Christmas will be here before you know it and one of the things on my wish list is the Amazon Kindle reader. I really like the idea of not having to trek to the bookstore when I want a new book. One of the best features of the Kindle is the E-Ink display.

At the same time, the display has no backlight so reading in the dark is impossible without light. One of the best new accessories for the holiday season to go along with the Kindle is the Periscope Lighted Folio.

You may not have heard of Blue Microphones before, but they make some of the best microphones for home and studio recording available. I have one of their USB mics called the Snowball for my computer and it is fantastic.

Blue has announced a couple new products called the Mikey and the Eyeball. Mikey is a recording device that turns a normal iPod into a recording device for lectures, live music, interviews and more. The Mikey plugs into iPod 4G, 5G, and 6G models. It also supports the Nano 2G and 3G as well as the iPod classic. The mic features three user selectable gain settings, positionable head, built-in speaker, and Blue stereo condenser capsules.

Every time I buy something online, I worry about the safety of my credit card information. Many feel the same way and one of the things needed to make consumers more comfortable is additional security for credit card transactions.

Gemalto has announced what it calls the world’s first optical reader for online banking that is sized to store inside the wallet of users. The small credit-card size optical reader means that customers can have the reader on them at all times.

Every time I look up it seems like someone else is introducing a new set of earphones. I guess considering that the quality on most MP3 player or music phone earphones are seriously lacking it’s no real surprise at the wealth of aftermarket options.

The latest aftermarket offering is from a company based in Switzerland called Stafa. The earphones are the Audeo earphones and they claim to be some of the most comfortable earphones on the market. The manufacturer promises that the earphones can be worn for hours without getting uncomfortable.

Some people just have to customize everything. You know the type, in high school they had doodles all over their notebooks, their computers aren’t just black, and clothing has to be flashy. These aren’t the sort of people to have a plain iPod. The iPod has any number of customization accessories for the device itself, but what about the ear buds.

A company called Mibuds has announced a new product that allows users to customize their stock iPod ear buds. The accessories clip to the stock ear buds and sort of remind me of large earrings. There are 36 different options in 12 different series to pick from.

When you work at home, you tend to decorate your office with empty Dr. Pepper cans, Doritos bags, and last week’s pizza (or maybe that’s just me). When you work in an office cubicle, you can’t be as eclectic with your décor as you can at home.

Think Geek has a plush zombie doll called the Dismember-Me Plush Zombie that looks like, erm, a zombie. The little guy looks like he was fed upon before turning since his own brain is hanging out a bit. You can pull off his arms, legs, and head to feed your fiendish need for dismemberment.

I work in front of a computer about 12 hours a day five days a week and then I typically end up in front of one on the weekend for important activities like fragging some noobs in Call of Duty. Many times per week, I end up with headaches from the screen glare from my monitor or watery eyes. I have often wanted a pair of computer glasses to reduce the glare from my computer, but have never found them in local stores.

GUNNAR Optiks has introduced a new line of computer glasses that can be purchased over-the-counter and can be custom made to a specific prescription. The glasses come in several frame and lens styles that are cool looking and the lenses are coated in materials that change the way artificial light hits your eyes, reducing glare and improving the resolution of the wearer.

If there is one common truth with home theaters — other than lots of wires — it’s the multiple remotes that come along with them. You need one remote to change the TV channel, one to control the volume on your amp and one to control your HTPC or DVD player. It’s enough to blow the minds of many home theater users.

One of the items most home theater owners buy quickly is a universal remote control to eliminate the hoard of remotes sitting on the table. Gyration has introduced a new universal remote called the Air Music Remote with MotionSense that goes one-step further than the typical universal remote.

My aunt has a table built into a sewing room in her home that is just for cutting fabric and wrapping gifts. I always thought it was a goofy idea to have a table dedicated to such a use. Then, a couple years ago at Christmas I was wrapping a gift for my wife on our kitchen table and deftly hacked one of her new placemats in half while cutting the wrapping paper. Let me warn you guys, that is a big deal to a woman. That is when I saw the brilliance in a table solely for cutting stuff.

Evidently, lots of people see the validity of a table of that sort. If your home does not have a table for the purpose fret not, Birkiland has your fix. The company offers a product it calls Cutting Table No. 1, which is basically a cardboard table specifically made for cutting stuff. The table features three drawers under the top for storing junk.

If Professor Xavier were wheeling down the street and saw a young lady sporting these wings, she’d be enrolled in his school for the gifted quicker then Wolverine can flick his claws. I have to say, these wings look striking and almost sexual in a geek sort of way thanks to the great pics.

The wings are made of carbon fiber and extruded aluminum and the light on the wingtips can be customized in red, green, yellow, purple, or white. Apparently the wings can extend or retract 7 times before the air pressure has to be recharged. That will take 5-10 minutes. For $1,000 they can be yours. I’m hoping that this catches on and women start flying around looking extra hot, donning their wings as fashion accessories and swooping down to snatch up unsuspecting men like a hawk. That would make me happy.

H20 Audio, designers of things which  make your portable audio devices waterproof, is out with a new waterproof armband which supports a variety of devices. It is called the H20 Audio Amphibx and prices are set around $70 for a medium armband and $80 for a large one.

The H20 Audio Amphibx offers up a latch style locking closure which the company says provides a 100 percent watertight seal up to 12 feet underwater. This is paired with a touchscreen-friendly window which allows for operation even underwater.

Fins-Up, a maker of stands for Apple laptops, unveiled what looks to be its first product today. It is called simply the Fin and you’ll find it pricing around $40.

The Fin is quite simply a laptop stand made for owners of the MacBook Pro 15″ and 17″, MacBook 13″ (black and white) and the PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12″, 15″ and 17″. It is made from full aircraft-grade aluminum and is designed to attach to an Apple laptop, tilting said computer to an angle which hopeful is more ergonomic for typing and screen viewing.

Dell, thinking perhaps people have enough interest in its computers to want to accessorize them, teamed up last week with a number of accessories manufacturers to debut its Designed for Dell line up. Seven manufacturers are currently designing Dell products in this new category.

Dell specifically has enlisted the help of Belkin, Built, Creative Labs, Iomega, Logitech, Swiss Gear and Targus. Products being developed include backpacks, messenger cases, computer sleeves, cargo bags, portfolios, headphones, speakers, portable hard drives and mice.

Anyone who doesn’t smoke can tell you that if you hang out with those who do smoke, at one point or another they try and get you to smoke too. If you like the idea of a cigar, but don’t actually want real smoke, nicotine and the risk of cancer that real smoking brings you might try the E-cigar.

Ruyan’s Freestyle E-cigar is a fake cigar that uses a microchip, airflow sensor, atomizer, and liquid cartridge to produce a dense vapor that looks like smoke from a real cigar. The upside is that it’s not real smoke and has none of the problem associated with real smoke.

Since the summer began my house has been besieged by woodpeckers. The birds pecked on my house until they have actually made holes in the eaves. I really want to get rid of the little red head birds, but I don’t want to just go postal on them.

Despite the fact that I don’t want to just kill them, I wouldn’t mind knocking them a bit senseless and the M4 3181 AEG Airsoft Rifle with M203 Spring Grenade launched might do just the trick. Yeah, it has got one seriously long name but is there any denying how cool it looks?