Waltz with Bashir
description To explore his grim experiences as an Israeli soldier during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, director http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0284369/ Ari Folman eschews the standard tropes of war documentaries (talking heads, vintage newsreel footage) and instead deploys an innovative and far more engaging genre: http://waltzwithbashir.com/ animation vérité. With a budget of less than $2 million, Folman and a team of animators churned out 3,200 hand-drawn illustrations and used Flash—a staple technique for YouTube videos—to translate the harrowing accounts and haunting memories into a powerful, disturbing alloy of the real and unreal. 
Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
description The laws of rock ’n’ roll typically allow artists just one sprawling, arty, hash-hazy album. http://www.myanimalhome.net/ Animal Collective, headed up by Baltimore-bred experimental musician Panda Bear, has churned out two ear-bending efforts in less than two years: late 2007’s Strawberry Jam and Merriweather now. With soaring harmonies, twinkling keyboards, and funky hand-claps, it’s avant-garde you can almost cuddle with. 
Three Wired books
description It’s a busy time for Wired writers. Contributor Brian Raftery’s http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Stop-Believin-Karaoke-Conquered/dp/0306815834 Don’t Stop Believin’: How Karaoke Conquered the World and Saved My Life reminds us that belting out tunes with all your heart can be fun, wrenching, and ultimately very satisfying. In http://www.amazon.com/Arcade-Mania-Turbo-charged-Japans-Centers/dp/4770030789 Arcade Mania, Brian Ashcraft and Jean Snow tour the innovative, sometimes bizarre, and never dull world of Japanese game centers. And Steven Johnson recounts how scientist Joseph Priestley put a mint plant in a jar and discovered oxygen in http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Air-Steven-Johnson/dp/1594488525 The Invention of Air. 
Wines of Substance
description As science geeks, we first loved the novelty of http://www.winesofsubstance.com/ these wines from Washington state vintner Substance, with labels inspired by the periodic table of elements (just like Wired’s Play section IDs). But the actual wine appeals to our more bacchanalian side: The syrah (Sy) is rich, spicy, and not too fruity, tasting as smart as it looks. 
WattzOn
description How much energy do you really use? Your electric bill isn’t especially, uh, illuminating. http://www.wattzon.com/ WattzOn lets you create a personal energy- consumption report (right down to what it took to make the books on your nightstand) and see how you stack up against the site’s other users. You can then take steps to cut back, tracking the results along the way. 
YouTube "The Final Countdown" Covers
description The ’80s track "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZkllM8znx4 The Final Countdown" by Europe was a paragon of dopey arena-rock bombast, which makes YouTube’s current glut of bedroom-shot covers all the more delightfully absurd. Stuart Crout’s "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAg5KjnAhuU kazookeylele" (kazoo, piano, ukulele) version is by far the most badass. The https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvn8wsIrHag two-hand-band fart-alongs and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN2C6L9v2XM SpongeBob mashups turn the awesome up to 11. 
Frustration-Free Packaging
description Spending the holiday season cursing at hard-to-open packages didn’t exactly make our yuletide bright. That’s why we’re stoked about Amazon’s "http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200285450 frustration-free packaging" effort. The etailer is urging manufacturers to wrap products in fewer materials and make them easier to open. (What will comedians complain about now?) For videos of particularly egregious packages, see the Gallery of Wrap Rage at http://www.amazon.com/frustration amazon.com/frustration. 
Battlestar Galactica: The Final Season (this time, it’s for real) We held tight during the writers’ strike and after that what the frak?! midseason cliff-hanger last summer. On January 16, the final batch of http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/ Battlestar episodes finally hit the Sci Fi Channel for what’s sure to be a bittersweet 10-week swan song. Things we will learn: The identity of the final Cylon, why Earth resembles an apocalyptic wasteland, and the fate of everyone’s favorite ragtag fleet.
Ergobaby Carrier
description Carrying your little one Swedish-style is so last century. Instead of a BabyBjörn, today’s savvy parents tote their tots in the American-designed http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ Ergobaby. It balances the munchkin’s weight across your hips rather than your back and lets you lug kids (up to 40 pounds!) in front, on the side, or behind. Of course, no carrier can eliminate a child-induced pain in the neck... 
RIM BlackBerry Storm
description It’s tough to steal the iPhone’s thunder, but RIM has managed to rain on Apple’s parade with http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrystorm/ the Storm. Sure this device has multifinger touch like http://www.apple.com/iphone/ the Jesus Phone, but it trumps Cupertino’s wunderkind with cut-and-paste functionality, a 3.2-megapixel cam, and zero input ambiguity—you physically click the screen like a mouse button whenever you type or select an app.
