Smartfish, keychain battery, wet circuits power strip

More geeky stuff to amuse the technically adept

By James Careless –

If you find your wrist hurting after using a conventional computer mouse, try out the Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Mouse. Despite the name, the Whirl can be used with any computer (desktop or laptop) that has an available USB port. The selling point of the Whirl is that its handpiece is mounted on a central pivot point – so as your hand moves and tilts, so does the upper part of your hand. This reduces stress on the wrist. The Whirl has a built-in scroll wheel and uses two AAA batteries (supplied). Because I hate having a battery-powered mouse that dies when I need it, I am using the Whirl alongside my old wired mouse. They get along quite well; giving me the best of both worlds. Find the Whirl at www.getsmartfish.com.

Are you tired of your Blackberry running out of power? Then you should consider a Freedom Walk & Talk keychain battery. Designed for all devices that are powered using a Micro-USB connector, the Walk & Talk is a small, slim battery that attaches to your keychain. You charge the battery using included power cord and any available computer USB port. Once charged, the Walk & Talk has enough juice to run a Blackberry for up to one hour. The connecting Micro-USB cable is hidden under a removable top cover.

You just plug it into your Blackberry, and suddenly you’re back on air! (It saved me while I was relaying info about a sushi menu to my wife at home.) Details at www.freedominput.com.

And now, for those of us who slop coffee on our electronics, there’s the Wet Circuits Power Strip. This is a four outlet power bar that is water resistant: In fact, the company that makes Wet Circuits recommends that reviewers plug a lamp into one outlet, pour water onto the power strip, and then try plugging the lamp into the other outlets. “If you really want to test Wet Circuits capability, try sticking a pair of tweezers into any of the outlets – you will not get shocked!” their press material says. I wouldn’t advise this, and a video posted at www.tested.com (www.tested.com/tested-the-wet-circuits-power-strip/47-112) makes clear that being water resistant is not the same as being able to operate underwater, but still: The Wet Circuits Power Strip does provide an extra layer of protection to klutzes like me. Get it at www.wetcircuits.com.