Calling all big kids: have you ever been jealous of the kids zipping around on those shoes with the hidden wheel in the sole? Cursed the shoemaking gods for not thinking to extend the same favors to adult sized sneakers? You’re not alone.

Dualeez, evidently a company full of kids-at-heart, have built these Mutli-LED Strap-On Skates to leave a blaze of color as you skate around the quad/office/grocery store/wherever. No batteries required (it’s all magnetic flashing-light technology), the pair of skates easily strap to the heel of your sneakers adjusting to fit your shoe, and are quickly put on/removed so you can throw them into your bag once you’ve had your fun. With two wheels on either side of your heel you’ll enjoy a little more stability than those poor kids with only a single wheel in the center, but mind your balance (and your toes!) to avoid a full-force faceplant. Available from Glow Authority for CAN$39.95.

Thanks, internet, for giving in that special way that only you can do. In a short break from fun buys, let’s take a look at what our future gadget inventors are up to these days. Remember the Science Fair? Solar system dioramas, spurting volcano models, and lots of construction paper… but these days, seems the kids are digging a little deeper to find out the big truths, like:

Crystal Meth: Friend or Foe?
What’s My Dog’s Favorite Color
Garlic: the Silent Killer
Fat Man to Mars
and… wait for it… EXTREME WOOD

Shake your head for yourself over at photobasement.com.

Sometimes the most ridiculously drawn out arguments come over the silliest things — like what to eat. Every week or so, after the long workdays have beaten us down, my friend will dig into the sidetable drawer and fan out all of the delivery menus with a sigh and ask “so what do you want?” And so it begins, the battle to find the menu that’ll please everyone’s appetite. Why not just throw the decision to chance? This little aluminum die can settle all of these big grumbly tummy questions with a quick roll, landing on either pasta, chinese, mexican, sushi, burgers or pizza (that covers all of the biggies, doesn’t it?). And then no one can be grumpy about not getting what they really wanted because, hey, it was out of your hands, the dice decided! Hilariously yours for $8.

When your parents first taught you how to ride a bike, I bet they also showed you how to swing your arm out to indicate that you were about to make a turn, right? And even though there are actual laws on the books that require bike riders to make these moves while riding in traffic, I can’t tell you the last time I actually saw someone do it. Why? A) it’s kind of a pain in the ass, let’s be honest, and B) if you’re about to make a fast tight turn, do you really want to give up one of your arms and risk losing control of the bike? Heck no. So you keep zipping on and pray that nothing jumps out at you or a car suddenly decides to zig when you zag.

Easy fix: Bicygnals, detachable magnetic lights that fix to your handlebar and under your saddle that’ll tell everyone in traffic just where you’re headed. The signal switches are located right beside your handlebar shifters, so doing the right thing is as easy as pushing a button. Each set (front and back LED displays) require 4 AA batteries, with an option to use the front headlight and rear red indication in full beam or flashing mode. And when you’re not on the road, the kit comes with a compact carrying case so you can throw it in your bag and not worry about leaving the lights on your bike. All in all, this genius set is a must-have for any city or night riders, and is ready to order now for £39.95.

Digital may have killed the instant camera, but don’t count Polaroid out of the game just yet — as the dirt’s being packed over their legendary instant film, the company’s rolling out a new twist with the Polaroid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer. Able to connect to both your phone and digital camera (via Bluetooth and USB, respectively), the pocket-sized printer whips out borderless stick-back 2×3″ prints in 60 seconds that are smudge-proof, water and tear resistant. Which reads a little ho-hum til you get to the interesting part: there’s no ink cartridge involved. The magic in the box? ZINK technology — which stands for Zero Ink — breaks through the ink barrier with 100 patents to deliver a special printing paper, an advanced composite material with 100 billion embedded cyan, magenta an yellow dye crystals that are activated via heat pulses to deliver the final printed picture. Talk about bonkers.

No word on pricing (their online shop hasn’t even got the product listed yet), but keep your eyes peeled for this one.

Brookstone and Sharper Image have long reserved the entrances of their shops for massage chairs — it’s the perfect way to lure tired shoppers in and convince them that yes, you DO need a full-body vibrating massager in your home. But this? This puppy just body slammed all of their old recliners and plug-and-rub mats: the OSIM iDesire is designed to hit up your ENTIRE body in a delightfully creepy way.

Taking on the oft forgotten limbs, movable cuffs squeeze and release your arms to release tension while air cushions literally surround your lower legs to relieve pressure in your feet and ankles (plus the tried and true vibrating mechanism for the arch of your foot). Built in optical sensors (oh yes, optical sensors) for acupressure point detection inform rollers that automatically glide along your back and features five types of upper body massage: kneading, rhythmic pressure, tapping, rolling and then a one-two punch of kneading and tapping together. Plus there’s a built in remote that lets you select from 9 massage actions and save programs for up to 4 people. And it’s all yours for $4,495!

When you’re really, really into fish (or having amazing stuff in your place to keep guests gobsmacked), a standard pet store aquarium just won’t do. Straight out of France, Octopus Studio has come up with the Silverfish Aquarium, essentially an assortment of high-quality PMMA globes connected by hamster-like tubes so your fish can roam from one pod to another; you can even go crazy and create little themes within each, a whole fish-y world at your fingertips. Available with a black, cherry wood or carbon base (you can order it without, but the stands are well designed, and intentionally made to conceal all of the heating, filtration and lighting elements), the aquarium literally comes with everything you need to get started, short of fish and gravel — filtration, heating, and aeration parts, lighting, silk plants and cleaning equipment, plus assembly and maintenance instructions in case you’re a little overwhelmed by the kit.

Because each kit is built to your own specifications, pricing varies (which is a nice way of saying “this is so not your bargain basement aquarium and they don’t want to scare you off by putting pricing on the site”), but you can contact Octopus Studios directly through their website for a quote.

The persistent need to communicate is rescued by persistence of vision with the Spacewriter, leaving your messages floating in mid air as you move the pocketsized unit from side to side. If you’ve ever tried to grab someone’s attention at a club or shout something to your friend standing at the other end of the bar at a show then you can probably appreciate the application of LED wave messaging. The backlit LCD screen lets you program in your own messages and, when hoisted into the dark air and waved, leaves a light impression of your text that’s visible up to 50 meters away. A cute little gadget (and certainly an attention getter) straight from Gyroscopes online for $16.80 (price subject to the current dollar conversion).

Who doesn’t want the ability to case their own home while they’re away like a police officer on a big city bomb squad? Well, starting this fall, the Rovio personal surveillance robot from WowWee will allow anyone with an extra $299 lying around to do just that.

Destined to be the coolest three wheeled gadget in 08, the Rovio is a truly remotely controlled vehicle. This Wi-Fi enabled gadget is guided by a Northstar micro-GPS system which allows the Rovio to pinpoint its exact location in your home all while being controlled by any computer with internet access. The best part is that each unit comes equipped with a web camera capable of full audio and video streaming capability so you can keep a constant eye on your home or maybe just mess with the cat.

Don’t have time to man the controls all day long? Rovio can also be configured for predetermined patrolling missions with a few clicks of the mouse. All you have to do is mark specific way points in your home and tell Rovio which route you want it to take and once it’s finished or the batteries run low it will head home to the self charging base. I know…I want one too.

[WowWee via SlashGear]

We’re SUPER distrustful of universal remotes that claim to be able to power everything. Why, you ask? Because over the course of ten years we’ve plunked down thousands of dollars on remote controls, from fancy schmancy touch-screen devices that promise to do everything but wash the dishes down to the cheapo versions that you can find hanging on an endcap at Best Buy, and invariably there’s always ONE component that won’t take orders from anyone but its original remote master, even when told to beam those controls via IR remote info-sex. Take a good hard look at your entertainment center: if you’re anything like us, there’s no less than 5 components from as many manufacturers all awaiting your command, and they’ve each got their own special little remote control language.

But whatever, let’s pretend that 2008 is the year of renewed optimism and faith — yes, dear advertiser, we will eat up every promise you throw at us and swallow with a smile because it’s 2008 and we really want to believe! So Logitech, here’s your shot, make us proud: hot off the PR wires, take in the Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote. It’s black, it doesn’t have a zillion buttons, it’s got its own full color touch screen, it’s ergonomic… it’s… it’s even ever expanding. With the self proclaimed “World’s Largest A/V Control Database”, the remote is ready to support more than 225,000 devices from more than 5,000 brands, with new items being added to the list every day. Could this really be the end of multi-remote woes? For $249.99, here’s to hoping.