Tag: tech Digest

Pub Guru: What is Steampunk, and can it iron my trousers?

steampunkpair.jpg
Pub Guru is a new weekly feature you’ll see here on the pages of Tech Digest, and will give you enough knowledge about a particularly subject so you can fake your way through a conversation with your mate down at the local boozer. And when their eyes get that glazed look after droning on for so long, you can then steal their Fruli and run off into the night, cackling like a mad Belgian with the last barrel of fruit beer. Mmm…beer…

No doubt you’ve heard the word being bandied around of late, either here, or on Steampunk-crazy sites such as Boing Boing or Gizmodo, who seem to cover everything that’s churned out of enthusiasts’ workshops these days…

Katherine Hannaford Pub Guru

Turn your kids all Sith-like with this Star Wars Darth Vader laptop

DarthVaderKidsLaptop.jpg
I just saw these Darth Vader laptops from Oregon the other day in person, and before I had the chance to write about them, Alex at Shiny Shiny beat me to it. We’re just too good here, *hair flick*

Aimed at kiddywinks, or your mate who resembles Nick Frost just a little too much for comfort, these ‘laptops’ are actually activity centres for children which contain ‘mind-blowing games in logic, music and other breathtaking activities’. Use the interactive light sabre and ‘choose a learning path with Darth Vader’,..

Katherine Hannaford Baby Gadgets, Laptops / Notebooks

easyJet go green

They may be known for their garish orange but Stelios seems to fancy a colour change – his budget airline has unveiled a new fuel efficient plane, The Ecojet.

It’s not just a normal flyer with better fuel efficiency, this has two open rotor jet engines at the back of the airplane, which, according to the firm, improve the overall performance of the plane. The wings are swept forward to reduce drag and the body is made with lightweight carbon fibre to reduce the overall weight…

Jonathan Weinberg Energy systems, Science, Travel Gadgets

Suck at Guitar Hero? Fool your friends with the Guitar Heronoid robot

guitarherorobot.jpg Guitar Hero is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable games available, although let’s be honest with each other…we’re not very good at it, are we? I’ve just about nailed Iron Man by Black Sabbath, on the first version, but John the Fisherman by Primus, on Guitar Hero II? Bah! I’m lucky if I can match even two of the notes.

That’s when you need to call on your good mate Rafael Mizrahi, who has just created a robot called the Guitar Heronoid. Like most men I know, it’s divided into two parts – the brain, which detects and analyses the PS2 video signals and generates play-commands such as when to press the buttons, when to strum etc, and the body, which reads the play-commands and controls the twiddling fingers…

Katherine Hannaford Gaming, Robots

Shiny Video Review: Digital Camera Roundup (Kodak, Canon, Pentax, Olympus)


We’ve locked Zara from Shiny Shiny up in our offices and given her some Kodak, Canon, Pentax and Olympus digital cameras, and told her she can’t escape until she perfects the art of photography. See her video review for the cameras here, and if you like what you see, you can buy them below. Obviously you can’t buy Zara – she’s still locked up in our office awaiting our next challenge…

Katherine Hannaford Cameras, Video Reviews