Netflix is set to launch their set-top box with the help of LG electronics. The union will allow subscribers to watch movies directly from the Internet to their TV’s. Netflix presently has upwards of 7 million subscribers, many of which have been waiting for this service. They are hoping to launch the set-top box by mid 2008. The price will range between $4.99 to about $16.99 a month, all inclusive of rates. Apparently, LG would embed the receiver into its $799 dual-DVD player, which supports the competing Blu-ray and HD-DVD high-definition DVD formats.

Vudu Inc, which already offers a set-top box for $399 lets consumers buy or rent movies from a selection of about 5,000 titles. Netflix on the other hand has about 90,000 titles available through their online mail order service. Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings sees it as a huge opportunity and said the LG partnership was the first of many such deals for the company.

Cue classic Bob Seger song. Put on your shades. Have your fake mic ready. Then do the “Risky Business” slide and be just like Tom Cruise…On your carpet.

Sliding is easy with socks and a smooth floor. It’s damn near impossible on carpet. Thanks to the carpet skates from fun slides, it’s easy to slide across a carpet with ease. In fact, this puts an entirely new spin on indoor horseplay. Think of all the trouble you can get into. Think of all the breakables. The skates have a friction resistant and foam foot grip. Just strap them onto your shoes and slide with ease. They come in 6 colors. Just $19.99.

It’s hard to save money these days, no matter the size of your family. Plus there’s all those cool gadgets to buy. You could use some help, right? What if your families wealth was tied into that of a virtual family? Would you let them suffer or share the wealth with them? The virtual family in question lives inside Jinsei Ginko (“Life Bank”) and they start off in relatively modest conditions.

As you add money to the bank, their lives get better, progressing through milestones like marriage and (if you provide enough coin) to a life of luxury. Presumably it will be pretty damn sweet for them until you decide to empty the bank. Poor virtual fools. You are a vicious and petty God.

This has got to be one of the neatest cocktail shakers ever made. I must for barmen and booze hounds alike. The body is a cocktail shaker with a lift-off nose and the wings are actually slide-off flasks that can hold 3.4 oz of liquid each. The shaker holds 27 oz. The beautiful design makes it look like it’s going to take off down the bar, but you know that if this thing ever takes flight, you’ve clearly had enough.

It’s made from nickel-plated stainless steel and brass and measures 12-1/2″ wide x 12″ deep x 4-1/2″ tall. You’ll be flying high in no time and more importantly you’ll be inebriated in style.

The smartTOUCH garage door opener works with any manufacturer’s garage door opener, and stores up to 20 user’s fingerprints. You can also provide temporary access for contractors or visitors etc, by adding, deleting, and changing user profiles.

I know, it’s all good until someone hacks your finger off, just like SmartScan, but what are ya gonna do? The smartTOUCH operates by sliding the cover open and swiping your finger(Assuming you still have it). The device’s algorithm reads the “unique swirls on your finger to create a unique code, that only comes back to you.” The code is then encrypted and can’t be used to recreate your print. They say that it will work out of the box and is a breeze to install and operate. It’s also weatherproof and can operate at temperatures from -30 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

These glass tubes contain a nutritive and non-toxic space age gel made by NASA scientists that allows seeds to be grown inside of tubes. A very essential thing to be able to do when in space. You can easily imagine one plant turning to another saying, “Are you gellin’?”, “Yeah, I’m gellin like Magellan.”

Bad gel and commercial jokes aside, this is pretty neat. The gel is transparent, so you can also see the plant growing below the surface and have a look at it’s roots. The tubes are 7 inches tall and you can get 5 different varieties like basil, melon, marigold, pepper, sunflower or tomato. This is cool for adults and is bound to teach kids something about plants as well. Each plantarium vial garden costs $9.95.

All parents should have this little gadget, It keeps your booze where it belongs and safe from the throats of greedy drinkers. If you want a drink, you are going to have to crack the three digit code.(How hard can that be?, thinks the salivating alcohol thief.) Hopefully no one breaks the neck of the bottle trying to get this thing off.

This will stop your delinquent children from raiding the liquor cabinet and then watering down the liquid so you won’t notice, while you are away at work. Now you’ve stopped those little tyrants! They cost $13.50 each. Knowing that your precious liquor is safe…priceless. Let the kids get their own.

This one is like the Chillow pillow we told you about last year. Instead of a pillow, it’s an entire mattress and is a good idea no matter what climate you live in. It’s capable of heating and cooling itself so you can be comfortable in bed. That way you can fall asleep faster or let it help you stay awake. The ChiliPad uses a small and nearly silent motor that they claim is similar to semi-conductor technology that cools your computer. This heats or cools water, which is pumped through coils inside the mattress.

With the included wireless remote you can control the temperature between 68F and 118F. As you might have guessed, it is not priced cheaply, $479 for a single zone twin and $999 for a dual zone king. But hopefully you can save enough money on nighttime heating in your home and cooling costs, so that it will pay for itself. It will also solve that whole Goldilocks and the 3 Bears thing: It won’t be too hot, it won’t be too cold, it will be just right.

This new concept in toast making uses big fans to toast bread faster than ever before. As is often the case, necessity is the mother of invention. Oliver Newberry, a graduate of Central St. Martins College in London designed this toaster to cure the problem of beans getting cold while toast is getting warm. (In England Beans & toast are a popular treat) The Heinz company is hoping to have these units available for sale within a year.

A working prototype uses fans that blow hot air over the surface of the toast from both sides. Apparently that cuts toasting time from the average of 141 seconds to about 50 seconds. Who wouldn’t want what amounts to mini-jet engines in their toaster? Sign me up. I’ll pass on the beans however…

Admit it, you like to be different and have unique things that your friends and neighbors would love to have. With the holidays it’s pretty hard to break free and be different since everyone is doing the same ideas: Christmas tree in the corner, lights on the house, maybe a talking Santa outside your front door. But if you really want to stand out in the crowd having a 7-foot-tall upside-down Christmas tree in the corner of your family room may be the ultimate.

What you see is what you get: a pre-lit, 7-foot-tall X-mas tree. The tree comes with 800 pre-strung lights on it and 3,700 PVC branch tips spread across its 54-inch diameter. It might not be suited for hanging your Christmas ornaments on it but you have to admit that there is plenty of room under the tree for presents. It weighs 84 pounds so better make sure that it’s securely fastened to the ceiling (unless you want to lay a trap for Santa.) A nickel under $600 and it’s yours forever.

With all of these gadgets and electronics, not to mention Christmas lights, your electric bill is probably killing you one watt at a time. The Intelliworks Energy Saver feels your pain and can apparently cut your electricity bill by up to 50%. It uses state of the art technology to ‘optimize the voltage’, by acting as a sort of traffic cop for electricity.

The device automatically optimizes the voltage and current demands so that the end result is less energy consumed by you. They claim that users in cities will save about 14%, while those in rural areas will save even more. Possibly up to 50%. It sounds too good to be true, I know, but that’s not the only benefit. The life of your appliances can be extended, since the voltage is stabilized during momentary power surges. Just plug it into any wall socket and start counting your extra money every month. That’s it.

Here’s a novel item for those who like to show off at parties and love new gadgets. Let’s face it, ice cubes are a thing of the past. They just don’t impress people like they did 50-100 years ago. Sure they chill your drink, but they also water it down. And it can be tough keeping all those trays full, then waiting for each to freeze. Plus they’re boring. I’m personally sick of looking at them.

Shot glasses made out of ice are kinda’ cool but are also hard to handle. Why not just freeze water in a specially shaped mold and then send your drinks down the icy slopes, like the Olympic luge sport, straight into your waiting glass. Mixed drinks, colas, Orange Juice…Chill it all and make your intake of liquid fun again. The liquid will hit your glass already chilled.

It doesn’t get much better designwise, then a mushroom lamp that is clearly inspired by the Mario games from Nintendo. It’s a classic that’s instantly recognizable and nostalgic.

Now you finally have that last elusive piece of the puzzle and can decorate your room to look just like the Mushroom Kingdom. I like the green 1up mushroom because it reminds me of countless extra lives. They’re cute, colorful and cheap at $13. They are sure to win you the Princess, or at the very least your friend Luigi will want to hang out more.

How many times have you wished that you could turn off all of the lights on your Christmas tree just by blowing on an ornament? Surely I’m not the only one. Well, my prayers at least, have been answered. In years past, you had to unplug the extension cord from the wall or flick the switch to off. For some people that’s alot of work.

Enter the Santa Magic Blowout Ornament. Once you have Santa wired into your lighting system, just blow into the ornament to turn off all the tree lights. To turn them on again just push the button on the chimney. I know, it’s one of those gadgets that on one hand is lame, but then again it does make it easier to turn your lights off.

The idea behind the Animated Tree Face is to attach it to your tree with the provided ties and let it entertain all of your friends. This thing looks like somebody cross-bred E.T. with a Chia pet. Your guests won’t know whether to be more scared of you or the Extra-Terrestrial that has taken your tree hostage. I just can’t see an enjoyable and delightful evening with this thing peering out at me, but to each his own.

If you set it to motion activation, it will tell one of 6 hilarious holiday jokes that it knows, or it will sing one of 3 song parodies. Or, if you really want to be remembered for many years to come as a total dork, you can use the included microphone to make it talk and sing with your voice. The mouth and eyes move and flash whenever it talks and sings.