by Murphy Riley, Reporter
With the gift giving season coming up, it’s tough to know what to get your favorite geek. With so many options out there, how could you possibly narrow it down to one spectacular gift that will drive your loved one into doing victory laps around the living room. Here are my top five special gift ideas for the young-at-heart and electronic savvy.
1. Sphero Super-Interactive Ball
This has to be the coolest ball you’ll ever play with. “Sphero” is a robotic ball that you control with an IOS or Android app on just about any device. You literally draw out how you want the ball move around and it does. If you use a different app to control the ball, a tilt or swing of the device will move the ball. This robo-ball has over 20 apps available for download with different games and ways to move your ball around after you have hooked it up to bluetooth on your devices. Some control what color you want the ball to be, some let you play golf and “swing” at the ball, some are even made for multi-player games. Let’s just take to a second to appreciate how awesome this thing is and how much time you would spend running this thing into walls. Now lets take one more second to think about how much your cat would love it. Not a cat person? That’s OK, you’ve still got the walls thing.
This R/C controlled R2D2 replica responds to over 40 voice commands beginning with things as simple as “Come here” which comes in handle since this thing has an extendable cup holder for your drink. Another command possibility was telling R2 to dance, to which the robot responds by playing the “Cantina Theme” and dancing along (if you’re not sold by now, there is even more). When you say “Hey R2, do you remember – insert character name here-“, R2 responds to the name based on the relationship it had with the character in the movie. For example, if you mention Darth Vader, R2 screams and quivers. This thing is crazy cool, now you just have to figure out a way to teach your pets to dance along to the “Cantina Theme” with him.
<How many times have you headed out to work or school and half way through the day wanted to use your iPad just to find out that its dead. Not a good thing. This protective iPad case actually charges your iPad while you aren’t using it by using solar panels on the front of the case to covert solar energy into energy for the pad. What more could you ask for than a safe case that charges itself and is good for the environment? (Plus, you won’t have to wait until you get home to play angry birds)
4. Uncle Milton’s Moon In My Room
I kind of just love this one. This wall hanging mini moon lights up to show the 12 lunar phases and has a 3-D landscape. The included remote control allows the user to control exactly how the moon lights up and how bright it glows. Honestly, this one is probably more for the very young at heart, but the light it gives off and the interactive-ness of the thing makes me think that its pretty rockin’. If you ever wanted to leave it on as a nightlight (or whatever, I don’t know your life) it has an automatic shut off so it won’t waste its battery. The set also comes with a MP3 code that details a guided tour of the moon. Reasonably priced and with a mini lesson about lunar phases, this one is made for any fan of camping outside under the stars.. minus the bugs and murderers in the woods.
I feel like these things have been pretty visible lately on the internet, but they are still awesome. I got one myself earlier this year and after you get the hang of it, air swimmers are so much fun to swim around (and into people). The swimmers come as all sorts of critters now, clown fish, bass, shark, I’ve even seen a zombie shark out there. Some assembly is required but, the kit has everything you’ll need to put him together including a helium tank to inflate your fish, counter weights and batteries. These air fishes float by filling them with the helium and get place to place by swishing their back fin back and forth. Not for use outdoors… Trust me.
This one is literally just socks and underwear. So, I guess you could buy something interesting or electronic or interactive, or just “The Worst Gift Ever”. This gag gift is pre-wrapped in the finest cardboard box available. Complete with a printed-on bow.
Let’s be real here, we both know that you still love toys, no matter how old you are. These toys were made to bring out the kid in you, so embrace it! Get your favorite geek one of these special toys so show them that it is still okay to play (just don’t let them run over any family pets with their new toys).
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