Nov 19

Black Friday: Florida Family Already Camping Out for Best Buy Deals

Posted in: Today's Chili

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I made some off-handed comment yesterday about the shopping season coming earlier and earlier every year. That sentiment is particularly true for one family in St. Petersburg, Florida that has already begun camping out in front of their local Best Buy.

The family started camping out at 10 AM on Wednesday morning, a full nine days ahead of Black Friday, becoming, seemingly, the first people in the country to line up for Best Buy Black Friday Deals.

The family’s tenacity has already paid off. The manager of that particular Best Buy presented them with a “First Family of Black Friday” award, including new iPads for the family.

“We’re here really early this year because we’ve always been second, third and fourth and down the line,” family member Lorie Davenport told a local news station. “We’re tired of not being first and we figured we’ve put in six years, we want to be first.”

There are 10 family members taking turns in line. The Davenports have camped out for six straight years.

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Nov 19

The Best Gifts for Harry Potter Fans

Posted in: Today's Chili
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 hits theaters
this week. It’s sure to become the biggest movie of the weekend, if not ever. Besides stealing the spot at the box office, Harry Potter is also likely to sneak his way onto a number of holiday wish
lists, as well.

Since you’re sure to have at least one Harry Potter fan on
your list, we’ve rounded up some of the best Hogwarts-approved gifts for you to pick up this holiday season. 

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Nov 19

Daily Gift: Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer

Posted in: Gadgets, Today's Chili
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We love/ need our cell phones so much that take our cell phones with us everywhere we go (the bathroom) and use them constantly (while driving). On a typical day, we touch every part of them with our dirty hands, lay them down on all kinds of surfaces, stick them in our warm pockets, and then put them up to our faces. In turn, we’re smothering our precious phones with germs, more germs than any other surface in our home and office.
Violight, the UV light sanitizing gadget company, quotes CBS News, saying “A British microbiologist claims the average cell phone carries more germs per square inch than doornobs, the soles of shoes, even toilet seats.” And you touch this thing to your face!! Ew.
Well, there is a solution: The Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer. Volight claims that its germicidal UV light kills 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria in just 5 minutes. You can use it to sanitize your cell phone, headphones, MP3 player, or whatever small electrical device you can get to fit inside it.  
This would make a great gift for the germaphobe on your list, or for someone who just wants a little extra protection during this cold season, or for that matter, anyone with a cell phone. This little germ zapper is available for $49.99 on violight.com. 
Next time you use your phone, just think about laying your cheek against a toilet seat, only dirtier, then you’ll want to buy one for everyone on your shopping list, plus one for yourself.  
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Nov 18

The Best Gifts for Star Trek Fans

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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Have a Trekker to cross off on your holiday shopping list? Good news, there are plenty of cool, clever, and even practical gifts out there, from a $6 stocking-stuffing Romulan-branded energy to a $3,000 replica of Kirk’s captain chair. 

Check out our picks for the best Star Trek gifts, after the jump.
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Nov 18

Daily Gift: Magic Wand TV Remote, Harry Potter Would Approve

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 is finally opening tomorrow, November 19. There has been a lot of Harry Potter news buzzing around recently, from spam scares, to BitTorrent leaks, to the Great Owl Shortage of 2010. But, have we got some news for you. The good people at ThinkGeek have offered the perfect holiday gift for any Potter fan: The Magic Wand Programmable TV Remote.

For $89.99, you can pretend you’re a student at Hogwart’s with the special power to change channels. Imagine this: You’re watching a totally fun episode of My Super Sweet 16 on MTV, and suddenly, Jersey Shore comes on. What do you do? With the flick of your wrist, you can change the channel with your magic remote-wand. Situation averted (pun intended).

The remote looks just like a wizard’s wand. It has 13 magical functions to control your TV, and it learns from your existing remotes. By flicking the wand, you change the channel, and you can turn up the volume by twisting the wand.

Check out a comical video from ThinkGeek after the jump.

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Nov 18

Black Friday: Sears, Kmart Open on Thanksgiving

Posted in: Today's Chili

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Retailers have become infamous over the past few decades for
their constant expansion of the “holiday shopping season.” That expansion has
been furthered in past years by increased competition from online retail
outlets. The question then, at this point, is where to go from here?

Well, with Black Friday being the the focal point of the
season, the answer seems obvious: Thanksgiving. Why not get a jump on the
retail push by making all of your employees come into work when they should be
at home, eating food with their families?

Kmart did so last year, and plans to do it again in 2010.
This year Sears is joining in. The old school department store is offering a
number of deals on the Sunday through Wednesday leading up for the holiday
(like $800 off a 46 inch Sony HDTV).

On Thaksgiving Day, the company will be offering one day
only deals from manufacturers like Panasonic, Zenith, and RCA. Kmart will be
offering TV deals on Turkey Day, as well, including a $500 46 inch Panasonic
HDTV.

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Nov 17

Daily Gift: Sennheiser CX 680 Sports Headphones

Posted in: headphones, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

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Have a gym fanatic in your life? Save their workout with a
pair of these terrific headphones. The Sennheiser CX 680 Sports are great at
staying in while running.

They’re a comfortable fit in the ear and are water/sweatproof,
so they can be washed off on a sink when finished with a workout.  The headphones, designed with help from Adidas
feature flexible “fins,” which help them wedge comfortably into the wearer’s
outer ear.

The CX680s also get great sound, thanks in part to a deep bass
response. At $120, they’re far from the cheapest pair of headphones one can buy
for the gym, but they <i>are</i> one of the best.

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Nov 17

ThinkGeek Unveils the TannenBomb, Just in Time for the Holidays

Posted in: Tech Toys, Today's Chili

ThinkGeek - TannenBomb

The holidays just wouldn’t be complete without family and friends, and what family gathering would be complete without a little practical joking to keep the atmosphere light? 
The fine folks at ThinkGeek have you covered with The TannenBomb, a Christmas Tree Ornament that shines in the light, features red robots and silver zombies, and when hung from a tree periodically emits random loud noises to keep everyone within earshot wondering “what’s making that noise?”
The TannenBomb is essentially one of ThinkGeek’s Annoy-a-Trons stuffed into an ornament that’s activated when it’s hung from a tree. Just hang it somewhere in the back of the tree where no one will see it, and everyone in your house will spend hours looking for the source of the noises that the TannenBomb will make at odd intervals. It’s available now for $11.99 list price. 
ThinkGeek also announced another item that will likely end up in someone’s stocking this year: Canned Unicorn Meat. Originally an April Fool’s prank, one that got under the skin of a somewhat humorless National Pork Board, the 14-ounce cans of dismembered stuffed unicorn (easily removable for display) will set you back $11.99 each, and make for perfect office decorations or fun additions to the family pantry.
 
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Nov 17

Stinky the Garbage Truck: Is This 2010’s Hottest Toy?

Posted in: Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys
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The hottest toy this holiday season? It may well be gruff -talking garbage truck. This Matchbox-designed animatronic disposal device
talks, tells jokes, and dances. He’ll also eat the rest of your Matchbox car
collection. Toys “R” Us puts it the most succinctly, “Stinky is the name,
gobbling garbage is his game.”

Thanks to a particularly enticing television commercial, old
Stinky here has rocketed to the top of a lot of kids’ wish lists this holiday
season. He’s part of the Big Ridge Buddies line of Matchbox toys. He’ll take
four “C” batteries to get up and running.

Stinky runs retails fro $59.97, but will probably run you
closer to $50 ($49.99 at Toys “R” Us, $47.99 at Amazon, and $44.97 at
Wal-Mart).

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Nov 16

Daily Gift: Toshiba DMF82XKU 8-Inch Wireless Digital Media Frame

Posted in: digital camera, Today's Chili

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If you know someone who has a ton of photos just sitting on their computer’s hard drive that they don’t know what to do with, a digital photo frame could be just the thing they need. A digital frame, like the Toshiba DMF82XKU 8-Inch Wireless Digital Media Frame, is the perfect gift for the person in your life that wants to show off all their pictures. The Toshiba DMF82XKU even allows for video playback.

PCMag reviewed the Toshiba DMF82XKU and gave it a 4 out of 5 and an Editors’ Choice award for its elegant design, and excellent Web integration. It also allows for simple image transfer via e-mail or Internet.

“The Toshiba DMF82XKU 8-inch Digital Media Frame does much more than just display your photos; it pairs an elegant design with the ability to add images wirelessly and stream a variety of Web content. But at $180, it may be a bit too pricey for some,” PJ Jacobowitz said in his review.

The frame has a list price of $179.99, but you can get it at Amazon now for $83.51. That’s a 54 percent savings. The now-$84 digital frame may be worth the money. According to Jacobowitz,

“Toshiba pairs Wi-Fi with FrameChannel, a sophisticated Web-based photo and content streaming service that makes sending content to the frame seamless, allowing you to add your own photos wirelessly, invite friends and family members to share their photos, and stream a variety of content from RSS feeds. Thanks to its online component, the DMF82XKU is great for, say, displaying party pictures from Facebook or sending vacation photos home to grandma–while you’re still on the road. “

Read the full Toshiba DMF82XKU 8-inch Digital Media Frame review for more details.

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