Category: Toys

  • Snap Circuits is a Fantastic Series of Electronics Project Kits for Elementary School Kids

    Reading Time: 2 minutesMy son Jimmy has loved working with Snap Circuits building kits for the last two years. Kids who like to tinker and to try to understand how their electronic gadgets work will love Snap Circuits just like he does. Snap Circuits kits are on sale at a significant discount for the Black…

  • OWI RobotiKits 6-in-1 Educational Solar Kit: Good For Us But YMMV

    Reading Time: 3 minutesJimmy got a cool gift from a friend for his birthday: an OWI 6-in-1 Educational Solar Kit from OWI Incorporated. We have had a lot of fun with the Solar Car we built with this kit, and our success has created additional interest around simple electronic projects that are often associated with…

  • Apple Releases “Poll Position Remix” Game for the iPod

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteEarlier this week MacRumors reported that Apple had released the “Pole Position Remix” game for the iPhone. This is a remake of the classic Namco video game Pole Position that I played more than anyone else as a kid. The last time I talked about Pole Position on Operation Gadget was…

  • Gadget Links: 8 Days to Choose Edition

    Reading Time: 2 minutesApple Releases a New “Get a Mac” Ad Co-starring a Football Referee on Apple.com: Pretty good attention to detail. The referee is wearing a white hat and a uniform that is very close to that worn in many college football leagues. What I would add to this is the referee turning on…

  • Gadget Links: 10 Days to Choose Edition

    Reading Time: 2 minutesIsolator- Concentration Application For Mac OS X on LifeDev: “I don’t think I have to tell this blog’s readers how hard it can be to stay on task when working on the computer. That’s why “concentration applications” are great tools to have. If you’re a mac user, check out the elegant Isolator…

  • Toy Wishes “Hot Dozen” Loaded with Good Choices for 2007

    Reading Time: 4 minutesEvery year I try to report on the Toy Wishes Hot Dozen list of top toys. This year I think that the editors of Toy Wishes have found a group of toys that will entertain a wide range of kids and adults. The toys on this year’s list are: American Idol Talent…

  • Toy Shortages Expected to Be Worse Than Ususal This Year

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMartin O’Donnell pointed out an article from The Wall Street Journal that warns of more extreme toy and game shortages during this holiday season than in recent years. The shortages will be more extreme this year due to cautious retail strategies (brought on by poor sales of supposed-hot toys last year),…

  • Toy Wishes “Hot Dozen” Holiday Gift List Goes Upscale for 2006

    Reading Time: 3 minutesKid Tough Digital Camera: One of my favorites on the Toy Wishes Hot Dozen Holiday List. Product photos courtesy of Amazon.com. I got my copy of The Holiday 2006 issue of Toy Wishes Magazine about two weeks ago, and I’ve been reading it to see which toys the publishers think will be…

  • Sudoku Games Popular with People Who Like Math

    Reading Time: 1 minuteWe have a number of people who like math in our family, so Kathleen and I were pleased to discover Sudoku last week when we were shopping for Christmas gifts. Wikipedia says that Sudoku is a Japanese logic-based numeric placement puzzle which reportedly became popular in 1985 but only broke out to…