FREEZE YOUR ASS OFF, NOT YOUR FEET.

I consider myself lucky because I can walk to work. I get my cardio in and accomplish a needed task. Unfortunately this NYC winter has been REALLY, REALLY cold [Buffalo and Minnesota people may laugh at me this point forward]. Honestly it’s not even the frigid temperatures that irks me. I just F—ing hate those cold gusts of whipping winds. [Thank you skyscrapers.] I do the layers thing, and that does help my upper body. However the feet area is what tends to get me. Probably 'cause I wear sneakers to work (I’m in advertising). So yeah, by the 28^th step in this asphalt tundra my feet feel like blocks of ice.

BUGATHERMO?

The simple selling pitch ­– self-heating boots. Keeps feet toasty warm for up to 8 hours.

Other foot features include:

• 3 temperature settings (with easy LED controls on boot).
  
• Rechargeable battery pack (comes with plug in adapter).
  
• Dual heating (surrounds entire foot in toasty goodness).
  
• Made of waterproof, yet breathable material.
  

Guy & Gal pairs go for $250 a pop.

USB POWERED PLAYTHINGS

What do you use your USB ports for? Productive stuff like jump drives and a mouse? For less than 20 bucks you can power up your own playtime...hopefully on the company dime.

SNOWBOT ($11.99 @ Thinkgeek):

• Made of sturdy space-age plastic
  
• Blue or red (creepy) LED scanning light.
  
• Robotic noise
  
• Requires only one USB port
  

PET ROCK ($9.99 @ Thinkgeek):

• Rock-like design
  
• Gray
  
• Hard rock feel
  
• Handy travel case
  
• Requires only one USB port
  

ROBOT OWL ($19.99 @ Thinkgeek)

• Realistic movements
  
• Eye blinking and head turning motions
  
• Three moods: Active, Mellow or Sleeping
  
• Comes with clip for monitor or laptop and small stump
  
• Stands 3" high when perching on his stump
  
• Imported from Japan
• Requires only one USB port

POST CHRISTMAS HELP FOR THE TECH GIFT CHALLENGED.

by Greg Colfaz (NWM Staff Writer)

Yo from Cottonwood, Idaho. So right at this exact moment, millions of people have said goodbye to guests staying over and are now getting down to setting up the brand spankin' new tech gift they got for Xmas. I’m pretty sure without a doubt 99.99% of you folks will have some sort of trouble during set up. 50% of those people will eventually get whatever it is to work (with minimal tears). While the rest of us will be pulling our hair out and cursing anyone that comes within 10 feet of us. If you’re in the latter category, here are some support numbers that might come in handy.

[courtesy of gethuman.com]

• Sony Playstation: 800-222-7669

• Xbox: 800-469-9269

• Apple: 800-275-2273

• DirecTV: 800-824-9081

• Hewlett-Packard: 800-474-6836

• T-Mobile: 800-937-8997

• AT&T: 888-387-6270

****BONUS #****

• Amazon: 800-201-7575

TOM SELLECK IS NOSTRADAMUS (THE GOOD VERSION).

The time, 1993. AT&T sets out to prove it’s not just a phone company with a fancier name than its folksy ancestor Bell Atlantic. They wanted to give us a glimpse of the AT&T telecommunication future. Good reasons why we will be more than willing to shell out more for our phone bills. The idea? An ad campaign appropriately titled “You Will”. The spots were directed by David Fincher (Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and narrated by Tom Selleck. The incredible part is these commercials are from 1993. Before Al Gore creates the internet and Steve Jobs designs his i-stuff. It’s crazy freaky how many predictions actually came true. And it's not just the big stuff. They also nailed the little, convenient day-to-day technologies. Unfortunately, even though AT&T gets the blue ribbon for predicting, they kinda fell short in the producing category. As you will see, they were not "the company that will bring it to you" in most cases.

KILLER CARDBOARD SPEAKERS.

MUJI is leading the way in collapsible speaker technology. Their 2009 Cardboard Speakers make the perfect present for any techno-challenged person with absolutely no space in their studio apartment. One simple wire plugs into any headphone jack. Designed with a simple look and made with eco-friendly materials. Costs only 38 bucks at the MOMA Store.

THINK GEEK GIFTS!

I’m just going to throw this out there, people who have everything SUCK! Not only for the obvious reasons. The beautiful houses. Cars that rhyme with Berrari & Gourche. To me, they really suck because you can never find the right gifts for those people. Chances are they have everything you would think of getting them, and probably spent more money than you would. No offense. Christmas. Birthdays. Chanukah. You simply can’t win, so go geek. Thinkgeek.com is literally made up of stuff no one would ever think to own. USB / toy rocket launchers. Rubix cube alarm clocks. And even a Linux based photo frame – Because you never know when you’re going to need an open sourced operating system to display your precious little Shitzu. Thinkgeek has gifts for guys, girls and kids. They’ve even got eco-friendly stuff. All at prices you can afford. And yes, if you’re truly still at a loss, they have gift certificates.