RISE AND SHINE: No excuses for missing the early flight for owners of the resilient Clocky (€54.99, www.pressieport.ie), an alarm clock that appears fairly normal until you sleep through the snooze function - when it confounds efforts to turn it off by launching itself off the bedside table and rolling around the floor, twirling and chirping like a demented R2D2 until you get out of bed to switch off the racket. Rubber wheels and a tough plastic body help it withstand drops of a metre. It won't withstand repeated bashing with a hurley.
The Advent 4211 netbook (€380, PC World, Currys and Dixons; €363 delivered, www.pixmania.ie) is a quick, compact laptop alternative with a 10in screen that's easier to lug around than a standard 15in laptop; it has a 1GB Intel processor and Windows XP Home and is marketed at those who already have a desktop or laptop for storage. ("Netbooks are for viewing, notebooks are for doing," says the release.) It makes sense as long as you don't mind the condensed keyboard or only 80GB of hard-drive storage, which is plenty of room unless you're using your computer as an expensive photo album.
The thin index-finger pads on the North Face e-tip gloves let you use MP3 and laptop touchpads, and the sticky grip will make it less likely that your expensive phone or player will slip from your grasp when you're riding the chairlift up the mountain. (North Face outlets, or €26 plus an outrageous €9 delivery fee to the Republic from www.cotswoldoutdoor.com, making it more than worth your while to visit your local outdoor store to see if it will order it for you.)
aharvey@irish-times.ie