A gadget/machine/device or discovery you like or admire

Auditor #9 wrote:

Might splash out today lads (cad é seo?)

Seo Cliff Thorburn

I gave up on manual grinders long ago.

The bicycle dynamo

Today's Observer comes with The Observer Book of Invention and it's a fascinating, if dinky little read. It has interviews with inventors - all kinds of interesting things for those who are at home on these boards.

The water level seriously underrated. Levels generally. Plumb lines so simple but so useful.

Historically, the bicycle, as CF mentioned. It really is the most efficient form of transport.

In more modern times.. the folding bicycle!

Voice over IP such as used by Skype and Blueface are cool too.
Also IP (internet protocol) itself. And of course HTTP.

eoinmn wrote:

Historically, the bicycle, as CF mentioned. It really is the most efficient form of transport.

In more modern times.. the folding bicycle!

Voice over IP such as used by Skype and Blueface are cool too.
Also IP (internet protocol) itself. And of course HTTP.

The windmill - old ones and new ones.

The Vespa. A great design.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/PerthVespa.jpg

I'd be lost without my Leatherman.

cookiemonster wrote:

I'd be lost without my Leatherman.

I lost my Leatherman! Well, to be accurate, my Swiss Army knife. Left it in the rucksack instead of packing it in the suitcase when I went for my flight -- as you would. Being tired, and late, I couldn't face the rigmarole of going back to check-out, etc. And they tell you that all those confiscated items (so innocent, so useful!) will be destroyed. All because of those al-Qaeda lunatics.

Anyway, I'll plump for the bicycle too. The bike dynamo is certainly very useful -- in the right place. I used to live in a place where, unlike in Dublin, you could be confident that it wouldn't be vandalized.

In the same vein, those wind-up devices are really neat and useful. I have a few flash lights of that type, but my favourite flash light is a shake one: you just shake it to charge it up. Apart from being always available and lasting a lifetime, it shows you how wave-power can work.

I have a wind-up torch that has a radio on it, but the best thing ever is that you can plug it into your mobile phone and wind it up and it charges your phone for you! I've never seen anything like it. I'm looking for a music festival I can go to so I can make good use of it.

AfricanDave wrote:

I have a wind-up torch that has a radio on it, but the best thing ever is that you can plug it into your mobile phone and wind it up and it charges your phone for you! I've never seen anything like it. I'm looking for a music festival I can go to so I can make good use of it.

I'm usually opposed to multifunctional widgets on the grounds that none of the functions works properly, but that sounds marvellous AfricanDave.

We haven't used this old thread in a while - anyone have one of these and bring it to work or bring it to the woods or to watch the children playing in the street at Halloween ?



Keeps water hot for 8 hours according to this poor website. A truly remarkable and brilliant Scottish invention in operation for over a century. Almost as brilliant as Higland Toffee or Scots Clan

We have just put in a new wood/coal burning stove like this one. Fitted yesterday, and a great success.
A bit of a sooty job. It is much more fuel efficient and less draughty than the open fire was.

Product information

Burns both wood and coal
Airwash for cleaner glass
Cast iron construction
No boiler available
6" top or rear flue
7kW maximum heat output
Dimensions - Height 660mm Width 610mm Depth 370mm

Looks very cosy - have you got the space around it and the bricks and the big chunk of timber to hang your Christmas socks where your cat can
sit ?

Auditor #9 wrote:

Looks very cosy - have you got the space around it and the bricks and the big chunk of timber to hang your Christmas socks where your cat can sit ?

Its sitting in a nice old slate fireplace with a cast iron arch around it and a red rug in front. It has its flue coming out of the back, and is flat on top for boiling a kettle or making soup in an emergency. Lots of room for Christmas stockings.

I sooooo want one of those stoves.

Open fires look nice, but all the heat disappears up the chimney.

eoinmn wrote:

I sooooo want one of those stoves.

Open fires look nice, but all the heat disappears up the chimney.

It is working a treat. My only regret is that it doesn't have a back boiler. The ideal for someone in the country would be solar for the summer and one of these for the winter, with a bit of ash and willow coppicing planted. Could do without oil, or with only a small amount for backup.

fridge for me. its transformed modern life.

second place is the mobile phone.

for me it has to be electricity! gotta love it!

What about tinygrow and 6+=1 on box7box. Mind, they are addictive.

TGOC wrote:

What about tinygrow and 6+=1 on box7box. Mind, they are addictive.

What's that tinygrow about ? I got two windmills but all the birds keep killing my tree... it is addictive though.

Auditor #9 wrote:

TGOC wrote:

What about tinygrow and 6+=1 on box7box. Mind, they are addictive.

What's that tinygrow about ? I got two windmills but all the birds keep killing my tree... it is addictive though.

Don't try 6+=1 then, that will really blow the grey matter. A great example of oriental creativity.

I like differential calculus. Does that count ?

the bicycle. revolutionised transport.