Chainsaws are for lumberjacks, but cutting shears don´t have the chomping power to clean up yard debris aprs storm. The ultimate compromise: the Alligator Lopper, which is essentially a pair of shears with a mini chainsaw where the top blade should be. It carries a 4.5-amp electric motor on a 6.5-pound frame-about half the weight of most chainsaws-so even pruning overhead limbs is no problem.

In San Jose, the unofficial capital of Silicon Valley, technology companies employ more than 300,000 people—practically a third of the populace. The city generates 30 percent more patents than its closest competitor (Boise, Idaho, home to Micron) and receives more than a third of the nation’s venture capital: $5 billion. Headquartered in Silicon Valley are Google, eBay and Cisco Systems; the world’s leading biotech company, Genentech, is up the road.