<img src="http://old.crunchgear.com/wp-content/pbucket/mad-libs combo, as you use a washable marker to tell everyone, "im in ur mom, borking your unborn retarded sister". OK, that's maybe a bit much, but I'm hardcore, jerks. And it's under $20, so with markers and shipping you can get a perfect gift for your perfect geek and a perfect price. Why don't we have some fun here? use the comments and tell us: I'd like to see what of mine you're -ing, and where. IM in UR BLANK [ThinkGeek] → Read More
It’s at zero bids, but it would make a great stocking stuffer for, well, nobody. It’s just interesting to know that these things still exist, or at least one of them. It’s an AOL 1.0 floppy disk, and it’s on eBay, and it’s going for just under a grand now. Or you could “buy it now” for $5k. You know, if you’re into that kind of thing. Maybe some others will want this, but me, I’ll take Kournikova’s AIM screen name, Santa. Ultra Rare – AOL 1.0 Disk – 3.5″ Mac Floppy Vintage [eBay] → Read More
Certified thumbs up. It’s been a fast year for me, but a year of learning. A move across the country, major life upheavals and all sorts of things in-between. What have I learned? Well, I’m just as jaded as ever. It takes more to impress me than should be reasonable and yet, once in awhile, products cross my path that make me do a comical double-take and sometimes find their way into that bin of stuff that I couldn’t possibly live without. Listed below in no sane order are the things that dotted my radar this year. → Read More
It’s official in my book: technology has become so cheap that it can’t help but be tacky. You may take this art deco scrolling LED ornament as an example of this. It has a matrix of LEDs around the outside and scrolls wishes of Xmas cheer to boost your Yuletide spirit. And get this: it’s called “Seasons Readings”. Get it!? If this isn’t an excuse for a “war on Xmas”, then I’m not sure what is. Season’s Readings [Product page, via Coolest Gadgets via Oh, Gizmo!] → Read More
Attention, ladies of Seattle: If you’re walking around wearing these, and I see you, we’re getting married right then and right there. Computer chip hair clips! [Etsy, via 7 Gadgets, via Shiny Shiny] → Read More
turned me onto the Maxtor OneTouch 4, and I must say it’s the most excellent external drive I’ve ever owned. Though there are drives with much higher capacities than mine’s 120GB, the OneTouch is great for mobile users as it uses USB bus power to work, no stupid power cables to schlep around. In a perfect world, everything would have bus power, it’s cheaper, and easier, to operate. It’s fast enough that I don’t suffer my applications chorking on data, and the thing is lightweight to the point I’m often unable to tell if I put it in my bag or not. And you can get them cheap: they go for about $100, though I’ve seen them on sale as cheap as $74. If you’re looking for truly portable storage, this is what you want. → Read More
<img src="http://old.crunchgear.com/wp-content/pbucket/20. Isn't that what they always say? Yeah, it irritates the feck out of me, too. I was in the market for a camera bag a little while back and I figured I'd just grab one of Crumpler's 'buckets' and drop it into my Barney Rustle Blanket. It was perfect, I didn't have to spend a whole lot of money on a fancy bag, but I was wrong. I failed to realize that when said bucket was dropped into said BRB, I wouldn't be able to put my laptop into it. It was now just a camera bag. *sigh* So I'm compelled to inform all of you not to make the same mistake that I made. I present to you the Brazillion Dollar Home from that wacky Aussie company, Crumpler. This is a beast of a bag and I wish I would have thought to get this one earlier, but that's where the whole hindsight is 20/20 comes in. The BDH can house a 17-inch notebook and two DSLRs with up to three speed lights, multiple lenses and even a tripod. So jealous. It's a big boy and really only applies for photogs, but maybe you need a ginormous bag for other stuff. Be creative. Grab one now for $280. Product Page → Read More
Come back with me to a simpler time. It was twenty years ago, I was about 12, and the coolest stuff I owned was a huge set of G.I. Joe figures and, as I recall, an NES. I was late to the video game party mostly because I used my Atari 800XL a lot at the time and I recall getting the Bridgelayer vehicle and, that year, a few NES games. I could spend hours setting up my guys in battle formation and blowing into my NES cartridges. Those were holidays when I rarely got out of my pajamas — I’d wake up early, hit some Super Mario Brothers, watch TV, play with G.I. Joe, rinse, repeat. That, my friends, was living. Nothing to date has given me as much joy as those toys. Those were formative, slothful years and, as a new father, I’ll be curious to see how my son will recreate them in his own time. But nothing has made me as excited about play and technology as Snake Eyes and Mario, the real and the digital. Where am I going with this? I’m going to take you on a tour of items that gave me a glimmer of that same feeling this year and what I would recommend if you, like me, miss simpler times. → Read More
Dual action for your pleasure. For those old enough to even know the brand ACE, well, they’re back. For the rest of you, listen up. This ageless plastic comb company has now come out with a line of men’s grooming products that won’t make you feel like Queen Depilitia of the Hairless Ones. I got to play with the tweezers, nail care kit, and excellent dual-action hair trimmer and I’m happy to report that this gear will go great in your overnight bag and will not scare you out of caring for your appearance. → Read More
If you’re a home theater nerd, as I am, then you probably have more remote controls than limbs. With an HDTV, DVD player, surround sound system, cable box, and other components, it’s easy to let remote build-up happen. Sure, there are universal remotes, but for the most part they just consolidate everything into one unit, you still have to tell it every single command. That’s why I’m a fan of Logitech’s Harmony 520 remote. The remote goes beyond most universal remotes by actually being programmable, and not just in the device sense as most are. The Harmony line lets you assign devices to certain activities, such as “Watch TV”. Using a really intuitive Web-based interface, you tell the system what components your home theater has, how they interact with each other, and which ones are used with each activity. The server then makes a custom “layout” for your remote, based on what you input, and is programmed into the remote via an included USB cable. No, really. → Read More
. From what I’ve gleaned about Fortis on the Web, they’re big with the aeronautic community so if you’re one of them then maybe this will tickle your fancy. It retails for $1,800 at the Cockpit store here in NYC, but I’m told it’ll be available online shortly. Cockpit → Read More
some awesome stuff, of course. First of all, it’s time to lose that junky DVD player you bought at a garage sale in 2001. If you’re like me, you both A: have a ton of old videos, shows, and movies burned to DVDs, and B: don’t really feel like dropping the cash on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD right now, since all that’s available is Casino Royale and Extreme Dreidels. Good news: for $60 at Amazon you can pick up a Philips upconverting DVD player that will play all the anime you downloaded in college, and even upconvert it to 1080p. → Read More
How does one make the world’s smallest color ADF scanner sexy? Well, you really can’t so I’m not going to try, but I did get a look at the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 mobile scanner last week and it was pretty cool. It weighs about 3.1lbs and it may not be the tiniest device ever made, but it does a damn good job and makes scanning and storing files very easy. The ScanSnap’s ease of use reminded me of those late night infomercials for that rotisserie cooker where the motto was ‘set it and forget it’. Read the rest here. → Read More
I didn’t fully understand the strain that’s put on SD cards when they’re being used in a digital camera. I purchased a 2GB SD months ago and I was happy with it and still am, but I can never use it again in my DLSR. It simply cannot process the data fast enough and regurgitate it when I need it. I’m an impatient person and I like things to be done FAST. Of course, it’s not completely fair of me to berate it since it’s a lowly SD card and not meant to handle a DLSR, but that’s what I’m doing, so, tough. The SDHC line from Kingston is darn good and I couldn’t be happier with my 8GB. But you don’t have to take my word for it. It is an American Photo Editor’s Choice, but what do they know about photography. Heh. Product Page → Read More
on Sprint to try out. As it turns out, the Centro is far and away a better device than the Treo, and at $100, it is the absolute best first-timer smartphone that we can recommend. The Palm OS is still easy to use, there are literally thousands of apps out there that are easy to install, and the ones it comes with make up a great assortment of productivity and fun. But make no mistake, this is a real smartphone. All the goodness you love about the bigboy Treos are included, just in a smaller, though slightly harder-to-type form factor. That being said, this is still my vote for best smartphone of the year, and likely the models coming next year (if ever), will be as hot. → Read More
If there’s one thing I learned when I willingly put myself into the corporate rat race is that the amount of real estate you have on your desktop monitor is key to being productive. I shudder when thinking about doing work on a single 17-inch monitor. I cringe when I visit my roommate at her job and see she’s still using one. I first saw the multiple monitor setup when I was working at an architecture firm on Oahu a few summers ago. It made perfect sense since the CAD designers were doing huge projects. I’ve been without a monitor for months now and solely rely on my 13-inch MacBook, but it sucks. I’ve got a ton of stuff up and running and not enough real estate. So I was tickled pink when ViewSonic sent over a 22-inch widescreen LCD. My productivity in the last few weeks has gone through the roof. Everything is organized and I don’t have to hunch over the MB anymore. In case you need a refresher on the VX2240w then check here. Picture quality is crisp and clear. You can also see the difference the 4000:1 contrast ratio makes as well as the 2ms response time. I haven’t had a chance to do any gaming on it, but from the videos I’ve watched on it, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed. Get one, better yet, get two for yourself this holiday season. Product Page → Read More
The one and only, PVD. Don’t worry, the pic is relevent. What’s the most exciting part about the holidays? There aren’t any, unless you’re 7-years-old and get oodles of presents under a dangerously dry tree or metal pole or some other object. Like, who wants to go through the stress of talking to your relatives about what they want? The only smart way to do is to hand out cash to each and every one of your special guys and gals and let them buy whatever they want. Yes, it would be smarter to realize that exchanging money or gifts is a zero-sum affair, but the holidays are all about the spirit of giving, the spirit of going into mountains of credit card debt. So, given that cheery (yet logical!) introduction, what could I possibly recommend you spend your hard-earned dollars on this Christmastime? A few things, as a matter of fact. → Read More
