My High-Tech Father's Day Wish List

Hey, it's almost Father's Day! The only reason I knew is because my wife reminded me we needed to get something for my father. But I suppose that means, as a dad of two wonderful kids, I'll be getting a little something as well.

Sounds like a plan to me. But I tend to run out and buy all the tech gear I need immediately, which can make it difficult to shop for me. Most other techie dads are probably in the same boat. But after mulling it over, there are a few things out there that I could really use... in a completely frivolous fashion, of course.

• A bigger iPod - My old 20GB iPod is full to the gills, and picking and choosing from my 30GB music collection is a pain. It's not that I need 30GB of music at all times, it's just that I don't want to have to go through the hassle of making a playlist that weeds out 10GB of songs. Never mind the Nano, I want the big, 60GB monster! Plus, I can put baby pictures on the thing so I don't have to have people squinting at the beat-up headshots I keep in my wallet.
• A radar detector - When I travel by car, I always want to get home to my family as quickly as possible. So it's in their best interest that I keep the speed up. Meanwhile, speeding tickets are even more expensive than gasoline, and they're bad for the ego. I haven't used a radar detector in decades, but it may be time to invest in one again, for those trips to the mountains and other faraway places. The smart money says that the Passport 8500 X50 is the best of the bunch.
• A true universal remote - Little angers the family more than the slew of remotes that pepper the living room. Thanks to careful programming, I have it down to two remotes that are commonly used, but I still have to dip into the big bucket o' controls once in awhile to access oddball commands. The Logitech Harmony 676 is a winner, and maybe, just maybe, we could banish all those other remotes for good.
• Xbox 360 - I still don't have one.
• Oblivion - If dad plays video games, the game of the year, hands down, is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I never played The Elder Scrolls I through III, and you don't have to in order to enjoy this fun and deeply immersive role playing game that puts you into an enormous fantasy realm full of fun and challenging quests. Best of all, you can control your character's skill development completely, and he doesn't need to specialize in magic, fighting, or thieving. By the end of the game, you'll probably be expert in all three, which makes gameplay varied and all the more fun. You may not see dad for the next couple of months, but he'll love you for it.
• Stuff "of the month" - This isn't really techie at all, except that you can get these things online. How about a gift that literally keeps on giving: A subscription to an "of the month" plan for dad's favorite comestibles? Wine of the month plans are nice, but those are expensive and you don't always get great bottles. So how about The Grateful Palate's Bacon of the Month plan? Or this impressive Chip of the Month program? Jeez, I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Are you looking for more high-tech Father's Day gift ideas? See what the other bloggers are getting the Dads in their lives:

• Dory Devlin (The Mom)
  
• Robin Raskin (The Boomer)
• Gina Hughes (The Techie Diva)