I’ve started a kind of green and power saving theme, which isn’t a bad thing I suppose. Writing about the credit crunch has also become somewhat of a habit. Today I’m going to write about Solar powered fairy lights. I know we haven’t had much of a summer to make much use of these under a canopy, but they still have their uses. They’re ideal if you want all year round lights somewhere, but not the cost.

The Solar powered fairy lights come with a remote control unit too, which will allow you to control what mode they are in.
There are 6 different modes in total: constant, fast flash, slow flash, fast flicker, chasing and combo. Which is enough for any of your indoor or outdoor events. Hang them on the tree in the garden and make it look stunning all year round.

Setting up the Solar powered fairy lights couldn’t be easier. Place the solar panel where it will get the best exposure to sunlight and string the lights where you want them. The battery is waterproof obviously and a five hour charge will give you eight hours worth of light.

Conserving energy has never been so stylish and they’re cheap as chips, get the Solar powered fairy lights from £29.95 now.

Now this is a fun gadget to have. The Rocket Fishing Rod is the ultimate gadget for the lazy fisherman. You’re going to get some very odd looks from traditional anglers when you turn up at the lake with this little beauty. No longer will you have to worry about snagging your line or setting up a rod and reel because it all comes in one handy package.

The Rocket Fishing Rod is a breakthrough in fishing technology, with its pump action casting. It’s just a matter of point and shoot. The safety float keeps the hook covered up until it hits the water too, making it not only easy, but safe too.
It isn’t too bulky to carry around either, so you can leave it in the boot of your car.

Fishing is a hobby of mine, with all the lakes around here it would have to be, but carrying all the right fishing equipment up the mountains can be a bit of a chore. There have been many occasions when I’ve tangled the line whilst casting off. I’ll admit it, I’m not the best caster there is. But with the Rocket Fishing Rod I don’t have to worry about that. The only thing I have to worry about is where I want my cast to land and the depth I want to fish at. Everything else is automatic.

I’d like to see the old boys casting out to 30ft with their traditional rods. And if you can find a lake that’s by the side of the road, you don’t actually have to get out of the car.

I recently discovered this great little gadget whilst I was searching for ways to charge my mobile phone when I was away from a power source. The Freeloader Solar Charger meets all my needs, and then some. By far it is one of the best gadgets that I’ve written about. It’ll charge my mobile with no problems at all. It will actually power a mobile for 44 hours. But that’s not why I love the Freeloader Solar Charger. Not only will it power the largest list of mobile phones that I have ever seen, but also iPods, PSPs, PDAs, digital cameras and GPS systems. The list is truly phenomenal.

I quite like walking in the mountains around my home town, and having a device like the Freeloader Solar Charger is an absolute must. Having the power available when you want it is a joy. I can strap it to my backpack as I walk and let the sun charge the internal batteries.To fully charge the internal battery of the Freeloader Solar Charger takes about 8 hours, or 3 hours if you use the USB cable, which is supplied.

Costing just under £30, this gadget will pay for itself many, many times over. And it’s not going to add any substantial weight to your hiking kit at 185 grams, but it’s unfair of me to say that this item is only useful if you enjoy walking. The Freeloader Solar Charger should be in every home.

I highly recommend that you get one of these today. You’ll wonder how you ever survived without it.

Long gone is the time when you had to have the hi-fi up full blast from the living room just to hear a whisper of your favourite tunes from the garden. With summer now in full flow, the back garden is the place to be for social gatherings of friends and you are going to need your tunes out the back to keep the party vibe going (and to annoy the neighbours).

So now is the time to invest in a proper little gadget for the summer and they don’t come much better than this Outdoor Wireless Speaker. It works by simply plugging your iPod, computer or any other sound-spiller that you have into the mains-transmitter (which is provided of course) then lugging your speaker out to the garden and your mains transmitter will stream all your tunes over wirelessly, voila! Easy peasy. What’s even better is all the volume controls, bass and what not are all on the speaker so you don’t have to run back inside to change the volume when old Mrs McLintoch next door tells you to pipe down (not that you would listen to her anyway).

As an added bonus this already funky looking speaker gets even funkier when night falls with its added cool blue light. It won’t illuminate an entire garden but it is definitely a snazzy little thing and will have your more drunk friends Oooh’n and Ahhh’n in its presence.

It seems the last few posts I’ve put up here have had something to do with the weather, or more specifically the lack of sunshine that we seem get in this country. Well never one to be put off by a small matter such as weather I thought I’d continue my little mini-theme looking at weather related items. There are a host of gadget goodies out there which come to life with a bit of solar energy.

For starters how about this solar powered, build it yourself, helicopter. Made of laser cut plywood this easy to put together flying machine has a solar powered rotor blade. I’d be interested to see how high you could get this somewhere like Dubai If flying isn’t your thing then how about this solar powered windmill. Now I make no promises that this will be your first step on the road to becoming a baker but it may make a nice garden feature.

Building not your thing? Well how about a bit of a gardener. Well it would seem the solar gurus have you covered here as well. Never let condensation or heat build up in your greenhouse again with this solar charged greenhouse vent. Again easy to install with no electrical wiring necessary. Got a pond? Well how about that finishing touch with some floating solar lights. These lights sound rather relaxing as they glow in a slowly changing cycle through all the colours of the rainbow.

Finally if cheese (apologies in advance to all you gnome fans out there) is your thing then how about a solar powered light-up gnome. Just the thing to deliver the final touch of, errr, class to anyones garden, just not mine please !

So there you have it. Just some of the solar related gadgets available on the market today. Again though I make no promises regarding sunshine hours available in the UK this coming summer should you invest in any of these items.

I had an interesting email in my inbox yesterday morning. It was from the Sling Media guys asking to see if I wanted to test their latest mobile client for the Nokia n95. Well I didn’t need to be asked twice. I was straight onto the website, filling in my details and downloading the client. Before I get to my opinion a little bit about the SlingBox.

The box, which now supports High Definition, allows you to stream content across the Internet to your computer or hand held device. I first picked mine up about 2 years ago [I think I was one of the first in the UK to actually have one] and must admit it’s probably been my most useful gadget to date.

The latest version now supports up to 4 video sources (including high def as I already said), although I currently only have my Sky HD box plugged in. You simply hook the box up to your home network and then it gives you what is known as a finder ID. This is the unique code to identify your Slingbox. You then install the client on your computer or mobile device and enter the finder ID of your sling box. The really cool thing about the Slingbox is that you can actually control your video source meaning you can change the channel while on the move. I also find the Slingbox very good around the home as well, especially streaming TV out to the garden - when the weather finally improves.

As I said though what makes this solution so great is that it works so well on the Nokia n95 as well. After installing yesterday I nipped outside and was able to stream the football over 3G. One thing though to be aware of is that over 3G this can eat up data faster than a pig in a pie shop so make sure you keep an eye on your usage. My advice would be to get an unlimited data plan, or go searching for a wireless hotspot.

The Slingbox is without a doubt one of my most prized gadgets and I highly recommend one to any gadget fan out there.

Live life on the wild side? Constantly crawling up the side of cliffs and always wondering where your next feed of adrenalin is going to come from? Well we have the gadget for you. If you spend your days skiing down the slopes, rallying down mountains on your mountain bike, conquering The Alps or diving out of planes you will probably want to capture all those moments right, however, trying to make it up the face of a cliff with a video camera in one hand is probably not the best idea.

With the AT18 Waterproof Action Camera you can capture it all and not have to worry about plunging to your death. This cool Action Camera from Oregon can be attached easily to a helmet, mast, harness, or your handlebars and all mounting equipment is included. It will deliver digital video in 640 X 480 VGA at 30 frames per second and all captured footage can be played on the TV or uploaded to a PC, so you can share your daredevil antics with the whole world. The 32MB on-board memory is by no means a lot but with an SD card slot expandable up to 2GB you will be able to capture a fair whack of danger. With waterproof capabilities of up to 3 metres and being shock resistant you won’t have to worry about it crashing out on you either.

I myself am definitely not a danger man so I’m thinking it can also come in handy for making creative party videos, strapping to the cat or creating your own version of Peep Show. No? Well I’m sure you have your own ideas but one thing is for sure, the AT18 Waterproof Action Camera can come to good use no matter where you are or whatever situation you are in.

I almost feel a bit embarrassed writing this post, given that I’m looking out of my window at weather that wouldn’t be out of place in a Storm Chasers episode. This morning however, as I took the red eye flight from Belfast, the weather was spectacular and it got me thinking to all the fantastic things you can do when the weather is suitable. Of course to make the most of summer you need the proper equipment and that’s what has motivated me to write this.

First and foremost I love my food, especially on the BBQ, so even the smallest possibility that summer could be around the corner as me already looking at the latest and greatest upgrades to my BBQ kit. I remember growing up a choosing a BBQ was a much simpler affair. Nowadays though there are a host of options to consider making the buys choice somewhat more complicated, especially if you still need to decide on coals or gas? [note I’m not even going to attempt to answer that one as I could be here for days] Oh and don’t forget about your accessories, especially if you don’t like your burger munching to be ruined by wasps. Now of course in this country you can never be too sure you won’t get a spot of rain so ensure you have some protection that will allow you to continue your outdoor antics even if the weather turns foul.

Finally after all that eating you will no doubt want to chill out for a few hours so you may want to consider something comfortable to snooze the afternoon away in or if water is your cup of tea then check out some of the pool and spa packages available.

So there you have it, my guide to building yourself a perfect garden retreat this summer. Now of course all we need is the sun!