The Other Serpico

The most popular gifts this season were accessories to the Steve Jobs toy chest of gadgets bless his soul. Some of the most interesting gifts this year were very high-tech. Yes, all sorts of electronic gifts were sold to appeal to kids of all ages. Yes, adult kids too. You.

Presents were still pricy but interesting. Your electric bill is higher than ever because practically everything you own is attached to a power cord. Well, not everything. Did you get the “Bedol Water Clock?” No? Too bad it only costs about $20 dollars. It is interesting because it is an alarm clock that uses plain water to power it. Yes, no battery no cord. About every 12 weeks you just pour water into it.

Your cable bill is just too high and you can’t afford to pay that bill either anymore. So, cancel your cable and watch TV through the Internet. How? Did you get the “Roku LT?” No? Too bad it only costs about $50 dollars. It is a little box thing that locks onto your WiFi and shows all your shows on the same TV. It shows movies from Netflix without any fuss and can bring you TV shows for about $8 dollars a month a great deal.

The I Pod Nano plays music but it also has a clock you can scroll to find. This automatically turns your Nano into a wristwatch. Did you get the “IWatchz Watchband for Nano?” Costs about $21 dollars. There are many types of wristbands to choose from that the Nano just slides in. It is great for joggers or rollerblades who want to know the time and plug in some music while you exercise from your wristband.

We all already own our IPhones but we haven’t used them to their full capacity yet. The problem is that you are limited to a tiny speaker. Not anymore. Did you get the “Jambox?” This costs $200 and is worth it because it is cordless not even to your I Phone and the sound can fill a room. There is a battery involved in the box and it is Bluetooth so no wires at all.

There are cameras now in every phone but can you take great pictures from them ? Sometimes. People say all my pictures are blurry or not vivid, There are 3 lenses available for I Phone and you can buy it as a “Lens Combo” for about $70 dollars. Did you get that? You get a kit of a Fisheye , for close ups a 8 power zoom and even a tripod for steadiness is available. So get out there and capture sunsets with your phone

A new bathroom scale is an unusual gift but this one has WiFi in it. Known as the “Withings WiFi Scale” It sells for $159 dollars. Did you get that? Okay I’ll tell you why it is good to have this. You can send your weight in on line. I know that is probably the least statistic your wife wants to be sent into cyber space about her but it is good information to have. It can even keep track of your weight statistics on your phone.

All the stuff I mentioned was pretty cheap but you got to have the expensive toy you really don’t need for a fun present. Get the remote controlled drone that you can control from your phone. Hey that rhymes! I should be getting paid something for promoting all this crap!

It is called the “Parrot Quadricopter” it costs $399 dollars and this time I won’t even ask if you got it. Probably not. But Mommy!!! All you got to do is tip your phone to make it fly to and fro and you can stop and just make it hover. There are even a couple of cameras on the thing and you can see on your phone what the cameras pick up.