Acrylic Citrus Squeezers

We try to give our daughter as much fresh juice and veggies as possible. I’ve never been much of a fan of juicers, having owned a couple I always found the clean-up to be a chore. Where we live now the slightest bit of sweetness left anywhere in the kitchen results in an ant infestation. So juicers are out but these acrylic citrus squeezers might just be in. One squeeze extracts all the juices without the seeds.$9.95US at CB2.


Jeeto! Fun Products

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When I was setting up my daughters bedroom I was scouring the web looking for decoration ideas. I eventually used sponge stamps of flowers and butterflies which I used to paint a pattern over the walls of her room. I really gave some thought, and ultimately gained inspiration from, the range of silk screened images from Jeeto!. They come in a trio of sizes (the limited edition versions come in 2) stretched on 1 1/2″ thick pine frames. At that time the giraffe and hippo were my favourites (I even had the giraffe as a desktop image for awhile). Now that my daughter has grown a little I’m sure she would love to se the monkey as well.
Jeeto! also produces wonderful tees as well. I love the butterfly and front loader. My daughter is fascinated by big tractors.
Jeeto!


Fleurville Capsule Lunch Pak

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Even the little ones need cool bags to carry their essential stuff. The kids here use bags like this for their food and miniature carry-ons for books. They have to carry allot of books. This lunch pack is insulated with adjustable backpack straps scaled for kids. It has essential features like reflective piping for high visibility, machine wash, hidden name tag, and a built in beverage sleeve. It comes in 3 different colours that appeal to both boys and girls.
Available at Modern Seed for $33US.


Thirsty Tote

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I’ve featured Built NY products before and it’s not just because they nice product photography. I saw these this past weekend and thought they were a better alternative to simply throwing the bottle in a bank to leak all over the place. These totes stretch to fit baby bottles and sippy cups, while insulating and protecting the drinks. The Thirsty Tote also soaks up all spills and are machine washable – which eliminates those sour milk smells. Each tote includes a convenient carry handle that snaps to strollers, car seats, diaper bags, or whatever else is handy. Comes in a dble. bottle version as well. Prices start at about $9US for the single version.
More info. on their site.


Duo Diaper Bag

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Say good-bye to those fluffy flowered diaper bags that you wouldn’t dare bring to hockey practice, this is a diaper bag even a guy can love. This modernist bag is fashioned after the classic messenger bag and with 600 dernier poly-canvas can withstand the all the punishment you give it. Bountiful pockets keep all your bottles, cups, phone, supplies and changing pad close at hand. Changing pad is included with bag. It’s available in black, charcoal, and red for a reasonable $54US.
View more detail


Simple Sneakers

Getting dressed in the morning means for me pulling on a pair of khakis or jeans, a dark t-shirt (likely black), and when on the way out the door a pair of sneakers. Except for various attempts at formalising my uniform and the years I wore a tux at night, essentially I dress the same now as I did 20 years ago. Despite some criticism that I don’t dress my age I like it very much; so much that my drawers are over-flowing with t-shirts and my front door is blocked by a growing number of shoes and sneakers.
crusher.gifThe latest addition to my growing collection of sneakers are called “Crusher” from Simple shoes in California. They aren’t available here in Taiwan but you can order them online from a number of retailers including REI where I ordered my pair from. They have suede and shiny leather combination upper “extra comfy” pig leather lining, I got mine in chocolate but they come in black and cognac as well.
Chientai recently told me, tongue cheek I presume, that a main consideration for his next job would be whether or not he could play table tennis at lunch time. Perhaps one of the questions I will ask at an interview is whether of not I can wear sneakers and jeans.
Simple Crusher’s


Tape Timer

tape_timer.jpgBeautiful, beautiful product. The KT401 Tape Timer is an aluminum kitchen timer and looks to be about as easy to use as well … pulling a tape measure. “Pull the tape to set the time, and the visible tape shortens as time passes. Makes it really easy to see how much time is left from across the kitchen (or any room). svn
Catalogue page


Eridol R-1 Palm Sized Digital Recorder

I have been looking for a portable digital recorder for some time. As I seem to be getting poorer and poorer everyday the mini-disc options that are available in Taiwan are far too expensive, especially since they kinda suck. r1_diagonal_sm.jpgAnalog is not something I want to deal with so tape is out. It looks as though Eridols R-1 Portable Recorder & Player is going to be my new lust after tool (toy). It’s palm-sized, has an integrated stereo microphone, and recording to CompactFlash. “And as opposed to cheap consumer audio gadgets, this box records absolutely clean; even the built-in stereo mic sounds terrific (check out the audio samples). The extras are just as impressive: there


Headphone systems

I’ve given up being able to afford a good sounding stereo, especially a system that will sound good in the concrete rooms that we live in, so here in Taiwan headphones seem a good fit. I have at home now a wonderful pair of Beyerdynamic’s which I borrowed from the office and have fallen in love with the detailed sound that comes from listening to music on these slightly higher end “cans”. Seeing as my employer will likely want these back very very soon I have begun my search for a replacement.
headphonesetup.jpgMost of my music listening is either in front of a computer or via an iPod. Unless I am working with raw audio files the sound source is usually not of the highest fidelity, this is not so much of a concern for me, but when you use quality headphones such as mine you begin to notice that the amps in a computer or iPod are totally insufficient. In addition to buying quality headphones, buying a headphone amp becomes a necessity if I want to truly appreciate what the headphones can offer. Headroom explains it well, “Driving a decent pair of headphones with a portable player almost always results in a gutless mush of music. Hitting the “bass boost” switch only emphasizes the murk.
The fact is that headphones are miniature speakers and require a miniature power amplifier to drive them with fidelity. Headphones provide a complex electro-mechanical load; they may be small, but they still need a power amp with excellent stability and low output impedance (a good damping factor) to bring out their potential. Hook your headphones up to a HeadRoom amplifier and you


Workplace Dish Set

kitmeal.jpgI spend most of my lunches at my desk, eating and reading. It appears it is a common enough activity that not only does the activity have a name – “workers


Burton / R.E.D. Audio HiFi Helmet

I recently purchased a new helmet for riding my Taiwan harley. I was long overdue for some serious protection for my head when riding in the Hsinchu commute chaos. I have a rather large head and have never been able to find a helmet here to fit. Luckily a local shop (everything is local here) carried a number of “xl” sized helmets and now I look even more like an alien than I did before.
hifihelmet.jpgUnfortunately the helmet is not iPod compatible. I have this insane habit of riding my bike and listening to music at the same time. If you rode here you would realise just how insane that is and just how much it might not matter.
What I wish I could have purchased was something like this very cool Burton HiFi Helmet. Burton claims audio excellence and the overall features seem just right; removable speakers, adjustable volume, a quick release chord and an easy access mute button.
Looks cool too.


Electron Luv tube amps

Electron Luv tube amps are a work of art. Wonderful craft and art. But at 190lbs it’s not something i will have shipped to Taiwan any time soon.
tube.jpg “Josh’s Design Philosophy to seek out the ultimate aesthetic/musical quality in audio. In the pursuit of the best reproduction of recorded music, the audio world is populated with many outstanding products. What could be different, better? Why not use the BEST sounding tubes, components, and circuits possible? Why not build the most creative and cool looking chassis’ possible? Why not use tubes that look as good (and cool) as they sound, and present them prominently and artfully? If it sounds better, use it. tube2.jpg
A ‘no compromises’ approach to the circuit design and parts, together with a completely fresh and creative way to house them is the basic design goal. These amps are designed and built from a standpoint of extensive listening… what does this sound like, what does that tube, choke or rectifier sound like. This results in an understanding of the sonic consequences of each and every part in the circuit, and the contribution that each component makes to the resulting tonal and musical reproduction. As with thoughtful, experienced gourmet cooking, this results in a wonderful, delicious feast of audio delights.”
electronluv tube amps


Made Unique T-shirts

I have been in love with the ubiquitous t-shirt just about all my life. Despite a brief period where I decided that t-shirts sans graphics were the new cool my collection has never stopped growing. “Corporate Design made me Mediocre” is a t-shirt that I can easily relate to made by a Brooklyn based shop which was founded by a couple creatives who spent a little too much time in cramped offices.
tshirt.gif “Made Unique is a way of living, a way of thinking without all the heavy philosophical stuff, it


Vaporwear?

“For Jory Bell, creating a handheld computer that uses the full Windows XP operating system isn’t a matter of if, but when.

As chief executive of San Francisco-based OQO, Bell has been trying for four years to create such a handheld. Now he says the product will be launched in the fall.

The company’s 30 employees have produced several prototypes of its “ultra personal computer” that takes Windows into its final frontier in a handheld, where full PC compatibility could give it an advantage over rival Palm and PocketPC handheld.” as reported in the Mercury News.

Their minimalist site lends an air of mystery to the supposed product. An interesting change from the corporate Dell and IBM look.


Nikon D70 DPReview.

DPreview has finally published their long-awaited Nikon D70 review, 28-pages of stats, analysis, and pictures. Much of which I tend to skip and go straight to the conclusions.d70.jpg The D70 is Nikons answer to Canon’s Digital Rebel which was introduced last fall. I lusted over the Digital Rebel until I actually picked one up in a store in Bangkok where I was left feeling less than impressed and immediately put my credit card back in my wallet. I already have 3 Canon cameras all of which I am completely happy with but after reading this review I’ll have to leave my wallet at home if I go to the local camera store to have a look at the D70.