2009 Holiday Gift Ideas: For the Macintosh-minded

Anyone who enjoys the free Electric Sheep screen saver will also like
the artwork from Electric Sheep's creator, artist Scott Draves. He has
a variety of limited edition artworks available, including prints,
t-shirts, greeting cards (coming soon), and even a Blu-ray disc that
will display Electric Sheep-like animations on a large screen TV. None
of the art is cheap, alas (even the stunning fully printed t-shirts
cost $88, and must be ordered by November 20th to arrive by
Christmas), but sales of the limited edition artwork helps fund future
Electric Sheep development.

http://scottdraves.com/for-sale.html
http://community.electricsheep.org/

cheers... -Adam

On 17-Nov-2009, at 09:57, Bruce Carter wrote:
> On Nov 16, 2009, at 7:03 PM, David McMurray wrote:
>> In case you hadn't noticed, Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" is now available (in Canada, at least) from the iTunes Store. It's standard definition but an absolute steal nevertheless--30 bucks for the classic 17-episode series.
>
> I always find it hard to believe that it was so few episodes...


I find it even harder to believe it came out 40 years ago. More than 40 years ago. I saw it about 20 years ago and it seemed fresh and new then; would be worth seeing it again.

Eneloop (or other low self discharge) batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/SANYO-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000IV2WAW/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1

These Eneloops really do live up to their hype---retains charge long after regular NiMH batteries would be dead. Now that wireless kb/mouse is the default choice for desktop Macs, we all need a ready supply of batteries. If you have children with lots of battery operated toys, always having a reasonably fresh set of spare batteries is a plus. Also works great for the flashlight and radio in your "emergency go-bag"---we all have these, right? ;-)

In the year or so that the Eneloops have been on the market others have gotten in on the act as well:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=low+self+discharge+batteries&x=0&y=0

Also the "pre-charged" rechargeables from Duracell are rebadged Eneloops. (Actually, there are two types of Duracells---ones with the white on the positive end made in Japan are rebadged Eneloops. The ones with black tops made in China, I believe, are rebadged Rayovacs.

And if you are going to get rechargeables, why not add a good battery charger (that does things like recondition batteries):

http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-BC-9009-AlphaPower-Battery/dp/B00077AA5Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258553716&sr=8-1

Yes I know, batteries and battery chargers have all the excitement of, well, backup hard drives. But they are practical, and everyone needs em.

Tomoharu

On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 7:03 PM, David McMurray <cdmcmurkingston.net> wrote:
> In case you hadn't noticed, Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" is now available (in Canada, at least) from
> the iTunes Store. It's standard definition but an absolute steal nevertheless--30 bucks for the
> classic 17-episode series.

Damn: I bought my sister a box CD set at over $100.

By the way, you have to search for "Prisoner (Classic)" in iTunes. It
took me a while to find because searching on "Prisoner" simply pulls
up the new show and a bunch of songs with "Prisoner" in the title.

As soon as I can get iTunes working on my "TV", I'll get it.

My "TV" is a cheap Dell box with a 32" monitor. We originally
installed Mythbuntu and Myth TV, but had a terrible time with getting
it to work. We then switched to plain Ubuntu and finally got it to
work somewhat via Kaffine. The last update broke that, and I've
installed Windows 7 on the box and watch TV through Windows Media
Center. I got iTunes on the box, but it crashes every time I try to go
into the Apple store.

If I had to do the whole thing over again, I'd get a Mac Mini. The
Dell box wasn't that much cheaper (about $50 once we paid the
shipping) and doesn't have digital output, has a cheaper processor,
and doesn't have Bluetooth.

--
David Weintraub
qazwartgmail.com

Adam C. Engst wrote:
> Please use this thread for posting non-computer-related gift
> suggestions that are the sort of thing that a Macintosh user would
> like. Movies, books, services, gadgets, and the like are all the
> sorts of things that would fit into this grab-bag category.

I'd like to ask for suggestions for in car Bluetooth for those of us with cars older than a few years. And if you have a suggestion for one that ties into older radios and cuts the volume when a call comes in even better yet.

Thanks
David

On 2009-11-19, at 5:30 AM, David Weintraub wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 7:03 PM, David McMurray <cdmcmurkingston.net> wrote:
>> In case you hadn't noticed, Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" is now available (in Canada, at least) from
>> the iTunes Store. It's standard definition but an absolute steal nevertheless--30 bucks for the
>> classic 17-episode series.
>
> Damn: I bought my sister a box CD set at over $100.
>
> By the way, you have to search for "Prisoner (Classic)" in iTunes. It
> took me a while to find because searching on "Prisoner" simply pulls
> up the new show and a bunch of songs with "Prisoner" in the title.

At the Canadian store, it's displayed right there on the home page, waiting to be snapped up. How much is it in the USA? (Assuming that's where you are.)

--
David McMurray

On 19 Nov 2009, at 22:57, David Ross wrote:

> I'd like to ask for suggestions for in car Bluetooth for those of us
> with cars older than a few years. And if you have a suggestion for
> one that ties into older radios and cuts the volume when a call
> comes in even better yet.

I am a very happy user of the PARROT CK3000 EVOLUTION Bluetooth Hands
Free Car Kit <http://www.parrot.com/catalog/products/parrot-ck3000-evolution
 >. It comes with specific fitting instructions for a huge number of
car models, it has an intuitive control interface and excellent voice-
command options, and it may cost as low as 65$ today.
--e.

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 5:57 PM, David Ross <drdavidrossconsultant.com> wrote:
> Adam C. Engst wrote:
>> Please use this thread for posting non-computer-related gift
>> suggestions that are the sort of thing that a Macintosh user would
>> like. Movies, books, services, gadgets, and the like are all the
>> sorts of things that would fit into this grab-bag category.
> I'd like to ask for suggestions for in car Bluetooth for those of us with
> cars older than a few years. And if you have a suggestion for one that ties
> into older radios and cuts the volume when a call comes in even better yet.

My radio has an ATT (attenuate) button, so I don't need something that
would cut into the volume. I bought the Contour Sound Surface Compact
a couple of months ago for CAD 80; someone has listed it through an
Amazon store for less (USD 45ish), although it lists for $99.95. Since
then, I've been so pleased with it that my dad has bought one and I've
recommended it to five or six other people (one person has even taken
their Blue Ant device back to get the SSC. The sound quality is great,
the noise cancelling is amazing (most folks don't realize that they're
on speakerphone, and the road noise is minimal until you open the
window).

http://retail.contourdesign.com/?/products/13
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR500VC/A

The claimed battery life is amazing (15 hour talk, 22 day standby) and
not far off. Since I bought it at the end of September, I've charged
it three times—and I am pretty sure I didn't need to charge it one of
them (I was loaning it to someone so they could see how good it was).

-austin
--
Austin Ziegler • austinzieglers.ca • austinhalostatue.ca
http://www.halostatue.ca/ • http://twitter.com/halostatue

On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 10:59 AM, Adam C. Engst <acetidbits.com> wrote:
> Please use this thread for posting non-computer-related gift
> suggestions that are the sort of thing that a Macintosh user would
> like. Movies, books, services, gadgets, and the like are all the
> sorts of things that would fit into this grab-bag category.

And although there have been a number of messages in this thread, only
a few of them were suggestions (rather than discussions of The
Prisoner TV show...).

The ThinkGeek store is often a source of good ideas in this category...

cheers... -Adam

I've been kicking around getting a Blu-ray player. Any recommendations.
I'd prefer the $100-$200 range. Playstation is running about $299 on
Amazon so that's obviously once choice, but i'm not that huge a gamer.

A car adapter for iPods/iPhones.

iSimple model IS77. I got on at Best Buy.

http://www.isimplesolutions.com/ipod-adapter/TranzIt.asp

It's an FM transmitter that you install behind your dash. It connects between your existing antenna and your radio.

What it does is give you an iPod/iPhone cable that you can have come out where ever you want. It both plays through your existing car radio and also charges at the same time. No power plug / cigarette lighter cabling mess.

We just put one into my son's 02 Saturn and he loves it. We had the cable come out under the console.

Don't let the power switch that is implied you have to drill a hole in your dash. You'd only run into this if the FM channel selections conflict with a local station you want to listen to. If no conflict just turn the switch on and leave it hidden behind the dash.

David Ross

How about geeky footwear?

In particular, some Vibram Five Fingers KSOs:

<http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_KSO_m.cfm>

No. Really.

And not because Mr. Brin wears 'em, either:

<http://birthdayshoes.com/index.php/sergey-brin-billionaire-innovator-five-fingers-model
 >.

For most of a year and a half, I've been walking around the house down
here barefoot, shedding even my Crocs at the door. It's been great for
my knees, etc., especially on a tile floor (a paradox, that), but I
would draw the line at going barefoot outside, where the crushed stone
driveway, or, worse, all the erst-coral very-jagged limestone, um,
karst, I think, that passes for "soil" on the this end of the island
would do its best to mangle my formerly cap-toed oxford-clad tootsies.

So, after a few years of hearing about VFFs, I broke down and got a
pair of KSO's a week or so ago, and, hey, presto, I don't even take
off my, um, shoes, in the house anymore, the pointy rocks outside are
no problem, and I've become an "attraction" down here, in the words of
the housekeeper. (More so I am than otherwise, apparently...)


On the other hand, okay, foot, I suppose, if you're of the hack-your-
own-shoes frame of mind -- or hack-your-wallet, in the Age of Hope and
Change -- you might take look at *making* some Tarahumara huraches.
See <www.invisibleshoe.com> for the best video directions, and <http://barefootted.com
 > for the best evangelism on same. Both of these guys have kits you
can buy, but since the Taruhumara <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara
 > run hundred-plus mile foot-races in ones they make themselves out
of *tires*, one presumes you can, too. Make sandals, I mean, not run
hundred-mile foot-races.

In fact, I took two sets of foot-tracings from a couple of friends at
Thanksgiving dinner last night, and am gonna try to make a few pairs
out of some left-over rubber play-area mat-tiles that were donated for
the purpose, using the invisibleshoe.com video for directions...

And, if you're not at the bottom of an shipping-and-import-duty dimple
in financial space-time like I am, you can probably score some 4mm or
6mm Vibram Cherry sole material on the net and do the way like
everyone else does, instead.

Cheers,
RAH

Who *walks* -- does *not* run -- the dog half a mile every morning,
thank you very much -- and now in VFF KSOs.

Beatles fans would appreciate either or both of the Beatles box sets.

The mono box set is a limited edition set and is targeted for the hard-core fan. The mono mixes are considered the real version of many of the albums as the Beatles themselves and George Martin were involved with the final mixes. Stereo was still a bit of a novelty, so the stereo mixes were left as an afterthought. The mono box set doesn't include Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, and Let It Be as these albums were released only in stereo.

The stereo box set includes all of the Beatles albums. These are the mixes more familiar to listeners in the US, so it's probably a better choice of the two sets for the casual fan.

There's also the Beatles box set on USB, which contains the stereo mixes in 24-bit, 44.1-kHz FLAC and 320-Kbps MP3, on an apple-shaped USB drive. This is a limited edition, and Amazon's currently sold out, so I imagine it might be hard to find.

On 27-Nov-2009, at 14:13, Kevin van Haaren wrote:
> I've been kicking around getting a Blu-ray player. Any recommendations.
> I'd prefer the $100-$200 range. Playstation is running about $299 on
> Amazon so that's obviously once choice, but i'm not that huge a gamer.

I know several non-Gamers who have bought the PS3 because it is, according to them, "Simply the best BD player on the market."

The fact that it is easily software-upgradable is a huge selling point.

I seriously considered it myself, simply for streaming HD content to my projector.

Here's a book that geeky folks might like. Written by my friend Steve
Roberts, "Reaching Escape Velocity" is about, well, living like Steve
- coordinating ideas, friends, and money to achieve truly crazy goals
(Steve's the guy who biked across the country on a custom recumbent
with oodles of geek gear in the early 1980s). Nowadays he's into
boats, which just increases the challenge, given how well water and
electronics get along.

<http://nomadicresearchlabs.com/store/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=4&products_id=15>

About a decade ago, Adam published an outstanding recommendation to
make a holiday donation to Heifer International, a very worthy and
respected organization devoted to providing livestock, plants and
training to enable impoverished communities worldwide to develop
reliable and sustainable sources of food and income. I have been so
impressed with the results of Heifer International that I've made
regular donations over the years:

http://db.tidbits.com/article/6241

Marilyn

Though it's not a Mac, I think anyone with a back yard might (which
unfortunately doesn't include apartment-dwelling me) might appreciate
growing their own delicious Ralls Janet variety apples. This handy
kit includes everything needed - seeds, growing medium, pot and
instructions + an aluminum tag for you to inscribe to personalize the
trunk. At $22.50, it's a gift that will keep giving for decades to come:

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/pottingshedcreations/the-162/
Apple-Tree-2-Be/Detail

Marilyn

I can't vouch for Speakal's iPig, iPanda, MiSoccer, iBoo or iPomm 5-
speaker docking stations, for iPods, They got a lot of nice reviews
and a discount on Amazon and are soooooo cute:

http://www.amazon.com/Speakal-Stereo-Docking-Station-Speakers/dp/
B001E2IYFQ

http://www.amazon.com/Speakal-iPanda-Docking-Station-Speakers/dp/
B001N2CNW2

Marilyn

The PS3 using my g4 mac as a media server is the ultimate home
entertainment unit. I run it all through my home stereo and can
stream music, video, everything through the PS3. It is the best home
entertainment product I have ever owned. I use it everyday, I dont
have the ps3 remote but use the game controller to run watch dvd's,
bluray's, downloaded video's and music from the mac. The browser is a
little wonky but works pretty well for most net video formats, as
long as you know where you are going. I am going to get a blue tooth
keyboard and I think that this will solve most of my problems with
using the net.

You will need some software to use your mac or pc as a media server.
This is a good list
http://www.rbgrn.net/content/21-how-to-choose-dlna-media-server-
windows-mac-os-x-or-linux

The PS3 has a wireless internet built in but I prefer wired ethernet.
It seems like video streams better. I use nullriver's media something
as my dlna server. 2 years ago it was the best available and since I
paid $20 for it I am reluctant to change but I think that there are
now better products. If you have an older mac turn off transcoding.
The processor is not fast enough to list the files with a transcoded
sample and you will get an error if you open a folder with too many
videos. Also the netflix video on demand thing is very nice. Not all
of netflix's video's are available. Regards Chris

Check out the Sony BDP-S360. Cheap but pretty solid. I have a similar, earlier model that cost three times as much when it first came out. It produces an excellent picture, but I also kept another DVD player that could handle SACDs--the Sony can't.

Available for less than $120 at Wal-Mart and Amazon. Review at http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-players/sony-bdp-s360/4505-6473_7-33539691.html

It has definite shortcomings mentioned in the article, but they may not matter to you.

Be prepared to buy a Sony special narrow memory stick to insert in the rear or you will not be able to update the software. Most thumb drives are too wide to fit in the tight space provided.