Well, it's not exactly Moore's Law, but the rechargeable spotlight Costco is selling this year for $29.99 is 50 percent more powerful than the one I got for Christmas just last year. (And it costs the same, one of Santa's elves tells me). Last year's model, shown right, produced a sissy 10,000,000 candlepower. The 2005 model boosts that to eyeball scorching 15,000,000 candlepower. It makes me feel sooooo tough to have one of these in the back of the Explorer. Yeah, sure it does.

What can you do with a giant spotlight powered from a small motorcycle battery? That the question I see on the faces of guys who stand, looking sort of perplexed, in front of the pallets of these things stacked at the front of the store. It's this, "I know I need one of these, but what for?" look that also appears when some guys venture into the Craftsman tool department at Sears.

As for that this light can do, let me first warn you: You are talking about a very bright headlight which can be seen forever and runs almost as hot as the 15,000,000 candles would. So don't let it set something on fire, OK? My light came in handy during a camping trip when we knew we had coyotes in some bushes near the camp, but couldn't find them with even our most powerful flashlights. The Thor-X spotted their shiny eyes almost immediately.

I haven't measured battery life, which can't be too long, though I've also used the lamp to light up after-dark building projects long enough--minutes not hours--to get the job done.

You probably don't really need one of these, but it makes the biggest stocking stuffer I've ever seen and the price is certainly right. Recharges from 12v or a supplied wall-wart.

USB flash drives are pretty ubiquitous, and lots of manufacturers are scrambling to figure out ways to differentiate their products from the pack-of-gum-shaped masses (for a great overview, take a look at Dan Costa's USB Key Superguide at the PC Magazine site). Walletex, a company that plans to specialize in "wallet-friendly devices" (as if you couldn't figure that out from the name), showed me one of the more original attempts: The Wallet Flash is a fully functional flash drive that can slip right into a card slot in your wallet. It's also a CES Innovations 2006 Design and Engineering Showcase Honoree, Alon Atsmon, the CEO of Walletex, told us. 

The drive is made of laminated polymers, and I couldn't bend it. Alon also urged us to test its robustness by dipping it into a glass of water. We did, and yes, it still works. One other feature I like is the double-sided USB connector; doesn't matter which way you plug it in. That could save you nanoseconds a day!

The Wallet Flash will be available in capacities ranging from 64MB to 2GB; you can buy the 128MB size direct from Walletex, for now.

Faithful Gearlog readers found out about the new Verizon V3C a months ago, but Verizon officially announced it will have its own V3C RAZR today to compete with the Cingular model that has been our for over a year.

The RAZR did a lot to make Cingular seem like a hip carrier. Now that the playing field is level it will be interesting to see if Verizon subscribers flock to the new phone. I can't think of any Verizon phone that looks better, plus it comes with EV-DO and a megapixel camera.

It will be in stores on December 12th. It should cost about $299 with a two-year contract.

I have a 4GB iPod mini (yes, I have yet to succumb to a nano or video-capable iPod). When I first received it on my doorstep from Amazon, I was amazed at how pretty (I got a pink one) and small it was. Right away I took a bunch of CDs out and began the long process (I soon learned) of loading songs onto my iPod through the iTunes Library.

Then, my boyfriend introduced me to Red Chair's Anapod--software that allows you to add, delete and rename songs, and even create playlists--all through Windows Explorer. So as you can see, I became a drag-and-drop advocate. It's so much easier to load songs this way, not to mention it only takes me about 30 seconds to load an entire album. In case you're interested, you can try out the free version, or purchase any of the other editions (he bought me the Universal Edition) anywhere from $25-$30.

But, let's say you're not an iPod owner, but still want that drag-and-drop effect. Well, PC Magazine has rounded up four mp3 players that let you load your player directly through Windows Explorer: the Dell DJ Ditty ($99), the MobiBLU DAH-1500i ($130), the Cowon iAudio 5 ($220-$289), and the Samsung yepp YP-U1X ($106-$149).

Read the reviews here.

For me, backpacks are pretty much the only way to go when I'm lugging my laptop around. I walk a lot. And much as I might like the look of a chic, slim shoulder-strap case, I invariably start lurching over to the side after 15 minutes or so. Some bags don't fit enough extra stuff in them, and some are too bulky; this one is just right. I like the file separators build in to the main compartment; they're handy for keeping paperbacks and magazines from getting mushed. 

1. The CoDi MaxPak has lots of other handily-sized pockets for whatever you might need to carry; one is long enough for foldup umbrellas or a bottle of water; others fit cell phones, PDAs, or (embarrassingly essential for this commuter) the Nintendo DS.  There's even a little top-loading pocket for your music player.

As for comfort, the MaxPak is terrific, with its padded back and nice, wide shoulder straps. And it's made of ballistic nylon, very tough, weatherproof material. It weighs a little over 3 pounds, empty.  You can buy it directly from CoDi's Web site for $119.