by Vincent Scuro
The countdown to the big holiday gift-giving days is under way. If you’re like me, you probably haven't purchased everything you need to give to your special friends, relatives and significant others yet. You may not even have a clue as to what to get for them. That’s OK. You still have time.
I’m fortunate, because being a writer with a local, as well as an Internet, presence — www.southwestorlandobulletin.com — my e-mail gets swamped with suggestions from manufacturers and places that provide desirable, unique and just downright I’d-never-have-thought-of-giving-that-to-someone-in-a-million-years gift ideas. Rather than just ship them off to the spam world, I’ve gathered some of them here to share with you for the holiday season. Since prices vary if you shop wisely, I’ve only included links to the main Web sites.
If your house has digital natives (that's a new buzzword for children who grew up around computers and other digital devices), chances are you own an iPod. Everyone seems to believe that this season's hot gifts are accessories to go with them. That makes sense, because if you gave someone an iPod last year, unless he dropped it in the pool or maxed out the memory, chances are he doesn't need a new one. The “fashion-focused accessories,” such as the Macally line of nano cases, deliver functionality and protection in neoprene, rubber, leather and stainless steel. With names like Sportivo, Mirage, Bella and Masquerade, I’m sure the designers of these products had a fun time at the let’s-name-the-cases meeting.
Another iPod accessory worth considering is the TunePro, also available from Macally, which combines a flat-panel stereo speaker with charger and AM/FM alarm-clock radio, thus providing additional functionality to the portable player. Take the iPod out to the car with Macally’s BTCUP, a full-channel FM transmitter with built-in Bluetooth hands-free functionality that uses a car's speakers and radio to let listeners go back and forth between their favorite music and talking on their wireless phones, while keeping both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road. I always say that any gift that supports highway safety is worth taking a look at. For more information, check them out at www.macally.com.
For people who cannot stand being away from their home-based digital toys or truly hate the local cable TV offered in hotels and motels when traveling, Monsoon Multimedia offers the HAVA Titanium HD (www.myhava.com), a full-featured wireless video streaming, place- and time-shifting device. In plain language, that means you can view and control the TV at your home from anywhere in the world on a broadband-connected PC, Windows Mobile phone or hand-held computer. By simply connecting HAVA to any TV or video source, it can stream the live TV signal over your home network to any connected PC or mobile phone. If you are a traveler and have access to the Internet, your laptop or mobile phone can be connected to your home network, allowing you to watch, control and record live TV programs. If getting all of that to work sounds really, really complicated, ask the digital native in your home to help you. But don’t say, “Please help me." Ask for “technical support.”
Traditional TV viewers and those of us who are digital immigrants, (that’s a new buzzword for those who grew up watching TV and migrated to computers, wireless phones and the Internet), might want to take a look at Adesso’s Vista Remote Control, which enables users to view photos, listen to music, and watch online media and other presentations on computers and digital televisions, eliminating the need for a mouse or other pointing. The Vista also lets you surf the Internet. Navigation is accomplished via 46 function keys and three cursor keys, which may seem a bit complicated or even intimidating. If you’re a digital immigrant, you’ll probably need to read the manual on this one or call in for tech support from your digital native, who probably already knows how to use it, or something like it, without even looking at the buttons he is pressing.
The Vista Remote Control is available at www.adesso.com or other online and real-world retailers.
Another device that is sure to help the digitally challenged is the OPPO HM-31 Advanced 3x1 HDMI Switch. As more and more video peripherals go digital and switch to HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), owners of older televisions may have no way to connect multiple devices to one TV connection. The HM-31 solves that problem in a neat, efficient package by letting you connect three HDMI peripherals to one box. Then, you can connect the box to your TV and switch from one to the other via the remote control that comes with the package.
Moving away from the world of virtual reality to the world of real reality, gift recipients who don’t know the difference between a hard drive and a floppy and think the Recycle Bin is something you keep in the garage, might want to look into “experience” gifts from Cloud 9 Living (www.cloud9living.com). While initially I was intrigued by its 2.5-day crime-scene investigator fantasy camp in Ashtabula, Ohio, where I could be schooled in the ways of a CSI, I soon discovered that they had other gifts ranging from riding in a NASCAR racer to flying a Russian MiG-25 over Moscow.
Focusing more on their local offerings, additional research turned up some reasonably priced experiences like private surfing lessons, an airboat safari adventure, a nature-trail ride on horseback, and a motorcycle rental. At the higher end price-wise, one can be a fighter pilot for a day, go to bull-riding school, or attend a murder-mystery party.
The guided Segway tour of Baldwin Park also caught my eye, largely because I had no idea what a Segway was. I soon discovered that a Segway (officially called the Segway Personal Transporter) is one of those two-wheeled vehicles that you ride while standing up. I’ve actually seen them in use at Walt Disney World Resort's EPCOT Center but never knew what they were called. Pretty cool, I suppose, albeit not as healthy for you as walking, which you probably could do for free.
Likewise, I couldn’t resist investigating the “drive a stock car” offering, largely because I wonder why you would pay to do that when all you have to do is take the family car onto Interstate 4 during rush hour to get the same heart-pumping thrill of a high-speed race.
Actually, I’m waiting for someone to come out with the Rush Hour on I-4 video game. It will make a great holiday gift.
Maybe next year.
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