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Holiday Gift Guide Flashback: A Dark Lord Christmas
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorial, Features, Toys, Kids
I was nine years old and I was a huge Star Wars fan. I was looking forward to Christmas like every kid and I hoped to get a ton of Star Wars stuff.
Christmas morning finally came and back then I would try to sneak out of bed at four or five in the morning so I could start playing. Sometimes I would get caught and I was told to go back to bed, but I always came out later after the coast was clear.
That Christmas I woke up early and quickly ran to the living room to start opening my presents. Every gift I opened was a toy. I don’t remember all of the stuff I got, but as I said it was all toys!
I went searching to the back of the tree to see if there was anything I missed and I found a present in the shape of a rectangle. This meant it was shirt box – clothes! Ugh. I tossed it back and buried it under some of my sibling’s presents.
Click to continue reading Holiday Gift Guide Flashback: A Dark Lord Christmas
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Holiday Gift Guide Flashback: A Crushed Ice Christmas
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Editorial, Features, Household, Women
Purchasing gifts for a loved one is often difficult, especially when expectations are high. So, gentlemen - if you’re struggling to find the perfect present for a significant other, please let me share a story about one of my most “memorable” gifts.
Back in 2001, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I had our 1st real Christmas together. Although it was technically our second time celebrating the holiday, I didn’t really count the first. Since we had only started dating weeks beforehand, I didn’t anticipate much. But after a whole year together, I was curious to see how well he knew me. Apparently not as well as I had hoped.
To be fair, I did receive two gifts that day. The first was a beautiful green necklace. (Thankfully, it did not come attached to a Benny Bear.) And while I appreciated the tasteful choice in jewelry, the item was unfortunately not the thing I remember most about that December 25. It was a completely random selection still waiting in the wings: the ice crusher.
An ice crusher that my boyfriend/husband saw in Pottery Barn and thought was “cool” and “very pretty.” (Granted - the Metrokane Ice-O-Matic did have a nice art deco design.) An ice crusher I didn’t know I needed. An ice crusher my husband’s coworker told him NOT to buy. (She said it wasn’t exactly a “romantic” choice.) An ice crusher that said “crush my heart” and “ice queen” all at the same time. An ice crusher that up until last night (when I reminded my spouse of its existence), hadn’t seen the light of day in years.
So in case you missed the lessons from my cautionary tale, let me list them out for you:
- “Pretty” things don’t necessarily make good gifts.
- Don’t ever buy your loved one something YOU want.
- Products that require manual labor should never be given, unless it’s something they requested.
- If you ask another woman for a second opinion, please heed her advice.
- Read our Holiday Gift Guide, and let us help you.
Happy Holidays!
Holiday Gift Guide: Remembering my first DVD player
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Home Entertainment
Being both an early adopter, someone without a bunch of money, and a gadgetophile is a hard combination to pull off. Back in 1999, that was me as a teenager, and the thing I wanted most that year was a standalone DVD player. Sure, I had the DVD-ROM drive in my Sony Vaio desktop computer, but my monitor was only 15-inches back then, and I had a 28-inch television. Who wouldn’t want to watch DVDs on their awesome 28-inch television, with ghetto stereo sound?
That year, my girlfriend at the time decided she would surprise me with a Sony DVD player. If you weren’t in the market for DVD players back then, allow me to fill you in. Those $25 deals you are seeing this holiday season on players at Target and Wal-Mart? Yeah, prices have fallen exponentially. My first DVD player sold for $399.99. A serious token of her love, most certainly. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t have gotten a DVD player otherwise.
I immediately snapped up The Usual Suspects and a couple of other titles that I don’t even remember. I didn’t even care, I was just all about the slick new piece of technology.
What about you? Any fond memories of holidays past, where you gave or received an awesome gift? Let us know in the comments
Amazon Has Banner Year
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Misc. Tech
Amazon has announced that it has had its best Holiday Season yet. Some of its most popular items were the Nintendo Wii, “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Call of Duty 4” video games, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” DVDs, Garmin GPS, Canon PowerShot digital Elph cameras, Timex heart rate monitor watches, Samsung LCD HDTVs, and Lego Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader watches. They claim their busiest day was December 10, when over 5.4 million items were ordered. That equals 62.5 items per second!
Read More 
| I4U News
Okay - what did you get?!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features
You know how much we love living vicariously through others, so we just HAVE to know - what did you guys get this year? What was waiting under the tree, ready to delight you with it’s awesome gadgety wonders? Let us know in the comments - we’re listening!
Bummer Holiday Cards
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial
There are lots of last minute ways to send e-greetings on line, making the necessity for actual cards and gifts unnecessary in this electronic age. We wonder if this will replace tips and bonuses for your mail carrier, FedEx deliverer, and the guy who sells you roach coach sandwiches. We found these cards created by someone who apparently gets as moody as we do around this time of year. For those of you who want to send anti-cards, the comments may not be explicit in the translation, but we figure you will catch the drift. By the way, ho-ho-ho from us to you. Have a great Holiday and thanks for reading.
Read More | Daily Portal
Hallmark Features Retro Ornaments
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Household, Movies, Toys
Last minute tree trimming at our house usually consists of popcorn strings until the dog eats them. We wish we had gotten a Hallmark Keepsake Rock ’em Sock ’em Ornament. At least we would have had a fighting chance. At a size of 3 1/4 x 2 3/4-inches, push their buttons and their arms punch and heads bounce just like their life-size counterparts. It comes with a greeting card for $15.00.
For your trekkor friends, pick up the Star Trek II Keepsake. This one is 3 x 2 1/2-inches, has sound and flashing lights, and will set you back $28.00. We expect that if you wait (since it is probably closed today,) you can pick one up for sale when you return that cheesy Nut Bowl that your mother-in-law found at the back of the store in the markdown aisle.
Read More | Hallmark
Keep The Kids Amused Online Today
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Hot Deals, Internet
You have just realized that your buds are do anytime and you just had to finish “testing” their new electronic toys before wrapping them. You know that not only do you not have any wrapping paper left, your kids are bugging you that they don’t have anything to do after you spent your last cent on them. Combine both projects and send the kidlets to Paper Snowflakes. They can download wrapping paper, create gift tags, make snowflakes out of coffee filters, and even play a few games.
Read More | Paper Snowflakes
Track Santa’s Progress
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Science
As our early holiday gift, we have found that Santa is trackable tonight, thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. As near as they can figure, at 4:00 a.m. ET Santa left the North Pole. Other sightings are as follows: New Zealand 4:40 a.m., Japan 7:35 a.m., Great Wall of China 9:50 a.m., India 11:25 a.m., Cairo 3:00 p.m., Rome 4:40 p.m., Germany 5:10 p.m., Paris 6:00 p.m., and London 6:55 p.m. Looks like he is on his way to the States. Don’t forget to leave him some cookies and a carrot or two for his faithful steeds.
Read More | MSNBC Santa Tracker
Bleeding Edge TV 193: A Look at 2007 Holiday iPod Lineup
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Music, Podcasts, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts
The holidays are right around the corner, and while we’ve been sharing our picks for what you should buy in our 2007 Holiday Gift Guide, we also feel we should drop some knowledge in video form as well. I mean, it’s what we do, right? Anyhow, in this one, we give you a look at the complete Apple iPod lineup that is available this holiday season. If you wanted a refresher on exactly what each iPod model has to offer feature-wise, this is the video to check out. We are talking about everything from the iPod shuffle, all the way up to the iPhone itself. Strap yourself in and check out the video, and if you plan on buying an iPod for someone special this year (or yourself), let us know which you choose.
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