Gizmodo: office supplies

Stationary Troop Defends Your Desktop With Pen and Tape Artillery

Sean Fallon — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EDT

Well, "defend" is probably not the right word considering that Stationary Troop's weapons are only for show. However, he is always ready to squeeze off a round of pens or tape should the need arise.

[Brando via Foolish Gadgets]

Pac Man Stapler Really Should Be Yellow

Adam Frucci — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:50:00 EDT

Will a stapler shaped like Pac Man distract you from your office drone work enough to make life in a cubicle bearable? I doubt it, but hey, it's worth a shot. [Panik Design via Nerd Approved]

Ninja Tacks Pierce Your Papers...Silently

Mark Wilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST

If you've been dreaming about the Ninja Star Tacks concept since last year, know that swift and silent cork board devastation can now be yours for $12. [Chromly via bbGadgets]

US Navy Sysadmin Fills House With $1.6 Million Worth of Pilfered Office Supplies

John Mahoney — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EDT

If you're working at Dunder-Mifflin and you're lifting a highlighter or two every now and then, Michael may feign disapproval, but that's about it. On the other side of the coin is Victor Papagno, a sysadmin for the US Naval Research Laboratory, who was recently busted for jacking over 20,000 pieces of gear worth $1.6 million—from ink cartridges to hard drives to software—over the course of 10 years.

Apparently Papagno was stealing in such volume he had to stash lots of it in the homes of his neighbors, because his own house was quickly stuffed full. The game was up when, after a domestic violence arrest (surprise!), Mrs. Papagno called up Victor's employer, saying she wanted all of his work gear out of the house. "Um, what work gear?" was the response. The rest is history.

Our recommendation is to avoid attempting such a large-scale heist if your employer is the US Navy—apparently no secrets or strategically sensitive information was ever taken, or else Victor would be facing a lot more jail time than the two years proposed currently. [WTOP via Network World via /.]

DIY iPhone/iPod Dock Made From Notebook Clips

John Herrman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:00 EDT

If you're still high from the thrill of bending out your own paperclip iPhone stand, now you can continue wasting your workplace's time and office supplies with a dock made from notebook clips. It'll only work with the default cable or accessories that use a similarly shaped plug, but the end result is a pretty slick little accessory — definitely better than the precarious original. The build process isn't difficult but does take a little while, but with stuff like this that's half the point. [MAKE]

Free Ride Ballpoint Pen: Left Behind by Aliens?

Charlie White — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:36:24 EDT

What was designer Jean Pierre Lepine thinking when he overengineered this ballpoint pen for his Free Ride Collection? Maybe he was thinking that as soon as enough people bought it for its retail price of $190, he would be the one getting a free ride. Check out the gallery for a look at it all the weird color choices that are available. Then, jump over to the next page and let's see if we can parse exactly what each one of these strange parts does on this pen that looks like a cross between a penis and a mechanical dachshund.

Each one of the yellow areas along the length of the pen near the tip are for cushioning your delicate hands. That strange roller is supposed to be an easy-to-use clip, but makes the thing's dimensions so deep it would be positively bulky in the pocket. And look there, on the end—there's a push button that's also heavily padded, with an oversized spring along its stalk. It's a positively insane design.

However, even though this Free Ride Collection looks completely impractical, that's probably why we still like it and want one in each color. [Joon, via Oh Gizmo]

Orbiculus Thumbtacks: Everything's OK, Art.Lebedev?

Charlie White — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:56:44 EDT

Straight from the Art.Lebedev studio, that same group that promises to bring you its miraculous Optimus keyboard by the end of this year, are its less-ambitious Orbiculus thumbtacks, icons derived from a Mac-like user interface that you can bring into the physical world.

Get the set which contains Cancel, Play, Save, Yes and other buttons, or just get a set where everything is okay, all of them optimistically printed with the word "OK" on their smoothly-rounded surfaces. Or really keep everyone guessing with the Russian-language set. They're $10.63 for 10. – Charlie White

Product Page [Art.Lebedev, via Uber Review]