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KRMA Titanium Pen – Notable crowdfunding campaign

CROWDFUNDING NEWS – Minimalism is in.  Titanium as a material is in.  And pens are useful and can also be cool.  Combine all of those things together and you might end up with the KRMA Titanium Pen.

What is it?

The KRMA Titanium Pen is a sleek writing instrument that is machined from Titanium with a twist action mechanism.

Why do I like it?

I’ve gotten into pens quite a bit lately, and I appreciate a design that is sleek and minimalist but made from durable materials that can last a long time.  The KRMA Titanium Pen caught my eye for all of these reasons.  Externally, it is virtually devoid of features save its beefy pocket clip.  Inside, it uses a twist mechanism to deploy its Fisher Space Pen ink cartridge.  It is available in standard Silver, Black, Gold, Blue, Green and Pink anodized colors and with each of these you can choose between machined or bead blasted finish.  The KRMA Titanium Pen also includes a Refill Extender Kit in Small, Medium and Large sizes to accommodate other ink refills.

Where can I find more info?

The KRMA Titanium Pen campaign ends on March 15, 2019. To date, over 200 backers have already pledged nearly $12,000 toward the $7,777 funding goal. Pledge packages start at $45 for a single pen and increase from there depending on the options and add-ons selected.  After the end of the campaign period, rewards are expected to start shipping in May 2019. Visit the KRMA Titanium Pen campaign site for more information or to become a backer.

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KRMA Titanium Pen – Notable crowdfunding campaign originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2019 at 10:30 am.

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Wahl Lithium-Ion Vacuum Trimmer review

REVIEW – Do you have a beard, mustache, or goatee that needs trimming? I do, and over the years I’ve owned lots of trimmers, some good, some bad. The one thing they all had in common was the huge mess they left behind. That’s where the Wahl lithium ion vacuum trimmer promises to be different. It uses a powerful built-in vacuum to capture hair that usually ends up all over the bathroom countertop. Wahl recently sent me a unit for review. Can it eliminate my messy post trimming cleanup?

What is it?

The Wahl lithium ion vacuum trimmer is a facial hair trimmer the uses a powerful motor to capture hair in a chamber for no mess and easy cleanup.

What’s in the box?

  • Lithium-Ion Vacuum Trimmer
  • 8 Individual Guide Combs
  • 6-Position Adjustable Guide Comb
  • Charger
  • Blade oil
  • Beard comb
  • Cleaning brush
  • Executive Travel case

Design and features

The trimmer has a sleek design featuring a chrome finish and a detachable self-sharpening precision blade. (Self-Sharpening Blades are made to maintain their shape and sharpness for extended periods).

It’s a little larger than my current trimmer, but it’s still very lightweight and ergonomic.

What makes the trimmer unique is the built-in self-contained vacuum system. A powerful motor creates a suction that captures hair as you trim.  As you can see from the pic below it kind of works like a mini jet turbine.

The trimmings are vacuumed into an easy-to-empty collection chamber. Trimmings are filtered from the air as it passes through the trimmer. The easy-to-empty collection chamber is located directly behind the blade on the top of the unit.

The chamber has a multi-position hair chute that allows you to adjust the vacuum stream to get the best results for your beard.

To empty the chamber just pop the top for quick emptying, or remove it for a more thorough cleaning.

The Smart LED charging status light located on the bottom of the trimmer pulses blue when the trimmer is charging and is solid blue once charging is complete.

The trimmer will run for 90 minutes on a full 90-minute charge. If you forget to charge the trimmer in can be used while it’s plugged in because it can’t be overcharged.

The kit also includes 8 individual guide combs ranging from 1/8” to 1” in length along with a six-position trimming guide to trim and taper your beard.

Wahl also included a storage case to keep everything organized.

Time for a trim

Once finding the correct length guide comb, it was time to put this vacuum trimmer to the test. The trimmer worked well with Wahl’s precision blade making quick work of my goatee. I posted before and after pics below.

After I was finished there was very little hair on the countertop, the built-in vacuum did an exceptional job. There were a few stray hairs, but I was able to clean those up by turning the trimmer over and using the vacuum to suck them up.

The photo below of the chamber illustrates just how much hair the vacuum chamber captured.

One thing I didn’t like was that Wahl didn’t include any other blade attachment heads with this trimmer. I think including one or two different blades, or even a nose trimmer attachment would have added more value.

To be fair, you can purchase extra blades and attachments from Wahl’s website.

What I like

  • Lightweight
  • Cordless and corded use
  • Multiple length guide combs
  • NO MESSY CLEANUP

What needs to be improved

  • No additional blades included

Final thoughts

Do I like the Wahl vacuum trimmer? Yes. Does it provide a quality grooming experience? Yes. Does the built-in vacuum eliminate my messy post trimming cleanup? Yes. Nothing more needs to be said.

Price: $59.99
Where to buy: Best Buy or Walmart
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Wahl.

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Wahl Lithium-Ion Vacuum Trimmer review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2019 at 9:30 am.

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KFC is going crowdfunding crazy

CROWDFUNDING NEWS – KFC Innovation Labs, founded in 2019, is taking KFC’s craziest marketing ideas to the public through Indiegogo crowdfunding campaigns.  For all the campaigns, they are a hard go/no-go depending on whether they reach their funding goals. To support a campaign, you can toss them $20, $50 or $60 and get a set of puffy stickers, a limited edition t-shirt or limited edition sweat pants.

Some of the campaigns also have purchase options, but they will only apply if the campaign gets funded.

Stay with me here, as it gets a little crazy!  Each of the titles below are links to the individual funding campaigns.

Kentucky Fried Hot Tub

Yup – they’re pitching a wood-fired hot tub that looks like a big old bucket of chicken.

Funding goal: $46,683. Additional perk: get a tub for $13,311. Funding as of this writing: $335.

Picnic with the Colonel

You can get an assemble-yourself cardboard picnic table and Colonel.  The table is said to be large enough to hold four folks and a KFC $20 fill-up with all the fixins.  Don’t plan to dine in the rain.  Because it’s cardboard.

Funding goal: $32,248. Additional perk: get a set for $1,020. Funding as of this writing: $80.

Smart cane remote

Throw out old canes and smart remotes! Here’s the “feature set”:

  • Integrated gyroscope and battery-powered microcontroller
  • Handsome cane shape
  • Colonel-head decorative handle
  • Rubber foot for optimal safety

But, the description says they are still working out details.

Funding goal: $195,052. Additional perk: get a cane for $1,703. Funding as of this writing: $50.

Little Colonel locator

Nothing looks better on a little one that the Colonel’s tie.  This one is linked up with a GPS and Bluetooth locator.  Style & function!

Funding goal: $10,050. Additional perk: get a tie for $132. Funding as of this writing: $1,022.

Colonel on Ice

Disney has done it.  Sesame Street has done it.  Why not the Colonel!

Funding goal: $2,206,750. Additional perks: be part of the Colonel’s army and get a thank you, $5; VIP show tickets, $150; be in the show, $50,000. Funding as of this writing: $55.

Obviously, more of a marketing ploy that an actual pitch for products, KFC is leveraging interest in crowdfunding to get some branded clothes out there.  But you never know.  This is the same company that once replaced buns on a sandwich with fried chicken.

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KFC is going crowdfunding crazy originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2019 at 8:33 am.

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How to Open DAT Files in Windows 10

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