Sexy CNN Anchor Puts Out Absolutely Terrible Gadget Gift Guide

Oh, Veronica De La Cruz of CNN. I understand that you are young. I also understand that you are hot—especially when compared to some of the other folks (*cough*LarryKing*cough*) you work with. But being young and hot does not excuse you from putting out one of the most terrible gadget guides I've seen this side of the financial meltdown. And really, using your youth and hotness to try to draw attention away from what can only be considered lazy journalism? Over here, we call that click whoring.

This Christmas, Veronica (who is “secretly a tech nerd” according her press release) suggests we get these things for your tech-loving friend:

• an Apple MacBook Pro. Because everybody has $2000 to spend on a stocking stuffer for their favorite gadget freak! Though, am I wrong or is she actually advertising either a 13-inch Macbook or one of the older MacBook Pros in her pictures?

• The Flip or the Flip Mino HD. Sure, it's not too shabby an idea for the typical consumer (my aunt was talking about getting one). But I would assume that a real tech-lover would prefer something a little less “The Mom Special At Wal-Mart."

• BlackBerry Storm or Bold (depending on how hardcore of a Blackberry user you are). Oof. I mean... oh, Veronica... honey... I get that you love your BlackBerry, but couldn't you at least choose between one of the two PR releases RIM sent you?

• BOSE Quiet Comfort 2 Acoustic Noise Canceling headphones. You know, nothing gets a gadget guru excited more than something that's been featured in every gift guide out there since 2003.

• Zagg's Invisible Shield (to protect your gadgets on the go!). I quote Sean, in his headline: B.S. Alert. (A Giz reader has notified me that Sean's review is of the Case-Mate, not the InvisibleShield, which may actually be a marginally better gadget protector. Oops, my bad. I still maintain that this is a suggestion based, most likely, on the persistence of marketing people.)

•LIVE SCRIBE Note-taking pen/digital recorder. Six gadgets in and we finally have a device that seems well thought out. It's not obvious enough for someone to already have, it's cheap enough for you to buy it for them, and it's one of the best of its class. Too bad any good juju from this pick is completely wiped out by the next one...

• Twhirl or Twitterberry (a must for any Twitter-user).Did she really just suggest a free BlackBerry app as a gift? What are you going to do—put the URL link in a box? It's like when you get those coupons for "one free kiss" from your boyfriend as a birthday gift and while you're sorta "aw, that's sweet," you're also "I get those for free anyway and you are a cheap asshole."

In short, I call shenanigans on Veronica's cred as a tech geek. Everybody knows the last thing a tech geek would do is half-ass it when somebody asks them to name their favorite devices of the year.