Christmas Gift Ideas

Shure E500PTH - The Ultimate Sound Isolating Earphones

While these may the most expensive earphones ever, except perhaps for those with gold plating and diamond studs, the Shure E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones are pretty much the earphones to drool over.

Sound quality is, no argument, the best in the market.

I normally hate ear bud style headphones, but the comfort of these can't be beat. They feel like nothing is there.

And one of the nicest features - push to hear. Most noise-isolating earphones do just that, isolate the outside noise so that all you hear is your music. And then when someone talks to you, or you actually want to hear something outside, you have to pull them off. The Shures have a switch that causes them to reverse the sound isolation, so that you hear what's outside and not what's playing.

They include a carrying case, and the "push-to-hear" switch can be removed for increased portability. You can't go wrong with these, as long as you can afford the steep price.

Aero-Garden Kit

This is the perfect gift for cooks or gardeners or yourself, no green thumb required. It's a counter-top herb garden, with the perfect balance of organic nutrients, oxygen, lighting and automation technology. No messy soil is needed. It comes complete with everything including seed pods and nutrients.

Lighted Tweezers

How often have you struggled with a tweezing job because the light was too dim? Here's a brilliant product (no pun intended) that solves the problem once and for all. Tweezers with a built-in light. They're stainless steel, with a bright long-lasting LED light, and batteries included.

Digital Picture Frame

Why stare at the same photo all the time? This 8" digital picture frame has 64 MB of built-in memory allowing you to store up to 100 6-megapixel photos. It can be positioned in six different ways for optimum landscape and portrait viewing, and is wall-mountable. Built-in speakers can play music while it plays a slideshow of your photos (remote included). New photos can be loaded via USB 1.0 or 2.0, or via various digital camera flash memory card formats.

Voice-Activated R2-D2 Droid from Star Wars

How would you like your own little R2-D2 droid chasing you through the hallways of your battle-cruiser... er, I mean house?

This motorized replica responds to more than 40 voice commands, and plays games like tag using an infra-red sensor to find people.

R2-D2 has lights, a swiveling dome top, and sounds that mimic the real thing.

Levitron Omega Levitating Spinning Top

The American Association of Physics Teachers called the original Levitron "the best new science toy in a generation." This, the latest version, is so much more than a spinning top. As it spins (using only your finger-power, no batteries are required), it levitates above a magnetic pad, high enough for you to pass your hand under it, and is great fun for kids and adults alike.

The World's Best Prelit Christmas Tree

This is the most realistic tree in the world, professionally strung with the best lights available, guaranteed for life. The tree is molded from a live Abies procera, or Noble fir, considered one of the most desired holiday trees for its deep blue-green color and symmetrical branch pattern.

Unlike other trees that have light strands which fail immediately when one bulb ceases to work, this tree has strands of advanced integrated circuit lights that withstand the failure or removal of multiple bulbs, ensuring bright, clear, reliable lighting year after year.

Darth Vader Nutcracker

Handcrafted from select European hardwoods by Steinback, the only name in high-quality decorative nutcrackers. Highly detailed, with a red lightsaber, this nutcracker is the perfect gift for your favorite Star Wars fan, or as a conversation piece for Christmas gatherings. Yeah, it's expensive, but you can't put a price on cool.

Next-Generation Robosapien Robot

This is the next evolution of the Robosapien, capable of autonomous behavior and equipped with interactive sensors to recognize objects and respond to sounds. It can be programmed to execute more than 60 different movements, including dancing, exploring, lifting items, or bowling (ball and pins included).

It responds to touch and sound with advanced sensors like a camera that detects skin tone (hold out your hand, and the robot knows to shake it) and object color (the robot collects blue objects when handed them).

The robot avoids obstacles intelligently as it walks, and sonic sensors detect sharp noises, responding with a hearty Hey, there! and turning to face the sound.

It can bend and pick up small objects on command, using its precision-gripping, articulated fingers, and then it can throw the object to you.

The robot has true-to-life bi-pedal walking gaits and realistic double-axis head turns.

It can use its sonic and infrared sensors to guard an area (sounding an alarm when motion or sound is detected) and to interact with other Robosapiens.

Handheld GPS, MP3, Translator, Converter, and Audio Book Player

Does it shine your shoes? No, but this amazing wireless device combines a GPS, MP3 player, audio book player, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and a calculator in a device that fits in the palm of your hand and weighs less than 6 oz. Don't leave home without it.

The World's Smallest Indoor Remote Control Helicopter

Last year I bought myself an indoor RC helicopter, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I wish I had this one instead. It's the smallest, most stable, and lightest remote control helicopter available. It has two contra-rotating coaxial rotors that use gyroscopic inertia to keep the copter balanced and two micro-motors that spin the rotors at varying speeds, resulting in precise and effortless movement up to a range of 50'. Did I mention how small it is?

The Remote Control Night Vision Spy Car

I can't tell you how many times I've thought "What if I could mount a video-camera on the front of an RC car and drive it around while seeing what the camera sees". Ok, I'll tell you - quite a few, because I'm an RC junkie.

This remote control car not only lets you see what the car sees, it does it with a night-vision camera that sends images wirelessly to a remote headset with an eyepiece and LCD, allowing you to see what the car sees in the dark! Kids will absolutely love this. If they can ever pry it away from dad, that is.

Ever seen an upside-down Christmas tree, Billy?

Yes, it's a full-sized Christmas tree. Yes, it's upside down. It's supposed to be that way. Apparently a 12th Century European tradition, hanging a Christmas tree upside down actually has a number of benefits: It can fit into smaller spaces, you can put more presents under it, and ornaments hang straight down instead of getting lost in the branches.

Your Own Personal UFO

Ok, it's not quite big enough to lift you off the ground, but it'll beat the crap out of all those cheap indoor RC helicopters. This flying craft has four motors, a carbon-fiber frame, 300' range, and a built-in gyroscope to make flying easy.

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