Holiday Gizmo Shopping Made Wacky

I just found gadget-and-gizmo heaven: Firebox, which is the literally just-launched (an hour ago) U.S. version of the U.K. novelty-doodad site (one of the biggest over there). I first came upon the U.K version of Firebox.com a few weeks back when I was researching wacky USB gadgets for a story and found the USB Cannon, which is exactly what you think it is. (Yes, a USB-powered mini-cannon that shoots out squishy darts.)

But I could not stop browsing. Here are a few of my other faves, many of which are exclusive to the site: the X-Twin Rotor Bi-Plane (small enough to fly indoors); Zounds (which is sort of a hardware version of the stunning Nintendo DS game Electroplankton), Verballs Internet Phones (handset-cum-figurines that wave their arms when you get a call and flap their mouths when your caller is speaking—crazy!); and a particularly retro-looking Binary Watch (a black or pink wrist device that tells time in binary format).

This is a decent one-stop shop not only for exclusives, but also for those novelty items we've already heard a lot about, such as Nabaztag (only $129.99 here), the Solio Solar Charger, and the Creative Zen V Plus.

BTW, if you want to get any holiday shopping done early, you'll get a $9.99 flat-shipping rate this week only.

Sure, these gadgets may be useless, but they will certainly start conversations or entertain the people around you. Who, for example, would you like to attack first with the USB Cannon?