With so many digital media-playing formats floating around, wouldn't it be great to own a smart portable player that could handle the lot? A chic little gizmo that could play all the movies, music, clips and pics currently stuck on your computer whenever and wherever you wanted. An ingenious… hang on a minute, you've guessed what's coming, haven't you? Well yippeekiyay, because the Shinco Portable Media Player does all of the above and more!

This incredibly user-friendly machine has got to be most versatile player to hit the market since Maradona left Barcelona. And although it can't dribble a ball or eat twenty tortillas, the beautifully-built Shinco can play a whole heap of media file formats - from ASF and AVI to Divx, MPEG 1/2/4, JPEG, MP3 and WMA. Best of all, it costs a fraction of what you'd pay for a decent laptop - and who really needs all those dull, work-related function-zzzz anyway?

With its impressive 40GB storage capacity ( up to 20 movies can be stored ) the ultra-compact Shinco is capable of crunching away the hours on long journeys. It's the ideal way to watch downloaded files away from your desk, especially seeing as it boasts a gorgeous 7" widescreen TFT monitor - unusual in a market where most portable media players have 3.5" or less. Talking of enjoying your multimedia on the move, a nifty Li-ION rechargeable battery gives you 2.5 hours viewing time or 4 hours of listening pleasure. That means you could, theoretically, watch a Vin Diesel turke… sorry, blockbuster, followed by a few music vids and still have enough juice to flick through your holiday snaps and listen to the latest album by Steve off X-Factor. If you want. But then again, variety is the spice of life - and that's exactly what this digital do-it-all offers.

Transferring files onto the Shinco is easier than pulling down your pants, because as well as a USB 2.0 port it also features an SD/CompactFlash/memory stick card slot. Indeed, if you can't get your files up and running on this slick, dummy-proof device, perhaps you should forget all about this newfangled digital media business and stick to shovelling coal in your ancient top-loading VCR.

The Shinco Portable Media Player is available from Firebox priced at £279.95 

It might look like a Cyberman's boomerang but this sleek, curvaceous length of electronic jiggery-pokery is actually the latest addition to the spectacularly addictive Bop It range of follow-the-leader-style musical contraptions.

If we've already lost you, allow us to explain: Bop Its are hilarious reflex-testing playthings that play a variety of increasingly up-tempo ditties. The idea is to follow a series of commands by bopping, tweaking and pulling this strange gizmo's extremities in order to score points. A bit like trying to pat your head, rub your tum and play high-speed pat-a-cake whilst listening to shout-outs from an irritating DJ on steroids as he spins some videogame-influenced hard house.

Bop It Blast might not look quite as wacky and Willy Wonka-ish as its predecessor - in fact it looks decidedly streamlined - but believe us, it's even more infuriatingly amusing. That's because as well as ergonomically designed adjustable handles, this all-new version of Bop It features synchronized light (yes, light) commands and fully-customizable toe-tappers for you to follow.

With Bop It Blast you choose the voice you want to hear, the game you want to play and the way you want to play. Game options include the ever-popular Beat Bop with beat commands and Vox Bop with voice commands. But the real revelation is Light Bop. This enthralling new feature means you have to follow a series of synchronized voice and light commands - not dissimilar to the old Simon electronic game (ask your dad), but a gazillion times more addictive.

Indeed, Bop It Blast has got 'gissus another go' written all over it (not literally, that would detract from its elegance) and it really is a hilariously entertaining party plaything for any pretend musos out there, as it tests co-ordination skills to the max. You can play alone, with friends or head to head. In fact the only thing you can't do with Bop It Blast is resist the temptation to pull imbecilic, Jagger-chewing-treacle-style faces, as you struggle to compete with the beat!

Bop It Blast is available from Firebox priced at £24.95 

Yes, you could say that all the Crossbow does is fire the little darts. Which is a bit like saying that all Joe Cole does is play football or that the sum total of Michael Schumacher's efforts makes him 'a driver'.
It's brilliant for using with the provided target (perfect for notice boards) and for firing across big rooms. The sucker darts also stick nicely to their targets - monitors, especially, seem to have a magnetic attraction for them.

Robust and well made, the Crossbow can also be used to hone your reactions and sporting ability. If you have some Subbuteo balls, use those as the ammo and have a game of catch with them. It makes for a hell of a laugh as the ball shoots out at top speed, and if Mr Miyagi should ever ask you to catch a fly with his chopsticks, you'll be ready.

The Legendary Crossbow is available from Firebox priced at £25.95 

Wenger has created this huge Swiss Army knife which includes every tool the company makes. They’re calling it the “Giant Knife Version 1.0″ and it debuted with all 85 features and can perform hundreds of functions. Although if you’re in a sticky situation it’ll take about 3 hours just to find the tool you’re looking for. You’ll be looking for a wrench and all of a sudden out pops a bicycle chain rivet setter.

This crazy sunuvabitch hooked up 30 USB ports spread over 5 PCI cards to make a miniature BBQ powered by his computer. Which is cool and all, but I’m more interested in that meat he’s grilling up. Packaged raw meat? Asia is like the world of tomorrow today!

215 Points of View is an artist’s attempts to build an invisible sphere, with 215 monitors placed directly opposite 215 cameras, allowing the viewer to peer directly through an eight hundred pound mass of steel, glass and electronics. It’s a noble idea, but the photos and video show that it’s a horrible failure. Not only is the sphere still very much visible, but you can’t even tell what the screens are supposed to be showing. Calling this an invisible sphere is like calling a shopping cart an automobile.

Here’s a neat guide on how to create a tiny office-supply ninja star using nothing but some X-acto blades and tape. It’s pretty much exactly what you think it is. Although I took some creative liberties and attached a butcher knife to the one I made. It’s not nearly as portable, but its inceased killing power more than makes up for it.

Those crazy cats at NASA got this sweet photo of an erupting volcano in Peru. At least I think it’s sweet. It’d be a lot easier to tell if there was flying magma and people running for their lives.

This is a warning about the Avdeco line of plasma and TV stands.

Amazingly, my plasma tv, fell straight down, and was resting precariously on the next two shelves. I quickly called my wife in to help me lift it off and to the ground. It is really a miracle that the plasma didn’t fall over on its face.

And that, my friends, is why my TV stand of choice is a giant pile of bricks. It’s sturdy and classy.

Dan Serena has a cool video on his site showing water reacting to a powerful magnet. He attained the magnetic water by taking a cup of water, mixing in lime juice and spinach leaves, and letting it sit in a fridge over night. The Vitamin C from the lime juice extracts the iron from the spinach leaf so that the water is laced with enough to make it magnetic. I can’t actually tell if the video is real, but it’s convincing enough that I’m throwing it up for you to judge. Recreating the experiment would be simple enough, but I’m not some rich fat cat that can go around wasting limes and spinach. That stuff doesn’t grow on trees you know.