The Smorgasbord » gift ideas

Star Wars Adidas Shoes

jtpratt — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:57:31 +0000

Maybe I’m the last person to find out some things – but since when are they selling “Star Wars Adidas Shoes”? I saw a blog post today with Darth Vader Adidas shoes – I mean – they had the image of Darth Vader embossed right into the top of the toe! Immediately I’m like – WTF! How cool is that?!

So immediately I logon to Amazon to try and look for them, but they’re not for sale? What I did find really strange was the fact that they had other types of Star Wars shoes for sale that I had never seen. There’s the Adidas ZX 800 Star Wars Boba Fett, a Condustor Storm Trooper SW Sneaker, something called the Adidas Jogging High top Chewbacca shoe, the Metro Attitude Jabba the Hutt, and even a SL 72 Han Solo Star Wars Sneaker. Again I say WTF! How did I not know about this? They even have separate Star Wars good and evil jerseys!

Here’s what I found:

The Star Wars Vader 7 Evil Jersey (shouldn’t Vader’s number have been 6??)

The Star Wars Good Skywalker 7 Jersey

Adidas Boba Fett Shoes

Adidas Strom Trooper Sneakers (Shoes)

Adidas Star Wars Chewbacca Shoes

Han Solo Star Wars Shoes

Is one of the Han Solo shoes frozen in carbonite? LMAO…

That’s all the Star Wars shoes I could find on Amazon…so then I got to thinking – what about eBay? I searched for “star wars darth vader shoe”, and there it was!!!

The Vader shoes in the image above aren’t the only ones I found -I found more than 70 pairs in all kinds of styles!! I eventually did find the ones the Darth Vader’s image embossed in the top of the toe.

I can’t shoe them all here, so here’s some of the ebay auctions for Darth Vader Star Wars Shoes (I’m so excited!):

ADIDAS STAR WARS Stan Smith 80's Mid Hi Tops Darth Vader Shoes Size 8 NWB
	USD 9.99 (3 Bids) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 18:27:45
Adidas Star Wars US 10 Darth Vader Forum Mid Sneaker Shoe Red Black Death Stars
	USD 89.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 19:19:08
New Adidas Star Wars Stan Smith 80s Mid Hi High Tops Darth Vader Shoes G46195
	USD 49.99 (2 Bids) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 18:37:02
Star Wars Adidas Originals Darth Vader Stan Smith 80's Mid Shoe
	USD 119.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 00:07:48
Adidas STAR WARS - SKYLINE MID S.W. DARTH VADER Size 9 Kick the Empire
	USD 69.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 02:20:27
Adidas Ultrastar Star Wars Darth Vader, Black/Red/White, Size 9
	USD 50.00 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 07:17:56
Star Wars Adidas Originals Darth Vader Stan Smith 80's Mid Shoe
	USD 119.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 00:07:48
ADIDAS STAR WARS DARTH VADER STAN SMITH MID 80s G46195 SHOES US 9.5 UK 9
	USD 79.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 18:00:55
Star Wars Adidas Originals Darth Vader Stan Smith 80's Mid Shoe
	USD 119.99 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 00:07:48
ADIDAS SIZE 10.5 (US) STAR WARS SKYLINE MID NEW DARTH VADER MENS SHOES DISPLAY
	USD 89.50 (0 Bid) \| Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 20:09:20

Amazon Kindle 2 Review

jtpratt — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:32:54 +0000

This is my Amazon Kindle 2 Review. This post was originally from September 2008 and when I first wrote this post the Kindle’s were about $400 retail from Amazon. It was even pricey when the Kindle 2 first came out in Jan 2009, but now you can get one for around $200. I’ve always like the Kindle, but the video review below shows exactly why and you get to see my Kindle 2 as well – it’s only about 6 minutes.

Original Review

Last year in 2007 I remember when the Amazon Kindle was launched, and I thought “that’s kinda cool”. But it’s yet “another device” that does something you can already do on your mobile phone AND computer AND laptop! So, my first impression (back then) was that it was “cool” but not completely necessary. Now, let’s talk about what makes it viable as a gadget and why it’s becoming more popular.

The Amazon Kindle is an “eReader”. It’s meant for you to take it with you and read things, from novels and books, to newspapers and blogs. Battery life is long and it only needs a charge about every other day, and the screen is what they call “ePaper”. It’s not like your cellphone, laptop, or monitor screen – it has no glare (and it’s not backlit). It’s easy to read in any light, just like a book or newspaper.

Kindle has an “EVDO” connection just like the high speed connections of cell phones. This means that it’s “wireless”. The Kindle is different than other eReaders because it can get new content, download new books, or get fresh newspaper or blog content from RSS feeds “on the go” wherever you are. Don’t be fooled – you have to buy the books, but the “e” version is much cheaper. A latest New York Times best seller might be $26.99, but on Kindle it’s probably $9.99. Newspaper subscriptions cost money too, but with Kindle you can download the first few chapters of a book or read two weeks for free on a newspaper subscription before you pay anything. At least you can test drive before you pay. Magazines are available too like Time and Forbes.

You can’t exactly surf the web with Kindle, but one feature that is available is the ability to look anything up on Wikipedia. The included of the New Oxford American Dictionary could be very handy as well. It also has an annotation feature and bookmarking – so you can keep notes or keep track of where you were. One of the more controversial features are the RSS feeds. You can subscribe to any one of hundreds of RSS feeds (which are freely available on the web) for about $2 per month. Many people feel these should be completely free, as they are on the web. What they fail to realize is that kindle has no wireless charges at all – once you buy the unit there are no monthly fees. Your subscription fees basically cover the EVDO wireless access charges.

I didn’t even mention that it has an SD memory card slot, and that you can email documents to your Kindle for review, like pictures, PDF files, and Word docs. Now – it’s a tool you can use to review documents for school or work.

Here’s an Amazon Kindle review from a tech evangelist that has used many other eBook readers before he got the Kindle, this was his first review 12 hours after he got it.

Another Kindle video review:

I think that the Kindle could be one of the few gadgets you could give as a gift to people that are so “geeky” if you know what I mean. It’s easy to use, and Amazon has done a good job of taking away all the technological barriers away. It doesn’t have to be charged that often, and it never has to be connected to a computer or anything to work – it’s completely independent. This could actually be a really cool gift for Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa. If you’re an avid reader or on the go a lot – the Kindle may be for you. There’s two ways to get one, and they are of course “new or used” Amazon Kindle’s. There are some for sale on eBay – check out these auctions.

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In addition, you can buy one new directly from Amazon itself here:

Intel NAS Server

jtpratt — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:16:40 +0000

I just bought an Intel NAS Server for $135!!

I’ve waited for this day for a looong time. I literally just found this deal. What you’re looking at above in the pic is what I just bought on Buy.com, it’s a small computer in a box – a network storage server (NAS server). Literally, this is a mini computer with 512MB ram, a 1.6Ghz Celeron processor, and 250watt power supply. That’s not why I bought it though. This has 4 USB ports, a 100mbit Lan jack, and slots for both older ATA style drives, and newer Sata and eSata drives. Do you have any idea what this means?

I can plug this into my Wireless Linksys router in one of the 4 ports, and instantly every computer in my house can access this thing, my Ubuntu machines, Mac, PSP, Wii, PS3, our Xbox 360, even our Window XP, Vista, and Windows 7 machines (yes we have this much crap in our house). So, in this new Intel NAS Server I’m going to install my old 120GB ATA drive (from a machine that burned up), my new 750GB Hitatchi drive I just bought off woot.com, and then I’m going to plugin via USB my new 1.5 TB Seagate drive and 320GB myBook. Once I do this, every computer in the house will be able to access all these drives via the network!!!

Oh I forgot to mention the best part, this Intel NAS server only cost me $135 (and had FREE shipping)! Best find of the holiday season! Click here if you want one too.

Best Christmas Shopping Deals

jtpratt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:23:36 +0000

46 Days. To some that means nothing, but to millions of Americans 46 Days means they had better get a move on. 46 shopping days left until Christmas seems like a lot that is until you’re buying gifts for people at Walgreens on Christmas Eve. Why not get a move on Christmas a little earlier than usual.

First off I have got the website that might just save you some of the trouble of treading through the masses of people looking for that hot Christmas item, Deal Catcher. I just recently found this site but it is a gem. It crawls the web looking for the best days from the webs greatest shopping sites. You can find deals from 1800flowers all the way to zappos. They also have coupons; all around this website could save you some serious time this holiday shopping season.

Black Friday is a longed for day for the bravest of shoppers but for most it’s dreaded. Even though the deals are fantastic you just can’t seem to drag yourself to fight over a Blu-Ray player with a 60 year old woman who thinks it plays VHS tapes. If you’re like the type I just mentioned then you may just want to skip over these next sites. First is Black Friday Ads is a great site to see adscans of the biggest and best black Friday sales. This site also has a section that showcases the ‘hottest deals’. Next we have Black Friday info is another good site for planning your black Friday escapades. They not only have all the black Friday deals and adscans but they also have deals that other places are offering leading up to black Friday.

One more deal that everyone on the web seems to be talking about is Wal-Mart’s pre-Black Friday sale. Currently the deals run from November 7th to November 13th, even though Wal-Mart has state that how long the sale last is completely dependent on how long supplies last. Right now the big ticket item is an Xbox 360 arcade which is $200 dollars but comes with a 100 dollar Wal-Mart gift card. The gift card can be used in store or on the website so you can see how lots of people are trying to get on the best deal so far this season. A few of the other deals include a Sony Blu-Ray player for 149 dollars and a HP laptop for $298 dollars.

Christmas is approaching and if you follow some of these websites and tips you could save yourself the giant headache this season gives you every year.

Heated Vest

jtpratt — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:08:38 +0000

This heated vest is just right for winter outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing and more! My wife and I have been using an electric blanket for the last few years in our bed – and I don’t know how we ever did without it! I’ve been snowmobiling plenty of times where I was just chilled to the damn bone! These heated vests run on lithium ion batteries no bigger than a pack of cigarettes and can keep you warm 4-12 hours! This is a great time of year to pick something like this up too – because you always get better deals at the end of the season! It might be a litle low-tech actually, but I love it!

[nms:heated vest,8,0,0,smorgas.heated.vest]

The Washlet – Toilet Seat of the Future!

USB HD Receiver Tuner

jtpratt — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:50:04 +0000

I’m always surfing eBay for weird gadgets and I came across these USB HD Receiver / Tuners that seem pretty cool. Most of them are under $50, and I knew that you could get TV tuners on a USB stick, but I hadn’t seen Hi Def ones before. I think to be able to watch, and in some cases record in HD quality from a USB key shows just how compact and small technology has become. They even come with little portable antennas (awww, how cute!). This would make a great gift for somebody that travels a lot for sure, it might make waiting in the airpot much more bearable!

Check out some of the ones I found:

[nms:hdtv usb receiver -captain -box,8,0,0,smorgas.usb.hd]

Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD Sale

jtpratt — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:41:13 +0000

A couple times a year Amazon has a big Blu-Ray and DVD sale and they clear out all kinds of titles at rock bottom prices. Last time I posted this I picked up quite a few things, and I wanted to pass the savings on to you (they tend to sell out pretty quick each time they have this sale)!

The sale goes on until March 22, and there are 300 blu-ray discs as low as $13.99. You can get titles like Transformers, Iron Man, and Wall-E. There’s also a huge DVD sale as well, with prices as low as $6.49. I love these kinds of sales because I can get some great deals on good movies I was looking for – and I don’t even have to leave the house….kudo’s Amazon!

New Eye-FI Share and Explore Video SD Cards

jtpratt — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:14:46 +0000

Last year I blogged about the Eye-Fi Wireless SD cards that were oh so cool! Eye-FI SD cards have an onboard chipset that access your wireless network and automatically uploads your pics and videos to flickr and YouTube among other places! What could be better – right? I’ll tell you what, they have 2 new versions, the “Explore Video” and “Share Video”. They are both 4GB capacity (double the old versions), and the Explore version adds geotagging and hotspot wifi service on top of the old features.

With the new models out, you can find some great deals on the old 2GB versions – as well as deals on the new share and explore Eye-FI versions in auctions ending soon:

[nms:eye-fi -reader -adapter,8,0,0,smorgas.eyefi]

MSI Wind Netbook Review

jtpratt — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:34:46 +0000

This “MSI Wind Netbook Review” shows that there actually are some differences between all the sub and ultra compact laptops flooding the market right now. The biggest complaints about these little netbooks are that they keyboard is too small, the screen is too small, or the processor is too slow. The MSI Wind doesn’t really seem to have any of those problems since it boasts a 10 inch screen, a pretty good sized keyboard, and a Ghz atom processor that’s overclockable. It’s 2.6 lbs and just a bit more in physical size than the eee PC. It’s got jacks for LAN, headphone, mic, VGA, a memory card reader, decent speakers, and about 4-5 hours of battery life. The MSI wind has a 6 cell battery (most of the netbooks have only 3), and the right shift key is actually normal sized. Oh – did I mention that it also had integrated wireless bluetooth built-in?

Here’s a video review of the MSI Wind:

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HP Mini-Note Netbook Review

jtpratt — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:00:52 +0000

Since I’ve been looking at Netbooks, the HP Mini-Note should definitely not be overlooked since it was one of the first to be classified in this category as an ultra subcompact laptop gadget. I like the fact that it’s not Intel, and that you can configure the hard drive and memory to your liking, in addition to both Windows and Linux flavors. It can be a little more pricey than the others depending on how it’s configured, but it was one of the only ones to pack a 1280×768 resolution into the tiny 7.8″ screen! What more could you ask for though – you get Wi-fi, a webcam, and both express and SD card slots – in addition to the normal USB connects. All in a little 2.8lb case!

Here’s a video review:

You can find the HP Mini-Note for pretty reasonable new and used prices on ebay, here are some ending soon:

[nms:hp mini-note -case -bag -sleeve -battery -charger -adapter -keyboard -memory -external -reader -protector -skin,8,0,0,smorgas.hp.mini.note]