iRobot Looj Gutter Cleaner and ConnectR Webcam Robots Announced

As we saw in our coverage of the iRobot Digital Life Event, the iRobot Looj and iRobot ConnectR were just announced. The Looj, that weird gutter cleaner we saw before, will cost $99. The iRobot ConnectR, is a "virtual visiting robot," which means it has a webcam and a mic for mobile teleconferencing; it will cost $500. The latter can be driven around like an R2-D2 so you can get in touch with other people around the office without actually getting up to.

Hello Kitty Bluetooth Headphones So Cute They'll Make You Vomit

The world will end with neither a bang nor a whimper, it will end with a pair of Hello Kitty Bluetooth wireless headphones. Sanrio's Hello Kitty earphones, specifically advertised to enhance your music and video gaming experience, will set you back $135 (15,750 Yen). I definitely wouldn't mind a pair of wireless headphones -- I do, however, mind the overly cute kitty on the front. Still, the gadget makes a pretty good, if expensive, gift for the overly effeminate girlfriend.

Google Earth Helps Spot Swastika-Shaped Building

Google Earth is once again changing the world —or, more specifically, they're changing the way swastika-shaped buildings are built. The Navy is spending upwards of $600,000 to modify a 40-year-old barracks that, when viewed by satellite imaging programs like Windows Live and Google Earth, looks like a giant swastika. It's nice that the world has the ever-vigilant Google Earth watchers to monitor the shape of our buildings, otherwise we'd end up spending $600,000 dollars on something worthwhile, like making California's TransAmerica building look less like a giant penis.

Eavesdrop Through Walls With a Do-It-Yourself Recording Spy Stethoscope

For some reason, we're seeing a lot of spy gear making the rounds these days, and here's yet another, an eavesdropping device you can make yourself for less than $25. This guy has replaced the earpieces on a $10 stethoscope with condenser mics from a couple of cheap-ass multimedia microphones. Then it's no big deal to hook those up to the recorder of your choice, so you can have the proof you need. Take a look at the how-to video, after the jump.

You can either go through these steps to have yourself this cut-rate spy device, or you could just use a stethoscope to listen through walls directly. Or how about this: You could just stop being such a nosy muthafucka and mind your own beeswax.

AMP Speaker Is So Big it Doubles as a Desk

There are plenty of stupidly big speakers out there, but how many of them make good use of their hulking sizes? Not many. That's why this AMP speaker is so awesome: it's not only a speaker, but it's also a desk. It's an active speaker, meaning it has an amplifier built into it. Because of that, that necessitated a big case, so why not make it useful? How awesome would it be to have sound coming out of your entire desk? It's not clear if this is a mere concept or an actual (expensive) product, but I want one, badly.

Ecostrip Saves Energy, Polar Bears

We all have to pitch in to save the Earth from slowly burning to death - luckily, now we can -- one power strip at a time. The USB Ecostrip is a power strip that connects to your computer via a USB cable. When the strip senses that your computer is off, it'll turn everything else off as well -- meaning, monitor, speakers, and whatever other delicious toys you've got plugged in, will be stopped from wasting precious, precious energy.

The device is set to come to the US soon (we don't quite know how soon yet) for $34.95. Easy, simple and probably a good way to save some money on the electric bill, the Ecostrip is, if nothing else, a good way to pitch in and maybe indirectly save a polar bear.

Thanko's USB Warmer Cushion Warms Your Humps, Your Humps, Your Humps

The girl in the picture may look like she has just let one rip, but she is in fact enjoying the heat emitted from Thanko's USB Warmer Cushion.

In case you are in any doubt about what the USB Warmer Cushion does; it is a cushion that you connect to your powered USB port, which will then raise the temperature of your web surfing bum. Thankfully, we never actually need to get off our seat and so our rears remain warm throughout the year. However, if you manage to occassionaly leave your seat and find it turns your goolies into brass monkey nuts on your return, well, the $25.83 price could not be more reasonable.

iRiver Turns Cheap and Cheerful With Siren DP10T

The second iRiver to bear the Siren moniker, titled the Siren DP10T, is set for release in Japan and will be priced at a rock-bottom 3890Yen (approx. $35). The DP10T will have a 1GB option only, 128 x 32 white backlight display, MP3/WMA/WMA-DRM10/WAV support, 18 hours playback from 1 x AAA battery and weighs in at a slight 40.5g.

The specifications are not going to get you into a frenzy, but given iRiver's first Siren branded model, it seems this branch of iRiver will be targeted to the lower end of the market only. Though this genre of tiny MP3 players tend to remind us of our manhood, we do like the simplicity of the designs, even in light of all the painful connotations attributed to their size.

John Harrington-Designed iPod Shuffle

It may be more tasteful than this declaration of twuntiness, but Brighton, UK, jeweller John Harrington's iPod Shuffle still makes me uneasy. It's laser-etched with five titchy diamonds and it will cost you over $600. So, let's get this right: seven-and-a-half times more expensive than the real deal? Yet another exercise in customized iPointlessness.

Whirlpool's Espresso Refrigertor Makes Your Coffee, Stops Childhood Obesity

It may be a bit too early for fresh drafted beer from a homepub fridge, but it is never too early for caffeine. Thanks to Whirlpool's Espresso refrigerator, you can now get your xanthine alkaloid based fix anytime of the day or night, fresh out of your fridge. The multitasking food cool closet boasts Whirlpool's 6th sense technology, which means it is a dab hand at keeping food cold as well! Is there anything this device cannot do?