By Chris Scott Barr

When you’re spending hours at your computer working on a research paper, you’re going to wish you had something a little more comfortable than the standard mouse that came with the PC. Why not get something that’s specifically designed with ergonomics in mind, like this Whirl mouse from Smartfish? Better yet, why not let us give one to you?

We’re continuing our back-to-school giveaways this week by offering up three Smartfish Whirls. No, you’re not going to be greedy and get them all to yourself. What do you need with three mice anyway? Instead, we will pick three different winners and send a new Whirl to each of them. Just drop a comment below, and we’ll pick a winner this Friday. Good luck!

Contest open to US residents only

[ Smartfish ]

By Chris Scott Barr

As promised, we have selected a winner for the TimeCommand from Stem Innovation. Drum roll please! The winner is mthammer11! Hopefully this will be a nice upgrade from their 24 year old alarm clock! Congratulations to them, and stay tuned for another awesome contest!

[ Stem Innovation ]

By David Ponce

Like any self-respecting gents, we here at OhGizmo! headquarters like to consume fine Scotch Whisky… We of course consume other libations indiscriminately, provided they nudge you steadily closer to inebriation. This squarely puts us into the field of liquor noobs; aside from James Bond’s allusions to drink preparation methods, little did we know how much care can go into fixing a proper intoxicant. Apparently, large spheres of ice are becoming popular in certain bars as they provide the smallest surface area against which to cool your expensive distillate, preventing rapid dilution. Until recently these bars would assign ice-carving bartenders the task of chiseling out spheres one at a time. Devices like this Ice Ball Sphere press seek to make their life easier. It consists of two metal masses with a spherical depression in the middle. Place a chunk of ice in the lower half-spherical hole, insert top half into the guide-rails and gravity will pull the mass down, melting the ice rapidly until a ball shape is achieved about a minute later.

It’s $800 and clearly aimed at bars, though you could of course buy it for your own home. It might go well with that fancy toothpaste squeezer.

Hit the jump for a video and links.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

From what I can tell it might not arrive in time for this Summer’s trips to the cottage, but on their Facebook page Black Milk has posted pics of this swimsuit with a retrorific Game Boy print. Now there’s an entire galaxy of double entendres and euphemisms associated with this design, but we’re gonna take the high road here and leave them up to your own imaginations. As for actual availability? We’re not sure. The suit’s not listed on the Black Milk online store just yet, but when it is you can probably expect it to cost ~$90.

[ Facebook - Black Milk Clothing's Photos ] VIA [ Follow Me Into The Sea ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve always thought the keyboard dock that Apple sells for the iPad was kind of superfluous. I mean it’s pretty much the exact same product as their wireless Bluetooth keyboard. It just swaps the BT for a dock connector, and adds a support. Creating a simple adapter that would let the iPad connect to their regular wireless keyboard seemed like a much better approach. But apparently such an ‘innovation’ had to be left to a third party. In this case, a Kickstarter project known as the WINGStand.

It’s pretty much exactly what I’ve already described. Just a couple pieces of cleverly designed moulded plastic that clips onto Apple’s wireless BT keyboard while providing a handy place to hold your iPad or iPhone at an ideal angle for typing. It’s incredibly compact and easy to travel with, and it means you can use your portable keyboard with other devices that support a Bluetooth connection. Arguably the $20 they’re asking as a basic donation on their Kickstarter page, which gets you a white set of WINGStands, is a little expensive. But they do mention that additional sets are available for $15 each after your donation, which is a little more reasonable. And rest assured, it’s one of those Kickstarter projects that has raised more than their required goal. So hopefully they’ll be available for sale sooner rather than later.

[ Kickstarter - The WINGStand - Make Your Tablet a Computer ]

By David Ponce

So that’s $300 for a fancy chrome plated contraption to squeeze every last drop of toothpaste out of the tube. You know you need this because it’s: 1) Made in Italy. 2) Handcrafted. 3) Has a base made of Perspex (what the heck is that?). 4) Will one-up your friends in a way that’s always made you such a lovable character.

You could of course accomplish the same thing with this inexpensive looking alternative but that would inevitably kick your pompous factor down a few notches.

By the way, could we interest you in some $2,800 headphones?

[ Cedes Toothpaste Squeezer ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]

By Carole Sinclair

I’m just as un-keen on exercise and work as the next… well… everybody. So picking off these two birds with one stone is always the dream. Our desk-based work days have been blamed for their fair share of our oft-lamented ‘sedentary lifestyles’, and solutions like those office-chair-bouncy-ball-thingys don’t suit everyone’s tastes. (*Rubs tailbone*) We’ve probably also all seen other uber-fit solutions like working at a computer while walking on a treadmill. But doing that for 8 hours straight can be grueling at best, and a safety hazard at worst.

Enter the FitDesk. It’s an exercise bike with a usable desk attached where you’d normally find the handlebars. You’re technically still sitting and working while using it, but you’re also pedaling, building muscle and burning calories throughout the day. With a treadmill workstation, when you decide to stop walking you’re either left standing and working for hours at a time, or risk admitting that you’ve abandoned yet another exercise endeavor. But when you take a break with the FitDesk, you’re still comfortably seated, leaving you plenty of endurance to keep exercising and building up the strength to eventually win the rat race. (Or at least place respectfully.)

The resistance of the pedaling can be adjusted for a more intense workout as desired, and the whole unit folds up so it can be stashed away in a closet if used at home. Unfortunately I don’t see a way to secure the laptop, which is a little worrisome given it sits perched pretty high, and an untimely fall from your sweaty hands could easily be its demise. I guess that’s where duct tape and bungee cords come in. It’s also $229, which is kind of expensive for a pretty basic exercise bike. Even with a built-in ‘desk’.

[ FitDesk ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Paul McCollum

If you’ve ever tried to use your laptop away from a table or desk, chances are you’ve wished for some sort of lapdesk.  Turns out that enough people have struggled with the awkward balancing act and leg burning that there’s now a big lapdesk market. The lapdesk is primarily an insulating slab or air circulation enhancement and Logitech has taken it one step further adding different accessories into the device like speakers, fans and now a touchpad in the Logitech N600 Touch Lapdesk.

The N600 Touch Lapdesk looks similar to the other nondescript lapboard trays except that this one has a slide out tray bearing a 5″ multi-touchpad.  A huge improvement on other models, the N600′s connections to the laptop are wireless.  Sporting a hidden compartment, the tiny Unifying receiver fits almost flush within a USB port.  Sans tether, the Lapdesk has to rely on 4 AA batteries for power. Logitech estimates that these will last 6 months.  To check out how well the Lapdesk lives up to those and other promises, peruse a write up at Everything USB.

[Logitech N600 Touch Lapdesk - Everything USB]

By Andrew Liszewski

What’s most surprising about Catherine Werdel’s tube squeezing toothbrush design isn’t that it took so long for someone to come up with such a simple solution, but the fact that it still hasn’t been made a reality. Well, I guess it’s not that surprising. The two largest toothbrush manufacturers here in North America, Colgate & Oral-B (Crest), both also make toothpaste. So helping consumers get every last drop out of a tube is only going to hinder their sales. Clearly a conspiracy. So until some third-party brush maker steps in to shake up the industry, you’re probably better off just taking a router to your toothbrush and cutting your own groove in it.

[ Tube Squeezing Toothbrush ] VIA [ Fancy ]