OFFICE

These miniature versions of the traditional floor fan say "Retro Mini Fan" on them, and the retro part is that the blades and cages are all metal. The handy part is that they're just 5-3/8" dia and the plug is a USB, ready to cool you off right from your (actual) desktop. Tilts 180° up and down and comes with a 4-foot cord. Super quiet, too. We'll pick one in red, blue or black.

Good name for a band, and 50% better than 10,000 Maniacs, but in this case, it’s (3) boxes of 5,000 premium “chisel-point” staples, which Paul, our VP for Paper Penetration Standards, says is important. Measure 5/8” wide x 7/32” deep (the staples, not Paul) and marked 26/6.

Behold the first attractively designed electric pencil sharpener since Edward C. Hoffman’s 1943 art deco Electro-Pointer. (You could look it up.) The Spira from X-ACTO® is a rotated rectangular column, 5-3/4” tall x 2-3/4” square, in lipstick red plastic. Plugs in via a wall adapter, and has a hardened steel cutter inside plus a one-touch release on the bottom for emptying the shavings. We see a future classic.

This little silver plastic basic-function calculator measures 3-1/4" x 5-1/2" with a clear plastic ruler that folds down on both sides. Open it and it looks oddly like a communications satellite.The ruler is millimeters/centimeters only, up to 320mm or 32cm. But it's still a lovely straight-edge, or a gift for a Canadian friend. Runs on a single replaceable button-cell battery, included but may be dead..

Nice mahogany-stained thingy, too, with faux pleatherette sides and a drawer. Measures 7" x 4-3/4" x 4-1/8" with a 6-1/4” wide x 4” deep (with an open front) shelf on top and a slot for a wire in the back. We think it was made as a phone charger caddy. (It’s just wide enough for an iPhone 6 Plus without a case, and would probably take a wireless charger.) Also has a 5-1/4" x 3-9/16" x 1-7/8" drawer, clearly made to hold stuff.

Do we love multi-purpose stuff? Yes, we do. Herewith, we present our Swiss-ish army-like file folder organizer. A 14-1/2" x 9" x 7-1/2" gizmo with (4) plastic file holders and a 13" x 3-7/8" white dry-erase board on the front for you to write messages to yourself on with the thoughtfully included black marker.

There’s power all around us. Surging like crazy. In many media. This is why we all need a multimedia surge protector like this 125V 15A 6-outlet surge protector, which will take up to 1500 joules with a max surge voltage of 6kV and a max spike current of 75kA. Has 400V protection between hot and neutral, and neutral to ground, and 500V protection between hot and ground. Also has inline coax protection and EMI and RFI filtering. The (2) sets of (3) outlets each can be tilted 45 degrees to the side. Indoor use only. UL.

You say your office is the coffee shop on the corner? You say you wish you had a desk like all the big kids in the offices downtown? You’re in luck because this all-black plastic desk set has everything you need in a 4-1/2" dia x 4-1/2" tall rotating pen stand, including (2) pencils, a pen, scissors, 6” ruler, (5) pushpins, a pencil sharpener, small stapler with (500) staples, (10) paper clips, a gum eraser and a staple remover. It’ll be like having a job!