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Fetish
__Topsider __
On a choppy day at the ocean, big waves can load your snorkel with a nasty saline cocktail. The SASA (Supplied Air Snorkeling for Adults) is a surface-scuba hybrid that combines a buoyant foam vest with an underwater-style compressed-air cylinder and regulator. A full tank lets you float for 45 blissful minutes without any snorkel-snot incidents, and you don't need scuba certification to use it. So take the plunge: Swarms of insanely colorful fish are standing by.
__SASA: $900. Scubapro: (800) 467 2822, www.scubapro.com. __
__Visual Reality __
Call it an Imax for your iMac. Five feet across and 2.25 feet deep, the VisionStation projects a 180- by 180-degree image onto its concave screen. Park yourself in front of the keyboard tray, and you're lost in a full-view experience that beats that old Sensurround room at Disney World hands down. Plug-ins for visualization apps like Autodesk's 3D Studio Max create in-the-round renderings of your latest automotive or architectural masterpiece. Can full-immersion Quake III be far behind?
__VisionStation: $19,995. Elumens: (800) 842 1687, www.elumens.com. __
__Shockbroker __
Reach out and immobilize someone with Scorpion 200. The handheld personal-defense tool shoots pepper spray up to 17 feet, then can stop more pressing assailants with 200,000 volts of stun-gun power - a one-two punch that turns would-be attackers into a writhing mass of regret. Powered by a single 9-volt cell, the Czech-made stunner comes with a belt clip for a quick draw.
Scorpion 200: $60. Exim: +420 (189) 77 82 56, www.direkta.cz/firmy/exim/pralyan.htm.
__Now Hear This __
Unlike hands-free headsets that wire you to your wireless phone, this SyberSay lets you stray up to 2 meters away. A tube on the Wireless Earlite 800 sends flawless sound into your ear canal, and an electronic filter blocks out background noise from the mike, so callers hear you clearly when you're hauling down the street. Earlite has adapters for all major handsets and a red button that lets you voice-dial by name.
__Wireless Earlite 800: $99.95. SyberSay: +1 (408) 474 0272, www.sybersay.com. __
__Shingle and Unattached __
Battery-driven nailers for delicate finish work have been around for a while, but the CRN38 is the first hardcore roofing gun to cut the cord. This 8.1-pound yellowjacket uses a 20.4-volt NiCad to drive its coated steel stingers through asphalt or fiberglass shingles and metal flashing. The nails come in canisters of 120 (30 canisters cost $22 ), and each one-hour charge drives up to six canisters home - more if you use the adjustable drive depth to conserve power. This translates to some 360 square feet of roof before it's time to hammer back the Blue Ribbon.
CRN38: $499. Stanley-Bostitch: (800) 262 2161, www.stanleyworks.com.
__Uphill Racer __
Picking up speed on a workaday street luge is quite a rush, but it's all downhill from there. With three 12-volt batteries and twin motors, eXkate's 65-pound Electric Luge climbs varied terrain and shoots across flat pavement at 60 mph. (Though it feels more like 160 when you're about 6 inches off the ground.) You work the throttle and regenerative brake with a right-hand control, and steer the aluminum low-rider by leaning from side to side.
__Electric Luge: $3,000. eXkate: +1 (562) 634 8492, www.exkate.com. __
__Canned Ham __
The multitasking irock! is a combo MP3 player, FM radio, voice recorder - and portable karaoke player. Get the party rolling by downloading specially formatted song files from www.mp3.karaoke.com. Lyrics on the six-line display become italicized when it's time to sing (not that you'll need any guidance closing out "Hey Jude"). You can use the kickstand to steady the irock! on a table or clip it to your belt. For the total karaoke experience, don't forget the cold Sapporos and your tone-deaf pals.
__irock!: $249. First International Digital: +1 (847) 202 1900, www.myirock.com. __
__Demo and Dye __
Want to take on the Big Five record labels from your basement? Primera's affordable Composer Disc Duplicator and Inscripta CD Printer let amateurs mass-produce indie offerings in bulk. The Composer uses a Plextor burner to dupe CD-Rs from a master at 12X write speed. A jukeboxy robot arm then loads the fresh-pressed disc into the Inscripta for two-color text and artwork. The tandem setup can work unattended all night, burning and printing a stack of 50 full-length CDs in six hours.
__Composer CD-R Optical Disc Duplicator:$2,495; Inscripta Thermal CD Printer: $2.995. Primera Technology: +1 (763) 475 6676, www.primeratechnology.com. __
__Aerodynamic __
At home on desktops or windsocks, RCA's WMJ900 is a wireless 56K modem with classic Cadillac tail fins. Plug the base into the phone line, link the mobile unit to any computer with a serial port, and the two will communicate securely over the 900-MHz band as if they were digital cordless phones. Now if you could just find that Corvette convertible couch....
__WMJ900: $249. RCA: +1 (317) 587 4450, www.rca.com. __
