Download Squad

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: What to buy your favorite geek this year

Erez Zukerman — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

The holidays are right around the corner, and we figured it's time to start coming up with some useful, thoughtful and hopefully interesting gift ideas for the geek (or geeks) in your life. Most of these are quite affordable, so you might not have to pick just one.

Gifts that keep on giving: online subscriptions

There are tons of great subscription-based online services. Picking out just a few was a real challenge, but here goes:

Safari Books Online: Nerds are brainy people, and brainy people have been known to read. For US$42.99/month, your favorite geek will get unlimited access to a catalog of over 9,000 tech titles by O'Reilly and other big-name publishers. It's not just dry coding stuff, either; heck, your geek might even learn to cook! Note that Safari also has more affordable subscription options, down to $10/month for the 5-book bookshelf.

Continue reading Holiday Gift Guide 2010: What to buy your favorite geek this year

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: What to buy your favorite geek this year originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts

Dolores Parker — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Features, Holiday Gift Guide, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile

Don't want to spend more on shipping your gifts to arrive before Christmas than they're actually worth? Don't worry, there are lots of online sites where you can give some super gifts via download online certificates. Here are 14 places to check out to give some great gifts:

E-Gift Cards:
Amazon.com offers the ability to send gift cards via email in any denomination from $1-5,000. Your gift card can arrive in your friend's inbox as soon as you hit checkout. You can also print your gift card and give them something that is more tangible.

Barnes and Noble is another option if you'd like to send an online gift certificate to someone. B&N provides online access to ebooks which can be read on iPhones and Blackberries, Mac or PCs. All your gift recipient will have to do to get started reading, is select their book at B&N.com and download the free eReader software. Note, gift certificates can only be used at B&N.com, not in stores.

Macys.com offers the ability to send e-gift cards until 1pm on December 24. Your recipient will receive a personalized email within 24 hours, redeemable at Macys.com, macysweddingchannel.com or in stores.

Continue reading Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts

Who needs shipping? 14 online sites where you can get great gifts originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Online shopping deadlines for Christmas!

Matt Heerema — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:08:00 EST

Filed under: Holiday Gift Guide, Lists

Christmas is a week away. Have you finished (started) your holiday shopping yet? If you are a PROcrastinator (like myself) you've been planning on ordering everything online and having it speed-shipped in the Saint Nick of time. Well there is still time (or not). Check out the lists below for the last possible minute to order your gifts.

Amazon
Amazon order deadlines are:

Thurs. 17th - Free super saver shipping. Too late! Sorry.
Sun 20th - Standard shipping. (hurry!)
Mon 21st - Gift cards by mail
Tues 22nd, 8pm PT - Two-day shipping
Wed 23rd, 4:30pm PT) One-day shipping. (Though this varies by item, so be careful)
Thurs 24th - Local express in select cities
E-mail and printable gift cards - Immediate at any time. (The ultimate procrastination gift)

Best Buy
Best Buy guarantees Christmas delivery by the following times if you order on the following dates prior to 11am ET, or they will give you a $10-$20 digital coupon (depending on order size)

Mon 21st - Standard Shipping
Tue 22nd - Expedited Shipping
Wed 23rd - Express Shipping

Apple Store
Apple store order times depend on the exact items, but for the most common items such as iPods, iPhones, standard config macs (except for the 27" iMac), and apple accessories, the following dates are pretty solid:

Sat 19th, midnight PT - Free 2-3 day shipping
Wed 23rd, 10am PT - Next day shipping

Dell
Dell is promising that their most popular systems can be delivered in 48 hours, meaning that you have until Monday the 21st at Noon PT to order.

Mon 21st, noon PT - 48hr shipping.

Newegg
Newegg's order deadlines are:

Sun 20th, 11:59am PT - UPS Guaranteed 3 Day or FedEx Express Saver
Mon 21st, 3pm PT - RUSH ORDERED UPS Guaranteed 3 Day or FedEx Express Saver
Tues 22nd, 3pm PT - UPS 2nd Day Air or Fedex 2Day Express
Wed 23rd, 3pm PT - UPS Next day, FedEx Overnight

Tiger Direct
Tiger Direct's deadlines are based on region so check out their shipping chart, but you might be able to squeak by with a little later than the following:

Fri 18th - UPS Ground
Tues 22nd - UPS 2 day
Weds 23rd - UPS overnight

Think Geek
Order quickly for some of the best geek gear on the planet. Eastern states can still get standard UPS ground shipping if ordered by today, all other states must use an expedited shipping method.

Fri 18th - 3 Day shipping
Mon 21st - 2 Day shipping
Wed 23rd - Next day shipping

Online shopping deadlines for Christmas! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last full day for free super saver shipping!

Dolores Parker — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:02:00 EST

Filed under: News, Holiday Gift Guide

If you can muster the time to get your online shopping done today, you'll be among the last to take advantage of free super saver shipping from Amazon this holiday season; the same goes for many other large web merchant sites.

A whole host of retailers have proclaimed today "Free Shipping Day," offering free shipping on certain items and delivery by 12/24 at certain stores (not all, check before you click!) FreeShippingDay helps you track down those various store shipping offers, saving you a few extra holiday dollars. So what are the cut off dates for shipping at the most popular retailers?

Amazon -- Today is the last full day for free super saver shipping. Super saver by 12/24 only applies if all your items are in stock and all "sold by Amazon." Christmas order cutoff dates are as follows: 12/20 for standard shipping; 12/21 - last full day for 2 day shipping and 12/23 is last day for 1 day shipping.

Best Buy -- 12/21 - last day for free shipping on certain items to arrive by December 24. To see items that offer free shipping quickly, click on a category you're interested in, for example TVs, and then scroll down on the left side to Current Offers, and then click on Free Shipping to see the items eligible for free shipping.

Newegg -- Offers 3 day UPS and Fedex service if order placed by 12/20 so your gift will arrive by 12/24. Here's a link to their holiday cutoff schedule. If you're more interested in free shipping, here's a link to their current free shipping items.

Target -- Free shipping on qualifying orders of $50 or more through 12/21. Does not include 1 or 2 day shipping. 12/20 is the last day for standard shipping and 12/21 is the last day for 1 day upgraded shipping.

Overstock -- Today is the last day for free standard shipping with the promise of your gift arriving by 12/24. 2 day shipping cutoff is 12/21 and the deadline for next day shipping is 12/23.

If you have any other last-minute tips, or corrections, please leave it in the comments!

The last full day for free super saver shipping! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Framed! - nice iphone app boredom buster

Dolores Parker — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Photo, Apple, Commercial, Holiday Gift Guide, iPhone, Mobile

Framed! is a fun photo app for iPhone/iPod touch that allows you to drop your photos in 34 different scenes such as taxi billboard, album cover, wanted poster, cereal box, TV, etc. After you select the scene and input the text, you can share your creation via email or Facebook.

At .99, this 4 star rated app is a pretty good investment as it will probably keep kids and tweens occupied for hopefully longer than the usual 5 minutes. I timed my own kids using it and at a full 45 minutes of entertainment, I consider that just about priceless.

Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later. There's also a free "lite" version does the same thing with less - only 14 frames.

It seems Santa left us with 3 copies to give away to DLS readers, as well as 1 copy of Xmas Frames, the eggnog version for the holidays.

The rules:

Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.

To enter, leave a comment below. The comment must be left by Friday, December 11, 2009 at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

You may enter only once.

Four winners will be selected in a random drawing.

Prize: One free license of Framed! or Xmas Frames (retail value US$.99).

Click here for the complete official rules.

Framed! - nice iphone app boredom buster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Christmas Giveaway: Tales of Monkey Island

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Holiday Gift Guide

The Secret of Monkey Island, published in 1990 by LucasArts, formed the basis of what would become one of the greatest adventure game series ever made. Playable on Ataris, PCs and Macintoshes, Monkey Island was the game that would turn every-day computer users into gamers. Followed up by Sam & Max Hit The Road in 1993, LucasArts created, cemented and effectively crowned themselves kings of the the graphical adventure game genre. Perhaps it's a good thing that they stopped producing adventure games soon after the fourth title in the Monkey Island series. Sometimes it is good to leave on a high note, right?

High note or not, it left many of us begging for more. We've been yearning for more Monkey Island for almost a decade -- but no longer!

We finally have a successor, an upgrade of the franchise that is more than worthy of its inclusion in the Monkey Island universe: The Tales of Monkey Island. Thank you Telltale Games for revisiting and rejuvenating this classic, hilarious and much-loved franchise that played such a pivotal role in the development of so many gamers.

For a brief review of the game, and details of the ten (10) copies of The Tales of Monkey Island that we're giving away (all 5 episodes!), keep reading.

Continue reading Christmas Giveaway: Tales of Monkey Island

Christmas Giveaway: Tales of Monkey Island originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Friday software deals you can score online

Lee Mathews — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Commercial, Holiday Gift Guide

This weekend signals the beginning of holiday shopping craziness in the U.S., and there's no shortage of deals to be had. We're scouring web sites around the 'net to find discount prices on games, apps, and operating systems - if you've found some, share them in the comments!

Be sure to check back, we'll be updating this post as we find more savings to pass along!

Applications and Operating Systems

AVG Internet Security 2 year protection for 3 users - Free after MIR at NewEgg.com
Microsof Office Home and Student for 3 pcs - $59.99 at TigerDirect.com
Microsoft Office 2008 Home and Student for Mac - $109.99 at Bestbuy.Com
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade - $109.49 at Amazon.com
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 OEM - $164.99 at ZipZoomFly.com

PC Games

5-day long one day only sale - tons of games at half price at Steam
LucasArts premier pack - 7 games for $49.99 at Steam
THQ Complete pack - 18 games for $49.99 at Steam
Fallout 3 GoTY edition for $29.90 at GoGamer.com
Unreal Tournament 3 for $5.90 at GoGamer.com
World of Warcraft for $4.90 (Friday/Saturday 11/27-11/28 ONLY) at GoGamer.com
Popcap Complete pack feat. Chuzzle, Peggle, Bejeweled, Bookworm (44 games total) - $99 at Popcap
Crysis Maximum Edition for $19.95 at Direct2Drive.com
The Sims 3 for $29.95 at Direct2Drive.com
30% off all downloadable games from the EA Games online store

iPhone Games
Gameloft is offering the following titles at $0.99 each - pick up $25 worth of games for $5!

Castle of Magic
Real Tennis 2009
Blades of Fury
Terminator Salvation
Brothers in Arms - Hour of Heroes
Shrek Kart

Thanks to Engrish.com for the awesome image!

Black Friday software deals you can score online originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livescribe's Pulse smartpen store hands-on

Victor Agreda, Jr. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:05:00 EST

Filed under: Text, Utilities, Hardware, Windows, Macintosh, Web services, Holiday Gift Guide

There's little to add to my glowing review of the Livescribe Pulse smartpen I wrote for TUAW last year. This is one of those gadgets that you show people and it looks like magic. It kinda is magic, I think. But this year's model introduces an app store for the pen (plus some nifty paper products), making it a desirable platform for anyone who takes their notes seriously.

Read my review for the hardware scoop; the newer models now have an improved cradle. You can now charge and keep your computer asleep, for example. The desktop software, which allows you to sort and annotate your notes (plus many other tricks covered in that earlier review for the Mac version of the software) is similarly the same but slightly upgraded. What matters is what's in the pen, since that's what you'll be using every day.

The pen runs Java applications specifically made *for* the Pulse smartpen. Now, earlier there had been some tech demos for 3D audio (the pen records in 3D, and it is very cool) and what amounted to built-in utility apps. Stuff like calculators and a simple piano that you draw and tap to play. Like Apple launching the iPhone with a limited set of pre-built applications, the Pulse had only a few "apps" but that was fine. The app store for the pen opens the doors to a huge variety of other applications, much like Apple's store does for its mobile platform.

The Livescribe Store also looks and feels nearly identical to Apple's -- at first. There's more than just apps here; there are paper products (you use special paper with the pen) and pens themselves. When you go to check out, you notice the lack of polish. Every purchase, even the free stuff, requires about three times as many clicks at it takes to buy something on the iTunes App Store. I'm not sure why people don't understand this seemingly obvious notion that consumers want to consume quickly. Especially for a pen, you know? But the entire store is a website, really, so perhaps app purchasing can be streamlined later. For now, it is catering to the physical side of the store by requiring shipping info with your orders.

Gallery: Livescribe Store

Continue reading Livescribe's Pulse smartpen store hands-on

Livescribe's Pulse smartpen store hands-on originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gift Guide: get 50 photo holiday cards for free

Dolores Parker — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Photo, Holiday Gift Guide, Web

Since we're all looking for ways to save money for the holidays, you might want to take advantage of this limited time offer from SeeHere.com where you can buy 50 (4x8) or 50 (5x7) photo holiday cards for absolutely nothing. This offer includes free standard shipping and represents a savings of $40.

SeeHere is Fuji's photosharing site where you can create cards, photo books and gifts. They have a decent holiday selection and new account users can also get 100 free (4x6) prints for registering. (Shipping not included - promo code "prints").

To get the 50 holiday cards for free, be sure to use the promo code "freebies4mom-1109." Don't procrastinate! This offer is only good until 11/30.

Gift Guide: get 50 photo holiday cards for free originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Track Black Friday prices with Invisible Hand add on for Firefox

Dolores Parker — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, News, Mozilla, Holiday Gift Guide, Search, Browsers, Web

We've covered Invisible Hand, the discreet shopping comparison add on for Firefox, which displays prices on items you are searching on the web. Just in time for Black Friday, the hand has trotted out a new add on which along with other improvements, incorporates Google search results.

Now, you can get your price results in real time so you know you're getting the best deal. My test drive of the hand went smooth, the results loaded up within a second or two and updates were very discreet. This is a real time saver for getting price results.

The add on will be officially released to the Mozilla site within a few weeks, but the first 200 Download Squad readers can download the beta version. Just click on the link below and key in invisibleDLS for the access code.

http://preview.getinvisiblehand.com/

Track Black Friday prices with Invisible Hand add on for Firefox originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3 photo sharing sites for your new shutterbug - Holiday Gift Guide

Dolores Parker — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Photo, Video, Holiday Gift Guide, Social Software

If you know someone on your gift list is getting a camera or is a new shutterbug, you might want to consider getting them a "pro" photo sharing account where they can upload all their new photos. This is a nice gift for several reasons: 1. A pro account is a must have since most free accounts have a storage limit that the average photographer will easily exceed. 2. Pro accounts are ad free. 3. Pro accounts have more features and allow the upload of larger file sizes. 4. As the giver of the account, it stands to reason you might be given access to your shutterbug's photostream, although, it's equally possible you might not.

Here are my top picks for investing in a pro account. (Many thanks to our readers for enthusiastically recommending Smugmug).

Continue reading 3 photo sharing sites for your new shutterbug - Holiday Gift Guide

3 photo sharing sites for your new shutterbug - Holiday Gift Guide originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The best apps to put on the iPhone you're giving - Holiday Gift Guide

Jay Hathaway — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Holiday Gift Guide, iPhone

If you're giving an iPhone or an iPod Touch as a gift, like thousands of other people this season, you might want to think about personalizing it with apps that your beloved giftee would enjoy. The iPod/iPhone has become a failsafe present: you don't have to know someone particularly well to know they'll enjoy it. Throwing some music and a few choice apps on there adds a personal touch and gives them something to play with as soon as they unwrap the gift. Here are a few of my favorite picks:

RjDj (iPhone only) is a reality-hacking music experience that you have to see and hear to believe. RJDJ takes different musical "scenes" and incorporates the sounds of your surroundings into a unique, immersive composition. The developers pride themselves on creating "a digital drug which causes a mind twisting hearing sensation," and artists are creating new scenes all the time. RjDj is a great way to show off the possibilities of that new iPhone to the person you're giving it to. ($2.99)

Continue reading The best apps to put on the iPhone you're giving - Holiday Gift Guide

The best apps to put on the iPhone you're giving - Holiday Gift Guide originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 Fun, casual Steam games you can give for under $20

Lee Mathews — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Windows, Commercial, Holiday Gift Guide

If you're a gamer, chances are good you've bought something from Steam - Valve's "Nexus of PC Gaming." If not, it's a great place to purchase some inexpensive and extremely fun games. Steam, of course, offers a gift purchase option, making it an ideal spot to find a nice, cheap gift for that special someone on your list.

Steam has tons of casual, fun games in its library - here's my list of five titles under $20 that are sure to provide some maddeningly addictive fun. Hardware requirements for these are fairly light, so they should run on just about anyone's desktop or laptop (provided they're running Windows).

World of Goo ($19.99). Sure, its cartoonish 2d graphics are cute, but this is one seriously smart physics puzzle game. Stack the little goo balls to build structures and reach the goal - it sounds easy, but World of Goo is as challenging as it is whimsical. Finessing your structures into doing what you want takes patience and requires some serious thinking at times. This one's a great choice for anyone who enjoys a good challenge.

Continue reading 5 Fun, casual Steam games you can give for under $20

5 Fun, casual Steam games you can give for under $20 originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tis the Season for Small Business Gifts

Sue Polinsky — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Office, Google, Microsoft, Holiday Gift Guide

Every year, small businesses struggle with the customer appreciation gift. Should we give one to every client? Only to new clients? What about long-term clients? Should we order pre-printed (and clever) cards? And the big question: how much is this going to cost?

Saying thanks to our clients in a better fashion is something we set out to do last winter during the re-creation of our branding model. We rebuilt our logo, changed colors, formalized templates, printed letterhead, stickers and designed mail-ready new-client packets and generally upgraded our schwag. It was time for us to have something to hand out besides business cards.

That's why we don't send out holiday gifts anymore; heck, we don't send out "winter holiday" cards anymore. Instead, we thank our clients all year long. With a simple Access database, we keep track of each client who's referred business to us and we send a handwritten note (on those new branded and printed cards we designed) and a small gift card to an omnipresent store. First referral? A five-dollar Starbucks card. Second referral? A somewhere-else gift card. If a referral turns into business? A larger Target or Paneras card is coming your way inside a handwritten custom-branded notecard. If you're local, it might be a lunch gift certificate at a restaurant (also a client).

Continue reading Tis the Season for Small Business Gifts

Tis the Season for Small Business Gifts originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forget buying toys online this year, buy a cow instead

Dolores Parker — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Holiday Gift Guide

We don't want to be thought of as Grinch-like this holiday season, but we have noticed a trend in some social circles where "no gifts please" is prominently posted on invitations and cards. Apparently, some children have so many toys and everything they can possibly want that too much of a good thing has turned into clutter and junk.

Well, rather than come empty handed, you can give a gift that provides meaning and possibly the means to a living, by buying cows, sheep, chicks, and other nice critters for families in impoverished areas to give them food and become self reliant.

Heifer International is an organization dedicated to helping people obtain a sustainable source of food and income. And they have a very powerful online gift catalog where you can buy all kinds of livestock to benefit those who need it most.

Re-gifting at Heifer is actually something expected. Your gift truly does keep giving. The offspring of the animal(s) you give, are in turn given to others in need.

Heifer has projects all over the world, including several In the United States. They are well respected and have won several humanitarian awards, as well as earning a respectable 20.7% return on their endowment.

After you select your gift, you can send a nice email card, or print a card with an insert to give so you can show up with something after all but not feel guilty about it.

Forget buying toys online this year, buy a cow instead originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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December PDA software sales

Brad Linder — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Palm, Holiday Gift Guide

It's December, and that means crazy sales on everything, even PDA software. Not that I really expect you to buy a copy of Conduits Pocket Player or eSoft Interactive's Word Challenge for that special somebody in your life. But if you do, you can save a few bucks this month.

Here's a few bargains we dug up. Feel free to post others in the comments section.

Conduits has a coupon code for 35% off of anything in the Conduits Store. The code is holidaysale2006 and it's good through January 31st, 2007.
eSoft Interactive is going a bit further, slashing prices on all the games in their store by 50%. The coupon code ESOFTHOLIDAYS is good through Januardy 1st, 2007.
PocketGear is offering 20% of any purchase. The code holiday20 will only work for a limited time, but it's not clear when it expires. In the past, PocketGear codes have been known to work long after the promotion had ended, so keep this one handy and see if it works even after PocketGear takes the banner ad down from their site.
This one's not software based, but Pocket PC Techs makes cables, screen protectors, and power accessories for PDAs. They also do PDA upgrades and repairs. The coupon code PPCTCAMPXMAS02 will save you 20% on any purchase made through January 15th, 2007.

December PDA software sales originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gifts for your Geek this year

Ryan Carter — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:02:00 EST

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Commercial, Freeware, Holiday Gift Guide

Some people can't seem to get this idea out of their heads that gifts have to be something physical. When I began to think about the holidays this year, I thought about all the things I wouldn't mind having, and I thought of mostly physical hold-it-in-your-hand gifts I want. Most of the gifts I hope to get happen to be virtual. Here is a nice rundown of some of the things you might think about buying for your own geek (both virtual gifts and physical gifts):

Flickr Pro account $25/year
Basecamp accounts ranging from $12/month to $149/month
Skype credit for free calls
Any other kind of pro account or account upgrade your geek may want from an online service
Anything from ThinkGeek.com (USB gadgets, like a rocket launcher or a bluetooth laser keyboard)
iTunes prepaid music card (as big as you can ~~afford~~ find)
World of Warcraft prepaid gameplay card (for any aspiring geeks who don't already play the game)

Now I know this list is not extensive or by any means complete, but that's why I need your help to complete it! Tell me what is on your geeky wish list this season in the comments below. What should be on this list? You tell me.

A note for non-geeks and newbies: if you want to get something like a pro account from an online service for your geek, you don't have to know how to use it, find it, or anything. If you know they want it, either enlist a geeky friend to help you in the process or simply write the name of the service on an index card or print it out all pretty like. Wrap it up to give to your geek, trust me they won't care what the gift card looks like, depending on the gift. Oh, and you get extra points if you write the message on the card in binary. I remember when my wife wrapped up a brochure for high-speed internet in the early days...best gift ever. See what I mean?

Gifts for your Geek this year originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GiftHat, don't look it in the mouth

Ryan Carter — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Text, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Freeware, Holiday Gift Guide

Nevermind the other guy, what about what you want for the holidays? So you can't keep track of all those gifts you want? Sick of explaining the difference between an Intel Core Duo and and AMD 64 X2 to your loved ones? GiftHat gives you a place to store all your desires for the holidays and helps you justify being the greedy selfish little kid we all are inside, all the while maintaining the charade that it is a good thing for your loved ones, since they will know what you want without having to ask you, therefore maintaining that holiday tact no one seems to have. It will even allow you to load page images from Amazon to pick the right pix for your item, and grab the price too. The cool thing about GiftHat is that it will let you either automatically detect settings from a site or manually type in the details, so it works for just about any site, not just Amazon. With the nifty little JavaScript bookmarklet (drag this link to your bookmarks) and the ability to post a little GiftHat badge to your blog or website, it becomes a powerful service rivaling the functionality of del.icio.us except for gifts not sites, and actually makes shopping for yourself and getting what you want easy as, well pie. Pumpkin pie. The last great thing is that you can have any relatives, friends, and other people who will buy you stuff go to a simple URL on the web to see your list, in the form of gifthat.com/yourlistname. Email them the link, let them know that this is your wishlist, and you're done.

Wow, I feel so self-centered after this post, I am going to go feed a homeless guy or something. Peachy.

GiftHat, don't look it in the mouth originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vista-ready gifts will be on Santa's sleigh

Ryan Carter — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:41:00 EST

Filed under: OS Updates, News, Windows, Microsoft, Holiday Gift Guide

On Ozzie, and Allchin, and Ballmer...Microsoft will be looking to rake it the dough this holiday season. Already there are 250 plus products that are Vista ready, and will be ready to ship for the holiday season from many third party vendors. Santa will have a lot of Vista-ready stuff to hand out this year. Many new hardware and software products will both be available for this season's holiday rush, among them, many usual suspects. Keyboards, mice, other peripherals, and also many software titles, such as Flight Simulator, Company of Heroes, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. Is there anything you've seen and heard about that you want this holiday season from the ever-growing Vista universe? Come on tell me, I may not be Santa, but we go way back, I'll see what I can do for you.

Vista-ready gifts will be on Santa's sleigh originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gift Guide: Greeting card templates

Marc Perton — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Holiday Gift Guide

Admit it. It's getting down to the wire, and you haven't picked out gifts for everyone, or even sent out all of your cards yet. One popular last-minute solution is to send out e-cards, and here's one way to make those cards a little more interesting. Instead of just using the canned cards available on countless sites, design your own. Don't have the time or Photoshop chops? No problem. Just use a canned template and plug in your own images, words and whatever else you need to make the card work. One good source is the scrapbook community, where designers have a wealth of templates available at prices as low as $3.00, most of which can be used both for e-cards and for printed ones - though, unless you're going to spring for FedEx or deliver your cards by hand, the latter isn't a likely scenario this year.

Gift Guide: Greeting card templates originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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