Grooveshark. A peer to peer music file sharing service which provides legal no-DRM MP3 tracks, priced at 99 cents per, with a share of the profits going to the copyright holders and a share going to the users who are helping to build the community. It’s along the same sort of lines as Weedshare, but seems to be trying harder to focus on the community feel, through incentivising uploads etc. Mmm….not convinced. Visitors can browse songs uploaded by other members…
Read MoreYearly Archives: 2007
IndieKarma – widgets + micropayments = interesting
IndieKarma is a rather interesting micropayments idea to help bloggers and website owners gain a little cash from their venture. The idea is that the owner embeds a widget on their home page and every time an IndieKarma member visits the site, one penny is deducted from their account. The big question is, will one of these schemes ever really take off and transform the web funding issue once and for all? Would readers for example, be willing to pay a penny every…
Read MoreFerret posts this week
Here’s a quick round-up of Ferrety posts from the past week for anyone who missed them. Enjoy. i-Cushion – the groove-tastic cushion – The i-Cushion. Time was when a… Qstik EVOQ – noise cancelling Bluetooth headset – The Qstik EVOQ DSP Bluetooth… High Capacity Coin Sorter – aka the busker’s buddy – The Royal Sovereign FS-4DA Coin… UltraShape – vibrate away those love handles – UltraShape is a new non-surgical… Email to image converter – spam beater for website owners…
Read MoreQwerty Fridge Magnets – I lvoe you
QWERTY Fridge Magnets. The perfectly geek way to say I lurve you. Aah, well actually, I lvoe you. Or love you, I do. Ir velur ouy. Whatever. £4.95 a set of 5 keys. These quirky little keyboard-style magnets are fabulously romantic as they spell out LOVE Ü or MISS U. Ideal for the fridge or filing cabinet, they really are the perfect gift for smitten tech-heads who need things spelt out. Better still, they’re not half as soppy as most romantic…
Read MoreWireless Speaker Mousepad – music at your fingertips
The Wireless Speaker Mousepad. What do you get if you combine a wireless speaker in a mousepad with an FM transmitter attached to your iPod or CD player? Why sound at your fingertips of course. Literally. Also includes a solar powered calculator, a gel wrist rest and runs on three AAA batteries. $29.95. Wireless speaker mouse pad connects to any audio source, so you can listen to your iPod, TV, MP3 or CD player without cluttering your desk. Integrated speaker…
Read MoreDIY Voice Changer Kit – I am not your father, Luke
The MK171 Digital Voice Changer Kit could provide a bit of fun for the more adventurous of you folks out there. Complete with built-in microphone. $12.95. This voice changer kit is a riot! Just like the expensive units you hear the DJ’s use, it changes your voice in a multitude of effects! You can sound just like a robot, you can change the pitch of your voice variably from low to high. For even more effect, ad vibrato effect to your voice! Great…
Read MoreCamera Image Search – find photos by camera type
Camera Image Search is a fascinating little Ruby application which lets you search the Alexa web database for images according to which camera model was used. You can also do things like find images by exposure time or focal length. Really interesting little concept. The Camera Image Search is a nifty little tool I stitched together using the Alexa Web Search Platform for source material and Amazon’s S3 for storage. The idea is to let people search for photos based…
Read MoreLibriVox – more free audiobooks
LibriVox is another free audiobooks site which looks quite nice. You can also volunteer to read some public domain works into the library for them. It’s very Open Source, very community. Deserves to get an audience, so do take a look. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are…
Read MorePlay-Doh Cologne – smell like teen spirit?
Play-Doh Cologne Spray is a bit weird. Isn’t it? Maybe it’s just me, but I really can’t see why you’d want to walk around smelling like a first grade classroom. Ah well. It’s $18.99 for all you juvenile delinquents out there. Those fresh-from-the-can, full-of-potential, childhood memories… Now in a convenient spray! This Limited Edition Cologne was created to celebrate the 50th Birthday of Play-Doh! Hasbro said the fragrance is “meant for highly-creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of…
Read MoreAqua Scooter – gas powered submersible craft
The Aqua Scooter. Apparently the ‘worlds only totally portable, submersible, gasoline powered personal water craft’ . It can propel you along at speeds of 5 mph and travel for over 10 miles on one tank of gas. Which kind of blows away all the electric alternatives. The only real question is do you want to hug a gasoline tank to your body all day? $899.00. The Aqua Scooter takes all the effort out of swimming or snorkeling and provides so…
Read MoreEmergency Teddy Bear – the real care bear
The Emergency Teddy Bear. From the ‘let’s make it useful’ dept. Why just have a teddy bear hanging around, when you can stuff it full of useful emergency bits and pieces like a radio/light, batteries, blanket, survival tip books, cell phone charger and the like? No reason at all. Clever Japanese. $149.00 in Yen-u-lar.
Read MoreHeated Lotion Dispenser – decadence defined?
What does a Heated Lotion Dispenser say about the state of our modern society? Does it say we’re a caring, environmentally responsible species with a harmonious outlook on life and a desire to do good for all? Of course it does. $34.95. Using this stylish dispenser, with its 16-oz reservoir, is quite simple. All you need to do is fill the dispenser with your favorite hand and body lotions (no oils), plug the unit in and turn it on. Taking…
Read MoreI Light Speaker – sound meet lava lamp
The I Light Speaker. Well OK, so they’re calling them the lava lamp of speakers, but in reality they’re just a stack of speakers which shimmer. Or glow. Or both if you talk to them nicely. £34.99. The I-Lit is the lava lamp of speakers; retro, relaxing and colourful with just a hint of kitsch. Standing tall and proud with sexy curves, the I-Lit has two high quality speakers, one on its base and one on its head. Plug the…
Read MoreHitachi Hybrid Camcorders – hard disk and DVD recording
| Hitachi DZHS300A Hybrid Camcorder. Records onto either an internal hard disk or a DVD. Not only that, but you can transfer footage from disk to DVD in-camera. Now that’s more like it. After a few years of getting the bits kicked out of them, it looks as though the camcorder makers are finally starting to fight back. Good. 8 GB hard disk (enough for 3 hours of footage), 20x optical zoom, 680K CCD and USB 2.0.
Read MoreDeep searching – for when Google isn’t enough
3 specialist search engines which you might find useful. BTBot – BitTorrent search engine. WikiSeek – Very cool way to search Wikipedia Complete Planet – Pretty neat public database search engine
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