Ifetch and ifetch Too

Has playing fetch ever tired you out more than your four-legged friend? Or does your large-breed dog get a little too enthusiastic for young children to play with? Then ifetch might just be the answer.

The device fires a ball to a predetermined distance. The dog then retrieves the ball and drops it into the top funnel to repeat the process.

After the success of the initial model, ifetch Too was created for larger dog breeds. The Too version launches standard-sized tennis balls, as opposed to the 38-millimetre balls used in the original.

Range can be adjusted to 10 feet (3 metres), 20 feet (6 metres) and 30 feet (9 metres) on the ifetch. The ifetch Too can reach up to 12 metres and has a random setting.

At about R2 500 for the original and R3 500 for the Too model (which has a rechargeable battery), this is a fairly pricey toy. Replacement balls can be bought at about R250 for a pack of five.

“I need a car,” I grumble as I reluctantly rise to start the daily ritual of preparing to catch my morning train or bus to get to work. Sometimes, when the public transport system fails me, I take a cab. And then I find myself stuck in endless traffic, watching bikes, taxis and even what I’m pretty sure was a modern day horse and cart pass me by. After paying for my ride, I am left reconsidering whether I want or need a car at all. I am not the only person with these ambivalent feelings towards motor vehicles. I discovered at the Mobility Indaba in Cape Town towards the end of 2016 that, to move forward, we might need to move back – to a society with fewer cars on our roads. POPULAR MECHANICS investigates the alternatives.

bring about economic progress. There are undoubted technological gains. Van Duren has had an uphill battle convincing people of the cost and health benefits of bikes, but he feels that South Africans can be convinced of the same.

“South Africa faces security challenges, but safety comes in numbers. The more people cycle, the more people will feel safe doing it,” he argues. “Cycling could solve the congestion problem, but infrastructure needs to be built to accommodate this. South Africa actually has a better climate than the Netherlands, so there are great possibilities for cycling.”

It helps that the Netherlands has a highly efficient public transport system to supplement cycling. Commuters primarily use trains for long distances; bikes are available for rent at stations. Services such as Uber and taxis are mainly used by tourists or people visiting the country for business. International navigation

Pedalling a bike can be hard work. Not everyone is up to making the effort. Let’s not even talk about the questions of time, danger and the inevitable sweaty body and creased clothing.

E-power could be the answer. Whether fully powered by electricity, or by a hybrid set-up that combines pedal power with e-assistance, there’s both a Domestic aviation Domestic navigation

International aviation SOURCE: EEA, GHG DATA VIEWER.