Fetish

__ Fetish __

__ Get Mauled __
With three flawless-grade Adegan crystals per blade and a 400-milliforce diatium power cell, the Sith lightsaber - wielded by dark-side warrior Darth Maul - sets a new standard in sabercraft. Its revolutionary double-bladed form factor constitutes a twin threat to opponents and novices alike, but in the hands of a master, the energy sword sings with deadly potential. You'll never hear "no" again. Sith lightsaber: 17,000 credits; availability limited. Black Sun syndicate: Nar Shaddaa.

__ New Directions __
The Magellan 750NAV, loaded with detailed highway, street, and point- of-interest data for the continental US, tells you by voice or shows you step by step on a bright color screen how to drive anywhere. GPS and inertial sensors monitor position, direction, and speed, while its guidance system offers the optimal path. If you miss a turn, the 750NAV recalculates the route and keeps you on track. And unlike other systems, Magellan's is small enough to swap from car to car. 750NAV: $1,999. Magellan: (800) 669 4477.

__ Early Riser __
Ergonomics experts recommend raising monitors off desks and varying work positions, but it's a drag shuffling all those phone books around. The Levity Interactive Tower assumes countless configurations to ensure ideal work-surface height. It lifts high enough (48 inches) to let you work standing up or gather others around for a quick demo - and low enough (9 inches) to allow nonconformists to type on the floor. A counterweight lets the Levity glide up and down effortlessly like a sash window or like Ariel in an elaborately mounted Tempest. Levity Interactive Tower: $3,000. Herman Miller: (800) 646 4400, www.hermanmiller.com.

__ High Marks __
Digital whiteboards are a nice idea, but they cost and weigh a ton. Boston-based Virtual Ink has drawn an end run around the problem:It can digitally enable any whiteboard by tracking the markers. Just attach Virtual Ink's mimio to the board with the device's suction cups, connect it to a PC, slip color markers into special sleeves, and scribble away. The mimio captures pen strokes with infrared and ultrasound sensors and saves them - in color - to the computer, giving you a simple digiboard without the expense. Then you can share your diagrams or save them for posterity. The foldable, 1.5-pound mimio travels easily and is sure to go far. mimio: $499. Virtual Ink: +1 (617) 623 8387, www.virtual-ink.com.

__ One for Good Measure __
Unlike most laser gadgets, IntelliMeasure actually does something useful. Stand in a corner and shine the dot on your walls, and the ultrasonic estimator captures the room's dimensions and calculates square footage. Each readout is 95 percent accurate up to 50 feet and takes only about three seconds. If you're a realtor or contractor, or just want to look like one, hang it on your belt and appear ruling class. IntelliMeasure: $54. Stanley: (800) 782 6539, www.stanleyworks.com.

__ Surf Watch __
Even lifelong wave riders can never fully know the ocean's mysterious personality - its tranquility, rage, and playfulness. But its tides are predictable, at least, as they follow the moon and the sun. The Typhoon watch from Nike calculates and displays accurate tide information for 175 popular surfing beaches around the world, and even lets you program in three of your own favorite spots. The water-, shock-, and electrostatic-resistant sport watch also has a light and an alarm, as well as standard stopwatch, timer, date, and time-zone features. And unlike a tide table, it fits on your wrist and won't shred when wet. Typhoon: $135. Nike: www.nike.com.

__ Crazy 8s __
Unlike bibs and jumpers, baby videos must endure. Sony's new Digital8 camcorder plays your existing library of analog 8-mm and Hi8 tapes. And your new digital video recordings will have up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution and can transfer through the camera's firewire port to a computer for archiving, editing, or special effects. Analog video inputs let the camera convert old tapes into nondegrading Digital8. The DCR-TRV510 Handycam also captures high-resolution stills and records video in complete darkness using infrared. DCR-TRV510: $1,399. Sony Electronics: www.sel.sony.com.

__ Dramatic Surroundings __
Sennheiser knows that some sounds trigger deep biological responses. So, when an unseen velociraptor from Trespasser growls out of four speakers surrounding your head, it's the difference between garden-variety videogame thrills and instinctive terror. Like the classic '70s Bone Fone, the Surrounder sits on your shoulders and weighs less than 2 pounds. Two speakers in front deliver the left and right main channels, while rear speakers route sounds behind you and pump bone-shaking bass into your fragile little spine. Surrounder: $299.95. Sennheiser: +1 (860) 434 9190, www.sennheiserusa.com.

__ Falling Log __
Like other audible altimeters, the Pro-Track beeps to tell skydivers that freefall time is over. But the little black box also displays altitude and speed, with readouts for raw velocity or constant "skydiver's airspeed" - normalized for changing air pressure and temperature. It logs the date, exit and opening altitudes, and freefall duration, plus average and max speeds for your last 200 jumps. Then, when you're back on the ground, you can download and graph on a PC a full speed/time profile of your last 10 leaps. Pro-Track: $285. Larsen & Brusgaard: +45 (46) 75 77 22, www.l-and-b.dk.

Thanks to Ivan Berger.