MattD, over at TechGrid, has had his home office shown on web sites far and wide. In fact, it’s likely you recognize the shot above, from the second iteration of his home office, the one that got so much publicity on the web when he unveiled it back in 2007. Back then, rumors flew about who the owner was and what he did for a living that he could afford so much high-end gear in a home office, and what he did for a living that necessitated it.

While we still don’t know much about Matt’s life beyond TechGrid, we do know that he hasn’t stopped working on his home office, and in the most recent iteration, he’s put in some new flooring and furniture and paid attention to a part of the room that means a lot to me: his DJ nook, complete with audio gear and turntables, and some really awesome posters on the wall (all three of which I would love to have in my home!)

Head on over to TechGrid to see the latest evolution of his home office, and then start planning how you’ll up the ante with your own home workspace, if you have one!

[ TechGrid :: Evolution of the Ultimate Home Office ]

If you have more than a little cash to spend, or more likely you’re just eagerly checking out cool and fun items on the internet that you wish you could add to your holiday wish lists, check out this list of nine items that will thrill the sci-fi fan and futurist in you from Wired.

From the gorgeous brush above that will work with any capacitive touch screen to a full-on DeLorean, the list is chock full of items–some attainable and others not–that I’d happily welcome under my tree come Christmas morning. I’m a big fan of the caffeinated Aeroshots that look like shotgun shells. I’m going to have to get some of those.

[ Gifts from the Future: Nine Items That’ll Take You to Tomorrow ]

Right now the cables on my desk are driving me nuts. Well – it’s not that bad, but they’re definitely untamed, and I’m looking for ways to get them under control. Part of it is that I just moved my desk around and rearranged everything, but there’s plenty of room for improvement, and GigaOm has a great list of gadgets and gear that I could use to get things on my desk under control (or I could just go wireless, but that’s a different matter entirely.)

AppleCores, shown above, do wonders for helping spool and manage your cables and keep them on your desk where you can actually use the slack and unspool it when needed. There are also Cordies Cable Organizers, from Thinkgeek, which also do a great job of keeping your charging cables and USB cables and such organized and not falling off the back of your desk.

The GigaOm article highlights some other great charging stations and stands for your iPhone or iPad, but some of the cable organization are the best, in my book. Head on over to see all of them!

[ GigaOm :: 11 Gadgets to Organize Your Workspace ]

Over at Mashable there’s an excellent walkthrough of Boeing’s newest and hottest passenger aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, and all of its gorgeous interior features that are designed to make passenger air travel more comfortable, less tiring, and more fun than it’s ever been. Make no mistake, the aircraft is utterly gorgeous and I have no doubt in my mind that the aircraft itself is wonderfully built with comfort and smart design in mind with smart design choices from the lighting to the windows–all points that are outlined in the article–but I have my doubts that even the Dreamliner will be able to make flying fun again.

Before we get into why, here’s some more info about the jet. For starters, there’s some great news about the cabin air; something that’s a number one complaint for a lot of flyers:

The 787′s lighter, composite fuselage design means the plane’s pressurization can be changed with no concerns about weight impact.

From a practical point, the 787′s lower pressure cabin should mean a more pleasant flying environment and around 8% more oxygen absorption. This is good news for anyone who suffers from headaches, dizziness, nausea and fatigue when flying.

In addition, the air in a 787 is “cleaner” than other commercial planes. Fresh air comes from “air scoops,” rather than via the engines. In addition to HEPA filtration, the 787 also employs a gaseous filtration system, reducing irritants even further.

Now that’s something I’m thrilled with. It’s never any fun being stuck in an airplane breathing stale, highly pressurized air that you know is being circulated through everyone else’s nostrils and that smells vaguely like jet fuel. The 787 Dreamliner’s vaulted ceilings and bigger windows don’t hurt things at all – they all make the jet more fun to be on and more open and comfortable once you’re on board.

That is, provided that airlines and government officials are willing to let the jet stay that way, and to smooth over the passenger’s experience getting to their flight. As it stands right now, the biggest problem with air travel is the fact that it’s so painful to get into the airport, through security, and to your flight that people just don’t want to do it anymore. If you do it regularly for business or out of necessity you quickly grow an immunity to it, but that doesn’t make it much easier. The rigor and fear surrounding the security theater of TSA checkpoints in the United States at least still makes for an incredibly unpleasant pre-flight experience, one that airlines and airports do little to alleviate once you’re through security and on your way to your gate or terminal.

Then, to make matters worse, the airlines will surely take all of the wonderful technological improvements in the Dreamliner and scrap them all in favor of packing in as many passengers as humanly possible with little to no regard for the design and comfort that Boeing engineers put into their work. The beautiful seating arrangements and wide on-deck desks that you see in the concept art at Mashable will likely be replaced with rows upon rows upon rows of seats that airlines can shamelessly overbook and pack people into so tightly that the only admiration they’ll have for the vaulted ceiling is when they look up to see it – mostly because they’ll have passengers less than 6 inches to their sides, a headrest immediately behind them, and the next passenger’s seat a few feet from their face.

Still, I can only hope that some of the improvements that Boeing has made to the Dreamliner make their way into the commercial versions of the jets. There’s a big difference between the concept jets and the first-flight jets that are carefully built to showcase the technology and design of the manufacturer and the final commercial products ordered (and heavily tweaked) by airlines. The question isn’t really whether the Dreamliner can make flying fun again, but whether the airlines will allow it to do so.

[ Mashable :: Boeing 787 Dreamliner: Can a High-Tech Jet Make Flying Enjoyable Again? ]

If you have tender eyes or ears or are easily offended, scroll on by now. I would sincerely hope you don’t though, otherwise you might miss one of the most ingenious and entertaining USB flash drives to hit the market in recent years. After all, the Duet is an 8GB flash drive, but it’s also something very very different: a vibrating…personal health appliance designed to help ladies relax, if you catch my drift.

No?

Okay, it’s a flash drive plus vibrator. Yes, it’s a sex toy on one end and stores your most personal data on the other. Talk about a very very personal accessory. Here’s what Unplggd had to say on the matter, along with the specs on the Duet:

Here’s the specs on the Crave Duet:

• Phthalate-free & body-safe silicone
• USB rechargeable
• Completely waterproof
• Virtually silent
• 4 vibration modes & 5 power levels

• Up to 4 hours of continuous use

• Genuine leather pouch included

• 4.55” x 1.08” x 0.48” (11.6 x 2.7 x 1.23 cm)

There’s even the option for 8GB flash storage (perhaps to store appropriate media to help along related activities?) and a couple other luxe gold detail finishing, if you’re into a more fanciful finish to your lil’ friend. As one friend put it upon seeing these, “they’d make awesome bachelorette party favors!”

The Duet is another one of those products that’s looking for interest and people who are interested in putting their money into the project before they actually go forth and start mass producing.

[ CKIE :: Duet ]

I bookmarked this a while ago partially in order to make it easier to come back to when I wanted something to decorate the walls of my new place, but also because I wanted to be able to share these beautifully geeky posters. If you want your houseguests to know you’re an Android fan, or that you’ve been using a Mac since the Classic days, or that you’re an old school gamer, these posters are for you, and most of them are easily available as prints and copies that are pretty enough for frames and definitely attractive enough to earn a spot on your walls.

The ones above are some of those old school video game posters, but I’m also just as much a fan of the Fail Whale, the Google Doodles, and just about any of The Oatmeal’s prints.

[ Mashable :: 20+ Great Geeky Posters For Your Office ]

It would be enough if this beautiful Steampunk watch over at Instructables just kept time, but it also has the mechanical retracting iris that makes this watch a piece of art. The YouTube video of it in action is below, but it’s safe to say the thing is absolutely gorgeous.

Best of all, since it’s Instructables, you get to see how the thing is made, from start to finish.

[ Instructables :: Steampunk Wristwatch With Mechanical Iris Cover ]

I love Android, I really do – and I especially love how imminently customizable and tweakable it is, regardless of how sometimes carriers and Google itself will try to arrest some of that tweaking and hacking. Still, it’s probably the most open mobile OS out there, and clearly the one that most people are experimenting and toying with.

And above, one group of researchers have come up with a 32-inch multi-touch display running Android. The results are astounding to see. I kind of wish I could get one of these for my wall, frankly.

[ Make Magazine :: Large 32-inch Multi-touch Display Running Android ]

It would be enough if this beautiful Steampunk watch over at Instructables just kept time, but it also has the mechanical retracting iris that makes this watch a piece of art. The YouTube video of it in action is below, but it’s safe to say the thing is absolutely gorgeous.

Best of all, since it’s Instructables, you get to see how the thing is made, from start to finish.

[ Instructables :: Steampunk Wristwatch With Mechanical Iris Cover ]

One of my colleagues, Matthew Rogers, at Lifehacker found something so delicious today that I had to share with the world: namely proof positive that what a number of gamers have been saying for years is absolutely true: you can be more productive with a gaming mouse! The more buttons, the better – especially if they’re programmable and can be used for more applications than just your video games.

After all, people learn keyboard shortcuts for a reason, and programming your extra mouse buttons to match up with commonly executed commands when you have your hand on a mouse can save you tons of time and energy. Matt says:

Gaming mice aren’t just for gaming, they can be put to use outside the battle zone, too. A gaming mouse usually has better tracking (makes smoother cursor movement) and several customizable buttons, so why not take all that and apply it to regular computer work?

My sentiments exactly. That’s why I tend to rock multi-button mice at work and at play. It doesn’t hurt that I like the way they feel better than standard office mice, too. I just chalked it up to being a gamer through and through, but maybe there’s something more to it.

[ Lifehacker :: Use a Gaming Mouse to Be More Productive While Working ]