I am old enough to remember when Halloween was a fairly simple holiday that consisted of dad or mom carving your basic jack o' lantern, kids dressing up as a witch or pirate, and lots of candy. We all know that Halloween since then, like every other holiday (in the US, at least), has metamorphosed into a marketing opportunity—and the technology world has its own special part of that. Halloween is a great occasion to give developers and others in the IT world more of what they love: gadgets. Here are a few that I've come across.
Skeleton Flash Drive
Mimoco, known for its Mimobot flash drives decorated as colorful cartoonish characters (think Hello Kitty and her 10,000 cousins), is offering a skeleton flash drive, RayD81. (Ray is also available as an iPhone skin.) RayD81 is described as the fourth-generation offering (offspring?) of the RayD8 series. It glows in the dark and comes pre-loaded with desktop wallpapers, icons, avatars, and screensavers. The drive is available in 2, 4, 8, and 16GB versions (the 4GB drive is $34.95).
Mimoco RayD81 skeleton flash drive
Everlasting Carved Pumpkins
I hate to carve pumpkins: I am not particularly patient with sharp tools, plus the "pumpkin guts" irritate my skin. The Pumpkin Geek is meant for artistically challenged tech types like me. The carvings, made on faux pumpkins, include perennial geek favorites such as Star Trek characters and many other pop culture favorites. The carvings start at $90 each, but the investment could pay off in time saved avoiding the drudgery of pumpkin carving in future years.
Jack the pumpkin king by The Pumpkin Geek
"Dancing Pumpkin" Laptop Protector
It's too late for a laptop protector to save the sheen on my laptop's cover, but I might change my mind and get the one with dancing pumpkins on it, from Nico, available at Amazon.com. It's advertised on Amazon at only $.99 (plus $11.69 shipping).
Nico dancing pumpkin laptop protector
Cheap Relief for Brain Rot
The Brain Rot Squeeze Toy, from Kleargear, is a cutely hideous version of the stress ball, available as a skull, blue zombie, or "Frankenstein" monster. Squeeze the head and the brains pop out. The toys are $2.95 a head, or $6.95 for three.
Brain Rot squeeze toy
"Pac-Man" Ghost Lamps
ThinkGeek describes these lamps as "Luminary Defense against the Citrine Criminal," but I think we all know what "criminal" they're talking about. A set of four lamps is $69.99.
Ghost lamps
The Scariest of All?
There's a site that even sells "Halloween costume pocket protectors" for those dressing up as their favorite techie. Take a look at the pocket protector below—notice anything special about it? I didn't either! But Computer Gear is charging $12.99 for a set of three, plus S&H.
Pocket protector
Got more geeky Halloween tech goodies to share? Email me and I'll post an update!
Anne Grubb is web & developer strategic editor for DevProConnections.
