Politics of gun ownership aside, I thought it would be interesting to address a fascinating (and sometimes frightening) discussion about 3D printing.

3D printers are some of the coolest technology I've seen in a long time. They essentially "print" objects using plastic and allow you to quickly and easily make toys, tools, and spare parts. With a little skill, you could feasibly print almost anything. To be clear, these parts aren't amazingly durable, but they're great for building little projects at home. We have a 3D printer at our house and my son enjoys watching gadgets appear on the build plate.

I'm here in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show 2013, a bacchanal of amazing technology where everything - and I mean everything - is shiny, fun, and new. There is, to be clear, lots of stuff here and plenty of things I could talk about, but I wanted to share a few cool things that I spotted in my travels.

So Christmas is over and your house is full of gadgets. Now what? As the proud owner of far too much gear, I don't often follow my own rules of the road, but here are a few quick tips to keep them safe for you and yours this holiday. 

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot a peripheral was stirring, not even a mouse.The Dropcams were hung by the chimney with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The Nexuses were charging by the kids' beds,While visions of Angry Birds danced in their heads.And Mama with her Mini, and I my iPhone,Were tapping away by that pale LCD glow.

Rather than run down a list of games that your kids might play all alone in their rooms, hunched over their controllers, I decided to recommend a few games that you and the little ones (or not so little ones) can play together. These are some of the best titles I've seen this year and they're all available now for various platforms.

New Super Mario Bros U - If you've picked up a Wii U (or are planning to), this is the game to get. While NintendoLand is fun -- it's sort of a Wii Sports for the U and it comes free with every console -- the real winner on the console is NSMBU. It's basically Mario Brothers in HD with lots of chances for multi-user play. Best of all, the littlest players can use one of the controllers to place platforms for other players to jump on during tough spots in the game, allowing less experienced players to leap and swoop through the various levels without dying too many times.

As a gadget fiend, I love to help folks pick out the best gear. To that end, here's a quick guide to some of the cool things to shop for (and not to shop for) this holiday season.

Buy - Windows 8 Touchscreen Laptops

Don't Buy - Windows Desktops

Windows 8 is here whether we like it or not, and the new OS works best on a brand new touchscreen mobile device rather than a stodgy old desktop. Unless you're looking at an "all-in-one" PC - a PC with a big touchscreen and built-in processor and storage - you're not going to be happy running Windows 8 on a non-touchscreen device. Newer laptops will be a bit more expensive - about $999 for the Yoga pictured above - but it will be worth it if you're planning an upgrade.

I've been going through ereaders like a fiend these past few months - it seems that either Amazon or Barnes & Noble release a new one every few weeks - so I think it's time we talked a bit about which one of the latest crop is best for various users.

First, a little background. Right now there are really only four ereaders you should be thinking about. From the tablet family - meaning devices that are like iPads - Amazon makes the Kindle Fire and B&N makes the Nook HD. In the e-ink camp - the devices with black and white, high-contrast screens - you have the Kindle Paperwhite and the Nook Simple Touch With Glowlight. 

It's coming. It's scary, weird, and may upset you, but it's inevitable and I'm going to tell you how to deal with it.

It's called Windows 8 and it's the biggest change to Windows since, well, we went from dark screens with prompts to Windows 95.

Here's what you need to know about Windows 8 and and, more importantly, why it matters.