Gift source offers gadgets with a softer side

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Shawn Fanning and even the Lone Gunmen from “The X-Files” are poster boys for the tech world. But in such a testosterone-dominated field, those with the second X chromosome are often left out of the mix.

Chagrined that technology magazines and websites generally ignore their female audiences, and that women’s magazines are usually light on gadgetry news and information, Mia Kim, a New York-based computer consultant, launched the website Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women (www.popgadget.net) in May.

Bringing together the style of dailycandy.com and the sensibility of Wired magazine, popgadget.net provides short reviews on new technology from around the world as well as news bits on health, culture and “general neophilia.”

The site features such no-battery-required gadgets as OneDerWear’s 100% cotton, 100% biodegradable, disposable underwear, which targets travelers who’d rather toss than wash their undergarments. Another entry reveals what Mom and Dad did with your old collection of Howard Jones and Depeche Mode remix LPs: Plastica sells them as Recycled Record Cuff bracelets.

Scroll down farther to find other products that probably won’t make the pages of PC World.

The Purse Pal is a small light that clips to the inside a purse (or “murse” for the men out there); press the button to illuminate the bag’s black hole.

But technology with a twist is popgadget.net’s forte.

To enhance the love lives of online daters, the Telesquishy (a translucent blob of rubber sili- con that responds to touch) is hooked up to your computer and your friend’s. According to popgadget.net, “... squishing activities come over the Internet to light up the device. A blue glow means that the partnering squishy is not being squished. The red glow means that the partnering squishy is currently being squeezed.”

Gives a whole new meaning to that old Ma Bell jingle “reach out and touch someone.”