5 September '08

Meet...Holliston

I'm trying out the Nabaztag. It's a wireless rabbit.

Let me explain: a few years ago this French company created a wireless device that was supposed to usher in the era of low-budget smart homes. They called it Nabaztag, which is Armenian for "rabbit." The Nabaztag looks like something from the Japanese bizarro-kawaii pool:

I'm a quasi-techie, which means I like things like the Nabaztag but can only figure out 50% of their intended functionality. So this wireless rabbit--it can serve as a PA, an email hound, and can read stories to your children--has become my ambient weather center and my talking clock. Sometimes it reads NYT headlines, or moves its ears in semblance of Tai Chi. It also plays hip-hop from Beat Basement. Nabaztag supports dozens of other web radio channels. Some rarely work, like the 70's soft rock channel. But so what. Do I need to hear The Carpenters?

So yeah, it's fun. And if by some wild chance you own a Nabaztag, you can send me a message. The name of my--ahem--"rabbit" is Holliston.

The curious can read more at Nabaztag.com.