Cafenity Inc. offers sweet treats and more

If you find yourself in the Topa Financial Center on the corner of Bishop and Queen streets with just a few dollars in your pocket but a big craving for a little something sweet, check out the Cream Puffs with Chocolate Sauce ($2.75) at Cafenity Inc. After indulging in three mini cream puffs topped with chocolate galore and fresh fruit on the side, I was about $3 lighter and not too many calories heavier. I plan to return to check out the other enticing options — the soup did look good! Most delightful of all is the pleasure of patronizing a business venture that is barely a few weeks old. Good luck, Cafenity Inc. Call 489-5879. — Wylma C.S. Robinson, Honolulu

Scanner eases the pain of tax time

True story: I’m doing my income taxes. While sorting through a pile of receipts I’d been hoarding in a shoebox over the past year to justify those precious (and entirely legitimate) deductions, I was horrified to discover that many of the scraps of paper had faded beyond legibility. Problem solved with NeatDesk, a compact desktop scanner and digital filing system. The device makes it easy to scan receipts, business cards and documents in one batch as you acquire them, capturing and organizing key information such as names and dates on your PC or Mac. NeatDesk can also keep track of expenses for tax time and export data to TurboTax. It’s not cheap — $379.99 on amazon.com with free shipping — but for small home businesses and people who find joy in accounting, it’s a pretty neat trick. — Christie Wilson

Indulge in fusion cuisine with apple-pie mochi

Hawaii is full of east-meets-west culinary expression. The latest one on my radar is Apples N’ Mochi from Hawaii Candy Inc. — mochi stuffed with gooey apple pie filling. It sells for $3.59 for a six-piece package at Marukai Marketplace ($3.39 for members) or $4.30 at www.hawaiicandy.com. One caution: The dessert tends to be a bit wet and may not last until the expiration date printed on the package without getting moldy. Eating them in time isn’t a problem for me, though. — Donica Kaneshiro

Book-filing goes digital with handy iPhone app

People who love printed books generally have piles of them, and it’s hard to keep track. Hardly any of us are trained librarians — which brings us to iBookshelf. This is an iPhone app that keeps track for you. It enters the data using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) barcode, generally found on the back cover. It scans the barcode, and automatically searches online databases for book information. Then you can keep track by title or author or subject, whatever you choose. It’s ridiculously simple and elegant, and costs only $1.99, but you can try out a "lite" version for free.

Arranging your piles of books, well, that’s up to you. — Burl Burlingame

Get high off laughter with ‘Marijuanaman’

" … it’s about all things hemp."

With Ziggy Marley playing a couple of concerts this weekend in Hawaii, now’s a good time to mention one of his recent projects, namely the oversized hardcover comic book "Marijuanaman" (Image Comics, $24.99). Marley created the titular character with the help of writer Joe Casey and, a personal favorite of mine, illustrator Jim Mahfood. The story follows Sedona, an alien who comes to Earth in search of a key to his home planet’s survival. Through some secondhand "herbal inspiration," he becomes a superhero because his building blocks of life are based on THC (the primary intoxicant in marijuana), not DNA. The comic book is not wrapped in a smoky haze, although an end page lists all the benefits of hemp and marijuana. Bolstered by Casey’s story and Mahfood’s urban-cartoon-grit panels, it’s a fun ride as Marijuanaman does battle with Cash Money and the evil forces of Pharma-Con. As the sage Wiggy says, "May his existence enrich each and every one of us." Jah! — Gary Chun