We’ve all been there: the last connecting flight has another five hours left before the flier can leave their state of suspended animation, and the battery on the smartphone dies. Ouch!

Not only will a string of uttered curses not achieve anything beyond an Alec Baldwin-like ejection from the airline of your choice, but it is entirely unnecessary thanks to the geniuses over at iGeek.

Merely plug the iPhone into the Pack and watch it fire back up, like a newly deceased corpse turned zombie in a Romero film.

The cruise’s exotic locales might not have electric plugs at every stop, but the pocket-sized Pack is only as big as a small modem and can energize an iPod Touch for up to fifty hours of music blasting.

The iGeek Battery Pack deserves a round of applause. This intriguing device contains a lithium ion battery (with 9900 maH capacity at 5v output voltage) that is not only badass in and of itself, but even more impressive is that the Pack does not discriminate between which devices it will charge.

The iGeek Battery Pack charges nearly anything with a USB port, and that includes iPads, Droids, Nooks, iPods, Blackberries, and even portable gaming systems like the Nintendo DS.

An iPad 2 might be heavy on the battery, what with the gorgeous screen’s depiction of Shaun of the Dead cricket bat swinging, but worry not; the iGeek Battery Pack offers seventeen additional hours!

I’m not sure if comfortable blogging is what the guys at IOGEAR had in mind when they created the GKM581R 2.4GHz Wireless Keyboard but, I can attest that I am in fact comfortable and well…

What I do know is IOGEAR has really put time into designing a truly ergonomic lap keyboard that makes controlling my media center, from across the room, surprisingly easy. You can almost feel the user testing and design decisions in your hand – it just works.

Setup, was a breeze (as it should be) and I was up and running in just a few minutes after plugging in the USB RF receiver, installing the necessary driver, and attaching the charging cable. It is recommended that the included NiMH batteries be charged for a full 24 hours the first time around so, prepared to be tethered, unless you have an extra set of AA’s laying around.

After just a few minutes the built in scroll wheel, two button mouse, and optical trackball make precision control seem like second nature. Which was a bit surprising since the somewhat average 3 star rating on Amazon seemed to stem from a lack of love for the tackball mechanism. Maybe it’s just years of gaming that has honed my freakishly good eye hand coordination or my general disdain for crappy trackpads but, this trackball definitely works for me.

The 2.4GHz wireless connection, works flawlessly with a good line of sight at 15 feet but, it should be noted that I do experience occasional drops when something like a pillow or a blanket gets in the way. IOGEAR says the bi-directional technology is good up to 33 feet but unfortunately, my living room is not that big.

As an added bonus, the keyboard can also be used with popular gaming consoles (where typing with a controller is typically a chore) such as the Wii, Xbox, and the PS3. Although, only the PS3 takes full advantage of the mouse-like click and scroll features.

All in all, for only $39 on sale at Amazon, I couldn’t be more happy. That old media center PC I had sitting in storage now has new life in my living room with the IOGEAR GKM581R.

I am not quacking you, folks. The Disco Duck Speaker is here to float to the top of the audio-pond echelon.

Meander into the corporate headquarters, find the corner office, sit down to take a draught of a Colombian brewed java, and prepare to start working vociferously; but wait!

How does one maximize their work output potential?

Open up that desk drawer, break out the yellow duck speaker and plug in the iPhone for extremely resonant music right on the desktop!

Could a boss truly become upset at the vibrant atmosphere, or go against a rubber duck and win? I think not.

This little yellow guy gets LOUD! The bass is deep, the upper registers are soaring, and there is even an LED indicator light to inform you that Mr. Ducky is on.

The Duck Speaker comes with its rechargeable mercury free battery, an audio and a USB plug, which makes powering this little guy extremely easy no matter the setting (even a cable box has a USB output, people).

Head on over to Kikkerland and be heard across the pond and beyond with [their] Disco Duck Speaker.

Get a quacking app, and be amazed at what comes out of his mouth!

If you want to keep the wire-spider-monsters to a minimum and kill your dependency on that computer to charge your gadgets, the U-Socket USB outlet is the answer.

The U-Socket replaces the typical wall socket you would expect to see in a 110v household system with a socket on steroids that features two 2.1 amp USB ports.

Not only can you charge your USB gadgets wherever you use them most, whether in the living room next to your favorite chair or in the kitchen where you need to keep your favorite recipes handy but, now you can do it all without giving up that valuable power plug.

You don’t need to be a genius but, you do need to understand a little bit about electricity and basic wiring to swap out your standard wall socket for the U-Socket but, word on the street is, you can find anything on Youtube now a days.

With a price of just under $25, the U-Socket makes the perfect gift for any guy with too many “iThings” and not enough outlets.

There are no more enticing methods for attracting another–no more potent mating rituals/dance moves–than fondue.

And my girlfriend will attest to this, as our first double date was successful largely in part to the wonders of melted cheese and chocolate mixes that smacked our lips invigoratingly.

Welcome Fondue’s USB-powered Desktop Fondue Set! For less than thirty bucks anyone can now power up their very own fondue maker from their computer (or any USB terminal).

The kit comes with everything you need to melt ravishing mixes of cheese and chocolate, and it does this as the pot’s heating element glows a frozen blue from bright LED bulbs. There is the pot, the oil-free base with LCD screen (for the controls), the six fondue forks, software, and even a recipe book.

ThinkGeek sells these bad boys, and they even offer up their own office recipe of BBQ goodness to dip the old lunch meeting pizza crusts into.

Dip Pop Tarts and Hot Pockets into your own custom fondue sauciness for an impressive meal at the desk. Coworkers will be furiously jealous, or eagerly friendly in hopes that you will dip some foodstuff for them.

Even the USB cable glows electric blue, and it looks freaking cool (or hot, depending on your point of view). Fondue even claims to have left the device open for the upcoming USB 3.0 technology that could increase the power and allow for desktop frying and oil dipping in the near future. Damn!

And its made in Switzerland (which is a harbinger of love)!

Fondue me? No! Fondue you!

This pleasure producing pink (or blue) mouse is fully powered by its USB connection so you never have to worry about running out of juice at an importune time and the removable silicone based rubber knobby cover is completely washable so you can get it as dirty as you want.

We all know it’s the thought that counts and nothing says tons of thought like a pink vibrating washable mouse. For just under 20 bucks you can have a perfect little gift for that special friend.

We all know you barely have time to blink without missing something “important” from the thousands of people you follow on Twitter so, when you need to weigh something, and it just can’t wait, simply slide the top off the mouse to reveal the mini digital scale capable of weighing anything from 0.1g to 500g (around 1.1 pounds for you metric system haters).

It should be noted, although the mouse is USB powered, the scale does require two AAA batteries (included). For around 20 bucks, this mouse is perfect for all of your drug dealing or cash for gold buying needs.

The reputable electronics and router company Belkin has created an all in one charging kit that is truly essential.  Get down to the local Costco, where these are currently selling out at less than thirty dollars, or wait for them in many an online store (like Neobits).

What does this Kit entail?  Well, normally charging things do not blow my skirt up, but Belkin has enraptured me with micro and mini USB cables, iPod and iPhone sync cables, two USB wall chargers and one micro auto USB charger.

Simply put:  each male fits right into any of the included females, whether it be mini-USB charging a DSLR camera in the car roaring down the frozen highway, or the iPhone compatible form squeezing snuggle into the gorgeous wall charger’s opening.

I have tried this set out, and Droids, iPhones and cameras all charge beautifully, as though these units were the factory chargers.  So who does not need to quickly cool down a steamed girlfriend whose smartphone is dead or dying and whose charger is god knows where?  You know what I’m talking about fellas, so just put the USB charger in front of her bulging eyes and back away…slowly.  She will come around.

Get ready to compute like never before with the brand spanking new furiously fast fire-wire dwarfing input/output Thunderbolt!  The newest MacBook Pro laptops from Apple will debut the device that is sure to revolutionize computer technology.

Apple has teamed with Intel to take universal Input/Outputs, like USB 2.0, to the next hierarchy of tech awesomeness.  For anyone looking to wow a spouse or family member with a gift, there can be no second to the new king of portable laptops:  the MacBook Pro.

Each of the new MacBook Pros harnesses an innovative Thunderbolt port that provides for high definition video (in HDMI, VGA, DVI, Displayport) and data transfer that is up to twenty times quicker than the USB 2.0 that is currently the standard Input/Output in desktop and laptop computers.

Where USB 2.0 transfers data at a begrudgingly slow 480 Mbits and the much more adept FireWire 800 is at a much more eye-pleasing 800 Mbits, the new Thunderbolt uploads and downloads at an ass kicking names taking 10 Gbs per second (fast enough to copy the data found on a CD in under a second).  USB has started to trickle out USB 3.0 capable hard drives to form a new standard of data/port, but here is the kicker folks, the USB 3.0 delivers an already outdated and overwhelmed 5 Gbps (half of the Thunderbolt’s lightning speed).

Film makers, from the Coen brothers (who used Macs and their Final Cut Pro programs to cut the movie True Grit), to amateurs trying to form the next independent film classic (like Reservoir Dogs), the Thunderbolt makes a portable MacBook Pro into a full on professionally capable semblance to form silver screen flicks.  Apple writes:  “With Thunderbolt technology, peripheral manufacturers finally have what they need to take high-performance devices from workstations and top-of-the-line desktops to portable computers”  (Apple.com).

Give me the Thunderbolt power!

Besides being lost, many people often put aside their old USB flash drives when a newer and larger version appears. The problem with simply tossing the old USB drive in the trash is that most casings are generally made of either plastic or metal to withstand both heat and water damage. Unfortunately, what makes these materials appealing to customers and creators of these USB drives also makes them detrimental to the environment.

Since these drives last a long time, disposal is a huge issue. If not disposed of properly or lost, these drives can last decades if not centuries in landfills. Rather than use items that were not easy recyclable or degradable, Tremblay turned to corrugated cardboard which has the same water and fire proof  capabilities as the standard USB drive cases, but can easily break down in nature. The design comes in a corrugated cardboard card and can be detached, by cracking along the dotted lines, into five 1GB USB drives.

While the device is not actually available to the market, the eco-friendly idea will hopefully inspire actual companies to follow suit. One issue is that while the cardboard itself is recyclable, the components of the actual USB drive might make it difficult for sanitation companies to actually accept these drives for recycling. On top of that, computer and tech recycling has quite a ways to go before the sector can actually be considered green.

Via [Unpluggd]