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Money-No-Object Summer Camps - Forbes.com

Try studying the AIDS crisis from the hospital beds of Third World countries, spending 40 hours a week honing your acting skills or strolling Rome’s cobblestoned streets with new-found friends.Of course, this kind of adventurous and in-depth experiential learning comes with a hefty price tag; tuition at some super-luxe camps ranges from $1,300 to $2,200 a week. But while many camps house campers in plush dorms and offer stays at four-star hotels, those in the camp industry say these programs are as committed to traditional values as they are to their specialized curricula and facilities.

While roughing it for a while might do wonders for the brats’ manners, there are probably some elite boot camps with marine drill sergeants for that.

Digit Online

Considering the relatively high-cost of Blu-ray Disc recorders, anything that reduces the price is welcome but Sharp’s latest recorder does away with something that’s previously been essential: the TV tuner. Instead, the BD-HP1 can use the tuner in Sharp Aquos LCD TV sets. It hooks up via iLink (IEEE1394) and can power just their tuner, so the entire set doesn’t have to be switched on to make recording possible. But it does mean you can’t record one channel while watching another. It costs about ¥150,000 (US$1,260) in Japan. A similar model is due to go on sale overseas later this year. Sharp hasn’t yet determined the exact timing, markets or pricing.

We still ask: Will Blu-Ray be the next Betamax?

Gizmodo content feed: Swimming Robot Snake For Pool Parties

This is just about the coolest robotic snake I have seen in action and, the fact that it is also capable of swimming, makes it even more so.

Why? Because. That’s why.

Gadget Lab: Review: Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Watch

The Forerunner is a data delight for outdoor fitness buffs, effortlessly tracking speed, distance, heart rate, and calorie counts, with presets for both running and cycling. The included training software works with PC or Mac, and you can upload workouts to the Web. The 305 provided the fastest fixes and most accurate location, speed, and distance readings of the units we tested. But there’s the obvious aesthetic trade-off: It navigates like a pro, but so do sea captains, and we’re not eager to strap one of them to our wrist, either. – Mathew Honan

We ask: since when are tight-spandex wearing, overweight runners concerned with aesthetics?

Panasonic Announces 6 Digicams Including 28-mm Wide Angle, 10X Optical Zoom Model — Tech-On!

Among these models, Matsushita positions two models dubbed “Ojo-sama Camera” (camera for young women) and “Oku-sama Camera” (camera for middle-aged women) as its mainstay. They are the “DMC-FX30″ featuring a 22.0-mm slim body and 28-mm wide angle, and the “DMC-TZ3″ supporting both 28-mm wide angle and 10X optical zoom, respectively.

We can’t wait until they come out with the “Camera for fat slobs.”

Ten Best Ways To Blow Your Bonus - Forbes.com

Expecting a $200,000 bonus? We suggest spending $70,000 of it on a 23-day world tour via private jet. If something closer to home is more your style, check out BMW’s 500 horsepower M6 convertible. It will set you back $104,000.But you’d better act fast. If the kind of money being doled out this month and next is any indication, these and other big-ticket items won’t be around for long.

Consume conspicuously!

Prosumer HD Camcorder is another great Canon - SlashGear

So you’ve spent all the kids inheritance on that once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world, and you really want to rub the little buggers’ noses in it. A standard consumer camcorder, even one claiming to record in HD, just won’t cut it, Daddio; you want to set your sights a bit higher and check out Canon’s range of prosumer shooters. Still, if the XL H1’s sub (but only just) $10k price-tag makes you sweat so much your toupee slips off, then how about the XH A1 - a relative snip at $4,000. With 800 TVl/ph resolution captured by the same 1/3-inch sensors that its big brother uses, simultaneous HD and SD output and a 20x optical zoom, it’s a heavyweight performer at a bantam price.

Of course, our readers laugh at the $10k price tag and probably will go for the H1.

If mo money has brought you mo problems, here’s what you can do.

Most Luxurious Places To Dry Out - Forbes.com

Most of us know at least one person who needs to break an addiction. We hear about it most when it happens to a celebrity, such as Mel Gibson, Keith Urban or Kate Moss. But it’s also a growing concern in the lives of everyday people.Fortunately, whether it’s to alcohol, drugs, sex or gambling there are recovery centers out there that can help. As society’s awareness and acceptance of addiction increases, so have the range of treatment programs. While some people–and their insurance companies–may opt for a more self-abnegating path to sobriety, others might choose to fight their demons with the help of gourmet meals and daily massages.

Leave it to Forbes to find a fix… er… solution.

Gifts For The Traveler - Forbes.com

Take Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand-new around-the-world cruise. The 131-day voyage is the longest in the cruise line’s history, and includes a two-week sail down the Panama Canal, plus stops at 51 ports in 26 countries on five continents. The cruise takes place on the Seven Seas Voyager, Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 700-person, all-suite, all-balcony luxury ship, and departs from San Francisco Jan. 6, 2008, before visiting the Hawaiian ports of Hilo, Maui and Honolulu, French Polynesia and the Cook Islands on the way to New Zealand. Stops from there include Sydney, Shanghai and Athens, with overnight stays everywhere from Tahiti to Dubai.The per-person cost of this luxurious tour, $394,260, which includes butler service, all beverages and meals, all gratuities, a $2,000 credit onboard the ship, and first-class round-trip airfare.

That ought to send a strong message: I really want you away from me for a few months.