The Buzz

Most folks, your Buzz mistress included, prefer a mouse to a touchpad. But when you’re juggling a laptop, a beverage, and more than likely a snack, too, it’s easy to misplace that thing as you move from room to room. That prompted Logitech to produce this little goodie: the V550 Nano cordless mouse, which features a novel clip-on dock, giving you one less thing to carry. The easy-to-attach-and-remove dock works with all notebooks. Compatible with both Mac and PC, the V550 offers 18 months of battery life. A Plug-and-Forget Nano receiver is no larger than a nickel and stores conveniently in the mouse. $59.99. www.logitech.com.

Presidential candidate John McCain shuns email, while his opponent, Barack Obama, deftly wails on his Blackberry. Just how tech savvy does our President need to be? Lifehacker recently put the question to its readers. At the extreme, 26 percent thought the president must be comfortable online, with nine percent saying it’s not vital—that’s what advisors are for. The majority, 49 percent, viewed tech skills as somewhat important, but would let ’im slide if he didn’t know Twitter.

Ready for some hands-on fun, smashing planets together, building new galaxies, or annihilating it all with an immense black hole? Then—if you’re a Windows user—Universe Sandbox is something to see. The interactive tool can accommodate scale simulations of the eight planets, 160+ moons, and hundreds of asteroids within our solar system, while allowing users to control gravity and time or create a scenario all their own. There’s also a 3-D mode. With a built-in tutorial, the friendly interface is fully controllable with a mouse. There’s a 60-minute free trial, then it’s pay what you can; an individual license of $25 comes with a free pair of 3-D glasses. For schools and other institutions, a site license applies. Universesandbox.com.

A new reference tool boasts text-to-speech capability and other features geared for students reading below grade level, as well as nonnative English speakers. World Book Discover, available as a stand-alone subscription or an add-on to World Book Web, offers easy-to-read articles on topics of interest to older students, with questions designed to help readers discern key topics. A text-to-speech feature allows students to hear text read aloud, further enhancing comprehension. World Book Discover also includes a visual dictionary with text in English, Spanish, and French and a searchable video series features experts from NASA, SeaWorld, and other institutions. www.worldbook.com.

Those cute little netbooks are all the rage, lightweight and priced to match. Then Lenovo lays down this bad boy, the ThinkPad W700. Geared for imaging professionals and other such power users, the laptop sports features more typical of a high-end desktop, notably a 17-inch high-resolution WUXGA screen that’s twice as bright as your typical display. The Wacom digitizer and color calibrator built into the W700 are a first in a laptop. Powered by Intel’s new Quad Core Extreme processor and featuring NVIDIA’s Quadro FX 3700 graphics solution, this baby weighs in at 8 lbs., $3,000, stripped. www.lenovo.com.

ChapStick, the default lip balm, now has a second use. Do-it-yourselfer BCat has devised a recipe for building a ChapStick LED flashlight, posted on crafty site Instructables. “Since button cell batteries can be expensive,” BCat writes, “I went with an A23 (12 volt) battery that costs less than $2 for two.” ChapStick comes in Flava-Craze and Medicated, but BCat appears to have gone with a tube of Ultra SPF 30. ChapStick not your style and you still have that much time on your hands? The makings for Matchbox, LEGO, and Altoids pocket lights are also detailed here. www.instructables.com.

Fujifilm has come out with a new camera—and a social network to go with it. To help promote its new FinePix Z20 digital shooter, Fujifilm has launched ZspotNow.com, a social network hosted on the Ning platform. Organizers and attendees at three Z Spot concerts in L.A., Miami, and New York will be invited to contribute and share images and video on the site. www.zspotnow.com.

News on the flash-drive front: Kingston Technology has expanded capacity with two new products, the DataTraveler 400 and DT100, both 16GB. An additional release, the DT101 features password-protected security in a flash drive that also comes in a variety of colors. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Hoshino has announced a biodegradable USB drive. Made from polylactide, a corn-based material, the device is appropriately designed to resemble an ear of corn. www.hoshino.hk.

Could your workstation keyboard make you sick? A recent test found that office keyboards were laden with illness-causing germs, with one bearing more than five times the little nasties found on a toilet seat, reports BBC News. Consider Cyber Clean, a Swiss product that you squish into your keyboard to capture crumbs and what not. Kills germs, too. www.cyberclean.ch.

It’s important, in all respects, to stay cool and professional. That’s why an air-conditioned seat cushion from Japan’s Kuchofuku is not that crazy an idea. The Suzukaze (“cool breeze”) cushion uses “Super Spacer” material that lifts and elevates your person, while a built-in fan cools the seat with 170 liters of air per minute. Refreshing! The Suzakaze is also energy efficient, drawing a mere five cents’ worth of electricity over a month of daily use. $89. www.kilian-nakamura.com.