Computerworld - For some of us, it's that magical time of year. Better than the winter holidays, better than Father's or Mother's Day -- even better than your own birthday.
I speak, of course, about tax time. For the lucky masses getting a refund, cash coming back from the government feels like free money.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, the average taxpayer will receive about $2,300 back from the federal government. And, this year, starting in May, the U.S. Treasury is shelling out an economic stimulus payment of $600 per eligible taxpayer ($1,200 for couples filing jointly) and an additional $300 for each eligible child under 17.
Sure, you could squirrel that cash away, put it toward savings or retirement, or commit some other unnatural and responsible act. But why not treat yourself to something unnecessary and electronic? Here's your guide.
You can buy a cheap keyboard for $20 just about anywhere computer stuff is sold. But why not opt for envy-producing excess in your keyboard? Nothing says "I'm better than you" like a coveted Optimus Maximus keyboard.
The keyboard, which was created by Russian design studio Art. Lebedev, has tiny 48-by-48-pixel, 65,536-color OLED displays on the top of the individual motionless keys. Use an included utility to program what each key will display.
You can use multiple "layouts" -- for example, keys with an appearance and function optimized for specific PC games or applications or any given language. Click here for a demo.
You can purchase different versions of the keyboard with any varying number of keys activated -- 1, 10, 47 or all of them. The Optimus Maximus works with Windows or Mac OS.
Art. Lebedev Studio retail price: $462 - $1,564 (depending on configuration)
Apple iTunes is great, but the truth is that some of the best music ever recorded has never been digitized. You can find incredible albums in local record stores, secondhand stores and maybe even your own basement.
The Sony PX-LX300USB is a brand-new, high-quality record turntable that plugs into a standard home stereo system for listening to records. But it also sports a USB cable. Plug it into your PC, and you can digitize those albums and convert them into MP3s that you can listen to on your iPod.
Sony MSRP: $150
Let's face it. The reason your digital pictures suck has nothing to do with the number of megapixals in your camera. Even if you had a 30MB camera, you'd still capture your wife blinking, your kids just after they made that spectacular catch or the dog before he even jumps to catch the Frisbee.
That's why the Casio EX-F1 is so revolutionary. When you snap a photo, the camera doesn't take one, but 60 frames in a single second: 30 frames in the half-second after you press the button, and -- miraculously -- 30 frames in the half-second before you pressed it. Then, you can quickly scroll through those 60 frames, pick the perfect one and capture it for saving to the camera's storage.
Even the flash is fast; a secondary LED flash can keep up with that 60 frame-per-second rate. And video! How about shooting super slow-mo at 1,200 frames per second?
Casio retail price: $1,000
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