A mouse that roars (or maybe squeaks)

(Credit: Brando)

The PC mouse has, perhaps appropriately, been the subject of myriad laboratory experiments that have grafted on various non-mousage functions that do things like keeping the desktop clean (in more ways than one). And the Frankensteinian ideas are getting weirder all the time.

So it was refreshing to see that this latest gadget--a USB mouse speaker--apparently doesn't do any computer navigation at all, because we think the desktop rodent has already suffered well beyond its fair share of abuse. Instead, it's just a novelty item that's shaped like a toy mouse and can work with an iPod or anything else that takes a standard 3.5-millimeter plug, GeekAlerts says. Another reason it was a smart idea not to make it a computer mouse: If you tried to use it at the same time, your hand would muffle the sound.