Crave

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

I'll be honest. What I want is Canon's EF 500mm f/4L IS USM telephoto lens, but it costs $5,600, so let's move on to some options that aren't quite so detached from economic reality for a mostly amateur photographer such as myself.

Obviously my camera is a Canon SLR, but I'm reasonably happy with my setup right now, so here are some items I covet that are more modestly priced and that happen to be neutral as regards camera manufacturer.

RawWorkflow.com's WhiBal white-balance card

(Credit: RawWorkflow.com)

1. WhiBal white-balance card. I shoot raw images, which means data is taken directly from the camera's image sensor without any in-camera processing. I like it because it gives me more flexibility for matters such as exposure adjustment. Second in importance to exposure, though, is fixing white balance--for example the orangey color cast you'll often see when shooting under incandescent lights or the bluish tinge of pictures in the shade.

The flip side of raw photography is that it's more manual labor than just grabbing the JPEG, but to me it's worth it. I mostly just eyeball the white balance, but sometimes keying off parts of an image--the whites of someone's eyes or gray and black clothing--gives an easier way to set white balance with software. But for more precision, the WhiBal cards from RawWorkflow.com give an easy way to be more rigorous. You take a photo of the durable card, which shows a standard 18 percent gray, then set the white balance in software off that part of the photo. With modern raw-image editing software, you can synchronize the white balance for a series of images off the one you took with the card. The $19 keychain model looks about my speed. ... Read more

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

Eric's video game skills are MIA. And he wants them back.

1. iRobot Roomba. Yeah sure, these things have been around for years now, but I'm not the type of person who jumps all over new technology as soon as it's available. For me, there needs to be a necessity. Case in point, my new DVR. I mean, look at my face in that pic. It's the kind of face that causes you to think, "How could someone over the age of 20 and under the age of 60 be that excited about a DVR in 2008?" And yet, there I am. It wasn't until I determined that a DVR was necessary for me to feel better about myself as a human that I got one.

Recently, my girlfriend and I got two black cats that shed. A lot. They also track tons of litter around the house. I'd prefer not to vacuum. I thought, "Do I have any young desperate relatives that I could pay 5 cents a week to come clean my house?" When that fell through, I thought, "Robots."

2. A Men's Health subscription that doesn't suck. Not exactly tech related, but it needs to be said. I love reading this magazine. Sure, they recycle a lot of the stories and workouts from previous issues, but I can always find one or two things in each issue that are useful.

If you've ever had a subscription to Men's Health, you know it does not come without strings attached. These strings assume the form of "free" books that they send you. Now, there is sometimes some new and useful information in them. That's not the problem. The problem is that they send you these at their own discretion and usually accompanied by a letter telling you how excited you should be that you have access to this free book for the next 10 days. If you're unsatisfied, send it back within the 10 days at no charge and you're done. If you keep it beyond the trial, you'll be charged.

This is a trap, plain and simple. They know most guys aren't going to bother going through the trouble of sending this thing back. They'll either keep it out of laziness (like me) or actually find a reason inside the book--probably a flimsy one--to justify keeping it. So yes, my Men's Health subscription sucks because I am lazy.

3. Video card upgrade. OK, I currently own an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS. While a year or so ago this would have been pushing the cutting edge, it's now yesterday's news, a card that drops as low as 10 frames per second at peak times in Dalaran in Wrath of the Lich King. That is unacceptable. I'm not even sure the last time I've seen anything near a steady 60 fps.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

Who knew gonorrhea could be so darn cute?

(Credit: Giant Microbes)

1. Guitar Hero World Tour/Rock Band 2 (full band set). This is fairly self-explanatory. Sometimes sitting around playing a video game is just too sedentary. These games will have me rocking out with my stocking out not just on the fake guitar, but on fake drums, too.

The pretty extensive track list will keep me going for a while, and then there's all the downloadable content after I've finished. While I doubt they'll ever offer certain songs in my personal music collection ("The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" as performed by Leonard Nimoy), there are enough songs I like to make it worthwhile. Plus, everyone looks cool playing it, right?

2. Plush gonorrhea. Enough people get The Clapper for Christmas; why not get The Clap instead? The plush version. There are actually a menagerie of plush microbes you can get, but how often can you tell people you were happy to get gonorrhea for Christmas? Sober, anyway.

3. Digital Diamond game by Tomy. My uncle had this handheld electronic game back in the day, and I played it as often as I could sneak it away from him. It's primitive, loud, and kinda cheesy, but I've already written about my weakness for old-school electronic toys.

It's only electric in that it lights up; the main gameplay is mechanical, hence the noise. I was, believe it or not, not a great sportsman as a kid, but I had a lot of fun playing baseball with this toy.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

1. Cheap storage. I've run out of room for all the photos, music, audio books, and videos I've amassed. I don't need to stream wirelessly or transfer data quickly. I just need a place to throw all those episodes of Spain...On the Road Again that I paid for so might as well keep. For my simple needs, the Western Digital My Book Edition (2TB) external 2-terabyte hard drive looks good. With Raid 0 and 1 support, I can set it up to mirror--use each terabyte to store my stuff in duplicate. Once I fill a terabyte, I can switch to using it as a straight 2-terabyte hard drive. It doesn't have Firewire, but a USB 2.0 connection is fine if it means getting 2 terabytes of storage for about $250.

2. Compact camera. I'm in the opposite boat as Dujmovic. I've been whooping it up with my Canon Rebel XT (literally running out of wall space for my large frame photos). Now I need to replace my elderly Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Elph (only 2.1 megapixels and a tiny 1.5-inch screen). I want a sleek ultracompact with at least 7 megapixels, a 3-inch screen, and video. I'd like the Nikon Coolpix S60, or the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70 or DSC-W130. If it's on sale, the 10-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 that comes with 4GB of built-in storage and a cool brushed stainless look would be even better.

3. Donations to Room to Read. While I crave more room in my life for time to read books, others crave the books themselves. A former Microsoft executive left his Redmond life to do something about that. Room to Read is an education-focused charity that helps communities build libraries, schools, local language publishing firms for children's books, computer labs, and scholarship funds. You can choose which country and project you want your money to support.

According to Room to Read, 86 percent of your money goes straight to projects in need. The organization has also been a Motley Fool charity pick for its "long-term, sustainable goals, and transparent, sound finances."

Editors' note: From now through the end of December, various Crave editors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

It would be tiny, but it would be home.

(Credit: Modern Cabana)

1. An entirely wired tiny home. Have you heard about the tiny home movement? Basically, people are buying these storage containers-cum-homes and living in them. (Local San Francisco company--and, incidentally, my neighbor--Modern Cabana makes some beauties.) The movement is about downsizing to the bare essentials. Now, I'm all for decluttering, and I totally agree that I don't need many square feet in which to exist comfortably, but what I do need are three things: wireless Internet, a ton of television channels, and an HD TiVo.

So Santa or kindly benefactor, I would like, first, a large swath of land on the West Coast (easy, right?), and second, a tiny home (equipped with these three comforts) plopped right in the middle of it. Then I and my pet-sitting robot (see below) can live in peace and quiet, while the cats roam around our vast property, hunting down vermin.

2. A robotic cat-sitter. Do you know how much an in-home, human cat-sitter (who visits just to feed, water, and scoop your cats' litter) costs? A ton. Average where I live: 30 bucks a visit. But on the other hand, do you know how indebted to your friends and neighbors you'll be if you cajole them into watching your animals? Try a few nice dinners, a bottle of champagne, and the use of your car when they need to pick up something they bought on Craigslist, i.e. shove a couch into your Honda Accord.

So, for Christmas (and preferably before Christmas, so I can take advantage of it this vacation season), I want a robotic cat-sitter. Ideally, it would provide not only food, water, and litter box cleaning, but also love, cuddles, and a steady stream of water to spray at the little rascals when they lounge on the dining table. I'm thinking something Jetsons-esque; something with attitude that my cats can grow to love and respect, so that they don't see my leaving for a few days as an opportunity to shred the curtains and drink out of the toilet.

Maybe its feet could be a Roomba, and while it's chasing the cats (or giving them a ride), it can clean the floor! Shablam! Someone make this please.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave contributors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

I want this novel light syringe to work now.

(Credit: University of St Andrews)

1. Implementation of cancer-killing light saber. Reports that scientists in Scotland were working on a promising light saber-like device to treat cancer couldn't have come at a more relevant time. My dear friend's husband has just been diagnosed with a hard-to-treat form of the disease, and everyone close to him is reeling from the news.

The technology would involve firing a laser beam accurate enough to pump chemotherapy drugs directly into cancer cells. The researchers believe hard-to-reach cancers, such as that of the pancreas--and hopefully, in my friend's case, the liver--would especially benefit. This holiday season, I wish this treatment were already widely in use, so that it could zap the life out of every last cancer cell in this amazing man's body.

2. Motherboard menorah. I love the idea of gathering around the table to sing Hanukkah songs and light the recycled motherboard. This innovative take on the traditional candelabrum also features nine LED lights, which would help me cut down on those 15 grams of carbon dioxide allegedly produced by every lit candle that burns completely. Plus, this menorah uniquely combines two aspects of my identity: my Jewish heritage and my job in technology.

The Pininfarina B0: who said we couldn't include big-ticket items on our wish list?

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

3. Pininfarina BO electric car. One day, my trusty 1994 Integra hand-me-down will go to Acura heaven--and given the odd screeching sounds it's been emitting lately, that day is likely coming soon. When the old car does retire, I'd like to replace it with a sleeker, greener model.

The graceful little B0, a collaboration between Italian designer Pininfarina and Bollore, uses a lithium metal polymer battery pack on the undercarriage, with an electric motor driving the front wheels. Solar panels on the roof and hood help recharge the electrical power reserves. Yes, it takes 6.3 seconds to accelerate from zero to 37 mph (Bollore, a consortium of companies with expertise in batteries and capacitors, hasn't released a zero-to-60 time yet). But hopefully when and if this great-looking little auto goes into production in late 2009, it will pick up speed. And can I just say that I'm really ready for a built-in MP3 player to replace my current cassette/CD combo?

Happy holidays from Matt Hickey. Too much eggnog, perhaps?

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave contributors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. Here's the latest in the series.

Even though I'm a "Bah, Humbug" kind of guy, I like the idea of coming up with five things I want as holiday presents from the technology world.

I could have picked five gadgets. Instead--in the interest of goodwill to all mankind--I've decided to pick personal-technology intangibles that I believe should be changed. I've selected things that would be simple to do, and hopefully the various powers that be will see this list and work with Santa to consider my ideas. I am, after all, a professional.

1. Zune client for OS X. There's nothing Apple's doing to prevent this; it's all Redmond. The Zune is a fantastic media player and is in many ways superior to the iPod. But, as a Mac user (sorry, I cannot with a straight face run Windows at home) I'm out in the cold.

Microsoft has made some great software for OS X (Office for Mac is still better than Office for Windows), so it's not a lack of talent. I'm really not sure what it is. You'd think this would be something Microsoft would do out of spite. Mac users using Zunes would give MS' consumer arm a boost out of irony and spite.

2. Adobe Flash and MMS capability for iPhone. Maybe it's some deal with YouTube. Maybe it's closed-mindedness on Apple's side. I don't care, I want Flash support integrated within the iPhone's version of Safari. There are too many online tools, games, and apps that use Flash to leave it out. To make the iPhone really capable of replacing a laptop for daily use it needs to have all the same capabilities, and that means being able to use these tools via Flash.

And really, why don't we have MMS yet? Apple? AT&T? Phones that are free have it. Windows Mobile phones have it. It's one of the things keeping the iPhone from being a perfect device. Work on it.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave contributors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season.

A remarkable computer-generated simulation of what I'd look like if I had any holiday spirit--which I do not.

1. Either a BlackBerry Storm, Samsung Omnia, or Apple iPhone: After getting laughed at one time too many when whipping out my chunky Treo 700P, it's finally time to give in and get a new smartphone. Initially, as a long-time Verizon customer, I was torn between the BlackBerry Storm and the Samsung Omnia. After playing around with both, I wasn't convinced--the Storm's click screen seems like it would get annoying real quick, and the Omnia, despite the rave reviews, just felt sluggish to use, and the low screen resolution made it hard to read text in the Web browser.

Now, I'm also considering making the switch to AT&T and joining the iPhone masses, just on the strength of the interface and general ease-of-use. I use my phone primarily for Web surfing and AIM, not so much for calls, but even so, Verizon's good reputation for service in NYC (and AT&T's less-than-stellar rep) gives me pause. I'm still undecided, so let me know what you think...

2. Flip Video MinoHD: As a one-time film student, I still have the folding chair and tilted beret of a big-screen director in the back of my mind. To help kick off my alternate career as a documentarian in the mold of the Maysles Brothers or Werner Herzog, I'll start with this handheld HD mini-cam.

3. M-Audio Keystation 88: If you're a part-time musician like myself, figuring out how to squeeze the most music-making power out of your gear is always an important topic. There are as many combos of hardware and software, digital and analog equipment out there as there are music styles, but my personal preference is a PC-based ProTools setup. I currently use a Digidesign Mbox and ProTools LE 7.4, with Propellerhead's Reason software ReWired into it for keyboards and sequencing.

If that's all Greek to you, the point is, I've used a variety of different 49-, 61-, and 32-key USB controllers (essentially dummy devices that look like piano keyboards but have no onboard sounds and are used to control music software) over the years, but have never had a full-size 88-key controller. Since they're basically just plastic keys wired to a USB port, they're usually moderately priced, such as this $249 model from M-Audio.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

1. Get Mom off of AOL. My mother is the best woman I know. She's hilarious, an amazing cook, and would go to the ends of the earth for her children. She's even fairly comfortable with technology, as evidenced by the complicated emoticons she tags onto her e-mails and text messages. But she has one major flaw: she can't seem to give up her AOL account. She's been a loyal customer since we first paid for usage by the minute.

The Motoman SDA10 has two arms with seven joints each, which allows it to expertly wield a spatula.

(Credit: Pink Tentacle)

Mom doesn't actually like AOL at all, but she looks past the annoying "You've got mail" greeting and circa-1999 design all because she doesn't want to lose her bookmarks. Mom, you deserve threaded e-mail conversations and easy filters. This Christmas, sign up for Gmail. Or Yahoo Mail, Live Mail, whatever: they're all free. There's no reason not to switch. Seriously, do it for me, Mom.

2. Kill voice mail. Can we please just get rid of voice mail? It's time consuming, eats up service plan minutes, and isn't the best solution for the problem of a missed call.

I'm a reporter, so a LOT of people call me. But if I'm not at my desk, and you leave a message, chances are I won't dial in to the phone system to listen to it. No offense, but I'm probably on deadline. Instead, I'll see a missed call and go directly to my e-mail. The really pro PR folks send e-mails to say they called, and consequently, this is how I now operate in life. If I miss a call on my mobile, I don't check messages. I look at the number and, if it's someone I know, return the call.

Voice mail is overrated and unnecessary. It's called e-mail, people. Or visual voice mail. I can compromise.

3. More content on Netflix Watch Instantly. Netflix Watch Instantly is awesome. So much so that I nominated it as my Gadget I'm Thankful For. But after catching up on 30 Rock, old episodes of childhood favorite MacGyver, and random '80s flicks, I'm left wanting more. And if I can be picky here, more current TV series, please.