Baby gifts for parents with a sense of humor

Ok, let's be clear. The creations available at wrybaby.com are for parents who weather the baby and toddler years with a sense of humor. Not for the cutesy set.

I discovered this site when my son was born. The company was started by parents looking for outfits that fit their parenting philsophy ("Laugh."). Check out their great baby shower package.

Baby and toddler wear along with accessories. Great graphics.

Flipbook stocking stuffer

For only $6.99 you can convert your video into a portable, eco-friendly media player.

It's called a flipbook, folks. Mine are already on order.

How does it work?

1. Visit www.flipclips.com.
2. Upload your video.
3. Choose the book of your choice and order away.

Check out the website for a video demo.

This makes a great stocking stuffer, creative intivitation, party favor or unique way to propose marriage. Surely you can think of even more ideas.

Order by December 18th to guarantee delivery by the 22nd by express mail.

Self-portrait tripod from quikpod.com

The folks at quikpod.com have an interesting new twist on the traditional tripod. If you like what you seen you must make your purchase by December 8th to get their special gizmodo deal.
I have three on order.


The Quikpod extends your arm so that you can take natural looking self-portraits capturing your forehead. The special deal give your $4.95 off the Pro Kit that converts your Quikpod into a standard tripod. All this for $25 plu shipping.

To get the special deal visit quikpod.com and search for gizmodo or follow this link: https://shop.quikpod.com/categoryNavigationDocument.hg?categoryId=2

Kid Friendly Digital Camera - Tough, Great Product

My three year old received a Fisher Price Digital Camera for his birthday last week. The reviews on this product gave high ratings so we thought it was worth a shot. The results have been wonderful.

But let's talk about the camera first. Available in blue or pink, the camera is housed in a rubberized, two grip body. The knobby grips reduce accidental dropping. Of course, Tyler dropped his on purpose with no apparent harm (your results may vary). With only five buttons to choose from he quickly put the camera to work with almost no instruction from me.

You can tell that Fisher-Price devoted energy into the design of this camera. The binoncular viewfinder allows kids to keep both eyes open when they take the shot. A small LCD screen on the back can be used to frame the photo but it lacks resolution.

Quality of images: fine for 4x6 photos. Bright sun leads to overexposure but otherwise the exposure is good. Flash fires automatically and the delay between photos is reasonable.

The camera held about 60 photos in its built-in memory. If this isn't enough then you can add an SD card and let your little Ansel Adams capture as many images as they desire.

Online retailers are already indicated low stock on this camera - for less than $70 it makes sense. Amazon and Walmart have it in stock -act fast.

Fill a flash drive part 2 - mix tape revisited

If you are of a certain age you will no doubt remember the importance of the mix tape. Like sharing a playlist but requiring more effort and care. Don't get the importance of a mix? Watch "High Fidelity".

Take the mix tape idea and bring it into the 21st century with Microsoft Photo Story. This free download allows you to easily create a photo slideshow complete with transitions, the Ken Burns effect and the audio track of your choice. The final version plays in Media Player.

Make a slideshow for grandma, mom or (as most inspired mix tapes were made) for the object of your affection. Add images from when you first met, first dates or images that will make your soon-to-be sig other happy.

The delivery: copy the final draft of the slideshow onto a quality flash drive (Sandisk is good) and give a gift that is unique and lasting.

Get the free download right here.