Lately I’ve been sharing my desk. Lots of fun, but you quickly end up with a cable mess and running out of plugs. That’s why I want someone to convert the RedDot Award-winner PowerPost into a real product.

It’s a simple concept: An alternative table leg that is in itself a huge power strip. My only worry is that, knowing myself, it would look looking like a deranged hydra shortly after its installation. [Red Dot Award]

This desk worker may look like a hero, but this picture, snapped in a telemarketing firm’s office, is a tragic portrait of victimhood. May we all learn from his story:

According to Reddit user knobcrik:

[I]n 2005 I was working for a “telemarketing” firm somewhere on the east coast. morale was so bad at the company, management went to great lengths to keep people that actually worked hard. one of the ways they did this was a short lived but highly entertaining award for “Employee of the Month”. Said employee was treated to answering calls from a “special” desk with a 42″ monitor.

What a nice treat, he must’ve thought. I needed to stop looking at porn during work hours anyway. Then the reality set in:

[He was] the first and last employee of the month winner. The next months winner could not go more than two days with the XL monitor stating his “retinas were getting burned out by the heat from the screen”.

Somewhere, deep in an office complex in Scottsdale, a blind man is weeping. Touch-dialing potential customers from a seemingly endless braille book, his only comfort is to run his fingertips across his Employee of the Month plaque. It is starting to rust. [Reddit]

UPDATE: From reader Deacon Cupcakes, proof that the EXXXTREME SCREEN phenomenon is alive and well:

It’s fixed now on the Target website (updated product page here), but for a time, this was one very interesting product title. Yeah, it’s super old, but still funny to those who haven’t seen it. [Digg - Thanks Marco!]

The very literally named Track Ball Mouse Numerical Keypad Hub manages to Frankenstein an array of accessories into a trackball-style mouse. It also continues the long tradition of lefty-hating trackball mice.

At first glance, I thought this was an actual mouse, and that you were supposed to drag a numerical keypad and a couple USB cables around the desk during use, but it’s just a trackball mouse that’s meant to stay put. Looks like it’s got a standard 17-button keypad and two USB ports, and it connects via USB. If you’re one of those Golden-Tee-loving types who’s into trackballs, it’s available for a kinda expensive 5,290Yen ($60). [RedFerret via OhGizmo]

Meet Artform No. 1. It took him six years to grow from a heap of brass and stainless steel into this ooh-la-la-hey-there-gorgeous model you see now and he’s damn proud of it. Just look at this cheeky metal man’s poses.

The Artform No. 1 figurine was built by Mark Ho out of over 500 parts and the 17-inch, 16-pound fellow is fully articulated, which means that he can be posed in any of the shapes the human form can take and then some:

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Only 25 of these sculptures have been made and, while their prices aren’t listed, I can’t help but want one to lounge on my desk, giving me those sultry bedroom eyes as I write silly posts. [Zoho Artforms via Automata/Autamaton via Make]

Has Twitter been wigging out on you lately? Not to worry, says Twitter, because "you are not alone" and the microblogging service is apparently aware of a pair of issues causing a bit of a ruckus as of late.

One of the problems plaguing Twitter in recent days is tweets from strangers showing up in a user’s timeline. According to Twitter, some users are confusing this bug with retweets, but if you’re positive that’s not the case (easily identifiable by the retweet symbol and labeled as a retweet), the social networking site is asking that you post your username, username of the stranger in your Home timeline, and a link to the tweet in question in the comments section at this link.

The other issue making the rounds is users reporting receiving SMS updates despite having notifications turned off.

"Do not worry, we have escalated this bug to our engineers and we should have a fix very soon," Twitter posted on one of its Help Resources pages.

So what should you do in the meantime? Sit tight, or if you’re "still frustrated, please feel free to submit a comment below and/or submit a new ticket to our help desk," Twitter added.

Word to the wise: The WallDock iPhone charger sits low, but allows for access to the touchscreen. When typing with your feet, avoid sticking an errant toe into the socket. Better yet, get a charger that sits on your desk.

Of course, this might make a bit more sense plugged into a countertop socket, but at $25 you better be sure. I’m content with the USB cable/plug that came with the phone. You? [WallDock via The Gadgeteer via OhGizmo]

"Do you remember 1979," asks the letter we got from Seagate Technology today, which goes on to remind us that that was the year of the Iran hostage crisis, the Sony Walkman, and the world’s first snowboard. Oh, and Shugart Technologies, later to be known as Seagate, was founded.

To commemorate the occasion, Seagate sent along a neat t-shirt, with a 70s-style graphic of their very first hard drive: the 5MB ST506—which came out in 1980, but close enough. Associate Online Editor Alex Castle just happened to have a vintage ST506 hanging out on his desk, so we snapped a shot of the shirt and the drive together.

On left, Associate Editor Nathan Edwards models the Seagate t-shirt,
while Associate Online Editor holds up his vintage Seagate ST506.

Neither of us, unfortunately, remember 1979. But close enough. Congratulations, Seagate!

Update: You can enter to win one of these sweet shirts (or a 320GB FreeAgent Go portable hard drive) on Seagate’s site.

In Stock: Griffin PowerDock 2 Charging Cradle

Griffin PowerDock 2 Charging Cradle [$39.95 - TiPb store link] Does your family own a family of iPod or iPhone models? Can you only find one charger when all of you need to recharge? Call a cease-fire with PowerDock, a charging base where every iPod and iPhone in the [...]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

In Stock: Griffin PowerDock 2 Charging Cradle

On your desk, it’s about the size and thickness of a triple-decker Wonder bread sandwich. But the BassJump, an aluminum micro subwoofer to match your MacBook Pro, made me salivate more than soft, refined carbs covered in mayo ever did.

The Price

$80

The Verdict

It looks better than it tastes..err…sounds.

I can’t deny, my MacBook Pro’s tinny speakers have never sounded better than when complemented by the BassJump. Through USB (and some unobtrusive bundled software), the BassJump mixes with your existing laptop speakers to give you a more balanced audio experience.

The tenor range, generally underrepresented by my MBP, is audible with the BassJump. The Beatles, especially, were hugely improved through the richer vocals and guitar riffs provided by the mini sub. Walking to the next room and closing my eyes, I decided my MacBook now sounded like a low-level iPod dock.

Still, the audio isn’t especially clear. And despite the BassJump’s name, it doesn’t really give you bass. It’s more like a midrange speaker that’s still incapable of bumping R&B.
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So while the BassJump certainly looks adorable and legitimately turns MBP music from unpalatable to sort of listenable, its low end capabilities can’t match a real dedicated subwoofer. And its overall audio effect, while passable, would be thwarted by most any 2.1 speaker system in its price range. [BassJump]

Charming aesthetic

Quality build

Improves midrange audio but lacks brilliance

Lacks bass

Needs to be either cheaper or better