T3 - UK (2022-02)

FEBRUARY 2022 T3 27

Gadget guru

A

Technically there’s nothing

to stop you buying directly

from any Japanese seller,

but most won’t be too happy with

sending overseas, and if they are

you have no guarantees about what

condition it’ll arrive in. The good

news is that Japan’s wide range of

domestic exclusive gadgets has

generated a solid market of proxies

behind it. If you’re buying from a

Japanese auction site like Yahoo!

Auctions, it’s best to secure yourself

one of those intermediaries first.

A site like jauce.com can translate

the auctions for you and bid on

things on your behalf without you

needing to fight through unfamiliar

controls. It’ll then collect your items

when you win them, repackage

multiple auction wins for shipping,

and send them off safely. Unlike

Guru’s dodgy Uncle Knuckles, it’s

entirely legit; it’ll cost you a bit

more, but for rare gadgets (or even

for shopping through Amazon JP

and the like) it’s the way to go.

GADGET GURU’S MAGIC BOX

A

Drink loads of water then
go to an optician? The
water is for hydration, and
nothing to do with whatever odd
examinations might happen at
Specsavers, just to be clear. Guru
(in an unsurprising turn of events) is
no longer allowed to practice
optometry, due to learning most of
his techniques from that one scene
in A Clockwork Orange – better or
worse? Better? Or worse? It’s always
worse. So, instead, a professional
look may offer some proper
insights into any ocular maladies
that may be causing the pain.
If you’re sure your eyes are in
good working order, you could try
tweaking the colour temperature of
the screen you’re gazing at. More
into the warm tends to be friendlier
on the peepers. Most modern
platforms offer a way to do this
automatically at a certain time, or
switch it on and off at will; Android
and Windows call it Night Light,
while iOS and macOS dub it Night

Shift because Apple has to be

different. The names of these

features should clue you in that

the warmening can happen

automatically in the evening,

though you can do it on demand,

too. If you’re using an external

screen, poke at the settings and

you’ll also find some sort of colour

tweaks in there, too.

You might also try some

screengawp-specific specs. Guru

has enjoyed the specially coated

prescription bins he has, which are

designed to filter out blue light by

themselves, mainly because that

coating has an oily finish that makes

his eyes look like they’ve

succumbed to a nasty petrol spill.

There are also a whole host of

yellow-tinted non-prescription

gamer glasses that use their own

coloured filters. They do make you

look a bit like Bono, though, so

GaGu probably wouldn’t wear them

outside, lest people think he’s a

steaming pile of pop star.

I think staring at screens is giving

me a headache. What now, Guru?

KATE    WEBB,   DERBY

How can I

effectively

import stuff

from Japan?

BRIAN   J,  LONDON

The junior members of

Guru’s turbulent family

are growing up, and his

son – a compulsive

tinkerer and the

inevitable heir to the

Gadget Guru throne

• has been gifted his
  first proper phone.
  Guru is made of meat, bones and electricity
  rather than money, so he selected the
  Redmi Note 10S (£225, but snagged in a
  sale for £160) as the perfect starter
  handset. Is the youngster happy with it?
  Alas no, because he wanted an iPhone, but
  if he insists on spending all of his own
  money on sweets and small plastic doodads
  there’s not really much that can be done.
  GaGu’s desk is where he spends most of
  his days (chilling out, maxing, relaxing etc)
  and so it is of utmost importance that it is
  perfectly appointed around the clutter and
  betwixt the litter. Given that his previous
  pair of no-brand monitors literally needed
  clamping to function (see Guru 328) he has

tossed them in the direction of the youth

contingent and finally bitten the tax-

deductable bullet on a delicious super-

ultrawide monitor to replace them. And yes,

devoted followers of Guru will probably

already have guessed that it was the

Samsung Odyssey G9 (bought for £999)

that landed on his desk. It’s spectacular,

with 240Hz response time, a huge

resolution that matches the two monitors it

replaced, Freesync, GSync, the lot – and

when monitors get this wide, the curved

screen makes sense. Note that this and

nausea-inducing theme park simulator rides

are the only situations in which GaGu will

allow curved

screens,

which have

otherwise

proven

themselves to

be dumb

perspective-

warping

gimmicks.

ABOVE

There’s no tricks

those tabloid

paps won’t use

to get their snaps