In highschool I had a friend who sat in the back of class with her hood covering her headphones and her WatchMan hidden inside of her textbook. Of course, nowadays with ipods everywhere, no one really uses a WatchMan.
Bennie and Olive has come out with a similarly great way to disguise your iPod. They have designed a selection of vinyl pulp fiction book covers that are made to hide and protect your ipod. They also put a library card inside for the complete effect. These Pulp Fiction Book Covers for your ipod retail for $69.00 and are available as several novels including: Hotel Fever, Detective, Lovely You, Scavengers in Space, and To Love and Honor.

The Visual Remote by Advanced Technetix is a remote control for your ipod that has a backlit LCD screen. It also comes with a pair of high-fidelity, sound-isolating earbuds. The Visual Remote is not the prettiest remote we’ve ever seen, but finding an ipod remote with a display is a rarity. Oh, and then there is the fact that you can get it for FREE after a $39.95 rebate from MacConnection. Now that is our kind of stocking stuffer.

The Magic Message Egg makes one heck of a unique way to send a message. Whether it’s "Happy New Year" or "I Love You", skip the old fashioned paper card and get them one of these eggs. When they get the egg they need to open the can, water it and the egg will crack in about 3 hours. Within 5 to 7 days the bean will germinate so that your message appears Jack and the Beanstalk style. How is this feat accomplished? We have no idea. But it’s certainly as cool as it is creepy. The Magic Message Egg retails for £1.95.

Most of the popular instant messaging programs offer some multimedia functions like wallpaper, buddy icons and animated smileys, but none of them are as interactive as IMVU’s 3D Avatar Chat system. imvu allows you to customize your avatar from head to toe, kind of like you would in the Second Life or the Sims. You can also animate your avatar and have your avatar interact with other buddy’s avatars. Each imvu user also gets a homepage which they can customize with their own images, messages, music, blog and more. Our guess is that teenagers and kids will probably enjoy imvu the most. And for all of you using the Mac OS, sorry – imvu is only available for Windows.

These iBags have been designed to be reminiscent of old school boom boxes. Each iBag can connect to your ipod, mp3 player or phone and play music off of it’s built-in speakers. The bags also have built-in FM Radio with the controls for the speakers and the radio all located on the front of the bag. The BoomBox Red and Spin Black ibags retail for $49.95 each. There is also a Vinyl-Aqua Radio Tote Carrying Bag that resembles an old vinyl record player and retails for $59.95. Unfortunately these bags seem to have been discontinued but we’re sure if you really want one, you’ll be able to find them on eBay or somewhere else online.

BenQ’s FP785+ LCD Monitors are the most beautifully designed monitors we’ve ever come across. BenQ partnered with the National Palace Museum in Taiwan to use two of Giuseppe Castiglione’s masterpieces on some of their 17" LCD monitors. The two paintings include "Everlasting Verdure of the Immortal Calyx, An Album of Flower Studies" and "Ayusi Scattering Rebels with Upraised Spear". The monitors have a 1280×1024 resolution, a 700:1 contrast ratio, a DVI and VGA connection, and two 2 watt speakers are also built in. Unfortunately, there are a limited number of 1,300 monitors available for each design. We can’t help but desperately wish that they would bring these monitors over to the U.S.

These Skeletons for your Computer Monitor are a far cry from the fun-loving Desktop Boyfriend and Girlfriend we posted about a few days ago. Three skeletons are included: one that is covering his ears, one covering his mouth, and one covering his eyes. Nothing screams "I choose to remain neutral" more than these fellas. The Computer Monitor Topper Skeletons retail for $24.99

It certainly took long enough, but better late than never. Verbatim has announced that they’re now shipping the first Color-Background LightScribe CD-Rs. And it’s a good thing too because we were getting really sick of that goldish color. Also, in recent months LightScribe drives have dropped tremendously in price, so go grab yourself a Lite-on DVD-RW burner for $39.03.

The Skype Video Phone from 3J Communications looks like a traditional corded landline phone with a numeric keypad and a large LCD display, but it’s capable of some very un-landline like functions. A camera with a 320×240 resolution and 30fps VGA display is attached to the base of the phone, allowing you to not only chat with your Skype contacts, but let them see you as well. The phone also rings when a Skype call comes in and you can dial out using it’s keypad. 3J Communications designed the phone to be ideal for conferences and meetings. The device is also compatible with MSN and Yahoo Messenger. The Skype Video Phone retails for $56.88.

The office fish tank is the place to be if you’re a high-tech gold fish. It comes complete with a computer and a set of office furniture. This is so much more up our alley than the stereotypical fish tanks with a bunch of rock ornaments and reefs. The Office Fish Tank retails for $24.

This red Panic Button is a real computer key that comes with double-sided tape so that you can make it a part of your keyboard. Just don’t put it on top of somewhere stupid like the ESC key or else you’ll really start to panic. Panic buttons retail for $2.50 each, making it a great cheap gift that almost everyone will appreciate. Other novelty computer keys available include keys that say "BEER", "duh!", "EJECT", "Oops!", "Any Key", as well as a key with a smiley face and one with a dollar sign. There are also Fun-key computer keys that have icons like a skull, alien, bomb and other symbols.

Foonz is a new free service in beta that allows you to make free conference and group calls. Sign up and Foonz gives you a free personal phone number. Dial your Foonz number, select the friends you want to call and Foonz alerts them either via im or text message. While you’re waiting for your friends or co-workers to join the conference call, you can listen to music, play games or chat in the Foonz arcade. And Foonz is totally free, except that you’re cell phone will bill you regularly for the minutes you used while talking.

PHOTOCO’s PhotoShare7 is a 7 inch portable digital photo album that can do double duty as a digital picture frame. You can slip the PhotoShare7 in to the included frame and leave it on display on your desk, and then slip it out when you’re ready to travel with it. The device allows you to view photos, zoom in on them and create a slideshow. The screen resolution on the PhotoShare7 isn’t incredible at 480 x 234 but it’s still decent. And the PhotoShare7 has 2 memory slots for accepting memory sticks and secure digital, which is a nice touch since these two formats are the most popular.You can also connect the PhotoShare7 to your TV if you want to see your photos on a bigger screen. PHOTOCO also sells the PhotoShare, which has the same features of the Photoshare7 but the PhotoShare has a 2.4" screen and a weight of 85
grams, as opposed to the PhotoShare7 which weighs 388 grams. Overall, PHOTOCO’s PhotoShare Portable Digital Photo Album and Frame isn’t too expensive at $94.99, but it would have been more desirable if they had thrown in an MP3 player and some built-in memory.

Do you long for your Boyfriend or Girlfriend while you’re at work? The Desktop Boyfriend or Girlfriend will keep you company as he or she sits perched on top of your computer. Desktop Partners have a slot on top of their necks for you to place a photo of your loved one, whether it be Johny Depp or Gwen Stefani. These Desktop Partners retail for £8.99 as a pair or £4.99 for each.

The Hub of Doom is designed for the evil genius in your life. In order to activate the USB hub, you have to flip the switches, turn the key and press the red button. What an irritating gift. Muahahahaha!

Book Price Comparison Engines are invaluable shopping tools, especially for students who lose an arm and a leg to textbook costs every semester. For years, we’ve been using AddAll, but now there is a newcomer on the block. BooksPrice seems to search the same sites as AddAll, but it has an advantage over AddAll in that it also searches for the best prices on DVDs, CDs, and Games. We also think that BooksPrice’s design is easier on the eyes. Another book price comparison site worth mentioning is BookFinder which automatically divides the results in to Used and New categories. Overall, make sure to bookmark at least one of these, they’re guaranteed to save you some hard earned cash. And yes, people do still read books.

This minuscule 1 inch USB 2.0 drive manages to fit 12GB inside of it, along with a 180 degree revolving USB connector. We’ve seen 8GB hard drives that are nearly this small, but never a 12. The overall size of the USB drive is about 1.7 inches by 1.9 inches wide and less than half and inch thick. The Mini Cube has a one-touch button for synchronized back-up and the included software can also automatically back-up on schedule. A carrying pouch and strap are included in the package as well. The 12GB Mini Cube retails for $124.95.

A Stereo Speaker system for your ipod will cost you a pretty penny, so chances are you’d be afraid to take it with you to areas where its likely to get wet. However, the iSplash rugged Splashproof Stereo Speaker System is unlike most other ipod speaker systems because it’s water resistant and strong enough to protect your ipod from sand and weather conditions. Its dual carry handle design also doubles as a stand so that you can prop it up anywhere. However, while the iSplash does claim to be rugged, we don’t suggest submerging it in to water. The iSplash also has an AM/FM Tuner, a built-in sub woofer and an equalizer and it retails for $149.95.

The Blue Beatz iPod Case allows you to play a barrage of funky beats over the music that you’re listening to on your ipod. Why someone would want to do that exactly, we have no idea. It also protects your ipod with its plastic shell, and it includes a belt clip. The Blue Beatz Case requires 2 AAA batteries and retails for $15.66.

Having fun with friends often means taking lots of photos. Funksion has come out with a new line of fun fashionable purses that double as digital camera bags. The Funksion Cam Clutch Goin’ Out is just the right size [7.25" wide, 6" high, 2" deep] for a night out with your buddies. Stylish enough so that nobody knows it’s a camera bag, it can hold a standard size digital camera while still leaving plenty of room for your cellphone, makeup, wallet and more.
The outer canvas fabric is sturdy, while the soft 100% cotton lining inside protects your camera. There is a zippered pocket on the inside for your valuables and three expandable mesh pockets on the outside for memory cards or other accessories. The brown bag [as shown] has a teal logo, stitching and piping. It also comes with a detachable shoulder strap. Also, the bag is more lightweight than your average camera bag, so that carrying it around is a pleasant experience.

We think that this would make the perfect gift for the tween girls on your list. And even though the Cam Clutch is geared towards carrying a...