The man that inspired it all....

Long before Inspector Gadget and MacGyver, was Maxwell Smart.

Some think that James Bond had all the world going for him, but I think that really imaginative inventions were really from Agent Smart's arsenal of "electronic" goodness.

The gadget of his that started it all was the shoe phone.

Almost as good as the electronic lawn-mowing robot dog

I think if I had some involved shopping task, I would try this out:

Robot babysitter keeps kids occupied in Japanese store

If it didn't threaten to crush my children, or maim them permanently, I would feel comfortable with letting technology keep an eye or cam on them.

The economic solution for your stun gun needs.

For the those of you with both a frugal and a paranoid personal safety side, this is the ideal solution for you: 950,000 volts in a 'Runt'

I don't personally jog alone, at night, in dangerous places, but if I did, you can bet I have one of these little bad boys with me.

To give you and idea the amount of power you'll be packing, the average police grade Taser packs a 50,000 volts.

So rest assured your potential attacker will be nicely incapacitated.

Time in a bottle...or etch-a-sketch...whatever...

This is probably the best use of free time I've seen in a while.

If this guy could make the electronics a little smaller and refined, I'd try to talk my wife into buying one.

Etch A Sketch clock automatically draws, redraws time

This article is pretty funny: Thai monks told to behave on networking Web sites

I'm not sure if being a monk is like being a priest, but I would venture to guess that similar rules apply.

It also begs this question: If a monk could do that sort of thing, where would he take his date?

Lately, I've been trying to get in shape-ish. I've been exercising and trying to eat reasonably.

I've come across this "exer-cycle": 'HyperBike': Godzilla on two wheels

I can only believe that this would work if it made you want to get out of the public eye faster. I suppose it's possible to burn calories out of embarrassment.

I should have thought of projects like this one while I was in college: MIT students simulate life on Mars

I would have gotten to go on vacation on the school's dollar all in the name of science.

I could have simulated effects of low-gravity environments by staying at luxury hotels where they do everything for you.

If I only knew then...

Plug-in bouncer...

I found an interesting Do-It-Yourself project:  Homegrown security bot heckles vagrants, longs to be a real cop

I'm tempted to try it myself, but I don't think my kids will appreciate being the subjects.

I think he could market and sell these things as "Bar-bots".  Kind of catchy, eh?

Star Wars stuff is always cool...

I'm not sure I can think of anything to say about this one, that hasn't already been said.

But, I will say that I would be too amused by this desk to ever get anything done:  "Carbonite Desk"

I found this article on a giant "action figure" on eBay: Towering Gort

I can actually only think of one person of all that I know who would really want this.

In fact he's the only guy I know who even recognize who Gort even was before this article.

My wife found this: Hillary Obama

It's a little disturbing, but it's pretty funny.

Always check the to...

I came across this funny article that demonstrates that sometimes e-mail is too easy:

Lilly's $1 Billion E-Mailstrom by Katherine Eban