The Passenger picks the best at CES

Mind-numbing at any angle

E.S.P. Electronics (http://www.360tv.com/) has one of the smallest booths at CES, with just one prototype of one product to show off: the 360-Degree Television. A rounded black podium topped by a circular glass window with a floating "screen" inside, the 360 TV is as good as its name: No matter where you stand, the "screen" faces you directly. The prototype was showing "You Only Live Twice." I entertained myself for a solid five minutes orbiting the unit, watching Sean Connery's slick mug follow me around. Sole drawback: the prototype had an irritating "flicker" effect, which made the picture look like a hand-cranked silent film. Once that's fixed, the applications that await the 360 TV are endless - a TV you can run around, without missing a beat of the action.

Shopping days remaining

Tick, tick, tick. Data Display Systems' 2000-Series Millennium Countdown Clocks (http://www.millenniumclocksplus.com/) may not be the best thing for your nerves (Better fix that code now!) but man alive, do they ever look cool sitting on your desk or hanging over whatever wicked little millennial promotion you've cooked up. DDS intends these little beauties as marketing premiums - perhaps a gift for opening a Y2K-compliant bank account, or test-driving a snazzy new Subaru. Keychain and refrigerator magnet versions of the clock are available, to provide an encompassing sense of mortality to your customers. If I could surround myself with these potent little timepieces, I would.

Deeply moving cinema

Yet another reason to sell your house, cash in your 401-K and live in your car. Panasonic's CX-DV1500 Mobile DVD Player (http://www.panasonic.com/), in conjunction with their CY-AC300 Digital Sound Processor and CY-VM1500 Color LCD monitor, puts a killer home theater array in your SUV. High-definition picture! DTS sound! But wait - the picture automatically turns off once you put the car into gear. Keep your eyes on the road, friend.

The big, big picture

I've lost track of all the times I've asked Bryan the General Manager to make the Vegas.com office environment a bit more like Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" - Lowry! Anyone seen Sam Lowry? - minus the compulsory lobotomies, of course. Today, I can point him an actual case of life imitating fiction. Bausch & Lomb's PC Magni-Viewer (http://www.bauschvision.com/ welcome2.htm) reduces eyestrain by mounting a giant magnifying glass in front of your monitor - just like in Information Retrieval, baby! Text becomes 175% larger, and a 15-inch monitor becomes "a virtual 40-inch monitor." Next step for the Vegas.com offices - pneumatic tubes!

Geoff Carter's weekly pop culture column, The Passenger (http://www.vegaslounge.com/passenger) keeps him out of our hair - for the most part.

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