Image by rony michaud from Pixabay

10 Best Cool Electronic Gadgets Teens Parents And All Will Love For Gifts 2020

Electronic gadgets that use AI, or Artificial Intelligence and robotics are fascinating and maybe a little scary, right?

I had a lot of fun perusing the choices of cool electronic gadgets teens, parents and kids, too, will love to get as a gift or for themselves this year.

Some of you may have seen the cult film by Fritz Lang, Metropolis, made in the 1920’s. A first exposure in the media with a robot.

Image by JJuni from Pixabay

Robots can be weaponized, and can be huge and terrifying, or small and sneaky, right?

Image by Noupload from Pixabay

That is a lot to think about! You can enjoy the article below when you want to ponder the outcomes of this technology.

So for now, let’s stick with the Fun Stuff! 🙂

This page contains amazon affiliate marketing links. We may get paid a commission on the sale of a product or service recommended here. This does not change your price, you pay what Amazon advertises.

I have made it easy for you to click over to Amazon if you want to buy now, or read the fine specs of these very cool electronic gadgets and helpful tools for living better.

Update: since I had already cheated and put in a #11, I decided to update with more uv light disinfection home products. These are very handy especially in light of the current spread of the Covid 19 illness circling the globe.

We must do what we can so I am adding a few great products similae to the Phone Soap depicted below.

And here they are: (all ad links as explained below)Amazon’s Top Choice:

Raycop RS2 UV Sanitizing HEPA Allergen Vacuum Effectively Removes Dust Mite Matters, Bacteria, Viruses and Pollen

Why this model is the Amazon Choice:

It is their high-performance model with 3 operating modes
Removes dust mite matter, pollen, and 99% of common bacteria and viruses from fabric surfaces
Tests confirm the survival rate of commonly found E-Coli and Staphylococcus bacteria was close to 0% after just 1-2 seconds of exposure
UV light also alters the DNA of dust mite eggs and significantly reduces egg hatch rates
Pads vibrate 4,600-5,000 per minute depending on the operating mode to agitate and loosen and vacuum up household dust, dirt and dust mite matter
Backed by one-year limited warranty and local customer support

RAYCOP LITE UV Sanitizing HEPA Allergen Vacuum Effectively Removes Dust Mite Matters, Bacteria, Viruses and Pollen

This is amazing!

UV Sterilizer Bag, Portable USB Rechargeable LED UV Disinfection Bag for Baby Bottle/Underwear/Toothbrush/Beauty Tools/Jewelry

Avari Dual UV & Heat Premium Toothbrush Sanitizer, Antibacterial Germ Free Sterilizer for Toothbrush and Razor Hygiene, with Stand and Wall Mount, AC Adapter plus Toothpaste Holder

LNDMA UV Sanitizer Toothbrush Holder, Disinfection Box Germ Free for Toothbrush and Razor Hygiene, Wall Mount Organizer Sticker AC Adapter Plus Toothpaste Storage for Home Bathroom

PURETTA Toothbrush sanitizer Toothbrush sterilizer and Holder with LED UV Light Sterilization Function,Rechargeable Solar Power,Wireless Design,Wall Mounted Automatic Toothpaste Dispenser

Kalamet UV Toothbrush Sanitizer Holder, Sterilizer for All Type Toothbrushes, Wall Mount Sticker Plus Toothpaste Dispenser, Wireless and Long Battery Life for Family Bathroom and Kids- Snow White

SARMOCARE Deep UV Toothbrush Holder Case, Portable Toothbrush Sanitizer Wall Mount or Countertop Use Toothbrush Sterilizer for Home,Rechargeable

Best Online Shopping Guide is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking (AL= Ad Link) to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

OBSBOT Tail AI Camera, 4K/60fps Video and 12 MP Photos,3-Axis Gimbal with Integrated Camera,AI Tracking Shooting 360，Attachable to Smartphone, Android, iPhone（Black）

https://youtu.be/EeTlNzrtNMY

Special Features:

This amazing product comes with a Sony CMOS sensor and Hoya optical lens system
OBSBOT Tail supports 3.5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom, 4K 60fps film quality recording and 240fps slow-motion
Image stabilization with a three-axis pan/tilt/zoom gimbal platform
AI image processor with a neural network computing performance of 5TOPS, – more than 5 trillion computing operations per second
Osbot Studio App supports real-time image transmission
Filters during video recording to live broadcast
Video post-editing ability
3D-LUT color matching and footage sharing in real time
Can operate for 120 minutes with full power
Can live stream to Facebook and YouTube

Duex Pro Portable Monitor, The On-The-Go Dual-Screen Laptop Monitor, 12.5″ Full HD IPS Display, USB A/Type-C, Plug and Play, Dual-Side Sliding, Sleek and Lightweight Design

You will love the flexibility of this cool product. Connect DUEX Pro to your laptop, and you’re ready to increase your production by up to 50%.

You can get a full 270° rotation, with the option for a 180° mode. A USB Type-C cable and USB-C to A Adapter come with the monitor.

Light weight – 1.6 pounds and 0.48 inches slim! Slide it into your back pack or laptop carry case easily. Whatever laptop you have, this will pair up with it.

Gate Labs | | WiFi Enabled Home Security Smart Lock with Built-In Camera & Two-Way Audio – Keyless Entry, Battery Powered, LED Lit, One size, Satin Nickel

Amazon tech support included – free. Take advantage of this super easy to install super security for your home.

This smart lock with the motion activated camera will CAPTURE and STORE VIDEOS
Manage all access, receive alerts, lock status, and unlock your door remotely
Get alerted to visitors from the video doorbell, see and speak to them from your phone with two-way audio
Access your home using options of the backlit LED keypad, or share access – give virtual “key” PIN numbers for trusted guests
No drilling holes or installing wiring for you, this design requires nothing else for you to purchase
Includes a traditional key cylinder for your physical key access
PREMIER TRIAL INCLUDED – Includes a 30-day FREE trial of the Gate Premier Plus Plan, unlimited access, and storage of recorded video

Bear Grylls Waterproof Action Camera Glasses (BG-GLS-1) with Full HD 1080P Built-in POV Camera IP66 Waterproof 90° Sports Camera Impact Resistant U400 Polarised Lenses with Full Accessory Kit.

Main feature – This product is just a pair of glasses – your eyewear and HD camera.

There are no requirements for mounts or set ups, but is used completely hands-free. Just press the one touch record button.

For some adventures, you want to travel light carrying only the bare essentials. Perfect for:

Rock climbing
Hiking
Canoeing/kayaking
All special occasions you want to record without distractions!

Scout Alarm Smart DIY Wireless Home Security System | 5 Piece Kit – Perfect for Homes & Apartments Under 2000 Sq Ft | Works with Alexa | 24/7 Professional Monitoring | No Contract

Incredible advantages of this system:

Connects with multiple apps – Alexa, Google Assistant, Nest Cameras, Nest Protect, Philips Hue, Yale Locks, IFTTT, and LIFX
Alerts when any door or window is opened at your home – when any motion is detected
Nine piece kit is an option
Options for monitoring plans – select what suits you and your home
5 Piece Kit Includes – Hub with 4G LTE Cellular and Battery back-up, a Door Panel with 2 Key Fobs, 2 Window Sensors, a Motion Sensor, 2 Window Stickers, and a Yard Sign
Includes 3 Year Warranty

Tap Strap Bluetooth Enabled Wearable Keyboard & Mouse, Cross Platform Controller for Smartphone, Tablet, PC, Laptop & SmartTV, Black (Large)

This is so much fun! No keys, no projected keyboard – nada!

You type characters and commands by tapping a combination of fingers on any surface.

You tap, information is collected and the output character is then transmitted via Bluetooth to the paired device.

It could be compared to playing the piano, as far as your finger movements go.

The vendor describes it: “Some characters – the vowels – require only one finger, while others require multiple fingers to tap at the same time. For example, the most common consonants, N, T, L and S, are tapped with two adjacent fingers. “N” is the thumb and index finger, “T” is the index and middle finger, “L” is the middle and ring finger, and “S” is the ring and pinky.”

Tiny and light, it comes in Small and Large. I think this is a super cool present, don’t you?

Read more about this device on the Amazon page and I think you’ll want one!

Kano Computer Kit – A Computer Anyone Can Make

Build your own Raspberry Pi 3 – this is a great gift for even a six year old! Seriously, kids seem to be born to intuit these devices, these days.

Learn to code, and be creative in various artistic ways. This multiple award winning kit is recommended by educators and code clubs.

Teens too, but what about older people? This kit comes with all the instructions you need to assemble and use the included OS.

Plug into any HDMI screen and browse the internet, watch your favorite videos – you can do anything that you would do with a desktop computer, and much more.

Vector Robot by Anki, A Home Robot Who Hangs Out & Helps Out, With Amazon Alexa Built-In

This product is scary convenient!

Powered by AI and advanced robotics, he’s imbued with personality and activated by sight, sound, and touch.
Vector will reply to your questions, take photos when asked, time meals, retrieve weather information – all those things you do sitting at your computer normally, or using your other devices
Vector currently speaks English language only.
Set up Alexa on your vector – set reminders, control smart home devices like lights, security, robotic vacuums, speakers, and thermostats.
Vector independently navigates and self-charges.
He recognizes people and can avoid objects.
Vector is an AI self teaching platform, Cloud connected via Wi-Fi so he’s always updating with new skills and features.
Vector is compatible with an iOS or Android device and the free vector app for set up only.
Check compatibility at Anki.Com/devices. Includes 1 Vector robot, 1 cube, 1 charger
The manufacturer has ceased product development and manufacturing, but will provide long term support for the current products and apps.
You can contact the Help Center if you need more information in getting the most out of your product
No live agents available, but Anki has indicated that they will be monitoring cloud operations for Anki accounts and Vector.

Bluetooth Mechanical Keyboard Vintage Keyboard Retro Keyboard LOFREE DOT Wireless Keyboard for Mac, Android, Windows with White LED Backlight and Rechargeable Battery (Blue)

Miss your typewriter? The retro vintage keyboard requires lighter pressure to actuate the switch and reduce the risk of developing repetitive strain injury.

Repetitive strain injury is a serious issue with people who must or just want to use their keyboards for hours in a day or night. Even after setting up your work station ergonomically, wrist and finger use cannot be decreased if you are writing or coding through long shifts.

The mechanical keyboard “bounces”, decreasing the actual work load of typing. It is a “clicky” keyboard, and some people enjoy the feedback sound of their productivity.

The keyboard can connect up to 3 different devices – Mac, Android, or Windows. Easily switch between them with a quick press of a button.

Enjoy the visual style and function of this beautifully designed keyboard!

Firewalla Red: Cyber Security Firewall for Home & Business, Protect Network from Viruses & Malware | Parental Control | Block Ads | Free VPN Server | Connects to Router | No Monthly Fee | 100Mb IPS

You all want to protect all of your home wire and wireless internet connected devices from threats, right? Threats like:

Malware
Hackers
Phishing
Data theft when you are on a public WiFi
Here you have an affordable solution which you can configure with your router – for your family, or business.

Additional feature parents love – activate the Family Protect to filter and block adult and malicious content, to keep your children safe from internet predators and scammers.

Parents are able to view what kids are viewing – and when necessary, cut off all access, or cut off only gaming or social networks. You are no longer hostage to the values of commercial products and services whose values you don’t share.

It’s about time, right? No you the parents, are back in control.

This is a very convenient and ultimately protective device.

Connect to your wifi router and a power source, launch the app (available for IOS or Android) on your mobile device, and scan the barcode to get started. Not every router is compatible, and you can check for yours on the manufacturer’s site.

You will have access to your home network from anywhere on the planet.

You can block ads on all of your devices. What more could a parent, or anyone want?

PhoneSoap 3 UV Smartphone Sanitizer & Universal Charger | Patented & Clinically Proven UV Light Disinfector | Silver

I am cheating here and adding a #11. Why? I mentioned this gadget to a few people who were instantly all over it. “Where do I get one?”

Because, if you have heard the news reports as often as I have, about how filthy our phones are, you may have been as nauseated as I was.

You know, they used to say “what’s dirtier than your toilet seat?” and then start reporting about your kitchen counter cutting board.

Well, apparently your phone is a real contender! Number one for bacteria!

So, I thought I’d share this today.

Plus, you can put anything that fits into the Phone Soap for disinfecting.

Best Online Shopping Guide is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I found this very thought provoking article today and decided to post it here, because one, it caught my eye as I’m reading a book about Alan Turing right now, and two – while it is a departure from casual and fun shopping online, maybe it will suit you to bookmark this page, and come back to read this when you are in a more serious mood.

Artificial Intelligence and Why I Think Turing was Wrong by Michael Hart

What is Artificial Intelligence? Consider this excerpt from Tom Holt’s novel “Almost Human”:

“The robot hesitated, while the Appeal Court of its mind pondered the nuances of the Laws of Robotics. Eventually they handed down a decision stating that the overriding law which supervened all others was that no robot shall say anything, no matter how true, that will inevitably earn it a smack in the mouth with a 5/8” Whitworth spanner. “Sure thing, boss.” it said”

Is “artificial intelligence” then the point at which a machine’s ability to think can override programming, or is it the lesser test of applying mere rules/programming to provide answers to a variety of problems?

At present our best efforts to create artificial intelligence have produced little more than the amazing, human-like ability of a computer program to understand that the letter Y means “yes” and the letter N means “no”. This may seen a little pragmatic however this is ironically not far from the truth of the situation.

If we forgo any preconceptions as to the semantics applied to the word “intelligence” with respect to a technological form as apposed to a human, it becomes apparent that this is nothing akin to using the word “flying” to describe both birds (biological) and aircraft (technological) forms of heaver than air flight.

The field of study into the possibility of artificial intelligence necessarily assumes that it is possible to synthesize something that satisfies the conditions for “intelligence”, not everybody accepts the current presumptions made about human cogitation and deductive system which from time to time are ridiculed by critics whom argue on a variety of grounds that artificial intelligence is doomed to failure. A good example of such a philosophy is known as Tesler’s law, which defines artificial intelligence as “that which machines cannot do” which implies that any possibility of an artificial intelligence is impossible and that concepts and attributes such as intuition are abilities that are unique to human.

At this point I would like to draw the distinction between artificial intelligence as inferred in the hypothetical procedures based on interrogation in the Turing test, which in effect is merely a test of the systems ability to imitate human-scale performance, through programming, and as such is a simulation of the desired effect on the one hand, and a system’s intellectual capacity to learn, manage, and manipulate natural language or exhibit free will; etcetera on the other.

For example using the Turing test as a model, if a computer exhibited the ability to take decision that if made by a human would indicate the use of intuition, the system would pass due to the fact that it is not a test of human-scale performance, but is simply testing its ability to react to a process of pure stimulus-response replies to input (not action of its own accord).

The study of artificial intelligence, is a sub-field of computer science primarily concerned with the goal of introducing human-scale performance that is totally indistinguishable from a human’s concepts of symbolic inference (the derivation of new facts from known facts) and symbolic knowledge representation for use in introducing the ability to make inferences into programmable systems.

An example of inference is, given that all men are mortal and that Socrates is a man, it is a trivial step to infer that Socrates is mortal. Humans can express these concepts symbolically as this is a basic part of human reasoning; in this manner artificial intelligence can be seen as an attempt to model aspects of human thought and this is the underlying approach to artificial intelligence research.

If for the sake of argument we were to assume that ‘intelligent’ processes are reducible to a computational system of binary representation, then the general consensus amongst artificial intelligence authorities that there is nothing fundamental about computers that could potentially prevent them from eventually behaving in such a way as to simulate human reasoning is logical. However this necessarily assumes that practical everyday reasoning is not the optimum form of human cogitation and deductive, mathematical, and logical reasoning is all that is required to be ‘intelligent’.

If however we assume for the sake of argument that intelligence is not a mutually exclusive entity, and is rather the convergence of characteristics other than logical deduction or mathematical reasoning, such as emotional characteristics that together play a collective role in thought, decision making and creativity, then the greatest part of human intelligence is not computational, and consequently it is not precise and the development of artificial intelligence based the current model of pure binary logic would potentially result in only precise forms of human thought being simulated.

A great deal of research has been done on inference mechanisms and neural or nerve networks which has ironically been of more use in learning about human intelligence through the process of simulating intelligence in the machine, rather that the other way around. Such research has however produced an uncertainty about our own thought processes.

Such concepts require that we clarify a number of interesting anomalies, the most fundamental of which is that we have no adequate theories to explain the nature or origins of phenomena such as the mind, of consciousness, nor of intelligence This would require understanding of the relationship between the essence being and the brain where at present we simply have no true theories.

For the time being, although computers can solve with ease the most difficult mathematical problems, there are currently many problems that humans solve instinctively which are unresolvable artificially, where advanced heuristic rules and conceptual networks have collapsed due to the amount of contextual information and common sense knowledge they seem to require, such as natural language processing, or even “What clothes shall I wear?”.

It is the level of shared understandings required in our most inconsequential forms of social interaction which necessarily require that individuals assume complicated shared knowledge that is too complex for even the must sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence as conceived to date, in which propositions are either true or false and premises must follow deductively.

We need to give computers the ability to process imprecise concepts such as high, low, hot, warm, or very near, by substituting precise rule-like logically deductive structures of knowledge and mathematical measures for an approximation.

At the very least in order to program machines to simulate human mental processes, one needs to understand and clarify, how these processes function, therefore our attempts to replicate those processes that will spawn machines capable of doing any work that a man can do, can only really start when we understand the processes themselves.

The questions remain, “how can you create intelligence when there is no definition for what it is?” and “How would you know you had done it?” Faced with such questions that effectively invalidates artificial intelligence as a science due to it’s as yet unprovable assumptions, the fie Turing Test was devised. However this seems to indicate that machines can only become more intelligent as they become better able to simulate a single human’s reasoning ability.

It may be we should be setting our sights lower – and trying to determine the simplest form of animal or insect life which demonstrates intelligence, and working up from there. The mere process of identifying what is intelligent, however primitive, will help set the parameters for what we are trying to achieve.

Fore example. Is the ability to hold a conversation a true test of intelligence, or merely of human intelligence – a possibly irrelevant side issue? This has been the reality of the Turing Test since 1950, but has it lead us down a blind alley? Consider a hypothetical race of aliens who communicate by extra sensory perception, the fact they have no need for speech will not make them less intelligent, probably more so because less of their brain will be being used up in wasteful processes.

We can possibly take this further, and state that humankind needs speech to give its otherwise chaotic thought processes some order, and therefore intelligence, whilst a computer’s more logical structure obviates that need, as a machine intelligence is by nature computational, and precise and we should be concentrating on what we want that AI to achieve on its own merits, not restrict it to mimicking our own inadequate characteristics, but rather an approach that is not a result of clever programming, but where the AI can initiate its own actions, not just reactions, and can override, not just adjust, its programming.

Perversely, an expert system called the CYC project may almost by chance deliver the closest approximation to human reason, that has yet been devised, by its realization of the parallels between the internet and the distributed connections within the human brain.

Because the knowledge stored on the internet is so diverse, and the product of so many different levels of human intelligence and experience, we may have in fact already achieved the most difficult part. All we need now is the machine’s ability to organize, access, and process that ‘consciousness’, so that the answer it gives to any problem is always contextually relevant, and we have come very close to our Artificial Intelligence. At the present time it seems that the development will remain stalemated until single machines have at present undreamed of computational and memory attributes.

Notwithstanding that this is a cheat, because firstly in general, humans themselves have to learn to think more like the expert machine, rather than the opposite; And even so, it is the continuing, apparently irrelevant, input by humans across the world which will keep this relevant, but that is very little different from the stream of consciousness we have all experienced since birth which informs our own daily decision making.

What is then left is the question of creativity – the ability to act, not just react, the ability to initiate, not just follow orders, the ability to self improve and, taking us back to where we started, the ability to lie where circumstances dictate that the truth is not enough.

Article Source