The ideas in the gallery use the memory key shown in the photo. It's a USB flash-memory storage device for documents, photos, i-tunes, movies, and archives. It's powered by the computer's USB port, lights up when it's busy, needs no installation, and uses no batteries. It measures just 32mm x 13mm x 4mm.

Memory Keys can be used as the basis for your own designs: products which you could sell. Or you can customize them as promotional rewards or give-aways. Or they can carry your latest business ideas to your customers as a brochure, a movie, or a self-starting presentation.

There are several ways you can customize the module: print on it, fix something to it, or fit it into a larger shape. To fix something to the module, we usually use Superglue. To fix the module inside another shape, we usually use UniBond Extreme Power Glue.

There are a several design considerations. The USB ports on some computers are quite close together, so a bulky design might need an extension lead. Some ports are poorly engineered and the module will need a firm pull to get it out, so the design mustn't come apart. The module lights up when it's busy, so the design needs to include or exclude this feature.

Although USB is an international standard, the position, number, alignment, and arrangement of ports is not. Depending on your computer's configuration, and the cables, hubs, and devices you've plugged in, it might be more convenient to use an extension lead. You choose.

The module has a bright steel case which contains a circuit layer, a formatted flash memory chip, a USB 2.0 interface, and a tiny blue light, visible from the end and the top.

It measures 32mm x 13mm x 4mm, which probably makes it one of the smallest: it's so small, it's actually smaller than most normal USB A plugs. It can be used with an extension cable, up to 5.0 metres long, or a multi-port USB hub.

It doesn't need installing or configuring, and takes power from the computer's USB port so doesn't need a battery or a mains adapter. It uses so little power that it doesn't even get warm when it's permanently connected.

The built-in USB 2.0 interface allows a maximum data-transfer rate of 480 Mb/s: 480 million bits a second. Like all USB 2.0 devices, it also works with USB 1.1 sockets.

USB is supported by Windows ME, 2000, XP, Vista, MAC 9.0 and higher, and Linux 2.4 and higher. USB flash memory devices can also improve the general performance of Windows Vista: a feature called ReadyBoost allows Vista to use the flash memory as extra system RAM.

Normally, your computer has a main disk drive where everything is kept: the system probably calls it C drive. If you have a DVD player, the computer refers to it, using the next available letter, as D drive.

Whenever you plug the memory key in, the computer recognises it and adds it to its list of drives, giving it a temporary drive letter, for example E, F, or G, depending on how many other storage devices are in use.

You can write to it by saving your files and read from it by opening your files, in the usual way. When you've finished working, just unplug it: the computer knows it's gone, but doesn't interfere with anything else you're doing.

The text on this page needs about 12KB, a typical full-screen jpg photo about 100KB, and an mp3 track about 4MB. So a 1GB memory key can store over 80 000 similar pages, or 9 600 photos, or 240 tracks: approximately.

If you want to use it as a temporary, backup, or archive storage device, you can leave it plugged in all the time, as it uses very little current.

Sometimes, manufacturers include free applications such as FlashMail, Mobile Lock, or SecretZip on the memory key. If you look in Windows Explorer or My Computer, you can find them, open the folder, and experiment. However, don't install anything you don't want: just delete them?