The Lego Builder. Online Lego assembling fun. Needs Flash.

The folks from NXT have just released a laptop computer touch pad that doubles up as a speaker. The SpeakerPad ‘eliminates the need for multiple speaker components, and offers a simplified and improved design and manufacturing process, cleaner industrial design and quality sound.’ Is stereo important on a laptop?

20 great Google secrets – from PC Mag. Bookmark. (…and visit the funky Search Engine Decoder too while you’re at it!).

Hmm, so what’s with all this Free stuff? The Free-CDSoftware.com site offers free commercial quality software, some from major name brands, for nothing. Well nothing except a shipping & handling charge. Which works out at around $7.50 an item. Still, it’s a very interesting way to do business. Check out the FreePrinter-Ink.com and FreeVitamins.com sites too. Wonder how it works?

This Desktop Factory, from the Japan Micromachine Center, is a working concept production line that can be placed on a desktop. It includes everything that a full size factory line would use, just done very teeny. ‘A processing unit, conveyor unit, assembly unit, inspection unit and other unit indispensable to large-scale factories are marvelously integrated into this microfactory. In addition, it is possible to set up a perfect on-demand system in the home and office by downloading programs off of…

OK, so this Xmas tech stuff could get tired very fast, but for now it’s funny. The USB powered Xmas tree [Babel] (complete with snow and reindeer?)

Here’s cute. Don’t know what to cook? Go to CookingbyNumbers.com and enter in your fridge and/or cupboard contents and up will pop a recipe that uses what you’ve got to hand. Early days but nice idea!

Why not give that special person in your life something a little different this year at Xmas? Like an Amber Toffee Scorpion? Or Worm Crisps? Or White Chocolate Coated Worms? {shudder}

The Local Feeds site is kinda weird. Lets you read web log postings from your local area. Is this useful? ‘Sources and headlines are discovered automatically, and organized geographically. What are people writing within 30 miles of you? within 50 miles of Toronto? within 20 miles of your favorite blog? ‘

The PowerNovelties range is a set of stationery products which are powered by paper batteries. The PowerPal, for example, ‘enables kids and teenagers to electronically save the phone numbers, email, and other contact data of friends, schoolmates or family members directly into one’s notebook or diary.’

Aaaargh, a reality television portal?

Let them sing it for you is a great bit of fun. Enter in your lyrics and have them sung for you via sampled bits of popular tunes.

The Gametrac from Tiger Telematics is a Windows CE powered game console which incorporates Bluetooth, SMS messaging, MP3 music player, video playback, built in digital camera and….a built in GPS tracker which can be used to keep tabs on the kids. It also uses MMC expansion cards. ‘Parents will be able to view a street map on the Internet which shows the current location of their child (or, at least, of the child’s Gametrac) to an accuracy of roughly 15…

Researchers at HP have come up with a new publishing technology called Multi-Channel Publishing which aims to let people create a document once and then re-publish it for different platforms and purposes at will – without having to re-format it each time. Early days, but an interesting concept if they can get it to work fully automatically. ‘Different publishing formats require different-looking documents. A document that looks perfect on a PC with a wide, high-resolution display will appear differently on…

Got some spare cash? Well why not buy your own space mission? Available now on eBay. Current bidding is at $250,000 (reserve not met). ‘Do you have a payload that you would like to put in orbit around the Earth? Need a holiday gift for the person who has everything? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore space with your own spacecraft? Now, you can, thanks to SpaceDev.’