The Cheapest Gifts of All

Everyone knows it's Slinky: The Buzz notes with sadness the passing of Betty James, who with her husband founded the company that brought the world the Slinky.

If your kids laugh at the image of you playing with a spring, remind them of how odd they look running and jumping in place while holding a white plastic remote and staring at the TV.

Shuffle off: The Herald's Money page offers suggestions on reasonably priced high-tech gifts, like the $20 Sansa Slotmusic player.

It's cheaper than an iPod, but it doesn't allow you to shuffle the music playlist. But then you couldn't shuffle the music on a vinyl LP without risking the sound of a scratching needle.

Laughing all the way: Speaking of cheap gifts, Steven Colbert, the faux-conservative TV talk show pundit of "The Colbert Report," stars in his own holiday special, "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All," at 10 tonight on Comedy Central.

For the same $20 as the Slotmusic player, you can buy a DVD of the musical guest-packed special. We think Colbert's a hoot, but the DVD isn't as much fun to roll downstairs as a $4.25 Slinky.

Jon Bauer, Herald staff