Give 'em a gizmo

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 2, 2004 | by BILL REED THE GAZETTE

The locater could be essential for Alzheimer's patients or people suffering from memory loss. But it comes in pretty handy for anyone who tends to forget where they've put their stuff.

6. Easy Quick Car Jumper Kit ($40; Sharper Image)

Winter is here, and chances are you'll run into a hapless soul who needs a battery jumped. But it's such a hassle to get under the hood, get grime all over your shirt, and then fear frying yourself if you clamp the wrong spot.

Never fear, the Easy Quick Car Jumper Kit is here. The kit plugs into the cars' lighters and pumps juice from the operating battery to the dead one. Don't open the hood. Don't get zapped. Just plug it into the lighter, sit in your car for 10 minutes, and be a Good Samaritan the easy way.

7. Primo Milk Frother ($20; Williams-Sonoma)

Thanks to Starbucks, a cup of coffee isn't enough any more. People need latts and cappuccinos and mochas, oh my.

With the Primo Milk Frother, you can create a frothy beverage at the touch of a button. If you're tired of cleaning the frother on your espresso machine. If you're visiting a friend who -- gasp! -- makes regular coffee. If you're stuck on an airplane, order a coffee and a milk and pull out the cordless frother (just make sure the air marshal doesn't think it's a weapon).

Frothing veterans say the handy-dandy tool also makes whipped cream and other goodies.

8. Vialta VistaFrame Digital Picture Frame ($300; Discovery Channel Store, Sharper Image)

Digital cameras just got easier to enjoy. You don't need a computer with this magical picture frame. Just stick the memory card straight into the picture frame and the images are projected on a bright LCD flat screen. Flip to a new favorite each day, or even play a slide show of Christmas memories in the living room.

The advantage of the Vialta is the ease. Some digital picture frames allow you to transmit photos straight to Grandma's nightstand hundreds of miles away. But they're more complicated to use, and require a monthly subscription.

9. SwissMemory ($82; www.victorinox.com)

Swiss Army knives really do have everything. Blade, check. Nail file, check. Screwdriver, check. Tiny scissors, check. And a 128- megabyte USB flash storage drive. Huh?

That's enough memory to hold 100 digital photos, 36 songs, or about 90 floppy disks' worth of word processing files. Plug it into the USB port on one computer, grab information, and then plug it into the USB port on another machine.

Want to work on that big project at home? Drag info from your work computer to the home PC. Need to read a 50-page report over the weekend? Don't print it out; just store it on your Swiss Army Knife and retrieve it later.

Or vice versa. Take a photo to work to use as a screensaver. Take a writing project to the inlaws' house for the holidays, without a single piece of paper.

You can remove the flash drive from the knife for air travel.

10. AirPort Express ($130; Best Buy, Circuit City, www.apple.com)

This little goodie plugs into an electrical outlet and turns your broadband connection (Windows or Macintosh) into a wireless network.