When Ellen DeGeneres took that epic Oscar selfie that "broke microblogging websites", she lamented the fact that Bradley Cooper didn't have a longer arm, probably because that would have prevented Jared Leto from getting cut out of the famous picture.

Fast-forward a few months and the answer to Ellen's problem has emerged in the form of the selfie stick. The gadget — which is also known as the monopod or extended selfie arm — is a metal wand with a clip at the end to hold a cellphone or digital camera. All one has to do is secure the phone at the end of the wand, compose the picture, set the timer and you're selfie-set!

The selfie stick is currently all the rage in the Far East and South East Asia, where locals use them to take extreme selfies. A trio of Hong Kong residents used one to take a selfie from the top of a 1,135 feet-high building in the city. And in June, travel blogger Lee Thompson climbed to the top of the Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro and used his monopod to take an epic selfie.

The perks of using a selfie stick

-You can take selfies of large groups of people without cutting anyone out of the frame. This way, you don't waste time trying to get that perfect selfie. -You don't need to ask strangers around you to take pictures of you and your friends. -You can plan exactly how you want to take your pictures and make them as wacky, innovative or flattering as you want them to be.

BDST: 1849 HRS, Aug-31, 2014