I used Shutterfly to print and mail all my Christmas cards this year. I took a picture of my kids and the cleaned it up in Photoshop. I then uploaded the picture to Shutterfly and chose a card and message. Shutterfly imported addresses from Outlook and I was set. Cost? Just under $2.50 a card that included the card, envelope, addressing and postage. Sure it was bit more expensive than doing it all myself, but it was hassle-free and quick. It’s a no brainer. I’m going the same route next year.

The incredibly funny, Ricky Gervais, has a podcast now. I laughed out loud the entire train trip home this evening. If you liked the BBC hit, The Office, you’ll probably like this podcast.

I’ve tried a few new Bit Torrent applications but I’ve not found anything I like better than Bit Comet. I’m done looking for now.

iTunes is really a great way to explore and manage Podcasts. I know there might be more powerful applications but Apple has a way of making the whole process so dang easy. I still listen to most of my music collection in Q-Player but iTunes is way ahead of anyone else from what I can tell. Is Microsoft going to join in the game or continue to watch from the sidelines?

I’ve been testing both Desktop Sidebar and Google Sidebar. I’ve used Desktop Sidebar for a few years and then heard about Google’s version so I decided to see how it compares. Desktop Sidebar has been around for several years so, as you’d expect, there are far more plug-ins available. Earlier versions seemed to hog memory but the latest version is really slick. I especially like the many available skins and the number of ways to customize the layout and look. The iTunes plug-in is sweet.

Google Sidebar, like all Google services, is constantly being updated. At the moment it’s very easy to use but does not have as many available plug-ins to give it additional functionality. An earlier version I tested, it did not have a Outlook module to pull email, tasks and such from. Both versions bring RSS feeds to your desktop which is one of the most popular features.

Although I prefer Desktop Sidebar today, Google continues to make it’s product more compelling. Both are easy to use and configure but Google seems better suited for first time users and the non-techie crowd. If you want access to the most plug-ins, take a look at Desktop Sidebar. In my opinion, it’s also the best looking of the two.

Jim Louderback discusses the differences between Tivo and cable DVR. Anything having to do with the TV has to pass the wife and kids test. Tivo aces this test. Other DVR’s I’ve seen are not in the same league. Maybe these wannabes would work if you have never seen a Tivo. But since we’ve enjoyed the simple elegance of Tivo, nothing else compares.

My first DVR was the Dishplayer 7000 from Dish Network. The best thing I can say about it is that it worked about 70% of the time. The night it failed to record the final espisode of Survivor was its last night in the house. It was promptly kicked to the curb for Tivo. I’ve been a huge Tivo fan ever since. My 4 year old daughter can navigate the menu system with ease. My wife can record shows and setup Season Passes with no problems. I don’t ever recall a time when she’s asked me to help her program the Tivo which is the best praise I can give. The Tivo is intuitive, simple to operate and it just plain works.

I worked in retail my first job out of college. I spent the first nine months of the year buying knick knacks for the store and the last three months working myself into the ground. Our store would lose money each month until Halloween costume shopping kicked in. We’d then ride the wave into Black Friday and, of course, the Christmas shopping frenzy.

I learned a couple of things in retail: 1. I never want to work in retail again 2. Beware the “Table of Crap”. Retail is wonderful if you enjoy working long hours on most weekends for third world wages. But it was the “Table of Crap” that I remember most about my couple of years in retail. See, not every item I’d purchase throughout the year would turn out to be a best seller. So we’d toss all the crappy items nobody wanted into a big pile and wait for Black Friday to arrive. On that morning we’d pile a table full of crap from Walking Willies to Brad Pitt key-chains and Lava Lamps. We are talking bottom of barrel here as this was the junk we couldn’t move at up to 75% off. We had to wait until the end of year to mark any item down more than 75%.

The Black Friday shopper is a different breed of shopper and one that I got to know well while at this job. This person isn’t looking for the high quality or best rated items of the bunch. You won’t see them carrying around a Consumer Reports or giving a hoot about reliability. No, this savvy cheapster is looking for the outright best bargains regardless of need or practicality. I was amazed the first year we rolled the “Table of Crap” to the front of our store and watched normally mild manner adults fight over size XXXL Big Johnson T-shirts, outdated snow globes and ugliest candles you ever laid eyes on. Maybe these people had office Christmas parties to attend and they wanted to get the “white elephant” gifts taken care of first.

The day after Christmas was also a fabulous day for snagging the bargain hunter. For a retailer, the perfect storm was finding a bargain hunter in your store, the day after Christmas, with gift certificate in hand. People that wouldn’t think twice about spending their hard earned cash on a set of miniature inflatable sumo wrestlers are suddenly buying them up like iPod Nanos all because of the gift certificate mentality. I’m convinced that when people shop with a gift certificate they leave their brain at the door. It must feel like Monopoly money and what better time to buy that fart cushion than when it’s no skin off your back?

So as you fight the mall mobs at your local Best Buy or Toys-R-Us, enjoy the holidays and look for the Table of Crap. It will be there waiting for you.

With the release of 1.5, Firefox continues to put distance between itself and IE. Here’s a list of my favorite extensions:

1. All in One Gestures – the first extension I install. If you’re still navigating websites from the menu bar, you’re wasting time.

2. Tab Preview – This nifty extension shows a shink-sized preview of the page when you move over the page’s tab.

3. Tab Clicking Options – A very simple extension to control tab behavior such as “close tab on double click”

4. IE Tab – Never launch IE again with this extension. Great for sites like Windows Update or MSNBC videos that require IE. Opens IE in a tab from within Firefox.

5. Remove it Permanently – Remove any web content using context menu. Great for getting rid of annoying Flash ads. Makes MSNBC readable.

Been in a record store lately? I remember going to the mall just to visit Musicland and pickup an album or cassette. With iTunes, Target, WalMart and Costco is there any reason for the record store to exist? I don’t remember the last time I bought anything at a Sam Goody. Their prices are usually $3-$5 more than the same CD at Target. I walked by a couple of record stores last week and they were ghost towns.

A very interesting article from Fortune about how people are making a living selling virtual items in MMORPGs.

I finally got around to installing World of Warcraft. Downloading 252 MB patch as I write.

My Speck skin arrived for my iPod and I really like it. Hard to tell from the pictures but the “Skin Tight” is excellent quality.

Where have I been? I just noticed today that PeerGuardian2 is out.

Are you a Firefox convert but still need to access Sharepoint sites, Windows update or other IE only websites? With this cool extention you may never have to launch IE stand alone again.

This is the best mouse I’ve ever used. I’ve used a number of Microsoft mice for as long as I can remember but this Logitech beats them all. Zero lag, zero cables, zero hassle.

The new Nero 7 is really slick too. I installed that over the weekend and burned a few Divx and Xvid movies to watch on my new DVD Player.

I’m still having problems getting Fable to run on my new computer. I have no idea why it freezes on my Nvidia 6600 GT card yet plays fine on my wife’s ATI 9600 XT. Nvidia’s software even includes a “profile” for the game so I’m mystified.

The best $1 you can spend for a nifty little backup program.

I didn’t camp-out at Target, WalMart of Best Buy to get my hands on an Xbox 360. I didn’t have to chose between the real 360 or some scaled back cheapo “core” version. I didn’t call in sick to work so I could play my new Xbox nor did I call all my friends and boast to them about my new purchase. I didn’t bad-mouth the Playstation 3 or Nintendo Revolution and I didn’t proclaim Halo is better than GTA or Zelda. I don’t plan to eBay my old first gen Xbox which I didn’t mod-chip it into a Media Center. I didn’t wear any Xbox logo clothing to work today. I’m not getting excited about a wireless controller, removable drive or Xbox Live. Xbox 360 hasn’t “taken over my living room” nor do I plan to “prepay for items like virtual armor or other game-related items“. I didn’t use the words, “kick ass” in any converstation with coworkers today.