Windows 8 Metro Wallpaper Pack – Minimalist Desktop Decoration

Posted on Monday, April 16, 2012

The Windows 8 Metro Wallpaper Pack by Phorick is a great suite of simple wallpapers. Yes, they’ve been designed with Windows users in mind, but they will of course look equally at home on a Mac or Linux machine.

Numi – An Ultra Toilet with a Foot Warmer and a Touch-Screen Remote

Posted on Friday, April 13, 2012

The Numi is a highly desirable crapper that incorporates a bidet (with dryer, natch) and a foot warmer. The advanced functionality is controlled from a touch-screen remote that (amongst other things) enables you to set the water delivery pattern for the bidet – if you’d rather your ring-piece was squirted with a wave, rather than a jet, then get tapping and swiping. I’d also like to point out that the hands-free opening/closing mechanism on this baby is slicker and smoother than the electric roof on an Aston Martin DB9 Volante.

[Via Springwise]

Pebble SmartWatch – ePaper Display and iOS/Android Connectivity

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012

Genuinely excited by the possibilities of this particular product. Ever since someone decided an iPod Nano would look good as a wristwatch I’ve wondered how far this technology could be pushed. Pebble is a great looking product that addresses a number of issues, such as outdoor visibility of the display, and includes its own integrated app store. It’s fully customisable and can run a variety of apps that work in concert with your Android or iPhone device, such as GPS for fitness or remote control of your music player. It has received over five times its requested funding allotment and will go into production this summer.

Game of the Year – Kiss Paris Hilton – only on Android

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012

In future times, as digital archeologists dig through the digital detritus of our digital lives, I like to think that they’ll discover this particular app and mistake it for a work of genius. The idea of Kiss Paris Hiltion is given away somewhat by the title, but I don’t think I’ll be ruining it too much for you when I say that the idea of this cartoon-style sim game is to kiss a cartoon-like image of Paris Hilton. So screw your Angry Birds in Space, your Fruit Ninjas and your Scramble with Friends, because this glittering product is the high-water mark of 21st century mobile device recreational entertainment.

Not.

Wi-Fi Unlocker – Access Unsecured Wi-Fi Easily on Android

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012

Here’s a cheeky little app that may prove useful. Wi-Fi Unlocker contains a database of default admin logins for a range of modems and routers. It can try those logins for you automatically when you try to connect to a hot-spot. If the owner of said modem/router has changed the default login then it won’t connect, but if they’ve left it at the default then you get free access. PSA: change the default admin password on your modem/router.

Radia – Pandora MiniPlayer for Mac

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012

Now that I’ve got a reliable solution to region-blocks I’ve started using Pandora radio again. The iPad app is a fairly stripped down affair, but it beats leaving the website running all the time. Radia is preferable to both – it’s a neat little menubar app that gives you access to your stations along with handy play controls. It also displays album art and does Growl notifications.

DailyPen – Cloud Based Minimalist Journal App

Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012

It has been interesting to watch the trend away from bloated word processing application to distraction-free text editing. If you’re one of those people that embraced the distraction-free app trend (ByWord, OmmWriter, iAwriter, Simplenote etc) then you might also like DailyPen. This is a simple journal-keeping web app that focuses purely on your text. You can keep your journal private or turn into a minimalist blog and enable sharing.

Taxi Vending Machine Pushes the Right Buttons

Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Here’s an awesome idea –  a vending machine for taxis. The unit is mounted behind the driver and enables a passenger to purchase an energy drink, some pain relief tablets or chewing gum. If they really want to make a success of this thing though, the two items they should definitely carry is a pack of condoms and a toothbrush.

[Via PSFK]

Stickygram – Turn Your Instagram Photos into Fridge Magnets

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Wait? Facebook bought Instagram? How come I haven’t read any stories about this online or in the mainstream press? I digress. New bosses or not, Instagram will undoubtedly continue to have great success and if you’re one of the 43m people who actively use the service then you might like to check out Stickygram. For a very reasonable $14.99, they’ll ship a pack of nine magnets anywhere in the world. Bargain.

G-Archiver – Google Mail Archiving Utility Transmits Your Login Details to the App Creator

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Very disturbing bit of detective work by Dustin Brooks, a reader of Jeff Atwood’s Coding Horrors blog. While looking for a simple utility to back-up his email, he downloaded a small app called G-Archiver by John Terry. After using the app, he ran it through a source code tool to look at the nuts and bolts and was horrified to discover that not only did it include hard-coded login details for John Terry’s own Gmail account, but it also transmitted a user’s Gmail account details directly to that account. He tried logging in and discovered hundreds of logins for unsuspecting user’s Gmail accounts. Full story here.

Competition – UnoDNS Vouchers

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Just a quick heads up to let regular readers know about  a competition we’re currently running. UnoDNS have given us five vouchers to their awesome DNS service that unblocks Hulu, iPlayer and other services for folks outside the US and UK. Voucher entitles you to 25% off a subscription. Details are in the recently updated guide to watching US/UK television shows abroard, which you can find here.

Flashback Malware Checker for Mac

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012

So someone’s built a 600,00 strong bot-net from unsecured Macs that were infected thanks to a Java weakness. Apple have plugged the hole (six months after its presence was first established) but there are still a lot of compromised Macs out there. If you’re concerned, download this simple checker, which will let you know instantly if your Mac’s in the army.

Critwalls – Online Image Display and Collaboration Service

Posted on Saturday, April 7, 2012

Here’s a service that will appeal to a wide variety of creative folks – web designers, graphic designers, ad agencies, photographers etc. Critwalls is an online image collaboration space in which you upload images, arrange them within a virtual wall space and encourage feedback and interaction from other invited users. It’s free.

William – Super Simple Online Invoicing Web App

Posted on Saturday, April 7, 2012

I‘m a big fan of these stripped down web app services. William is an online invoicing service that enables you to quickly and easily fill out an invoice with the app doing all necessary calculations for you. The basic service is fee, but if you want it to remember your client’s details and produce reports then there’s a small  monthly fee of €5.

Deskamp – Use YouTube as a Massive Online Radio Station

Posted on Saturday, April 7, 2012

While GrooveShark is a good alternative to Pandora for non-US residents, neither service comes close to the variety of music available on YouTube. If you’re the sort of person that has used YouTube as an online radio station, flitting from suggested video to suggested video, then Deskamp may prove interesting. It sports a great minimalist interface, enables you to build playlists based on genre, artist or songs and has a radio mode to stream suggested songs automatically.