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TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Three: cool portable accessories
Were you lucky enough to get one of Apple's new, greener portables? Today's prize bundle is geared for the mobile computer user and includes a Thermapak lap pad that helps to cool the machine, a lock to secure the machine in public and an iKlear polish kit for the screen.I had a chance to use the lap cooling pad, and on my 1st-gen MacBook Pro running Flash and getting quite hot, the pad did a great job of cooling the machine down. There are crystals inside the pad, and as they get hot, they melt, which helps dissipate the heat. My lap no longer felt hot, and when I lifted up the computer the bottom didn't feel painful to the touch. The pad had gone from crunchy to gooey as well, which my kids thought was awesome.Thanks to Dr. Bott for the prizes today, each of which are among their most popular items. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post. The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Thermapak Laptop cooling pad ($30), MicroSaver notebook lock ($44.99), iKlear Apple Polish kit ($24.95), Click Here for complete Official Rules.
The week in Massively features
Massively's picks for the best of 2008Massively doesn't hand out awards. We're not the Oscars, we're not the Emmys. What we are, though, is a bunch of opinionated MMO bloggers. Like it or hate it, 2008 was an enormous year for our favorite genre of games. We took a poll among the staff of the site, taking stock of an entire year in gaming. What follows are our picks for the best, the most surprising, the games that we just can't wait to play. Massively's Super-cheap MMO Gift GuideMassively aims to help with your holiday woes, and so today we have on offer a series of gift ideas that won't break the piggy bank. Ranging from the low, low cost of free to the cost of a few DVDs, this year more than ever it's incredibly easy to get into the online space. Just follow us into our gallery guide and forget worrying about what's under the Christmas tree. Know Your LotRO Lore: Concerning HobbitsIf you're curious about the origins and lore of the Hobbits both in the books and the game, follow along on our journey through the link below. We'll cover their migration to the Shire, their peculiar lifestyle, their interpretation in LotRO and even if Hobbits are real. TurpsterVision - Weapon of ChoiceMoria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...
Apple Store free shipping deadline is tonight
If you're flush enough to give Apple gifts this holiday season, but frugal enough to want to avoid shipping charges and still get your gear in time for Christmas, be mindful: Apple's web store deadline for free express shipping is tonight at midnight Pacific time (3 AM Saturday ET). Most items (including refurb machines) can still be shipped in time if ordered by 12/23 at 10 am PT, for an additional fee; however, tonight is the last chance to put your money down for an engraved iPod.If you really like the idea of gift shopping at the very last minute and beyond, you do have one option that can take you right into Christmas Day: Apple's flagship 5th Avenue retail store in NYC will be open as usual, 24/7 right through the holiday. My sympathies, in advance, to the retail staffing team that's drawn the short straw and has to work overnight on New Year's Eve... that's going to be messy.[via Dealnews]
Gift guide for amateur video producers
We all have a friend of family member obsessed with posting videos on YouTube. Their cats, dogs, babies and whatever else are all fodder for two minutes of teh funny. This holiday season, help them improve their craft and produce the next big viral hit with these gift suggestions.SoftwareQuality editing software is not cheap. So it's surprising, actually, that Final Cut Express 4 is reasonably priced ($199US) for the amount of power it packs. I recommend this over cheaper options like iMovie for two reasons. First, it's an extremely capable application that isn't missing much from its much pricer big brother. An amateur video producer won't quickly grow bored of its capabilities. Second, and more important, if the person you are giving this to has any ambitions of becoming a professional, familiarity with the Final Cut way of doing things will be a huge advantage in the marketplace. We are all too aware that the iPhone, in its unjailbroken state, doesn't record video. That doesn't mean it can't be used as a tool in video production. Slate is a simple application that replaces the iconic clapping chalk slate used for years throughout Hollywood. Reviewers in the App Store have some legit complaints about it, but it's still a fun application with a bunch of potential. HardwareLet's face it. You're not going to drop almost $5,000US on this badboy. (Note to wife: want!) But how about under $150US for a camera that captures 60 minutes of video, at decent quality, requiring no tapes or memory cards, and fits in your front pocket? Enter the Flip Video family of cameras. These little machines aren't going to do it for professionals, but for amateurs looking to record precious family moments or spontaneous news events, it'll do the trick nicely. And it's called a Flip for a reason -- it has a USB connector integrated into its design. It flips out and, with a little bit of adjusting (a dozen or so business cards tucked under one side of a MacBook) it connects easily to just about any computer. Flip Video last month announced a high-def version of the camera called the MinoHD. It sells for about $229US. There's also a competing Kodak camera, the Zi6, that has a fanbase of its own.One of the best presents you can give an aspiring video producer -- besides a gig at LucasFilm -- is more hard drive space. Digital video consumes sick amounts of storage. Luckily, hard drives in the terabyte range are coming into the realm of affordability. A quick poke around Amazon.com shows a few options for under $150US. Some of these may not cut it for actual production work, as speed is of the essence, but for nearline storage, they'll do the trick quite nicely. Stocking StuffersLast-minute shoppers rejoice. There are many cheap, easy-to-order products out there with which you can fill your aspiring video producer's stocking. Mini tripod -- Shaky video is distracting when it's not intentional. A tiny, tabletop tripod is very handy for any videographer to have in his bag of tricks; newer Flip Video cameras have a tripod mount built in. Personal telepromter -- I saw this demoed last year at a conference and I was blown away. It works great with any Mac laptop with a built-in iSight camera, it's cheap, and it's very cool. Snowball -- No, not the frozen kind. The Blue Snowball mic is one of my favorite pieces of post-production kit. It's great for laying down voiceovers, and works equally well for recording audio for video podcasts. It's a USB mic, so it's not going to hook up to a camcorder, but for studio work it gets the job done in style.
Massively's Super-cheap MMO Gift Guide
In a year when everyone is looking to their bank balance, it's just common sense to seek out ways to maximize the fun of Christmas giving while minimizing the economic impact. Online gaming in particular is a great way to offer an 'in' to fun without a lot of expensive electronics or batteries required. Most folks probably already have everything they need to participate (a PC and an internet connection), and unlike other gifts that claim to 'keep on giving' online gaming really does. Introducing someone to a new MMO can – literally – change their lives. New friends, new adventures ... MMOs have a lot to offer as gifts.Massively aims to help with your holiday woes, and so today we have on offer a series of gift ideas that won't break the piggy bank. Ranging from the low, low cost of free to the cost of a few DVDs, this year more than ever it's incredibly easy to get into the online space. Just follow us into our gallery guide and forget worrying about what's under the Christmas tree. Dig into our Gift Guide >> %Gallery-39352%
Galaxies Christmas Special, numerous class updates coming soon
A brand-new Producer's Letter from Chris Fields brightened this week for Star Wars Galaxies players. Coming sometime in the middle of the month is the newly revamped Life Day event. This year they've taken heavy cues from the Star Wars Christmas Special, that horrifying cultural relic from the 80s. You may wonder about the wisdom of doing so, but keep in mind that the special (despite its many flaws) is 100% canon content. The event will see players smashing presents, decorating trees, and getting awesome presents like a pocket aquarium, a holographic table, a proton chair, an in-home wroshyr tree ... and perhaps even a Kowakian monkey-lizard!The letter also contains a lot of previews for upcoming patches, great-sounding content for players of all stripes. Game Update 6 will see the addition of an appearance tab, expanding the roleplaying-friendly game feature seen in other games like EverQuest II and Lord of the Rings Online. Make sure to thank AdeptStain if you like it! Update 7 will see the long awaited updates for Spies, and Update 8 will see major changes to Player Associations and Cities. There are a ton more holidays and goodies coming down the pipe ... check out the full letter for the details.
WoW Insider's 2008 holiday gift guide
Yes, it's that time of year again -- the lights are up around town, the weather is cold and snowy, and you've got a long list of nice (and maybe even some naughty) people who will need gifts this year. But what will you get? If anyone on your list is a Warcraft player, worry not: WoW Insider has compiled a list of ten Nintendo Sixtyfoooooooour-level gifts for the Warcraft player in your life, five out-of-game and five in-game.Whether they're level 10 or level 80, odds are that they'll love any of this stuff, and whether you've got just a little bit of time and/or money to put in or want no expense spared, there's something on this list for you. Click into the gallery below to check out all of the gifts, and be sure to have a happy holiday season -- here's hoping there will be a little something more exciting than coal in that stocking!Looking for non-Warcraft related gamer gifts? Joystiq has up-to-the-minute news on the best holiday deals and tips around for Holidaze 2008. And our friends at Big Download have a nice set of guides up as well, featuring anything and everything you might need for a PC gamer.%Gallery-38276%Winter's Veil is almost here. Watch the 12 Days again, wonder what might be new this year, or settle down with some cocoa and some tasty... bark?
Wii Warm Up: Day of deals
If you're in the U.S., it's Black Friday, and by the time you get around to reading this, all the best deals are already gone. Isn't that crazy? It's not if you ended up with a pile of games, gifts, or both! So did you brave the crowds (or the clicks) at the crack of dawn this morning, or did you stay home, snuggled in bed, sleeping off the after-effects of tryptophan? If you snagged some deals, please share 'em with us, so that we may salivate with jealously.
What to get the person with everything - Holiday Gift Guide
If your diamond-encrusted iPod case is wearing out, or you simply must coat your new MacBook in gold, this list is for you. Presenting the most expensive, ridiculous and sublime gifts for the Apple fan in your life. 18-karat gold iPod shuffleIt isn't enough to have a gold shuffle. How about a gold shuffle that cost you more than $10,000? Or even twice that? Well, here you go -- this coating will cost you plenty but it does come with a wooden box and a certificate.Casa Gi Diamond EarbudsThere's an entire industry around diamond-and-gold audio headgear. Just check out this gallery over at Luxist. The Casa Gi set (from Italy, of course) wins points because I think they look like I would have seen them on "Falcon Crest," had earbuds been around in the 80's.Beatles Collector's BoxEven though we may not see the Beatles in iTunes any time soon, you can still cram them into your iPod the old fashioned way: rip them. Yes, even this $795 set makes you put the music into iTunes yourself. It comes with 13 of the fab four's CD's, however and a 120GB iPod classic, but still... I guess you could throw in a Ripstyles offer?The Ultimate Minimalist DeskIf you didn't already know, Steve Jobs doesn't like cords and clutter. If I bought him a gift, I'd send him this desk. In steel, definitely.Keep reading for more diamonds, a fridge that acts as an iPhone accessory, and more.%Gallery-38013%
A Holiday Gift Guide for the frequent traveler
If the favorite people on your holiday gift list spend more time in hotels and airports than they do hanging out with you, then we can help. This guide to gifts for the frequent traveler is sure to put a smile on the face of your friends or loved ones wherever their travels may take them in 2009. Power on the go With rare exceptions, it's almost impossible to find an airport or hotel room with enough power outlets for all of your electronic gadgets. Rather than challenging someone to a duel with presentation laser pointers to see who gets to use the one available airport outlet, I've come up with a more peaceful solution -- carrying a compact multiple outlet with me. Belkin's Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger (at right, above) can handle three AC and two USB devices simultaneously. It's tiny and light, and fits just in just about any laptop case. My personal favorite is the Monster Cable Outlets To Go Power Strip (below), which fits six widely-spaced grounded AC outlets in a very flat 8.5" x 2.25" x 1.8" box. This one works very well with those obnoxious adapters that cover two or three outlets by themselves, and is perfect for sharing a single power outlet with five total strangers. If more people carried these in their laptop cases, there would be world peace...at least in airports. It's also available in even more compact 3 and 4 outlet models. Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger: $24.99 Monster Cable Outlets To Go Power Strip -- 6 outlet: $29.95 More below...
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: for him
Hey, look. We know what it's like trying to buy a gadget or some other related piece of technology for the man in your life. It's scary, and weird, and you never know if you're doing the right thing until it's too late. But that's where Engadget (and our Holiday Gift Guide) comes into play. We take all the guesswork out of this experience so you can sit back, kick your feet up, and let the thanks just roll on in.Of course, if you're simply trying to figure out what you want to beg, cry, and gently ask for this year, think of this chapter as a kind of cheat-sheet for the forthcoming festivities. Read on to get the scoop.Update: Due to overwhelming demand, we've added a $0-50 category -- you can expect to see these for all the guides.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide, 2008!
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We know as well as anyone what a ridiculous mess it is shopping for tech gifts for your family and friends, especially when you tack on the crowds, the traffic, and hearing Jingle Bell Rock 80,000 times. Sure, it seems like you've got an infinite number of options to comb through, but with our Holiday Gift Guide we're aiming to simplify that gadget gift giving experience and pinpoint a most excellent present for just about anyone.Here's how we do our thing: the HGG is actually a series of smaller guides broken down first by whom you'll be buying gifts for, and then by price range. Today we're starting with him, easily the most discerning gadget giftee; in a few days we'll go to her, then son, daughter, dad, mom, and so on. The guides will be collected in a landing page which can be helpfully sorted by price and recipient (which will be up soon). We'll publish a new guide every few days through Christmas, so you'll have plenty of time to shop around online and in stores, and we do suggest you check out all the guides -- especially since you never know when you'll find something you want for yourself.Enjoy, and happy holidays!
Introducing Joystiq's awesome Black Friday guide
Joystiq has tirelessly compiled a list of some of the great deals you can expect this Black Friday, as most of the U.S. wakes at the crack of dawn to rush out and get all of the deals they possibly can. Joystiq's guide covers all of the major retailers and even includes some good Wii deals. So, stop wasting time and check it out!
Upper Deck offers free shipping on WoW stuff
Blizzplanet's got the news that Upper Deck is offering a break on shipping in the next 24 hours, so if you've been thinking of picking up any WoW TCG-related items for a friend, now's the time to do it.It's a pretty terrible deal though -- you've got to order $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping, and at Upper Deck's official prices, you're probably just better running out to a hobby store and picking the things up yourself. But who knows. Maybe there's one of you in Alaska who have wanted to buy tons of stuff from UDE without paying shipping, but don't have a hobby store for miles around -- if so, you're in luck.The sale inexplicably ends on November 21st, which by my calculations is tomorrow, so get your order in fast. But seriously, someone needs to teach Upper Deck how to have a holiday sale -- who buys all their gifts by Thanksgiving? Maybe we'll see a better sale on Black Friday.
UK shoppers try to hunt down Wii Fit for this holiday
Online analyst Hitwise is reporting that folks in the UK who're searching online for the perfect gift are searching for Wii Fit. With Reggie saying there won't be that many on store shelves, we can't blame them for heading online to try and track one down for the holidays. As you can see, the second item that UK shoppers seek is the Wii. Two years in and it's still going strong. We're expecting North Americans are searching for the same two items right about now.Are any of you trying to pick up Wii Fit or the Wii this holiday? Is it a gift for a friend, loved one, family member, or yourself?%Gallery-4745%[Via CVG]
Sam's Club Wii bundle almost worth the Black Friday fight [update]
[Update: the Black Friday Deals page now says the thing costs $425, and the price has been removed from the image. Thanks, Happy Steve, for pointing this out!]Black Friday is almost upon us -- that shopping riot that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, and which retailers now encourage, despite all the trouble thousands of sleep-deprived, desperate, nervous shoppers can cause. If you have a Sam's Club membership, but no Wii, it may be worth your time to brave the crowds for this bundle, because it is very, very cheap.For $224, you get a Wii, three remotes, three Nunchuks, and copies of Wii Sports (obviously), Mario Super Sluggers, and King of Clubs, the last of which was probably slipped in more to get rid of extra stock than to add value. If you want to try for one of these things, we advise you to a) not get your hopes up, and b) arrive at Sam's well in advance of the 5AM opening hour.[Thanks, Steve!]
Macs, iPods and crazy Apple fans on Halloween
Yes, it's the day of goblins, ghosts, and gorging on candy -- and we're here to help. Public service announcement: if you're out this Halloween and snap pics of Apple-themed costumes or Mac-o-lanterns, and if you upload those images to Flickr, please tag them "tuaw." Those will appear in our Flickr stream on the right, further down the page. Thanks to hifimac for this cool iMac-O-Lantern!Take a look at all our previous Halloween posts, or last year's costume gallery:%Gallery-9560%
A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch
Ready for Halloween on your iPhone? The App Store provides a quick fix for trick-or-treaters, and the offerings provide a little of each category. I happened to grab a random assortment of freebies (several were temporarily free) themed around Halloween. Here's a quick review of each. Hit the gallery for sample screens. All app names are iTunes links.Bust-a-spookA simple tap-and-score game using some gradient-heavy backgrounds and simplistic artwork to keep you entertained. The audio, like most of the Halloween-themed apps, is appropriately annoying. I found this one to be too hard and pointless to play with it long. When ghosts, pumpkins or bats are "busted" they grow larger and fade away. That's really about it, except for choosing levels of difficulty. Price: $.99Carve3DClever way to carve a 3D pumpkin on the iPhone. You swap between "rotate" and "carve" modes and carve into the pumpkin by tapping corners. A final tap near the first point closes the loop and carves a hole in the geometry. As an interesting touch, the light actually shines through the geometry, so you can project the face you carve, though getting the camera in a good spot is tough. Price: $.99Crazy PumpkineZone has a slew of nifty, gimmicky apps (they remind me of the Johnson Smith Co. products). Around Halloween several went free, including Crazy Pumpkin. It's a very simple app: swap the eyes, nose and mouth of a virtual jack-o-lantern. I like the pulsing colors and the audio is well-done. Kids love this one. Price: Free.Crazy Metal HeadEssentially a ventriloquist's dummy in the form of a chrome skull with fire in its mouth. You can toggle metal music on or off. The head bounces around, like a bobblehead. That's about all it does, but it still is fun if you do crazy voices and have no shame. Price: $.99Crazy SkeletonAnother freebie from eZone, this time a skeleton with eyes that bounce around. You can control the mouth (like Metal Head), but shaking the device makes a random video play, animating the skeleton. There are maybe a dozen cute performances here, and my kids found this one the most entertaining. $1.99More apps, keep reading...%Gallery-35747%
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day one
Winter Veil may have wrapped up in World of Warcraft, but we've got one more set of prizes to give away! It's day number twelve of our Winter Veil countdown -- the final day of giveaways! Ideazon and WoW Insider have a few more holiday gifts to give out: two Zboard Gaming Keyboards and two FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) for your last chance to win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.)For today's giveaway, we have four prizes lined up: two first-place winners walking away with a Zboard gaming keyboards with one World of Warcraft keyset each (the winner will get to chose between an original World of Warcraft keyset and a Burning Crusade keyset -- but your choices will be restricted by what we have left at this point), and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Friday, January 4th). Thanks to everyone who's participated in our giveaways, and whether you've won or not, Ideazon and WoW Insider hope you've had a happy Winter Veil!
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day two
It's day number eleven of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have just two more days of giveaways to go! There's still time to participate in Winter Veil events in game as well -- but you'd better hurry, because the holiday season wraps up today! Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.) For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a Reaper Edge gaming mouse, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Thursday, January 3rd). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!Update: Though I said the in-game Winter Veil celebrations were wrapping up today, it looks like it's already over -- the holiday decorations vanished early this morning. Sorry, everyone!
