iCanDoAnything

If there's any device that can challenge the cell phone's claim to being the all-purpose electronic gadget, it's Apple's increasingly multi-purpose iPod. The latest evidence: Griffin has released a combination flashlight and laser pointer that hooks onto the (ostensible) music player.

The iBeam's existence inspired one wit on the iPodlounge forum to suggest some other accessories that might be turning up on store shelves near you:

More great ideas from the labs of Griffin Tech and just in time for the holiday gift giving season!

* iBrush - The premier electric toothbrush attachment for your iPod. The MicroSonicOscillator™ scrubs your teeth to the rhythm of your favorite playlist! Perfect the on-the-go generation who prefer to travel light, or for when you need a quick brush-up for that serendipitous hook-up! Baby!

* iCan - Need to open a can of tuna and can’t find the can opener? Not a problem with this state-of-the-art iPod Accessory. Just pop it in your earbud port and BAAM! those finicky cans of tuna will never know what hit ’em. Also great for canned corn.

* iSlice - Forget your carving knife on Thanksgiving day. No sweat! The iSlice carving attachment is guaranteed to give you perfect slices every time. Truly a cut above the rest!

* iBrew - The iBrew is perfect for reheating those neglected half-consumed cups of coffee. Made with a space-age tungsten micro-filament, the iBrew is simple to use. Just clip the BrewStick™ on the lip of your standard coffee house paper coffee cup, replace the cap, and then plug the BrewBlock™ into your earbud jack. Your coffee is hot in minutes! Plug your earbuds into the BrewBlock’s patent pending earbud port and you are java-jammin!

(Via Cult of Mac.)

New uses for cell phones

You've probably noticed that the cell phone is being positioned as the all-purpose information appliance of the 21st century. People around the world use it to play games, look up stuff online, organize political protests, buy stuff from vending machines and photograph crime suspects. A friend of mine even used hers as a remote control to open her apartment building's door to admit delivery people when she was out.

But some recent reports suggest that they can help remedy body image issues as well.

Japan's Mainichi Daily News reports on an inventor who claims to have created a ringtone that increases women's breast size.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that researchers in Germany have developed a cell phone that can tell you if you have bad breath.

Most popular last week

Here's what caught the fancy of SeattlePI.com readers for the week of Sept. 20-26, 2004:

Top picks (most e-mailed articles)

1. The fall of AT&T Wireless
2. Study: Red wine cuts risk of prostate cancer
3. Interactive whiteboards save all kinds of schoolwork, and time
4. Bush's dismal policy failures in tax cuts and Iraq are being sold as achievements
5. Selective Service eyes women's draft
6. 1918 killer flu virus to be tested in UW lab
7. CBS: Censoring Broadcast System
8. Here's what happened to the Republican Party
9. Bastyr's foot-massaging walkway is a literal path to good health
10. Can you spare 5 minutes for democracy?

Top clicks (most read articles)

1. The fall of AT&T Wireless
2. California bans hand-pulling of weeds
3. 1918 killer flu virus to be tested in UW lab
4. A fan's agony over George Lucas' digitally altered 'Star Wars' trilogy
5. CBS producer on thin ice after Guard story
6. Video shows U.K. hostage's plea for life
7. Selective Service eyes women's draft
8. Which guides our Iraq policy -- political thinking or critical thinking?
9. Lucasfilm puts the kibosh on screening of twisted 'Star Wars'
10. Post-game fight in Idaho might have sparked player's killing, police say

For the record, the story about Britney Spears' surprise wedding almost made the list at No. 13.