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Who doesn’t love their iPod? It’s really cool walking around with your headphones on, but sometimes you want to share your music - and giving your friend one earbud makes the music get lost in all the traffic. So, what to do?
You could buy the X-mini Capsule Speaker. It boasts rich deep bass in a speaker no bigger than a hens egg, which sounds pretty damn good. It
s rechargeable by USB, which can be a hinder if you go away for a longer time, but it runs for up to 8 hours when fully charged, which should be enough for anyone (and anyway, you could get one of those USB chargers you just plug into an outlet). It only weighs 52 grams, so you won’t even feel it if you pop it in your pocket.
The only thing is the price. Though it’s a cool gadget, I’m not sure it’s worth $24.99. You could buy a decent pair of speakers for that money and they’ll probably work better, but I can see a use for the X-Mini if you travel a lot. If I’m in my hotel room I won’t want to listen to music on the headphones.
I’m a woman, ok? We, by definition (or stereotype) always pack more than we need. While I consider myself a light packer and I’ve never tried to stuff all my wardrobe inside a suitcase, I do worry about the weight. What if filling up that bag with souvenirs will finally tip it over the limit? And I spent all my money on those souvenirs, how am I supposed to pay the fee?
It looks like I’m not the only one. Someone thought about a convenient solution. The Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale is a very easy to use scale, perfect for weighing your bags before you get to the dreaded check-in.
Unlike other such devices, it has a very smart feature enabling you to read the weight after putting it down, without struggling to hold it in the air enough to glance at the display. It weighs 11 oz and it is able to weigh up to 100 lbs/44 kg (and can display the weight in both systems).
Holiday season means everyone everywhere is selling Christmas themed merchandise. Which is not bad in itself, since you can usually find pretty cool things among all the junk.
I’m not quite sure where the USB Fiber Optic Christmas Tree fits in. It’s does exactly what the name says: you plug it into your USB port and the fiber optics make pretty colors (or just put in two AAA batteries). It’s 31 cm tall and weighs 170g. not too big and not too small, either.
It could make a nice office decoration if you’re a cubicle monkey and aren’t allowed more, but it looks pretty tacky to me. I wouldn’t use it at home, there’s better Christmas tree gadgets out there.
However, if you want to light up your office a bit, now is the best time to buy - this tree is on sale.
What would the freak offspring of a Magic 8-ball and a fortune cookie be? No one has mastered the technology to breed inanimate objects, but it would probably look something like this.
The Smart Cookie Fortune Ball basically works like an 8-ball, only the answers are in the fortune cookie wisdom (or wiseass?) style. There are 21 messages in total, and they include stuff like:
Future sticky like rice
You don’t wonton know
Answer sweet and sour
Don’t mock the cookie
Try the eggroll
Cookie busy - try later
Not recommended for deciding in which company to invest, but definitely fun when bored. And, who knows, maybe some ancient Chinese wisdom really did leak into each of these orange toys…
This one’s for the ladies (and those guys who aren’t afraid of hanging a fluffy toy monster on their cell$ phone).
The Moshi Monster Mopods live in a clear plastic case and, beside being a mobile accesory that looks cute, they also alert you of incoming calls and text messages. Now you can put your cell phone on silent during movies or conferences and you won’t miss a call - your Moshi will spin and spin and make sure you notice it. See one in action:
You can choose from 6 models, each with its own name, looks and personality: Diavlo, Furi, Katsuma, Luvli, Poppet and Zommer.
Talk about saving trees! This holiday season, why buy a real tree (or even an artificial one), when you can have an… er, tree made out of a motheboard?
Cunningly named Motherboard Christmas Tree, it stands 5 inches tall and it’s made out of motheboard pieces with flashing LED lights for ornaments.
Although I’m not so sure it’s worth 10 bucks, it is awfully cute. What better way to give your desk a Christmas spirit, while at the same time keeping it techy?
Ah, chemistry class… Getting quizzed on all those elements with weird names… Why didn’t they have these back when I was in school?
The Periodic Table Socks are both geeky and useful, and they actually look good! While they’re not that cheap at $9.99, they can make a nice unique gift for your chemistry nerd brother (or, why not, sister). They’re 75% acrylic and 25% stretch nylon, in case you were wondering.
Ah, another book for those parents who want to make their kids cringe everytime the teacher calls out their name in class… I hope no one actually takes this seriously, but I know I’m hoping in vain. The stars are giving their kids weird names, now why wouldn’t we? (Because it’s stupid, that’s why, but hey, it’s your kid you’re scarring for life.)
Anyway, this is the culprit: Sci-Fi Baby Names, the book. Luckily, it offers a wide range of names (over 500), some of which are actually normal, like James (as in James T. Kirk of the Enterprise). Of course, you could also choose to name your daughter (or even worse, your son) Barbarella.
Useful or not? Perhaps. At least as a fun present for a geek on the ‘your freedom ends now’ party.
This is an oldie but goldie. I had one and I loved it… Well, until I boiled it about an hour too much (trust me, getting melted plastic and chemical substances out of a kettle is NOT fun).
This Heart Hand Warmer is a very cheap and effective toy. Through some chemical process I don’t understand, pressing a metal disc inside the heart makes the gel inside it turn into a solid, at the same time releasing heat (it’s exothermic crystallization, in case you’re curious). It remains hot for about 30 - 45 minutes and it’s absolutely great in winter (or any season, if you’re me and have cold hands for half the year). You just boil it afterwards and you can use it again and again (also, don’t worry, it won’t get damaged from the hot water - unless you leave it until it evaporates. Don’t microvawe).
It makes a great cheap present for Christmas :) Your girlfriend will love two of these to stick into her pockets.
Check out this video for a demonstration (you won’t feel the heat, however):
What’s the last time you tripped over that pesky cable from your cell phone charger? And in the process knocked your cell to the floor and had the battery pop out? Ok, mine has a proper case and I’ve never had a battery incident, but I can’t count the scratches… I keep it on my night stand and, well, I don’t exactly look where I’m going. Cable, feet, bam! phone on the floor.
The Cell Phone Holder (hopefully) means the end of this. It’s amazingly simple: a specially-shaped piece of plastic which hangs between the outlet and the charger. You just put your phone (or iPod, or PDA, or whatever else needs charging) on it and you’re good to go. It measures 4½” high x 4″wide x 3″ deep.
I can see only one problem: what if the outlet you use isn’t on the wall? It becomes pretty useless if you’re using a multiplug… So don’t forget to think about location before buying it.
Who doesn’t love their iPod? It’s really cool walking around with your headphones on, but sometimes you want to share your music - and giving your friend one earbud makes the music get lost in all the traffic. So, what to do?
I’m a woman, ok? We, by definition (or stereotype) always pack more than we need. While I consider myself a light packer and I’ve never tried to stuff all my wardrobe inside a suitcase, I do worry about the weight. What if filling up that bag with souvenirs will finally tip it over the limit? And I spent all my money on those souvenirs, how am I supposed to pay the fee?
Holiday season means everyone everywhere is selling Christmas themed merchandise. Which is not bad in itself, since you can usually find pretty cool things among all the junk.
What would the freak offspring of a Magic 8-ball and a fortune cookie be? No one has mastered the technology to breed inanimate objects, but it would probably look something like this.
This one’s for the ladies (and those guys who aren’t afraid of hanging a fluffy toy monster on their cell$ phone).
Talk about saving trees! This holiday season, why buy a real tree (or even an artificial one), when you can have an… er, tree made out of a motheboard?
Ah, chemistry class… Getting quizzed on all those elements with weird names… Why didn’t they have these back when I was in school?
