By Andrew Liszewski

There’s something oddly satisfying about grinding a pencil down to a nub with an electric sharpener, but that’s not how you’ll be spending your first day at a new job if they assign you the iPoint Evolution from Westcott. I’m not really sure how it warrants the ‘i’ in front of the ‘Point’, but I do know that it’s smart enough to stop grinding when your pencil has the perfect point. So not only does it conserve battery life, but it prolongs the life of your pencil. It’s also got a set of “Titanium Bonded™ carbon steel blades” that are guaranteed to stay sharp longer, and is available from Solutions for $17.95.

[ iPoint Evolution Pencil Sharpener ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Have unreasonable deadlines, unpaid overtime and gossipy co-workers sucked the love out of your office? Well SUCK UK has just the cure. They’ve taken your standard metal hole punch and replaced the cold, sterile circle-shaped dies with heart shaped versions that turn every document into a symbol of the love you have for your job and those you work with. The fact that it’s only a 2-hole punch instead of a 3-hole is a little annoying, but if anyone complains you can just sprinkle them with heart-shaped confetti, I’m sure that will cheer them right back up! ~$16 (£10.00) available directly from SUCK UK.

[ Heart Hole Punch ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In a pinch a strategically stacked pile of Post-it Notes can serve as an adequate napping support, but it’s not the most comfortable thing to lay your head on. But if you can convince your office administrator to pick up a few of these Note Me pillows instead of a few pads of sticky notes, your afternoon siestas will be far more rewarding.

The pillows can actually be written on using an included marker, and cleaned by simply rinsing the pillow case under cold water. They also appear to be a way funner way to pass notes around the office since employees whipping pillows at each other all day is the perfect recipe for office productivity. $26 from Veinticuatrodientes.

[ Note Me Pillows ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m as dependent on my smartphone as the next guy who lives and breathes gadgets, but I still keep a Moleskine in reach at all times for jotting notes and to-do lists. But mostly they do calendar/day planner duty since I’ve yet to successfully migrate to an electronic solution. (Trying as far back as the Handspring Visor.) So I must admit I’m rather enthralled by this Watch Diary designed by Wonjune Song. For the most part it’s just a Moleskine ripoff, except for the handy and stylish analog clock sitting smack dab in the middle that’s visible no matter what page you’re on.

And yes, I’m a firm believer that watches are pretty much obsolete these days except as a fashion accessory, but the Watch Diary manages to cleverly integrate it into each page layout. Instead of seeing your appointments laid out in a list, you actually fill them in around the clock so the red hand ends up reminding you of what you should currently be doing. Order one here in orange, ivory, white or black for $17.99.

[ Watch Diary ] VIA [ Freshome ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Herman Miller continues their dominance of office ergonomics with their new SAYL chair designed by Yves Béhar, who if you’re not familiar, also designed the Jawbone BT headset and the first generation OLPC. Inspired by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bride, the frameless back of the SAYL features a Y-tower structure that supports a stretched flexible elastomer material (like the cables on a suspension bridge) allowing it to contour to anyone’s shape, while still providing support and keeping users cool and comfortable.

On the eco front the chairs are made from 21% recycled content materials, and it itself is 93% recyclable. I can’t seem to dig up pricing info at the moment though, and even though Herman Miller claims it will have a “very attainable price” let’s assume that’s relative to their other premium seating options.

[ Herman Miller SAYL Chair ] VIA [ Freshome ]

By Andrew Liszewski

So it turns out that all these years elastic band manufacturers have just been lazy, and the stretchy projectiles don’t necessarily have to only come in the shape of a circle. Recent innovations in elastic band manufacturing have allowed for the creation of almost any shape imaginable (yes, even the trapezoid!) but I reckon these gadget-shaped versions will appeal most to those of you who frequent our site. They’re supposed to be pretty generic to avoid legal run-ins with lawsuit-happy iCorporations, but it’s pretty obvious that some of these shapes were inspired by the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Nano. Each pack comes with 24 elastics, 4 of each shape, but at $5.49 you’re probably going to want to avoid just firing them off at random people.

[ Gadget Band Elastics ] VIA [ Random Good Stuff ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Even though it was extensively teased in the trailers, seeing Tony Stark don the Ironman suitcase suit was easily the highlight of this Summer’s sequel. And it’s also why this replica is so immensely disappointing. On the outside the elaborately machined brushed aluminum finish and red paint job make it look exactly like the case carried by Stark’s bodyguard in the film, but when you open it up there’s no place to insert your hands to start the ‘dresssing’ sequence. Or anything even close to what Tony’s case could do.

There’s just a few leather pockets in the top for holding boring files, and a laser cut EVA foam bottom with the ‘STARK’ logo. And it’s still $459.99 for one of 1,000 copies from Entertainment Earth, available sometime in December. Now do I think it’s even possible that such a suit could be created with today’s technology for under $500? Absolutely not! But that doesn’t make me any less disappointed.

[ Iron Man 2 Tony Stark Mark V Briefcase Replica ] VIA [ Fashionably Geek ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s hard to imagine someone making something as simple as a USB flash drive more useful, besides of course larger capacities, but Verbatim’s Clip-its are a clever mashup of a flash drive and a paperclip that end up being greater than the sum of their parts. Designed by Arman Emami the Clip-its were awarded a much deserved Red Dot ‘Best of the Best’ 2010 design award and I’m sure they’ll be quite popular at CES next year clipped to brochures, press releases and other ancient forms of communication. No word on pricing just yet, nor mention of them on the North American Verbatim site, but they’ll be available in 2GB or 4GB capacities, and hopefully not just in Europe.

[ PR - Store ‘n’ Go “Clip-it USB Drive” – Verbatim´s Red dot Award-winning USB Drive ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The benefits of a circular extension cord are almost immediately apparent when you see it, and it makes you wonder why no one has thought of it before. There’s the obvious advantage when it comes to winding and storing the cable, which in and of itself makes it a must-have desk-cessory for my needs. But the fact that the outlets are located around its circumference, allowing it to easily handle the largest of wall warts without crowding, should appeal to a lot of people. It’s even dead-easy to hang wherever you might need it, and appears to come in a small assortment of bright, yet subdued, colors.

I even like the shrink-wrapped packaging which allows shoppers to examine the PLUGO without getting their dirty hands all over it. Available from monos for just over $40 (¥3,500).

[ PLUGO Circular Extension Cord ] VIA [ Design Blog :: SPGRA ]