1. Ravage Transformers Drive
For all the fans out there who will collect absolutely anything to do with Transformers, this little drive is perfect to add to the collection. As it’s only available for pre-order at the moment, you can place an order at bigbadtoystore.com. Not only does it store 2GB of stuff, it’s Windows an Mac compatible, and ‘transforms’ (of course) into this nifty little creature. You can leave him sat there at lunchtimes to guard your work. If you really wanted to.

2. USB bracelets
Now here’s something I really didn’t expect. These colourful USB bracelets are probably the most convenient way of carrying important data. We’ve all been there…scrabbling around the room, trying to find that tiny little stick you trusted with that lengthy essay due in in one hour. The sweating, the tears, the tantrums. Now you just don’t need to go through any of that pressure if you keep it on your wrist. Available in different styles and colours, you can get these clever little things at Amazon for between £11-20.

3. C3PO Drive
Back to the figures again, but this time it’s a Star Wars theme with C3PO taking centre stage at urbanretro.co.uk. With a cracking 4GB storage, there’s plenty of room for you to keep those pics of Princess Leia on it; and whilst I don’t understand why the website explains the series is “available in several flavours”, I highly advise you not to put the stick in your mouth…

4. Poker chip
Here’s one for all you poker fans out there. This Dane-Elec Poker Mate is only 1GB, but is pretty nifty for making it look like it’s not a flash drive. Compatible with Windows and Mac OS 9.2 or later, it’s a pity MI5 didn’t use these decoys instead.

5. Freshly Baked USBs
First the hamburger phone, and now the hamburger USB drive. What will people think of next?! Quite an amusing way of holding all your data, these little nibbles just might make someone in the office smile on a bad day. Available as a hamburger, french bread, pizza slice, hot dog, doughnut, or fortune cookie, you can buy them in bulk at vavolo.com.

6. Steampunk
Personally, I feel steampunk to be one of the worst styles/crazes in the history of all things nasty, but I can’t deny that there’s something intriguing about this little drive. This one is handcrafted with brass and copper, so is really quite impressive. If you can speak Russian, made even easier with Google Translate, head over to the modding forum to see exactly how it was made.

7. USB Tie
Ever had trouble thinking of a Secret Santa gift for your boss? Well, look no further my friends because this USB tie is perfect. I can imagine it being a little uncomfortable to fit into the side of most laptops, and at the back of a PC tower, but it’s the thought that counts right? So far it seems to be a concept by dialog05, so sorry if you were really looking to buy one.

8. Zookeeper USB
Finally, one for kiddies! These Zookeeper drives come with 2GB of storage and are compatible with both Windows and Mac. Look at their cute smiles, who wouldn’t want something sweet like that plugged into their computer? As if the smiles weren’t enough, there’s even a hole at the top to dangle the drive from a necklace or keychain for easy carrying. Buy Monkey, Cow, Giraffe, or Zebra from usbgeek.com for around £10.

9. TrekStor bottle opener
If you’re one for kicking back with a beer whilst loading your USB up with info, then the TrekStor bottle opening USB drive is just the thing. Suitable for use with Windows, Mac, and Linux, it’s available with 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16GB of memory, and can be used with any bottled beverage of the owner’s choice. So, after you’ve saved that brilliant presentation on it, you can settle down with an ice cold drink and laugh heartily at the cleverness. Have a look on their website to read the specs and download the data sheet.

10. Poken
Poken seem to be the ‘in’ thing at the moment. Blowing the Zookeeper drives out of the water in cuteness stakes, these little creatures hold all your social networking details for an easy and fun way to share them with others. Jump to doyoupoken.com for better details on how they work, but just be careful when asking people if they ‘poken’. Also, get them here at firebox.com for £12.95.

If you’re interested in more strangely interesting USB sticks, head on over to the Worth1000.com competiton to look at some..err..really odd designs.

This plastic looking contraption lets you play the music from your iPod as an alarm. Now i know what you’re thinking, yes Apple released their own ages ago, but these copies from Edifier actually look like alarm clocks and are considerably cheaper. The one hunch I have with them is that I dislike buying products that look too plastic, and these unfortunately do. Having a habit of dropping things, tacky plastic just doesn’t cut it for me and these look like they might be easily breakable. Putting that aside they still look pretty funky in a range of colours (including pink and white), with the speakers cleverly disguised as the bells giving 360° sound. Weirdly the snooze feature allows you to sleep for an extra 9 minutes rather than 5 or 10, but who are we to complain? So if you, like me, are sick to the gills of blips and beeps then this clock might be the option for you. Snap one up for £39.95 at Firebox.com as they’re selling like hot cakes.

2) CLOCKY

This little cutie is one alarm clock that you could never be mad at, unless you don’t like running around after it trying to switch it off in your birthday suit. For us that don’t mind a challenge first thing in the morning this might be the clock to get your pulses racing, ready for a brand new shiny day. Excited much? Affectionately known as ‘Clocky’, it lovingly welcomes you to a new morning and gives you one chance to get out of bed before it rolls off your bedside table and finds a hiding place, beeping persistently as it goes. Clever Clocky. A new hiding space every day makes sure you’re given a bit of cognitive training before you set off to work but something tells me it might set a new trend of exhaustion amongst the late risers. You have to get out of bed to turn it off, and I’m guessing by that time you’re too pissed off to get back into bed so you might as well go on your merry way. Nevertheless it’s very cute and you can even buy them with fur on, think mini Chewbacca, but be warned…it will not wait around for you. Get used to chasing it around, and try chasing them up at clocky.co.uk for £29.99, batteries not included.

3) RUBIK’S CUBE WITH THERMOMETER

Bring back the 80’s! You totally know you want to, and you should, because this clock is great when it comes to retro fun. Unlike the real Rubik’s cube, this one won’t take you most of your childhood to complete, and you even know the temperature whilst you’re figuring it out! What more can you possibly want?! Turning off the alarm only takes one simple twist, returning to clock mode, and you can go about your day knowing you’ve had your daily 80’s fix. It might not match your bedroom decor, but it’s cute enough to forgive…and at least this one stays sat on your bedside table. Fetch one for $22 at fredflare.com.

4) THE LIFE TIMER

This clock is the ultimate of all alarm clocks so I’ve saved it until last. It not only controls the time you get out of bed, but manages the most important days and times of your life. The usual Birthdays, Holidays, and events are saved into its memory but it also reminds you of the simple things, for example: How many hours are left until hometime, the last date you got a little bit of ‘cuddlingus’, and how long you’ve been with your shweetie-pie. The clock face is surrounded with little buttons, aptly pictured and related to different aspects of your life so all you need to do is press and find out how many minutes it is until you get to pour your break-time coffee down your neck. If later on in life you do manage to get lucky, just press the button according to your situation and re-set the dates so you can watch the days tick by again. Oh, such is life. Order it for £14.95 at iwantoneofthose.com

Here’s my little critter ‘Spike’…

And here he is in action, doing his hip hop dance and a quick ta-da at the end. Bless him.

Check out www.sporevote.com to see some celebrity spore creatures and learn a little more about the game. Thankfully Mac users can download the trial version as I did, but we’re not as privileged when it comes to buying the full game. Yeah, what is it, the dark ages?

“Most guys are natural gadget lovers, and with sales of iPods and MacBooks skyrocketing, more men than ever are stopping by Apple boutiques. The vibe at the stores is conducive to man meeting too: You can check your email among cuties, take a free workshop on anything from Photoshop to podcasting (a great opportunity to strike up a conversation), or just survey the, ahem, good-looking merchandise.”

I’ve never really looked at the percentage of ‘cute’ guys in an Apple store since every time I’ve been in one I’m more conscious of the fact they have see-through stairs and I’m mostly wearing dresses, or tutting at the fact their hand-held tills use Microsoft software (Oh yes! let’s just hope they didn’t install Vista), but next time I’ll make an effort to look around and spy whether the Love Gods that are Cosmo writers are correct. In the meantime, get yourself down there and bag a Geek, they’re hidden gems.