Archive for the ‘pet tech’ Category
CatBot, the Automated Cat Laser
Is your cat addicted to laser pointers? Do they yowl and cry when there is no red dot in sight? Are you tired of your arm falling asleep from the effort of constantly waving something around, for hours on end, just to keep your feline friend entertained? Well, the CatBot (pictured above) might just be the solution you’re looking for!
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Do I Stay or Do I Go? Vacationing without the Dog
Last week, Katie wrote about Dog Vacay – a site where people can find nearby homes to board their dogs while they’re away. But what if you want to travel with your pet? Dogtrekker.com is a website where you can find dog-friendly lodging, restaurants, and destinations in Northern California.
Ben Heck Wants to Help Your Obese Cat Lose Weight
Tech geek Ben Heckendorn, or Ben Heck as he’s called on his show on element14, is a master of hacking old electronics to create new mods. For folks in the Bay Area, Ben’s the kind o’ guy you’d find at Maker Faire building cool gadgets, or in the case of this year, judging the fair’s Hackerspace Challenge. Appropriately, for the recent Thanksgiving holiday episode, he used electronics “leftovers” to build an automated cat exerciser for cats whose owners are too busy (or too lazy) to exercise them.
I won’t lie — the video was a bit too technical for me to keep my interest (I’m more analog/This Old House), but you can’t help but be impressed by his handiwork. And I love that you can register for a chance to win Ben’s custom cat exerciser! FYI – the contest ends on Dec. 31, 2011, so there’s still time to enter. Read the rest of this entry »
Scannable QR Code ID Tags
PetHub, a Seattle-based software company that makes pet safety products has created a scannable QR code ID tag. The tags were first developed and tested in November 2010 in the Seattle area, but after a successful soft launch, PetHub launched nationwide in March 2011.
My first thought when I heard of these tags is, “Why is this better than a normal ID tag?” It’s an extra step to have to scan the tag, rather than just looking at it and seeing a name and a phone number. And what if your pet is found by some luddite who doesn’t have a smart phone or computer? They might not even know what the hell a QR code is, let alone know you gotta scan the darn thing.
Upon looking into the PetHub tags, what I did like is that the QR codes can hold extra info that your run-of-the-mill pet ID tag can’t, like your pet’s veterinarian contact information, medical information, and dietary information. Owners can easily update this information via the PetHub website, to make sure all the information is current. And if a pet goes missing, owners can use PetHub to send out email/text alerts, display alerts on PetHub.com, and send shelter notifications.
PetHub’s scannable ID tags are $12.95-$29.95, include a free web profile for each animal, and a free “Bronze” subscription that
includes data storage about your animal.
What do you think Pawesomers, is this cool or not? Would you use it?
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