Crabble Packaging
I recently met the creator of the ‘crabble’ at a business seminar and he had some examples of his product with him which caught my eye.
The ‘Crabble’ is a mobile phone stand which suits most smartphone types. Unlike most desktop stands it’s very portable – it fold flat and will fit inside most wallets.
Pros
- Simple and Compact
- Does what it is supposed to do
- Fun designs
Cons
- A bit pricey for what is effectively a bent piece of flat plastic with some rubber bands on the ‘feet’ (£5.99 RRP)
- No space for the charging / sync lead
- Design hidden when in use
I found it easy to use, sturdy enough for my phone and a pleasure to look at. If you have a phone that uses a lot of battery, you might have a problem though – there simply isn’t enough clearance at the bottom of the stand for the charging lead to stay connected. OK if you turn the phone sideways, but this really only works for viewing movies or web browsing.
The Crabble
The first street party of the year took place this weekend in Battersea Square. A ‘farmers’ market, craft stalls and other food stalls, as well as music and dance performances from nearby RAD (Royal Acadamy of Dance). Also a chance to see some parts of the square I’d never seen before. There’s quite a large office complex that houses a number of small businesses tucked away.
Good weather brought out the crowds and the perfomances on the small stage were of a high standard. I do pity the ballerina who’s tutu fell off though. Lots of interesting stuff about Battersea history, and I picked up a new booklet of heritage walks (Battersea Heritage Trails), which is a great introduction to the history of this part of London. The booklet was published by Wandsworth council. It’s available from local libraries, or by calling 020 7627 3182.
It was great to see many of the activities were free (thanks Wandsworth council parks), or in aid of local good causes (Katherine Low Settlement)
Tags: party
Tags: grow your own, mushroom
Very little evidence of any campaigning in Battersea, despite it being a marginal seat. All we’ve had so far is a leaflet through the door from the Conservatives and Labour andI did see a battered Ford Fiesta with a few stickers from an independent candidate.
Policies I like:
- No increase in national insurance
- Citizenship for long stay immigrants
- Keeping Sure Start programme
Unfortunately these policies are one from each of the main parties, so it’s tricky to decide…
Sony CMR-PC2 Driver Download
Having searched for webcam drivers for the Sony CMR-PC2 without success, I finally found the original CD. Here are the drivers. As even the Sony Europe website does not provide these drivers, only the manual, I am proving a link to download the drivers for Sony CMR-PC2.
Download Drivers-Sony-CMR-PC2.zip (13MB)
I have no idea if these drivers also work for the CMR-PC3 or similar, perhaps you can let me know in the comments.
Tags: CMR-PC2, Drivers-Sony-CMR-PC2.zip
Click pic to get one
Alan gave me a nifty little submarine engine and it turned my thoughts to a summer project. I’m looking again at the home 3D printer.
There are now a few competing/complimentary home 3D printers around, these include Fab@Home, The RepRap, and hobby CNC
If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Reprap was the one i’d heard of a few years ago, but Fab@Home looks quite sophisticated.
I think the only criteria I have is that it must fit in my shed 
Tags: 3d printer, shed
My sister is becoming a farmer – a goat farmer to be precise. she and Ian now have approx 50 female and 1 billy goats on rented land near their place in Bradford upon Avon. The plan is to increase the herd (billy has been busy) and buy some farmland to establish themselves. After that it’s on to Smoothie production…
As you can see from the photo the goats were happily penned in, but my childhood experience reminds me that for goats the grass is always greener the other side of the fence, and they’ll do just about anything to get there.
Good luck Sarah, hope you don’t mind getting out of bed in the middle of the night to recapture your straying herd
Tags: goats
Nice and neat
I do like to see the shopping ordered nicely at the checkout. Here are my top tips
- Nothing should overlap, unless its a multiple item (eg egg boxes)
- Group by food category and then size
- Tic-Tacs™ are optional
Tags: shopping
Winners of 2009 Wandsworth Green Awards
The Wandsworth Green Business Awards were held yesterday at the Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel. Unfortunately we didn’t win this time for our green server hosting, but it was a popular event. I’d say around 250 people attended and it was very well organised.
Linebyte A1
The winners included Hakan from Linebyte, an IT company. Hakan was demoing a nifty little micro-computer (pictured) for which he’s been rewriting the linux kernel, drivers and all sorts. Unlike the VIA/Atom boards, everything on this board is low power and ultra small. Power consumption for the whole unit is just 2W. Power is from USB. All it needs now is an application or two…Any suggestions, please comment below!
Another worthy entrant was Technology Solutions, who are bravely punting Linux based desktops for small businesses. All application software is Open Source based so no licence fees.
Tags: Green Business Awards, wandsworth
