OK, my final post about Xmas gifts. These last two both have to do with time, and would be excellent gifts for anyone, regardless of weather they are into “being green”, like me, or not.

First, the Citizen “Eco-Drive” Solar Powered Watch.

This super stylish watch has a solar panel background that keeps the watch running for months at a time. It’s $131 with a quality name to back it up. I know they say this is a man’s watch, but it could be unisex, easy.

Via Inhabitat’s Green Gift Guide

Finally the Water Powered Clock by Green Stamp.

About $16 these clocks run off water, not batteries. So instead of tossing and buying batteries every year, just fill up the can.
I like the green one, btw.

Via Coolest Gadgets

Number 9 on my 12 Things It Would Be Really Cool To Get For Xmas list is probably the most affordable and accessible of all the items I have listed (or plan to list).
It’s the Darth Vadar Breathing Keychain.

For only $12.99 this is a perfect stocking stuffer for any Star Wars fan in your life. And double bonus if they tend to lose their keys a lot (they will be much less likely if something as cool as Darth Vadar’s breathing head is on them).

Via Coolest Gadgets

Number 10 on my list is probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and completely impractical since I still live in an apartment. The Han Solo secret door book case!

See how it works!

The DIY install only cost this individual about $150, not including the Han Frozen-in-Carbonite addition. That will probably cost a pretty penny. But someday, when I have an actual house, this is going high on my list of priorities.

Via Gizmodo

This is post of unreasonable things that I know I will never get but just want to fantasize about having…

First, the Brammo Enertia Electric Motorcycle

So first things first, it’s 100% electric. All its components can be recycled, including the batteries. It has a range of about 42 miles and can reach up to 65mph. And the batteries can be charged in about 4 hours, with 2,000 recharges possible.
For more on the specifications, check the Brammo website.

An interesting point on this bike is that the production requires less than 10% of the material resources needed for an average car, and it is manufactured in the US so the transportation costs in getting it delivered are minimal.

Also, they just dropped the price from $11,995 to $7,995. And since it is 100% electric you can also qualify for a government rebate so the final cost will be $7,195.
I love it. It looks great and is perfect for my needs. Of the three items in this post, this is the most accessible.
Check out your local Best Buy to test drive one (weird, I know, but whatevs).

Via Inhabitat Green Holiday Gift Guide

Going a little deeper into fantasy land we have the BMW Vision, a diesel plug-in hybrid that gets 63 mpg.

It can go up to 31 miles on electric only, perfect for commuters, and has a total range of 431 miles on 6.6 gallons of diesel.
Unfortunately this is a concept car and only prototypes have been produced. But this is a beautiful car. I mean, it’s gorgeous, actually. I love it. And I bet it’s a dream to drive. Too bad I’ll never get to. Sigh!

Via dvice.com

And finally, the show stopper. A car so beautiful and so futuristic looking as to inspire me to think of it as a hovercraft with wheels, the e-Wolf e2 all electric car.

Inspired most notably by Lamborghini and Ferrari, this all electric sports car should be going into production in 2011. Yes, that’s right. They are actually making this one!
So, specs?
0-60mph in under 4 seconds.
Top speed of 155 mph.
Possible range of 187 miles per charge (getting very near the Tesla range of 200 miles).

Maybe someday I’ll be able to race this thing along the pyrenees mountains and pretend that I’m a Bond girl, being chased by supervillians that want to destroy the world for their own financial gains and my mission is to stop them by using super gadgets, kung fu, and killer sports cars.
Ok, probably not, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

via Boing Boing gadgets

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I am a bit of a type A personality. I like things to be organized. But sometimes I get lazy about it so whenever I find something that aids in my quest to have an organized life I get super excited.
One of the things I don’t have very organized currently is my recycling station. It currently consists of one bin and one empty plastic kitty litter box (which itself is getting recycled).
I’d much rather have this:

The Mode Premium All-in-one Home Recycling center with mechanical compactor.
I believe there is a model without the can crusher. I almost never have aluminum cans to crush so I don’t need that. But the sleek design and separate compartments for different recyclables would be a smart addition to my apartment, and would look much much better than the makeshift bins I’m currently using (and take up less space).
And I like that you can get recyclable bin liners for it as well (for an extra $6.49).
The only question is if it is really worh the $250 price tag from Amazon.com.
It seems kinda pricey for the capacity to be honest. If it was $100 less I probably wouldn’t hesitate.

via Inhabitat Green Gift Guide

Part 2 of my “12 Things That Would Be Really Cool To Have For Christmas” list relates to items found on the Inhabitat Green Gift Buyers guide.

First, the Macally ECOFAN Bamboo Laptop Stand with Fan from Amazon.com ($36.69).

I’m on my laptop a good portion of every day and yes, it does get hot, even with the Lap Desk I currently use. Not only is the bamboo laptop stand stylish, but it has a built in fan to keep my laptop cool.
Strangely the Pro version, which features three height adjustable levels, is actually cheaper. But I still haven’t found one I can comfortably put on my lap (my preferred modus operandi).

Keeping in the sustainable and stylish spirit of bamboo, next is the VerseAudio iPhone Bamboo Hard Case.

$39.99 from Vers Audio. It’s beautiful, practical, sustainable, and not too expensive. Except that I’d also have to get an iPhone for x-mas (hint hint). Excellent dual gift, imo.

Finally, if I do get said iPhone for x-mas, well then it would only make sense to get the first Apple-licensed iPhone solar charger to go along with it.

The Surge for iPhone, $70 from SolarArcadia. Two hours of direct solar exposure provides 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network, or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network.
It also includes a USB port so you can charge or sync with your computer without taking it out of the case.
My preferred color is green, btw.

I was going to wait until after Turkey Day to start posting my “12 Things That Would Be Really Cool To Have For Christmas” list, but then I decided that the earlier I start, the more likely I am to actually get one of these things.
So here is number one (these are going to appear in no particular order of preference, btw):

The Eye-Fi SD wireless card.

The Eye-Fi card is the 1st wireless memory card for your digital camera. It is just like a normal SD card except that it is wireless enabled and can be synced with your home wireless network (actually it can be synced with up to 32 different wireless networks) so you can transfer your photos and videos to your computer without the mess of cables. And we all know how much I hate cables (fyi, A LOT).

There are four classes of cards.
Home ($49.99) – This is the stripped down version. It’s 2GB and only transfers JPEGs and only to your computer, not to photo sharing sites.
Share Video ($79.99) – This adds the ability to upload video as well as uploading directly to photo sharing sites like Flickr, Facebook and more.
Explore Video($99.99) - This adds Hotspot access and Geotagging to the package
Pro ($149.99) – Includes RAW support and “Ad Hoc” transfers (the photos get transfered to your laptop instantly while you shoot)… This is essentially wireless tethering without the need for a Hotspot or wireless access point. Awesome!!!

There’s a few other card options as well, so there really is a card to suit everyone’s need and budget. And of course, any Eye-Fi user get a free iPhone app that uploads all your iPhone images and videos automatically to your selected sharing sites.

And the best part, it works with your existing digital camera. Currently these cards are compatible with over 1,000 different models.

So of course the next question is: Does it work with the Mac?
Yeah. It totally works with the Mac. OS X 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 in fact.

Here’s a rundown of system requirements:
An SDHC compatible camera. Not sure if yours is one of them? Find out here.
A broadband Internet connection
A Wi-Fi router compatible with 802.11b/g
A computer with Windows XP/Vista/7 or Mac OSX 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
An internet browser, specifically Internet Explorer 7 (Windows only), Firefox 2 and 3 (Windows and OS X) and Safari 3 (OS X 10.4 – 10.6)

What it comes with:
A 2GB or 4GB (depending on model) SD Eye-Fi Share Video memory card with built-in Wi-Fi
Eye-Fi Manager software
Free USB card reader for easy setup
Quick Start Guide

specs:
Range: 90+ ft outdoors & 45+ ft indoors
Advanced power management that optimizes use of your camera power
Wi-Fi security: Static WEP 64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK

I know I sound like an advertisement for Eye-FI (I swear, I am not actually on their payroll). But it really is that cool of a product. And one day I’ll be able to dump out the entire drawer of cables I have dedicated just for that purpose. That truly will be a wonderful day.

Via Eye-Fi website

Yesterday I thought I had found the desk of my dreams. But it was not to be since this desk featuring Han Solo frozen in carbonite is just a one off custom job, not ever to be sold commercially to all of us envious Star Wars nerds.

But I have to say, this desk was done right. I especially love the glowing panel legs. I imagine that if Solo had ended up as a prize for the Emperor instead of Jabba, this is exactly what would have been done with him.
The only thing that would make it better would be if the access panels on the front actually came out and acted as drawers (everything for me has to be functional… I don’t know why).

While I was still lusting after the Han Solo desk I came across yet another welcome Star Wars item, though admittedly not on anywhere near as grand a scale (but hey, at least I can actually buy these)…

Star Wars cellphone alert charms! I love phone charms, an obsession I picked up in Japan (those guys are NUTZ with phone charms, seriously). These might be a little too cumbersome to actually connect to your phone, but there are plenty of other places they could go. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

These little light up do-dads respond to frequencies emitted by your cell phone (only for 800-1600 MHz GSM network handsets). So you can leave your phone on silent, in your bag, and these little guys will light up and spin around when it goes off.
Neat. Sadly I don’t think there is one with Boba Fette, but for use uber-nerds there is one with a Dalek!

Can be bought from Thinkgeek.com for about $10, batteries included

Via Wired’s GadgetLab