Flyer is divided into three main sections, each a discrete bag. There’s the brightly coloured front pouch, the…

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Awesome May 27, 2009 posted by Dan

LAN Warrior – extreme(ly portable) gaming

iBuyPower have decided that the only difference between a laptop and a desktop is the size of the strap needed to carry it. Behold the LAN Warrior. The specs are pretty impressive too, 1000W power supply, five fans, Intel Core i7 Quadcore 3.2Ghz processor, 12Gb RAM and twin ATI Radeon HD 4870X2 2Gb running in Crossfire mode; $US3280 as configured here. There are tonnes of different configuration combinations available including space for two dual slot cards in Crossfire mode, liquid…

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