The Cool Cubicle Shopping List

The Cool Cubicle SmartMoney.com
By Kelli B. Grant

No one likes spending the majority of their waking hours in a cubicle. But just because your cubicle has less square footage than your bathroom at home doesn't mean you can't live large. While you bide your time waiting for the corner office, we've collected a few cube gadgets to make cubicle life a little more tolerable:

Ambient Weather Beacon $169.95, Scientifics Online Never see the light of day? This ambient device will keep you posted on all that you're missing as you wither under the florescent lights. It updates itself wirelessly, changing color and pulsing to reflect the latest weather forecasts. It uses the same color scheme as the Weather Channel -- green for temps in the 40s, orange for 60s, etc. You can also use the device to track other important information, like the stock market's ups and downs, and whether outside conditions are ideal for golfing. Sadly, you won't be playing.

Babble Voice Privacy Machine $395, Sonare Technologies If you have fantasies about permanently silencing the loudmouth you share a cubicle wall with, don't get mad, get a voice muter. True to its name, Babble tones down individual voices into more soothing, wordless sounds. The tape-dispenser-sized unit turns on with the push of a button. Babble also makes your voice equally incomprehensible to eavesdropping co-workers.

Cube Chic $15.95, Barnes & Noble Picture it: Faux bamboo coverings for your cube walls, a Zen garden, candles and a desktop fountain. Whatever your sense of style, author and designer Kelley Moore offers tips on how to make it happen. Decorate your space with animal prints and mosquito netting for a Safari Cube, or use a poster and window "frame" to create an office with a view for the CEO Cube. Our personal favorite? The Nap Cube, complete with cereal dispensing machine and cozy nook for napping. Sure you'll be the office freak. But you'll also have a cube that you can truly call home.

Stealth Switch $24.99, Think Geek Sure, you work. But you don't let it interfere with your dedication to becoming a Minesweeper master. Unfortunately, your boss isn't sympathetic to the amount of training that's involved. To keep him in the dark, you can install software, and then attach this device to your computer. A quick tap of your foot, and any windows you haven't specified as "safe" disappear from view. Another tap when the coast is clear, and you're back to work, er, play.

Pimp My Cubicle Kit $14.95, Barnes & Noble The standard office cubicle isn't very fly. This kit helps add some bling. It includes a dollar-sign paperweight, gold thumbtacks, a disco ball and a "bling" mousepad. There's also a piece of leopard-print fringe to spice up your computer, file cabinet or wall.

USB Beverage Chiller $19.99, Xoxide You put your soda in the office fridge, and some jerk steals it. This USB chiller plugs right into your computer, and keeps beverages at a frosty 45 degrees. Use it to cool your room-temperature drinks, or keep a chilly drink from warming up.

Lazer Trip Wire $24.99, Think Geek You don't even want to think about what goes on in your cube when you're away from it. OK...we're not even sure what we mean by that sentence, but the fact is, you do view your cube as your private space. Protect your stuff and your space with this set of infrared beams. These three sensors attach to your cube, emitting an infrared beam from sender to receptor. Break the beam's signal, and an alarm sounds.