I’m a guy. I don’t like greeting cards. But if you have lady parts and/or you really like greeting cards, here’s a way to send someone a special message while helping the environment. ReProduct cards come with a 2-way envelope. You open the card, enjoy it, and then send it back to ReProduct. Then, and I quote, “Shaw Industries then uses 100% of the cards and envelopes to create carpet backing in new carpet tiles.” That’s right. Somewhere, someone could be stepping on your “Sorry I cheated on you with your sister” card. A set of 24 costs $35. The return postage to Shaw Industries is pre-paid, so you won’t have to worry about slapping a stamp on it. Product Page → Read More
ahem) you can send it back without regret. Product Page → Read More
Yeah, I don’t know what to make of this either, but if you’re into the pork and love the smoke, head on over to Senor Puerco Pantalones’ website and feast your eyes on Bacon Lunch Boxes, Bacon Air Fresheners, and the Patron Saint of Bacon. Bacon Lovers Gift Guide [MrBaconPants] → Read More
. Peter has one as well, and he’s just as nuts for his. I’ve said before “screw the iPhone”, and I mean it: it’s not there yet. But the Ocean is. It has all the phone features of the iPhone, but does them all better. Google maps, just like the iPhone, but with GPS. Do you know how handy that is? A great weather app via Accuweather, a decent built-in Web browser, and a few things the iPhone doesn’t have, like an Office doc reader and Exchange sync. YouTube is represented, and a neat tool you won’t find on the iPhone: a built-in MySpace app. Not for everyone, but for most of you. Oh, and the 2-Megapixel camera on the Ocean has a flash and takes video, with direct uploads to Flickr or YouTube. That is awesome. Besides what’s inside, the Ocean’s design is great. A responsive dual-sliding mechanism that gives you T9 for dialing and QWERTY for text and email and everything else. What’s more, the unlimited pretty-much-everything plans are highly competitive, with the $99 plan featuring unlimited minutes. So there you have it, readers: as a guy who could have any cellphone from any provider in the USA, my piece is the Ocean from Helio, and I’ve never thought twice about it. → Read More
Or, at least, an adult approximation. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are from birthday parties at places like this – if not Chuck E Cheese then Funtasia, Funplex, or later Gameworks. Nothing to do but cruise around, waste money on games, drink Dr. Pepper, and listen to terrible music. Of course, in my private Chuck E Cheese, things would be a little different. → Read More
The promise of the Kodak’s EasyShare V1253 is immense. As the world’s first compact cam with a video capture function that can pull high-def (that’s 720p, and no I’m not counting those Sanyo products), this could represent a rare case of digital convergence that carves out an entirely new niche. Read more… → Read More
As if you didn’t see this one coming, folks. For the holidays I’m recommending the Xbox 360 Elite and the HD DVD player add-on. The Xbox 360 is hands down the best on the market. The titles are all there and a 120GB drive ensures you’ll have plenty of room for extra content. The matte black finish alone is worth the extra dough. And the PS3 stinks! Well, not really, but I have an Elite so that’s why I’m recommending it. The HD DVD player is just an added bonus for those of you who have an HDTV and may already own an Xbox. Setup is easy and the extras on HD DVD discs are pretty neat to play around with. You’re already on Live, which means you’re connected to the Web so it only makes sense that you’ll be accessing the extras. I only watch Transformers anyway. Megan Fox is HAWT in HD. Xbox → Read More
<img SRC="http://old.crunchgear.com/wp-content/pbucket/Festivus, CES, and MacWorld. This is a dead period and tech is trying desperately to pull out all its clinkers just to get a little ink before checks and bonuses are cut at the end of the year. I've been getting email after email describing red-hot new devices from iPod docks to iPod cases to iPod stickers to things you put on your iPod to make the iPod look bigger, kind of like an iPod banana hammock. Add in the printers, monitors, and janky PCs and you've got one full inbox and an angry writer. I can only imagine what the TC crew are getting right now ("Goatcards.org – Greeting Cards Featuring Social Networking Goats!" and "Exclusive: RED HOT SOCIAL NETWORKING PRINTER SYSTEM LETS YOU PRINT WHAT YOUR FRIENDS PRINT" are two possibles), but I'm sure it's the same. So for Christmas, PR people, here's what I want. → Read More
At the risk of losing some geek cred, I’ll tell you that I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, I’ve never finished a full (or even a half) game of Risk, and I’ve never been to any Sci-Fi conventions. As a child growing up on the mean streets of the suburbs of Minneapolis, I led a life devoid of the nerdly wonders that I’ve come to love in the last decade. Nerdly wonders like The Settlers of Catan, one of the greatest board games in the history of the genre. It’s simple, addictive, and it’s never the same game twice. You could put a jock, a dweeb, a valley girl, and a punk rawker around a table and they’d play for hours on end. A solid five-star rating with almost 200 reviews on Amazon.com can’t be wrong. It’s that good. The Settlers of Catan Board Game [Amazon.com] → Read More
Get the hell outta here, Rambo’s coming back?!! I need to pay more attention to stuff like this. I haven’t been inside a movie theater in a while so I would have missed this preview but I just caught the commercial on TV. While you’re waiting for January 25th, why not warm up with the trilogy for a ridiculously affordable $13.99? Video for Rambo [IMDB] → Read More
From the excellent MAKE blog comes a little catalogue for the craftier among us. I personally can find my way about the guts of a computer pretty well, but the thought of soldering something onto a PCB fills me with anxiety. Fortunately, many of these little DIY projects were set up with people like me in mind, and even serve as a sort of primer in the world of makin’. Two cool little stocking stuffers that caught my eye were the TV-B-Gone, which apparently shuts down all TVs with a line-of-sight within 100 ft or so, and the MintyBoost, a little USB charger in an Altoids can that can power up your USB-charged devices. Both cost just under $20, but there are cheaper and more expensive options here. Somehow, though, I don’t think your mom would find a use for a 3D printer/fabricator even if you did make it myself. And here’s a secret she told me: Your macaroni art from last year? Eaten. Open Source Hardware Gift Guide → Read More
If you gots the iFone and you don’t likes the white earbudses, get you some V-MODA DUO’s. These in-ear earbuds are amazing: they fit the iPhone perfectly, they have a usable click button for pausing music and picking-up calls, and they look much cooler than the standard Apple buds. $89.99 online. → Read More
The Touch by HTC, which will be offered by Sprint on November 4, is hands down one of the best devices I’ve used in the past two years. That says a lot considering the number of devices that roll through the CrunchGear offices. But to each his own, I say. The Touch has been an integral part of my stay in the Bay Area and has saved me on more than one occasion. When I first saw the GSM version of the Touch months ago, I wasn’t that impressed. I usually snub any device that runs Windows Mobile and I thought TouchFLO was just a gimmick, but I can admit when I’m wrong. I like the Touch and I don’t want to send it back! We’ll gloss over the specs and then move onto HTC’s unique UI that is better than the other phone with a touchscreen interface, which shall remain nameless in case there are fanboys or haters that feel like spouting off. These are two entirely different devices aimed at different groups. Read the rest here… → Read More
. The iPhone, design and interface aside, is a crappy cellphone. No, it is. When I first got mine, I said, “If they can find a way to take out the phone part, I’d be in love.” They did that, and so dubbed it the iPod Touch. The great Web browsing, crisp video, YouTube, and nifty coverlowtastic iPod are all represented, and a little hacking gives you tons of new fun apps. Also, with Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch SDK coming in mere weeks, you know the iPod Touch is going to turn into a really interesting hardware platform. And at $400 for 16GB, it’s really quite affordable. And that’s what I have to say: the iPod Touch is easily worth a second look, and really can show up its big brother. iPod Touch on Crunchgear → Read More
The Beginning I know there are tons of tee shirt printing sites out there, but I like Threadless. It’s a tight knit community that lets you submit your designs and when those designs are picked up you’ll make a loot of cash. It’s nice a outlet that lets you stay indoors rather than standing on the sidewalk in the dead of winter trying to earn a few extra bucks. The designs are unique and high quality. You can’t just submit any shittay design, either. That’s the great thing about Threadless. I know where I’ll be directing to family and friends asking me what I want for Christmas. Threadless → Read More
This piece was originally published in October. We would have also recommended the Slide, but it’s broked. I have a thing for the iPhone, if you couldn’t tell. But before I drank the Kool-Aid, I was a Sidekick man. What does it mean to be a Sidekick man? It means you give up a lot to get great email and instant messaging services and few, if any, third-party applications and very little freedom. Huh. Kind of like the iPhone, except without the messaging. So when I got the LX last week, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. After all, I had already abandoned the SK3 and SK ID for the charming animations of the iPhone. So what if the iPhone didn’t have native AIM on the iPhone — there were a few apps that kind of worked. So what if the iPhone didn’t have a solid, real keyboard. I could handle that. So what if the iPhone wasn’t one of the best casual messaging phones on the market? It had some good points. Umm… It was covered in chrome? Read the rest… → Read More
We at CG like two things: touching ourselves and beer. Some of us like the latter more than the former, or vice versa, but as my friend Rolf once proved — after getting completely hammered, passing out on a couch at a party and later being discovered naked and pleasuring himself just as things were closing up — these two hobbies taste great together. To that end, we offer Mr. Beer. Mr. Beer is a beer-making kit for dummies. You buy the bucket and a can of beer flavoring, pour in some sugar and a special booster pack, add yeast, and wait. A few weeks later, you bottle the beer, add a little sugar, close up the bottles, and a week later you have 2 gallons of fresh, homemade beer that tastes 100% than almost any store bought variety. I love Mr. Beer and I made quite a few batches until I started to make wine. Now, however, I just picked up a new set of brews — the Cowboy IPA is really nice — and am totally ready to start up again. The best part? Once you get up to speed, you never have to leave your house for a beer run, allowing you to enjoy self-pleasure all the more. Ain’t telecommuting grand? Product Page → Read More
You’ve already picked up all the handbags, pashmina, and fancy scented candles you can carry and got dad some cologne. The sig. other and your mom both have presents in the queue and your snotty nephew gets a basketball. You got a raw food book for your weird co-worker and Black Friday came and went because you knew — you could feel it in your heart — that nothing Circuit City or Best Buy put on sale would satisfy your refined cravings. It’s time to shop for yourself and/or other geeks, and we’re here to help. Welcome to CG Holidays 2007. We’ll have gift guides, sure, but who the heck reads gift guides? Instead, we’ll write about stuff that gives us pleasure, be it a Sidekick LX or a nice coat. We’re not just limiting this to gadgets, either. We’ll be talking about cool stuff we use and love and think you might enjoy, as well. If you have any suggestions, send us an email to tips@crunchgear.com and we’ll add reader suggestions to the mix. The holidays are upon us and we’ve been good to everyone we like and love. Now it’s time for some payback. CG Holidays 2007 → Read More
What do I want for Christmas? Honestly, I’ve got pretty much everything I want as far as tech goes. I have a reliable computer (an iMac), a cellphone that works when I need it to (some Verizon P.O.S.) and a decent TV that I use to watch old “Seinfeld” reruns (a 26-inch Samsung LCD, which dominates my small room). I’m a simple boy. I don’t really need or want anything else tech-related. I download the movies I want to see so there’s no need for a Blu-ray or HD DVD player and the only game I play nowadays is WoW. I gave my Xbox 360 to my little brother and he enjoys playing Viva Pinata. Everyone’s happy. So yeah, I’m good for the most part. → Read More
