Toys

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer Review

When I was a kid, computerized math tutoring came in the form of the Little Professor, an educational device made by Texas Instruments. While it was a fabulously geeky toy for my elementary school self, the Little Professor did have its shortcomings – all “he” could basically help with was addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Today, kids have it made. Companies like LeapFrog have made educational electronic toys available and accessible – even to toddlers. I am going to tell you about their new FLY Fusion Pentop Computer, which is marked as appropriate for ages 8 and up. Due to…


AntWorks – Space Age Ant Habitat

Observing ants in your home used to mean obtaining the typical ant farm which used sand as the medium for the ants to live in. A modern development and improvement on the old sand ant farms are the AntWorks ant habitats. This habitat uses a special gel instead of sand. The gel setup was originally developed for an NASA experiment, in which ants were sent into space on board the space shuttle to study insect life in near weightlessness. Traditional soil-based ant farm tunnels would collapse from the intense vibrations during a take off. To solve the problem, NASA scientists…


The Funslides Carpet Skates Review

Recently, Judie did a post about the FunSlides Carpet Skates. Because of a technical glitch with our email server, I never got the team email about reviewing them. It was after Judie did her write up on the skates that I thought to myself, these may be just the thing to solve the problem my Robosapien robots have with walking on carpet. I mentioned this to Judie, and she thought it would be a great idea to let the bots volunteer. The FunSlides Carpet Skates come in six color choices, blue, silver, red, purple and hot pink. I was sent…


The HobbyTron.com Hornet 3 Mini RC Helicopter Review

Radio-controlled helicopters are cool toys and the manufacturers are still making new models and evolving them to include new and better features. When HobbyTron.com approached Gear Diary to review the new HobbyTron.com branded Hornet 3 mini RC helicopter, Judie thought immediately of me and asked me if I wanted to review it. I said yes! So, I guess I am now the resident RC helicopter pilot around here. 😀 Review updated July 22, 2007: Added video of the Hornet 3. The features of the Hornet 3 helicopter are as follows: 15 Step Digital Proportional Controls Tail Rotor Trim Dial (persists…



A Palm Treo cradle – LEGO style

I was looking around for a charging cradle that would allow me to store my Palm Treo 650 or 680 in an upright position. Most of the ones that I’ve seen advertised range in price from $29 to $49 USD. While esthetically useful, the practicality of obtaining a cradle meant having yet another spare power cable and sync cable stored away in a shoebox of miscellaneous wires and USB cables. The ancient Greek phillospher Plato is quoted as saying Necessity is the mother of invention, which means that a need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or…


The Cheeky Chick by okiedog Review

Are you looking for an innovative toy for the kid in your life?  Whether it is for your niece, friend’s son, or your own child, okiedog has created two foldable tricycles for you. Both designs are for specific age groups and offer varying benefits. The G-Force is the 21st Century’s answer to the much-loved Original Big Wheel. It provides fast-paced riding and spinning through a sleek design. It is specifically for kids 7 years and older. The Cheeky Chick is the toddler version without the propulsion power. According to the site, the Cheeky Chick is a foot-to-floor ride-on transformable tricycle….


The ThinkGeek USB Snowbot Review

Oh the winter holidays are here again. I was feeling festive this year and was planning on buying one of them light up USB Snowmen from ThinkGeek to bring some holiday cheer to my computer workstation. What? was my reaction when searching the ThinkGeek website, no USB Snowman to be found. Oh well, maybe they will have them again soon. Then a couple of days later… on the front page of their website was revealed the ThinkGeek exclusive USB Snowbot! What they call a hybrid of robot and snowman. WOW, they created a “Cylon” snowman, LOL! As a sci-fi junkie,…