paper shredder
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Black & Decker's iShred vertical paper shredder (hands-on)
We don't typically take an interest in the thrilling world of paper shredding, but when you bring out a product with a snowy white glossy sheen and a bodacious industrial design, even our cold hearts are warmed enough to ask a few questions. Black & Decker, traditionally a power tool maker and seller, has recently introduced the iShred (yes, we gave them grief for the cringe-inducing name) vertical shredder, which they claim is just about the world's safest since there's no way to get your fingers anywhere near the cutting blades. The big appeal for buyers will be that rather attractive design, however, which does offer some added functionality -- the "fluted" shape of the lower half of this shredder helps disposal by funneling the loose streams of paper into a narrow outlet (when flipped upside down, of course). The price is $99.99 at places like Amazon and Fry's, who are already retailing the iShred. If you care for actual specs, you can cross-cut your way through six sheets of paper at a time and you'll have to empty out the collector once it's accumulated about 100 pages' worth of pulp. Check out our brave attempts to cut our fingers in the name of scientific testing after the break. %Gallery-112584%
Aihou's portable paper shredder
If you've ever needed any super sensitive documents destroyed, everything is fine and dandy if you're two cubicles down from the office shredder, but things get a bit trickier when on the go. Japanese company Aihou has developed a not-so-complicated approach to shredding documents while out and about -- by connecting 9 pairs of scissor blades to a blaze orange handle, you get a very awkward cutting device that makes dicing up that paperwork quite painless. We've seen miniaturized paper shredders before, but this contraption requires no electricity to make mince meat out of whatever letter, receipt, or list of vault combinations you may have laying around. Unfortunately, it appears that there are no plans for various colored handles, and the only other (legal) use for these would be to give a mean haircut reminiscent of an 80s fashion experiment gone awry. If you've found your way into a double-agent career path and just have to have a handheld way to eliminate that telling paper trail, you can jet on over to Japan and pick these up right now for ¥1,980 (about $17), but you might not be so lucky trying to convince the extra-cautious security guards that you're just wielding a portable office supply on your return.[Via Road Gladiator]
