(In)dispensable Little Things

It is almost impossible not to come across them. For many people they are often rather clever than useful, but once you get hold of these gadgets and gismos you wonder how you ever lived without them. As a hint of what is available in the market here goes a list of new ingenious inventions from Taiwan manufacturers never seize to amaze us.

Can’t wake up? Try this! This is a flying alarm clock with a propeller. When the alarm goes, propeller flies into the air and you can only switch it off if you can find the propeller and put it back on the clock. It Works with 4 AA batteries and costs £ 21.00


If your problem is boredom at work and you need something to keep you awake, this little device can be a solution! You place it behind your ear and by looking at the speed of head movements, determines whether you are falling asleep or not. Once it detects that you are falling asleep, it wakes you up ‘gently’!


Are you interested in the paranormal? Want to see ghosts or 'shadow people'? Are you bored and have got nothing else to do? Now you can create your own shadows! Fill your house with 'shadow people' based upon your own shadow! Disturb your friends by only hanging the screens up at night! Hang the Shadow Magic glow screen on a wall, place something or someone in front of it, fire the strobe flash, and the shadow cast on the screen will linger for 20-40 seconds. Then use the light pen end to add your own highlights and enhancements. The shadow glow screen can be used again and again. (WARNING! If you are doing it yourself, you might need to set up your camera’s flash!) The screen measures 23"W x 28"H, and it costs US$ 20.


If you use RSS, you might like the “rsstroom” reader. It uses wireless connectivity and prints on the toilet paper news from RSS 2.0 and atom feeds. This device is configurable through a web browser and can be set to print an unlimited number of feeds in random or alternative mode.


If you are concern about the environment but still need to recharge your batteries, you might be temped to try the UVEE UVSC-1s Universal Solar Battery Charger. In direct sunlight, Uvee's solar panels convert solar energy into electricity which is automatically saved to its integral Li-ion battery. The charging process takes 4-7 hours for a full charge. When there's no sunlight available simply charge the Uvee with the supplied AC. Uvee's supplied power adaptors can charge a huge range of portable devices including: Mobile phones, PDA’s, iPod’s, digital cameras, satellite Navigation devices, MP3 Players, PSP’s, DS Lite and many other small electrical appliances. This ecologically correct gadget costs £ 24.99.


No, it’s not a modernized LP. Coway designed this dish cleaning-wand to provide you with an easier way to remove dirt and agrochemicals. This device uses megasonic sound waves which induces microcavitation, shaking impurities loose from surfaces and makes it easier for you to clean fruits, meats, dishware, pots and pans and flatware with little or no detergent. The price is not announced yet.

A Grey Matter Challenge: Brain Training Applications for Windows Mobile Devices

After their quick popularizations, thanks to a long series of Nintendo DS titles, the brain training games seems to be gaining space within the Windows Mobile platform. From basic to advance levels there’s an increasingly variety of realises aiming to transform PDAs and Smartphone into workout machines for your grey matter.

Brain School Brain Trainer, by Mastersoft has 20 different puzzles (involving concentration, analytical reasoning, numeracy, etc), each at 5 increasing levels of difficulty. Like on a school, you have to work your way up from year 1 passing exams and collecting A Plus stars as you go. There are 4 years to pass and 100 stars to collect! The navigation is simple and on-screen instructions easy to follow. There are versions for PPC and Smartphones (WM 5.0) both at £10.22. Trial versions are also available for download.

Advanced Brain Trainer - Deluxe Version, by Filao follows the same style as the DS trainers. It offers 9 kinds of exercises, such as Speed count, Drawing over, Memo square and Shape counter. There are 3 game modes (Exam, Practice and Arcade), which can be set to different difficult levels. The questions are introduced by a “brain coach”, who can be chosen by the user. The coaches can also analyze your results, motivate and guide you through your mind's enhancement. It can be downloaded for £10.24 and it is compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphones and Pocket PCs. Demo versions are offered.


Spb Brain Evolution for Smartphone includes 10 development mini-games and provides two independent game modes, one for measuring the user’s brain status, and one for improving the user’s abilities. Some of the mini-games offered are Arithmetic, Quadronica, Memorics, Encyclopaedia and Sudoku. It is compatible with WM 6 / 5 / 2003 and costs around £10.00 (US$19.95).

Resco's BrainGain for Pocket PC (WM 6 and 5) offers a collection of nearly 40 brain training programs divided in memory, numerical and analytical categories. The style also reminds the DS training games, with a character presenting the questions and functions to evaluate the users’ mental capabilities. It also offers a comprehensive guide and it’s optimized for one-hand use. A demo is available and the full version costs £10.24.

If you are into games, one of these application might be a good choice; no matter if you want to “improve power of concentration, memory and reflexes” or just relax, kill some time and have fun.