You might remember last week’s post where I talked about a computer mouse with a built-in scale. Having a digital scale seems interesting, but it may not be all that useful. This, on the other hand, could prove to be more appealing to the masses.

It’s a USB optical mouse with a digital photo frame. The mouse itself isn’t all that exceptional, giving you the usual scroll wheel and additional function buttons, but your palm rest area contains an embedded 1.5-inch LCD. That lets you always have your loved ones close at hand (no pun intended).

The photos themselves are stored directly on the 8MB of memory found within the mouse, rather than being fed through from your computer. In this way, you can connect the mouse to any computer and still have your pictures. Given the smaller resolution, you can store around 50 photos here and have them automatically cycle in slideshow fashion. It supports both BMP and JPG formats.

Yes, this is largely a novelty factor, but I don’t think it’s one that will wear off too quickly. After all, you can keep changing up those photos from time to time. The quick power off key helps too, when you don’t want the display to be active. Find this mouse on Brando for $32.

Convergence devices are all around us. Your cell phone likely has a camera in it. Your portable GPS device might have a Bluetooth speakerphone. And this USB optical mouse has a digital scale in it.

This has to be one of the stranger spins on convergence, as I would never have thought to combine these two functions. On the surface, this looks like any other generic computer mouse. It has two buttons and a scroll wheel in the center, along with the USB cable for connecting to your computer.

Remove the cover toward the rear, however, and you discover a fully functional digital scale. It’s not going to weigh you, but it could come in handy for little trinkets. The scale only goes up to 500 grams, but it can also display weights in oz, gn, or ct. In this way, it might be handy for jewelry stores, for instance.

You can find the USB Optical Mouse with Pocket Digital Scale at Brando.com for the reasonable price of $22. Strangely, the scale appears to need its own AAA batteries, not running off of the supplied USB power.

The Apple iPad has certainly taken the world by storm, but you aren’t getting the maximum value out of the popular iOS tablet if you are using it on its lonesome. That’s why there are so many different accessories available for the iPad and while some are more fashion than function, there are some really useful ones too.

One such example is the recently announced iMM514 ArtStation Pro from the fine folks at iLuv. In effect, it works as a powerful docking station for the Apple iPad. The concept is largely geared toward enjoying multimedia content, as there is an articulated and swiveling arm that attaches to the iPad itself. This lets you change the viewing angle to suit your particular preferences and situation.

The base itself houses a large speaker, pumping up the sound output that you would normally get out of the portable tablet. This could be useful for business presentations too, as your hands can stay free while going through your PowerPoint slides (complete with sound). Better still, the wireless remote attaches magnetically to the back of the docking station so you’re less likely to lose it.

We’re hearing that iLuv will start shipping the iMM514 ArtStation Pro later this month with the MSRP set at $169.99. Find it at various retailers and e-tailers that already carry other iLuv iAccessories for iDevices.

Most jurisdictions have some sort of cell phone ban when it comes to driving your car. These usually extend to you using a camera while behind the wheel too, so how can you get the kind of video documentation that you desire?

One possible option is the Mini Car DVR. The CVSB-DC43 comes equipped with a small, but perfectly usable 2-inch screen, along with 24 powerful IR LEDs. This allows you to record both in daylight and under the cover of night.

As you can see in the picture above, the Mini Car DVR can easily attach to your car’s windshield or dashboard with the suction cup. This can be useful in case you get into a fender-bender, but you can also use the motion detection feature to deter would-be thieves too!

Find more information about this useful product at Chinavision, which is where you’ll be able to order one of your own. A single unit is about $60, but the price goes down as you increase the size of your order.

Some gadgets are useful around the office. They can save you precious time and make doing your job much more efficient. This is not one of those gadgets, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy of your hard-earned money.

It’s called the Phantom Keystroker V2 and it is a prank product that is perfect for the cubicle environment. Looking not unlike a nondescript USB flash drive, this device can be plugged into any computer and will work without drivers. It will then make random mouse movements and keystrokes on an intermittent basis.

Your co-worker will think that his or her computer has either a) been infected with a malicious virus or b) been possessed by an undead receptionist bent on their doom. It’s important to note that the Phantom Keystroker will never hit the return key or click the mouse button, so it is unlikely to have seriously damaging effects.

Prank with caution, but this $12.99 toy from ThinkGeek could prove to be a lot of fun when used appropriately.

You want to keep your notebook PC cool when you are on the go, but you don’t want to haul around anything too big and bulky in order to do it. If that’s the case, the Arctic NC could be a great option.

Instead of being a large platform on which to place your laptop, the Arctic NC is a smaller unit that goes toward the rear. Your notebook simply rests on the front lip portion of the cooler. The twin fans at the top draw in air from the surrounding environment, sending cool air through the channels in the front for the underside of your laptop.

In the Arctic NC review posted on MegaTechNews.com, the tests demonstrated that this cooler can reduce the operating temperature of a laptop by ten degrees Celsius or more. The included four-port USB hub and fan speed control dial are useful too.

The Arctic NC Notebook Cooler accommodates laptops with screen sizes between 12-inches and 19-inches. It comes in your choice of grey or black and should be available through a number of retailers and e-tailers. You can also order directly from Arctic for $21.14 through their website.