Crave

(Credit: Smarty Pants)

Kids may gobble up junk food, but it seems they love playing with Nintendo devices even more.

Out of the 100 most loved brands for America's children and tweens, the Nintendo Wii and DS scored the first and second spots, according to a report by research firm Smarty Pants.

The survey "Young Love" found that even tempting snacks like Oreos and M&Ms trailed behind the Nintendo gear, taking the third and fifth spots in the list, respectively. Other techie items loved by 6- to 12-year-olds included the iPod at number 12, Sony's Playstation at 14, YouTube at 36, and Microsoft's Xbox at 42.

Kids participate in more than $500 billion in consumer spending each year, according to Smarty Pants, and their parents consider their favorites when buying everything from snacks to entertainment, both of which popped up heavily on the list.

"From Crayola to iPod, kids' most loved brands are familiar, iconic brands that delight kids and parents with variety, value, family-friendly content, and simple pleasures," Smarty Pants President Wynne Tyree said in a statement. "Interestingly, the top brands are not traditional 'for kids only' brands; in fact, many are not marketed directly to kids."

To compile the report, Smarty Pants questioned 4,700 American kids and their parents online over a period of nine months. Covered in the survey were more than 260 consumer brands across 20 different product categories.

The brands that kids liked most, said SmartyPants, were the ones that offered high-quality family time, age-appropriate content, parent-approved indulgence, variety/choice, "cool" accessibility, and chatter-worthy advertising.

Fab 5 Freddy attempts to follow Dong's advice.

We start off with probably the weirdest opening ever. Where was I going with that? Your guess is as good as mine.

That opening sets the tone, though, since we jump right into Dong's promised dating advice from last week that's completely full of fail. Seriously, don't try this at home, or on the street.

There are bad segues and then there are bad segues. This one here is probably the worst ever, and we deliver it to you, unedited, raw, real. Real dumb.

From fail dating advice, to fail segues, to something that is potentially full of win: 2,000 movies on one DVD. From there we have lengthy discussion on installing Windows 98 on your home system, why we love the smell of plasma rifles in the morning, and why Dong can't stop obsessing about turning something fun into a job.

Also, Dong whips out his ruler to give Acronis a light spanking.

All of this, delivered to you in a clear, concise and professional manner. Indeed.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the podcast link on the right. Don't forget to leave us voice mail at 1-800-947-6399 or e-mail us at insidecnetlabs@cnet.com.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Convergence: The occurrence of two or more things coming together. In this case, cars and couches, shoes and bathtubs, and last but not least, showers and aquariums. Try to wrap your brain around that!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 137

The cuffs on the Bike to Work Pants fold up to increase reflectivity.

(Credit: Cordarounds)

Cycling commuters are forced to deal with a million obstacles on the ride to and from work. In urban areas, cars remain our biggest foe, largely because people don't make the effort to look out for our blinking lights. Plenty of companies offer cycling-specific clothing, but they're terribly unflattering in all the wrong places.

But check this out: Cordarounds has developed these Bike to Work Pants. The inside of the pockets and pant cuffs are actually made from a material that reflects lights, thus increasing a cyclist's visibility and safety.

In "daytime mode," the pants just look like a standard pair of khakis, made from a brushed pebble cotton that's just as comfortable as they are durable. The mudflaps subtlety fold into the pockets, completely concealing the reflective material. Wear them around the house, at work, or while running errands, but when it comes time to jump on the bike for the ride home, the Cordarounds really shine: the inside cuffs and pant pockets of each pair are made of a strong Illuminite Teflon material and bound with reflective 3M Scotchlite that illuminate at night to protect the rider. Get a more detailed look at the pants by watching this video.

All Cordaround products, including the Bike to Work Pants, are sewn exclusively in San Francisco and are available through the company's Web site. If interested, head over to Yanko Design and enter for a chance to win a free pair!

Turn on the magic of reflective light

So..much...neon.

(Credit: Thingiverse)

We've seen keyboards integrated into pants before (in this edition of DO NOT CRAVE), but we're willing to give it another chance because Brooklynite Zach Hoeken actually made these himself.

Zach spawned the keyboard pants idea at Sunday's Fashion Hacking Day sponsored by NYC Resistor, a collective that brings hackers together to share knowledge and collaborate on creative projects. Instead of throwing away a flexible silicone keyboard he had lying around the house, he decided to cut it in half and sew it onto a pair of shants.

Hoeken lists the required tools and outlines a basic six-step process to making your own keyboard pants on his blog, but we still can't understand why someone would want to walk around in this things (I don't even think nerdy girls will want to get anywhere close to that spacebar).

Nevertheless, we applaud Zach's DIY mentality and encourage him to get to work on the Nike high tops from "Back to the Future 2" as soon as possible.

Lazy bums rejoice over tablecloth sweatpants

(Credit: Mitemite)

I know these are still in beta, and I'm all for silly fashion statements, but I have to take a second to expound on the ridiculousness of these "Lazy Sunday Pants."

To the layman, these pants by Spanish design studio Mitemite appear to be your normal pair of loungey sweatpants, perfect for wearing outside to wash the car or get a quick bite at a local McDonalds, right?

Nope. Take a look again, but this time use your lazy eye. The pants come with their own built-in remote control pocket, and that's not even the best part. They also feature little red and white gingham tablecloths that Velcro onto your lap for worry-free dining.

Now aside from the fact that you could save yourself some dough and just use, uh, any piece of cloth ever to cover your lap, I'm wondering what kind of person would get real use out of this. How big of a slob do you have to be to need this kind of double-layer protection? Is our species so lazy that we'd rather have detachable clothing instead of just throwing a whole pair of pants in the wash?

I'm disgusted and ashamed, although I'm sure feral children everywhere are furiously crawling their way to Spain right now to get a pair. Everyone else should get off their butt and just grab a napkin.

Lazy Sunday Pants are slob-approved

There's something about the word "pants" that's just a little bit funny. The same is true with James Pants' music. Sarcastic, kitschy lyrics over crawly bass and fuzzed out beats make what Stones Throw asserts is one of their most eclectic releases to date.

Download free MP3 now!

It's all the latest from the Crave blog with Brian Tong and guest hostess Bonnie Cha. This week they talk about 'Mario Kart' for the Wii, shiny Pebble MP3 players, a dream come true for Panoramas, a touchless remote, and keyboard pants you won't want to be seen in.

(Credit: Vous Pensez )

Look closely--well, not too closely. That's not one of those roll-up keyboards stuck to the lap of this guy's pants. It's actually sewn into the fabric, creating what designer Erik De Nijs calls the "Beauty and the Geek" jeans, according to GeekAlerts.

Not only that, but this conceptual garment also includes speakers built into the knees, a pocket for mouse storage in the back, and a joystick controller behind the zipper (don't ask). The only thing that's missing is a nocturnal version that glows in the dark.

(Thanks to fellow Craver Natali Del Conte)