Christmas is around the corner, and its time to start looking up some killer swag. Last year I got a crap load of household stuff (I bought a loft 2 years ago, and everyone thinks I still need tea kettles and towels, blech), so my loving girlfriend decided that this year I should get some fun stuff. Here’s some of the toys she found waiting in cyber space (and don’t worry, there’s no hidden referral links) (or adult content, for that matter) :)…

First, a couple of gadgets that she bought me (she’s not very good at waiting for xmas):

• The JB1 digital camera. This thing is pretty sweet. It fits in a standard zippo lighter case, takes up to 115 fairly good 0.3MP images, records video and audio, has a timer mode, and a time-lapse mode to take pictures in intervals ranging from 1-90 minutes for as long as it has memory. The main drawbacks are that it has no flash (of course), so it’s not so hot in low light, and it uses a proprietary video format that my Mac won’t read (.stj). It sure won’t replace my FujiFilm digital, but the fact that I can carry it EVERYWHERE makes it one handy gadget.
• Not really gadgets, but ThinkGeek has some pretty cool tees for the true nerd. I got the Kung Foo shirt (the back says “Skillful Coder” in Chinese.

She also found a wicked website with all kinds of amazing toys. Unfortunately, its in the UK, and shipping to Canada is painfully expensive – but it’ll give you some ideas – they even have video demos of many of the toys. The site is called FireBox.com and a few of my favourite gadgets there are:

• Battling Micro Tanks – they’re remote control, the turrets move independently, they use infrared to have real gun battles, and they’re small enough that your desk makes a great battle ground – really, what’s not to like?
• R/C Missile Launcher – think of a tread driven R/C tank that fires 10 nerf missiles a pretty good distance, and you have the idea. I almost bought one, but I don’t own a cat. 😉
• The Airzooka – you might have seen these around already… they fire a torus of air that will flip toupees 20 feet away. Fun!

On the more expensive side of things, you have the always popular iPod of course, and the new Sony MX50 palmtop – slap FlashComm support in that thing, and I’d be $700 poorer.

Know another cool gadget we should waste our collective dough on? Post it.