Let me preface this by saying I’m not a watch wearer. I’ve never been able to get into the habit of putting on a watch everyday, and why bother? My laptop, my car, and my cell phone always provide me with the time.

I am however, a watch buyer. My husband wears a watch every single day, work or day off, rain or shine, and I’ve bought him quite a few over the years. A new watch is on his Christmas list almost every single year, and most years, I pop into a local retailer and select the watch I like the best and call it done. I never occurred to me to shop online for a watch, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? You can compare prices, and sites like BlueDial.com have over 20,000 watches in stock - way more than my local Target could ever carry!

I really like the look of this Seiko watch - casual enough for everyday, nice enough for Jim to wear with a shirt and tie to work. I’d much rather spend a little bit more on a Seiko than a cheapie brand at the store, knowing that the Seiko will outlast a no name brand any day of the week. BlueDial offers free sizing and 2nd day shipping as well - no wonder they’re BizRate.com customer certified!

How big of a geek are you? Big enough that you’d buy your geeky sweetie a binary wedding band? The message would have to be short and sweet of course, given that you’re writing it in binary jewels, but this is a great chance to be creative, romantic, and a true geek all at once.

I tested out a few phrases (using the binary decoder) to see what you could fit on a binary wedding band and I think ‘I love you’ is not only unoriginal, it’s too long:

0100100100100000011011000110111101110
1100110010100100000011110010110111101110101

You’d have to use a really short phrase on the ring!

My top geeky gift this year was a portable speaker / docking station for my iPod. I’ve been so busy since the holidays with cleaning, entertaining, and work that I haven’t even opened the box yet, but it’s on my agenda for this weekend. I’m looking forward to being able to blast my iPod throughout the house, so that everyone can enjoy my eclectic musical taste. Jim will rue the day he bought it for me!

When I was a kid, my father owned an ice cream store. Sounds like every child’s dream, right? It wasn’t. I didn’t get much free ice cream, and I spent a lot of hours entertaining myself on one of the three video games we had in the shop:

• Ms. PacMan - couldn’t get past the 2nd level. (Hey, I was 8!)
• Tron - BORing. And weird. ‘Nuff said.
• Centipede - I always got my hand pinched in the controller!

I do not have fond memories of any of those games. And that, combined with the $15,000 price tag, is why I won’t be buying this Pac Man rug. Now, if they had a Grand Theft Auto rug, I could get behind that.

Isn’t it amazing what the internet has done for all of us? It’s given people like me a way to meet new friends, be entertained, solve problems, and spend money - all from the comfort of my own home. When I think about how just a mere 10 years ago, I was forced to leave my home to order Christmas cards, or go out to playdates for us to meet new people - well gosh, I’m sure glad the good ole’ World Wide Web is here.

And the internet has also given a lot of us the platform to talk about the things we love the most, be it family, technology, or even shopping. I always longed for a place where I could talk to people about the great deals I found on the endcaps at Target, or how I got up at 5am one year to go shopping on Black Friday. Or how about just a place to find out about great products and shopping you didn’t know about previously? ShoppingAddicted.com is just the place - a place where you can read just a few entries and be inspired by the gift ideas presented, or learn why the PS3 is different from the PS2. The site features reviews on both products AND websites, and even where to find the best prices on featured products.

This shopping addict gives it 2 thumbs up!

I started my Christmas shopping this weekend. The first weekend in November is definitely a lot later than I would have liked to start my shopping, and what I did buy wasn’t planned. I happened to be out with my oldest daughter, buying her a few new things, and saw the perfect gift for a family member, AND it was on sale. Once I bought it, I realized I really need to get my rear in gear, because Christmas is in less than 2 months! With our trip to as Vegas this week, I don’t see myself getting any more Christmas shopping until the middle of November, but that’s ok. I’ll have a bit more cash then, so I won’t need to take out a loan to buy what my kids want from Santa. I won’t need to spend the mortgage money either! And, I won’t be using any of my credit cards to buy gifts this year. It’s a little thing I like to call a “debt free Christmas”, and it’s important to me. In fact, we’ve made a pact not to spend as much on junk the kids want, and the bulk of their gift will be a January ski trip. Memories are so much more precious than things!

(And speaking of memories, on my geeky mom list is a digital picture frame for my desk. Hint, hint!)

You’ve probably heard of ping pong. A table, little paddles, small white ball?

How about beer pong? Leave it to a bunch of geeks to turn a innocent game into a drinking game! In beer pong, players try to throw a ping pong ball across a table, with the goal being to land the ball into a cup of beer. When you pop the ball into a cup of beer, the defending team has to drink up, and the winner is…well, not as drunk as the loser. You can now buy beer pong tables online! I don’t think we’ve got the room for a beer pong table in our house, but I’m confident that I’d be better at this game then I am at quarters! This site has 3 different kinds of tables, as well as t-shirts to display your beer pong pride.

I’m not a big enough geek to want to wear an animated Wi-Fi t-shirt, but I have to admit, it’s pretty clever! The shirt has a battery pack (which detaches for easy washing) which displays the current Wi-Fi signal strength around you…either 802.11b or 802.11g. How cool would it be to show up at BlogExpo wearing this? And women can be sure that while wearing this, geeky guys aren’t admiring their assets…they’re checking out the Wi-Fi signal strength!

Gambling is one of the oldest pastimes out there…artifacts have been recovered in Rome, India, Egypt, and China. Dice have been found. King Henry VIII outlawed gambling among his soldiers. Poker, blackjack, and other card games came about in 900 A.D. Roulette started in the 1800’s. Gambling may not be very high tech, and there’s no way to hack into the system and win, but this geek loves it! And by joining the game of the month club from Executive Gaming Monthly, you don’t have to wait to hit the casino or the cruise ship to enjoy a game of craps or Texas Hold’em.

I wonder if the ancient Romans ever though of using their ivory dice to play a game like craps? It’s one game that I’d love to learn - I’ve tried to pick it up by watching other people play it, but it seems complicated. I definitely need an instruction manual and some pointers on how to play the game before I start throwing the dice.

Texas Hold’em is another game that I’ve heard is fun. Jim and his buddies play a lot of poker, so maybe this would be a good Father’s Day gift idea? Actually, I could take it one step further. In addition to buying the gaming package, I could schedule the night with his buddies, buy the beer, and leave the house. LOL!

I’ve seen digital picture frames around a lot more - from stores at the mall to a home decor catalog I get in the mail. Would you use one? I think it’s a little too high tech for me. One of the thing that I like about having framed pictures in my house is the personal touch, and somehow, a digital picture frame with rotating pictures doesn’t convey warm and fuzzy to me. I guess deep down, I’m an old fashioned girl at heart. (Ha!)

Ever gotten rid of some piece of add on hardware, because you can’t find the USB cable that came with it? Yeah, me too. Despite saving every cord we ever received since entering the computer age in 1997, I’ve never been able to reuse a cord on another product. I just found a site to save me from ever hunting through the box o’ cords and cables - they sell a USB adapter to fit almost anything. They’ve got this sweet little USB flash drive too:

That’s for the ultimate geek - it’s a watch and 128MB of storage, all in one! (What a great gift for the guys in tech support!)

The site doesn’t just feature USB adapters either - they’ve got a whole lineup of products, from keyboard, PS/2, & video adapters to HDMI, cables, and iPod accessories. I think I feel secure in throwing out my box of misc. cords and plugs, because if I ever really needed something, I could find it here.

Planning on buying an iPod anytime soon? How about a Mac? Why not save yourself some cash, and purchase your Apple products from the Apple store at Ebates? When you shop through Ebates, you’ll be eligible to earn cash back on EVERY purchase. Membership is free, too! In addition to the cash back offers on every purchase (which range from 1% cash back to 25% cash back), you’ll find specials and coupon codes, and they’ve got 79 stores that offer computer products, 36 for DVDs & videos, and 114 specializing in electronics. Truly, a geek’s dream - well, at least this geek. I always enjoy saving money on my new toys!

It’s not too early to plan ahead for Valentine’s Day - tear yourself away from World of Warcraft, shop now and avoid the rush! You don’t want to be at the store on February 13th looking over a selection of picked over cards, and sad looking candy. Do the right thing and splurge on gourmet Valentines Day Gift Baskets for the ones that you love! You’ll be sure to impress someone sweet when you present them with a basket of fruits, wines, chocolates, or cheese. Or personalize your own basket to really make a statement! Trust me - most women go nuts for this kind of thing. We may SAY we don’t care, but really - we do care! (Maybe throw in a thumb drive or a new card for the digital camera too - I’d like something like that!)

I’m a girl geek, and proud of it! And sometimes, I want the world to know. What better way than to plaster a cute saying across my chest? I found this shirt online tonight at ThinkGeek - it combines 2 of my great loves:

1) The Wizard of Oz - for those of you not “with” classic movies, you’re missing out. What girl wouldn’t want to defeat a witch AND get a great pair of shoes out of the deal? I’ve been watching this movie since I was a little girl geek in the making.

2) A confusing saying that most of the general public won’t get. I love messing with peoples heads!

Technorati Tags: ThinkGeek, geek gifts, geek t-shirt, Wizard of Oz, ruby slippers

One of my geeky gifts this Christmas was this Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter. With it, you can plug in your iPod in the car’s 12V outlet (cigarette lighter), and play songs through your radio using FM frequencies. It also charges your iPod while you’re using it.

My opinion? I don’t know if I got a bad one, or if the product is just crap, but it stopped working after a day. I hooked it up Wednesday night and tested it out. There was some static coming through on the FM station, but it did work. I tried it again Thursday morning and still got static due to not being able to find a weak enough FM frequency. Tried it again Thursday afternoon and it was dead. The power light didn’t come on, so we assumed a fuse had blown in my car. We tested it in my husbands car and got the same result.

I’m taking it back, but I don’t know if I’ll replace it, because I wasn’t that impressed with the sound quality it gave me. I’m definitely going to look into an alternative.

Have you ever thought somone was lying to you, but you had no way to tell? Maybe you’ve got an employee at your workplace that’s constantly calling in with lame excuses about being sick or attending funerals. (Just how many grandma’s can that guy kill off, anyway?) Now with this portable lie detector, called the Di-Fib-ulator, you can instantly determine if someone is telling you the truth, or blowing sunshine up your skirt. The portable lie detector uses the same principles as the real thing by analyzing a voice to determine levels of stess, tension, or excitement. You ask someone 3 yes or no questions to establish a baseline, and then you get to the nitty gritty. You can even use it on a cell phone! It’s been shown to be 65% accurate.

This will serve as my warning too - the next time you call out sick, beware if your boss starts asking you silly nonsense questions like “Is the sky blue?” He may be using the De-Fib-ulator!

Technorati Tags: De-Fib-ulator, lie detector, portable lie detector, geek gifts

If you’ve got someone who loves their digital camera, here are 2 gifts sure to wow this Christmas season!

First up, here’s a cool digital camera on a keychain. And yes, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you’ll find on a regular digital camera, but show me a regular digital camera that costs under $50 and holds your keys! What you WILL get is a camera that is always at your fingertips, so you’ll never miss a photo opp again. This camera, while small, can take up to 26 print quality shots, or 104 email quality shots, as well as short video clips. A USB cable is included for easy downloading, and you’ll love the built-in rechargeable lithium battery!

Once you’ve taken those pictures, you’ll need to be able to display them. How about right on your keychain that doubles as a digital picture frame? What proud parent or grandparent could turn down a gift like this? No more fumbling in your wallet to drag out pictures when the little darlings are on a digital keychain fram! And it’s not just for one picture - this keychain has 8mb of memory and holds up to 56 digital shots, so you’ll be able to carry a whole album of pictures with you. The 1.4″ LCD screen is large enough to display your images without making you squit. Software is included to make transfer of your photos easy. And it took includes a built-in, rechargeable battery that provides 2.5 hours of viewing time.

I’ve found some coupon codes online for Brookstone, so you’ll be able to save some green if you decide to purchase the above items - enjoy!

Technorati Tags: digital camera frame, digital camera keychain, keychain frame, Brookstone, tech gifts, electronic gifts