The Heatable Ugg Boot

 Fadget Reviews, quirky  No Responses »
Jun 122009
 

Heatable Ugg

Heatable Ugg

There’s nothing that says winter in Australia more than the wonderful sheepskin-lined footwear fondly known as the Ugg Boot.

Despite rumours that crass mag-fodder celebs like the trashy Paris Hilton have adopted our National Boot, the ugg-boot remains so practical and – let’s face it – downright ugly, that it has mostly avoided all fashion trends apart from the perpetual ‘Bogan Oz’ look.

Wikipedia calls them a ‘casual unisex boot’ and claims that sheepskin boots have featured throughout history with sixties Aussie surfer culture the latest in a string of ancient cultures to adopt the ugg.

Some ugg fanciers reckon that the ‘ugg’ title originates from the well-known feature of those uggs worn for more than one or two winters – usually, they will develop a pungent odour that quickly overpowers all other scents and those nearby may be heard to utter ‘Ugh!’ as the smell reaches them.

Whatever, there’s not been much ugg improvement since the earliest days of uggdom, apart from minor changes like mini-ugg boots to fit baby feet, short ugg-slippers for the indoor types, and pink-dyed ugg boots for chicks.

But now, gadget retailer Latest Buy is offering a heatable ugg boot. Whether you’re so  wimpy that you can’t be satisfied with the snuggly warmth of bare sheepskin or you live in one of this nation’s most chilly regions, if ugg is not enough, this gadget might just do the trick.

The heatable ugg boot is not, actually, a real ugg, made as it is from polar fleece dyed a blinding pink. (Nothing natural there, though I did wonder at first whether it might involve polar-bear fur.)

The high-tech component is the nifty inclusion of a hidden cache of wheat grains and lavender which, when heated in a microwave for two minutes, produce a toasty warm sensation which will last for hours. And no more stinky feet!

Go wild – but remember, only the original sheepskin boots will truly bring out your inner Bogan.

Bottom line: Warm your feet in these microwaveable slippers

Where:  www.latestbuy.com.au/heatable-ugg-boots.html

How much : Au $ 35

The Heatable Ugg Boot

 gifts, quirky  No Responses »
May 122009
 

There’s nothing that says winter in Australia more than the wonderful sheepskin-lined footwear fondly known as the Ugg Boot.

heatableUggDespite rumours that crass mag-fodder celebs (like the trashy Paris Hilton) have adopted our National Boot, the ugg-boot remains so practical and – let’s face it – downright ugly, that it has mostly avoided all fashion trends apart from the perpetual ‘Bogan Oz’ look.

Wikipedia calls them a ‘casual unisex boot’ and claims that sheepskin boots have featured throughout history with sixties Aussie surfer culture the latest in a string of ancient cultures to adopt the ugg.

Some ugg fanciers reckon that the ‘ugg’ title originates from the well-known feature of those uggs worn for more than one or two winters – usually, they will develop a pungent odour that quickly overpowers all other scents and those nearby may be heard to utter ‘Ugh!’ as the smell reaches them.

Whatever, there’s not been much ugg improvement since the earliest days of uggdom, apart from minor changes like mini-ugg boots to fit baby feet, short ugg-slippers for the indoor types, and pink-dyed ugg boots for chicks.

But now, gadget retailer Latest Buy is offering a heatable ugg boot. Whether you’re so wimpy that you can’t be satisfied with the snuggly warmth of bare sheepskin or you live in one of this nation’s most chilly regions, if ugg is not enough, this gadget might just do the trick.

The heatable ugg boot is not, actually, a real ugg, made as it is from polar fleece dyed a blinding pink. (Nothing natural there, though I did wonder at first whether it might involve polar-bear fur.)

The high-tech component is the nifty inclusion of a hidden cache of wheat grains and lavender which, when heated in a microwave for two minutes, produce a toasty warm sensation which will last for hours. And no more stinky feet!

Go wild – but remember, only the original sheepskin boots will truly bring out your inner Bogan.

Bottom line: Warm your feet in these microwaveable slippers
Where: www.latestbuy.com.au/heatable-ugg-boots.html
How much : Au $ 35

Sonic Teen Deterrent

 Fadget Reviews, quirky  No Responses »
May 122006
 

Have you morphed from a jovial party-animal to a cranky old party-pooper? Was it you that called the police at 2am to complain about the noise from your neighbour’s kid’s 18th? Or are you just tired of gangs of pimply youths hanging around outside your shop, wrestling and blocking the footpath?

Here’s a gadget to warm the hearts of the anti-teen brigade everywhere.

Welsh inventor and cranky old party-pooper Howard Stapleton solved the problem of rowdy teenagers for a local shopkeeper in 2005 with a device called The Mosquito which sends out a high-frequency sound that can be heard within a range of about 15 to 20 metres by most people under 20 and hardly anyone over 30.

Stapleton tested the device on his children before coming up with the perfect pitch – a pulsing tone broadcast at 75 decibels designed to irritate young people so much that they move away from the area after a few minutes.

The shopkeeper was delighted with the results on local troublesome teens and was quoted saying – “It’s very difficult to shoplift when you have your fingers in your ears.”

Now marketed by UK company Compound Security Devices, the device takes advantage of a phenomenon called ‘presbycusis’ – age related hearing loss. From the age of about 18, all humans slowly lose their ability to hear upper-frequency sounds.

Unfortunately the spread of the iPod may render the Mosquito ineffective – studies have shown that some 18 year olds have hearing loss equivalent to that of the average 60 year old following years of listening to personal stereos at too-high volumes.

Bottom Line: Unleash your inner party-pooper
Where: http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/teenage_control_products.html
Price: about Au $1350

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