The Toybox is open

If you're one of the 17 loyal readers of Hits and Hype, the old column I used to have on ZDNet (in the pre-blog world of the early 21st century), welcome back! If not, errr, just a plain old welcome, I guess.

There seemed to be no better time to launch The Toybox than just before the Consumer Electronics Show, when the entire gadget and gear industry makes its annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas (and yes, I realize that it's probably not wise to mix religious metaphors with Vegas, but sue me). I myself will be off to the desert tomorrow, and will be posting on the latest and greatest -- as well as the latest and lamest -- before the weekend is out.

For the 51 weeks of the year that it's not CES, I'll do my best to keep you abreast of those products that are worthy of your precious free time, and making sure you don't miss some of the other great posts by my colleagues here at ZDNet who will join me in covering a variety of mainstream product categories.

Actually - no time like the present for that. If you haven't already read it, check out a post by Janice Chen, our new digital cameras blogger, on what to do if you accidentally erase the memory card in your camera. And while you're at it, be sure to catch-up with Matthew Miller's The Mobile Gadgeteer, covering the latest in smartphones and other mobile devices, and Rik Fairlie's new blog on networking and network-attached devices for the home and small-office. These are just the beginning, and I'll let you know as other new blogs enter the fold.

Thanks for tuning in, and look forward to having you along for the ride.