I can think of lots of pets that I wouldn’t want to own. Things like a big snake, that huge dog from Cujo, and a spider monkey that’s always whacking come to mind. Perhaps the worst pet you could ever own would be a lawyer.

If you feel differently, you can adopt a lawyer just in time for the holidays. The My Pet Lawyer doll thingy is a remote controlled gadget that will blurt out nine different saying like “You talkin’ to me, sharkbait?!” to “Pro Bono? Never heard of him!”

It’s that time again. Greenpeace has released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. Compared to last year, there are many changes. Some you might expect, some you may not have foreseen.

Some manufacturers went up on the scale, while others went down. Nokia is the standout at the top, right at the 7 out of 10 mark, but poor Nintendo… The Big N is once again stuck at 1 out of 10. How did Apple fare? They fail once again and drop to the 14th position out of 18 companies.

Toys ‘R’ Us long known as the place where a kid can be a kid, will now be offering iPods and Eee PCs. They aren’t new to electronics, but they’ve never been big on gadgetry in general, except for their Zune sales that began last year.

Now they will be offering iPods in an “iPod boutique,” where you can purchase shuffles, nanos, touches and accessories all in the hopes that they meet their bottom line. I can see it now. An “iPod boutique,” with no employee in sight. The Eee PC will be offered in black and white, with 7-inch Linux and XP versions available for $269 and $299.

There’s always a solution for charging gadgets when your batteries crap out, but the problem is most of them aren’t any fun at all. Why can’t gadget charging be fun? In fact, I demand fun! Fun in the form of the iYo from Swedish designer Peter Thuvander. The iYo makes charging up your devices into a game, by way of a small induction generator to charge a battery inside the iYo. Just play with it for awhile and when you’ve given the battery a charge, then connect your gadget to the iYo’s USB port and the power will be transferred.

Play is fun and all, but can you imagine all of the Geico caveman types that will break it. The same people who broke wiimotes because they don’t have the cognitive capacity to hold something and apply pressure so it doesn’t leave one’s grip. This could be fun. I can’t wait until we get Kerbanger hard drives and ball/paddle chargers that put people’s eyes out. As far as I’m concerned the world just got more interesting, because it got more dangerous with this concept.

Looks like the folks over at Electronics Weekly have launched a search for the best Electronics blogs, with their first ever Electronics Blog Awards and they were kind enough to mention us by name. Now normally we don’t pay much attention to politics. For instance we won’t ask you to Rock The Vote, and we don’t care if you vote for the young hip guy whose face adorns the DS above or the old guy trying so hard to be hip with his corded phone. But when it comes to tech and assorted geekery, we want your vote.

So if you’re a fan of the ‘Brick just hit the link below and follow the instructions to get us nominated. We can’t say we stand for change and we have no Moose-shooting VP, we just really really love gadgets!

The Ply phone concept packs so many gadgets inside of it’s wood exterior, you expect to see the Swiss Army logo on it. Like it’s namesake plywood, it has layers and in each layer there resides a gadget, like a phone, game controller, photo printer, projector and more. Designer Hideo Kanbara is obviously a big fan of all-in-one. A prototype actually exists and can be seen at the KDDI Studio in Harajuku. When in Tokyo check it out. I think most of us would love to see something like this become a reality and this is probably what future phones will be like.

We’ve seen our share of solar powered devices, but nothing so hideous and blatantly dorky as the solar powered necktie. It will not only collect solar power, but it also singles you out as a geek. You can thank a group of braniacs at Iowa State University for creating it. It’s made from newly developed solar fabrics. The solar panels are tiny and laid out in a grid that at least makes it look somewhat like any other tacky tie.

It even sports a pocket sewn into the back so your device can suck precious juice like a parasite that no one can see. This technology can only end with a living symbiote tie that strangles you dead, thereby making it look like you’ve committed suicide. Then they’ll take over the world. No one will know. It will just seem like unusually high suicides. Let’s just stop wearing them now, can we? They’re silly.

Chances are you’ve been out with your phone and it runs out of juice. It’s annoying. We put men on the moon for God’s sake.(That was a long time ago) Well, Duracell wants to make sure you always have plenty of power in your USB gadgets. If your device uses mini USB to charge, Duracell’s new PowerSource Mini has you covered.

You can get it in two different versions. One is designed to power your iPod and the other is for Blackberry. Both have a mini USB connector. The PowerSource Mini stores power with an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. Apparently it has a second USB port that lets you charge another device at the same time. It ships with an AC adapter and DC charger that each have a USB port, and the PowerSource Mini. Never be powerless again.

Remember the gadget vending machines we told you about in Macy’s? It seemed pretty obvious at the time that the trend would continue. Check out this Best Buy vending machine spotted in the Dallas/Forth Worth airport, keeping flyers in gadgets and sucking up money like a black hole in a square box.

Travelers are always forgetting their gadgets or breaking them, even losing them. Which is why these machines are a smart idea. The machines are in several terminals, insuring that an iPod leaves on every flight. Expensive spur of the moment purchase? Sure. Gadget addiction ain’t cheap.

Most gadget hounds have probably heard of the godfather of technology journalists, Walter Mossberg. Mossberg pens one of the most popular technology columns on the planet for The Wall Street Journal. If you have ever wondered why exactly it is that Mossberg is the first to get his hands on many products in the tech industry, a new study has your answer.

Joseph Johnson from the University of Miami School of Business Administration has conducted a study that looked at the economic impact Mossberg’s product reviews have on the company that builds a given product.

At NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program Spring 2008 show, graduate students were exhibiting some interesting and unusual projects. Like Oscar G. Torres’s Helios Power Tree, for instance. The leaves are constructed from thin solar cells that are all connected to a battery at the tree’s base from the branches and trunk. The battery uses solar power to charge and powers blue lights around the tree. There are USB outlets on the base.

The idea is that the tree would sit in a public space so that people can use the solar energy that it collects to charge any of their USB-powered gadgets. Money may not grow on trees, same with gadgets, but it turns out that juice to power those gadgets can grow on trees.

Pssst. Hey. You. The guy with all the gadgets and the huge gut. Put down the comic book and the PSP, give me a sec. Wanna charge your gadgets and get some exercise at the same time? Maybe get a girl? Check this out.

This pedal-charging device from Japan is like a Power Stepper but even better. Apparently, it will produce enough electricity to power mobile phones, media players, or any number of other gadgets. Just don’t tell anyone you have it, otherwise you will be charging stuff like a hamster in it’s wheel.

Here’s a look at some gadgets and gear that would be right at home in Batman’s world. It isn’t easy fighting crime, you need every gadget and tool at your disposal. This is just a look at a few things that might make life as Bruce Wayne easier.

Who doesn’t love the Star Trek phaser in any of it’s forms? This one may not be the version that shoots real dangerous light, but if you take this baby with you to a convention and point it at another trekkie, you’ve got some great geek on geek action happening.

Of course, this phaser uses light and sounds to create a real weapon like feel. It’s a full scale reproduction model of the original Star Trek prop, with the original 2-in-1 design with detachable mini hand phaser. It shouldn’t be any tribble at all to pick one up for $27.99. Just remember to always keep it on the stun setting. Safety first.

Like many Sci-Fi novels shows and movies, Star Trek showed us futuristic gadgets that at the time were complete Science fiction, but soon came to be a reality. Here’s a list of such technology, in no particular order.

These might be new to you if you have always been far to enamored with the women of Star Trek to notice the tech and gadgets. I don’t blame you, from Yeoman Rand to Tasha Yar, to Beverly Crusher and beyond, there’s some hot babes gallivanting around in the final frontier. Before we get so easily sidetracked, back to the theme. Star Trek gadgets and tech. Some you can own, some are in the works and some are just strange.