Crave

(Credit: Magneat)

The Magneat headphone organizer provides a solution to the most annoying accessory attached to your music player: the headphone cord.

The industry is a few years away from offering high-quality, inexpensive Bluetooth earbuds, so for the time being we're left untangling and tripping over long wires. As a matter of fact, just today I was walking into the bathroom (keep reading, it's OK) and my headphones got caught in the door handle. My headphones nearly pulled me to the floor and strangled me to death. Granted, Kimmy Gibler and I share a similar center of gravity, but my to-do list is long enough; I don't need to add "wired asphyxia" to the end.

(Credit: Magneat)

Save me, Magneat! It's actually very simple, as all great ideas tend to be: you clip the device to your shirt, coat, or jacket via magnetic fastening and simply wind your headphone cord around the cylinder until it runs taut, eliminating excess cordage and preventing tangles. And that's it!

Rest assured that the Magneat isn't nearly powerful enough to erase your player and certainly won't leave any marks on your garments. The device is available now in a variety of colors and designs for $10 each.

(Credit: Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)

Not everyone has a USB flash drive outfitted with locks or alarms, but there may be a better deterrant anyway: deception. The aptly named Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has devised a diabolical way to create a USB key that looks like a hastily severed cable. All that's needed is some epoxy glue, an old cord, and "almost zero technical know-how," according to Uber-Review. A step-by-step guide can be found here.) If that doesn't work, please proceed to the next level of deception.

The next generation in voice technology may bypass the mouth altogether. A couple of weeks ago we saw a consumer product called the "Roadrunner" headset with microphones strategically placed next to the voicebox--which readers say was based on military versions--but a new technology takes the concept to a level worthy of a sci-fi novel.

Ambient's "Audeo," which colleague Rafe Needleman saw demonstrated at a conference in September, is described as a "voiceless phone" that uses sensors worn around the neck. A trained individual "can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound," according to New Scientist Tech, adding that "these signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into a computerized voice." The technology behind the Audeo has also been used in controlling wheelchairs.

One reassuring aspect: Ambient co-founder Michael Callahan says the system requires "a level above thinking," meaning that it will work only with thoughts about specific words--so it won't blurt out whatever pops into your head.

We're not qualified

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

It's a pity that the Olympics agenda is already set, because this would be a perfect event to include this summer. After all, if curling can qualify, this certainly can.

As all Cravers know, a high level of dexterity is required in the sport of "speedcabling," whereby contestants compete to see who can untangle a seemingly hopeless knot of cords the fastest. (For the uninitated, here's a definition on Wikipedia.) And even though it won't be included in the Beijing games, that didn't stop the first "official" competition from taking place at a Los Angeles art gallery last week.

The contest was the brainchild of one Steven Schkolne, who, as an IT professional, obviously has some real-world experience with the subject matter as well as perhaps an unhealthy interest in it as a hobby. "I did a bunch of experiments and found that putting them in a dryer for three minutes works pretty well, it allows them to tangle naturally," he said in an interview with the BBC. Not only that, but they also have to actually work after being untangled to qualify.

The grueling event was won by Matthew Howell, a Web developer who told the BBC that "the finals were brutal--12 ethernet cords, some as long as 25 feet, all knotted into a nasty bundle." Howell, who calls his technique "Fierce Data Cloud," said he honed his skills while kneading dough as a pizza maker. That's particularly fitting, as his prize is a $50 gift certificate for a neighborhood Italian restaurant.

(Crave is still trying to hunt down a video of the competition, but in the meantime here are a few photos on Flickr.)

(Credit: Vahakn Matossian)

Are you one of those artsy-fatalist types who has a poster of Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory up on the wall? That's the "melting clock painting," also known as the backdrop of the 1938 cartoon short "Porky in Wackyland." (Yes, it's on YouTube.)

Dali's 'The Persistence of Memory'

If so, we've found something perfect to further indulge your fantasies of things that appear to be melting into a puddle of surrealist goo. Called the "ElectriciTree," this stretchy power strip/extension cord is technically supposed to look like the branches of a tree to remind us of electricity's impact on the Earth, but I'm totally not seeing that one. Besides, the little sockets totally look like faces. It's a tad creepy, but in a good way. There's also an ingenious little feature involving magnets that makes them look like they're crawling up your wall, or melting off your wall, or however you want to put it.

Core77 suggests that you use them to prank surgeons. We think you'd be better off just, you know, plugging lots of stuff into them. And then hanging some half-melted pocket watches off them.

Porky Pig would be proud. Oh, and Dali probably would be, too.

(Credit: Sharper Image)

The "Pyramat Wireless Sound Rocker" is an upgraded version with a 2.4GHz transmitter that plugs into the TV and sends audio signals wirelessly to your built-in sound system. Coolest-Gadgets notes, however, that the $200 Sharper Image chair isn't completely wireless because it still needs cords to power those speakers and its blue LEDs.

If you really want to save some dough, you can make a rumble seat out of a regular chair with the "ButtKicker Gamer" for $100. Or, in our case, we just prefer to take things lying down.

Sometimes, we have to wonder what manufacturers are thinking when they sit down at the drawing table. Case in point: a corded mouse with a built-in laser pointer.

(Credit: Kokuyo)

We understand the concept, that people presumably would find some value in having a pointer for presentations to impress their clients and bosses. And Fareastgizmos notes that the pointer in Kokuyo's wired USB optical mouse will never run out of batteries. But how sophisticated would it look when the mouse is pulled just a little too far and yanks your laptop clean off the desk?

It's the same issue we had with Sigma's pistol-style mouse, which was designed for wall-projector presentations but was also tethered by a cord and thereby suffered from limited mobility, not to mention the possibility of tripping its owner. Until these kinds of devices go wireless, we'll stick with the old-fashioned method--the finger. (No, Einstein, not that finger.)

(Credit: Chip Chick)

It seems like not that long ago when USB hubs were nearly the size of the computer itself. In fact, it seems like not that long ago when few people even knew what USB meant. But then again, we're pretty old. Anyway, enough depressing digression.

Chip Chick has found what appears to be "the world's smallest USB hub," which seems to be barely bigger than most USB storage keys. The "T3Hub" can serve up to three devices, including one high-power gadget if needed. We wish these were around before the days when desktops and laptops came with multiple USB ports; they could have saved our workspaces from becoming the fire hazards they are today.

(Credit: Elettrica Rotaliana)

As we part of our self-awareness work, we've admitted to having issues with exposed cords, an unfortunate situation that has led us on exhaustive searches for solutions. But here's one that had never occurred to us: a pot. Especially a pot from an Italian lamp maker.

The "Multipot Personal Electric Charger" hides five power outlets behind a "soothing light," according to Ubergizmo. Just jam all your cords into the pot like you were making a wire stew and let the lamp make it all seem like a planned look.

The $178 might seem a bit steep, but if you're entertaining a lot of company this season it might be worth it.