Nabaztag!
 You what? The Nabaztag (“rabbit” in Armenian) is the brainchild of RafiHaladjian, an Armenian-Lebanese Wi-fi enthusiast and cyberpet-lover. The rabbit – roughly the size of the full-grown real thing – sits on your desk channelling the world wide web and wiggles its ears as new emails come in. It also records your favourite podcasts and reads extracts from BBC World News to you in an accent of your choice. It may seem a completely barmy idea – and it certainly looks bizarre – but, the bottom line is, this is a great piece of technocutseyness that really enhances the power of your computer. www.nabaztag.com
Ace Phone Line
 Almost every electronic gadget you could want has been shrunk into one pocket-sized brick of technology – phone, camera, mp3 player. But we keep our iPods because who wants to listen to music through a tinny phone? That may change with the new Shure Music Phone Adapter – headphones that deliver sound quality so high you’d happily listen to music through a kitchen blender. www.shure.com
A Book of Bad Tastes
 On 29 January 2002, George W Bush first used the phrase “Axis of Evil” in his State of the Union address in reference to Iraq, Iran and North Korea. As well as recipes from those three countries, this book also includes dishes from Libya, Syria and Cuba, nations that the US places on its Axis of Naughty. So we get baklava and Korean bulgogi, falafel and fajitas, alongside dictator fare like Kim Jong-Il’s favourite shark-fin soup and President Ahmadinejad’s humble koresht (stew). Any of which sounds far preferable to a box of Chicken McNuggets. Recipes are so simple even the most intellectually challenged of world leaders can follow them. www.saqibooks.com
 Small screen show
Who prints out their photos these days? Hardly anybody, it seems, because electronics manufacturers are wheeling more digital picture frames onto the market. The latest is the new PARROT DF7700, which holds up to 300 photos that can be displayed as a rotating slideshow. www.parrot.com
Duh!
“Photography, as a fad, is well nigh on its last legs, thanks principally to the bicycle craze.”
The oh-so wrong Alfred Stieglitz in the American Annual of Photography, 1897
 Give it Some Lovin’
For years, citizens all over the world have expressed affection for their home cities courtesy of “I [heart]…” T-shirts, mugs, magnets and pins. Now, the loving has come to Iran.
Takin Aghdashloo was born in Tehran, but moved to Toronto at the age of 18. However, he never forgot his native city. “In the summer of 2004, I was very excited about going back to Tehran,” says Aghdashloo, “but I was short of a cool T-shirt. So I decided to make one. I came up with the ‘I LOVE TEHRAN’ idea and made a shirt for myself. I wore it on the flight, so the first real reaction I got was from Tehranis at the arrivals terminal, who had a surprised smile on their faces.”
“Selling them wasn’t hard. One guy was literally pulling the T-shirt off my back because I didn’t have one to sell to him.”
Aghdashloo is working on expanding his merchandising line with more “I [heart] Tehran” items. But what is it exactly he [heart]s about Tehran’s polluted metropolis? “Talented Iranians from all over come to Tehran and shine there,” he said. “It’s a vibrant, but hidden metropolis that has a lot to offer the world.” www.ilovetehran.com
It’s Large, Expensive, it Purrs and it’s Not a Porsche
 Jazz Age icon Josephine Baker used to stroll the boulevards of Paris in the company of a panther on a lead. You can’t get away with that sort of thing these days but cat lovers with a big bank balance can now buy themselves a suitably big feline. The result of breeding between the African serval and the Asian leopard cat, the Ashera is to the domestic cat what a Rolls-Royce is to a Renault. It stands one metre tall, weighs around 10kg, and will set you back KWD 6,000 (over AED 80,000). There’s already a nine-month waiting list. Lifestyle Pets, the American-based company that breeds the supremely pricey felines, also advertises “New for 2008” the Ashera GD, which is a hypoallergenic model that doesn’t make you sneeze. The animal is hand delivered to the buyer and comes complete with a one-year guarantee, climate-controlled cat transporter, 10 years of access to an animal behaviourist and a set of plastic “nail caps” to prevent kitty shredding the furniture. www.lifestylepets.com
Ha-ha!
 The name Ferrari is usually associated with slinky, low-slung cars that travel close to the speed of sound. Not this time. You can trot faster than the latest vehicle to bear the badge of the prancing horse. The Ferrari Segway (top speed 38kph) is a shiny red branded version of the geeky gyro-stabilised two-wheeled people transporter. It may boast leather handlebars, a fancy badge and a price tag of KWD 3,380 (AED 44,834), but it still looks like a glorified lawn mower. www.ferraristore.com
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