1. Don’t get married.
2. If you ignored #1, don’t get your wife roses for Valentine’s Day.

Now, please let me explain. Both of my points here are a joke (kinda…mostly). However, there is a reason behind #2. If you buy flowers for your spouse or girlfriend one year for Valentine’s Day, then she will expect them the following year (or something of greater emotional value or importance). Even if you both “mutually agree” beforehand that flowers aren’t necessary, she will expect them.

So, I’ll assume that since you’re reading this article then you’ve ignored my advice. I know what you must be going through at this point; you’re worried that you’re a horrible husband/boyfriend and you’re scrambling to find the best place to order flowers.

Rest easy, because I’ve done the legwork for you. After nearly 5 years of marriage I’ve tried a variety of different flower shops and florists and I will now rank the top 3. Each flower shop is judged on the quality of the flowers and of course the general level of excitement of my wife.

In order of rank:

1. 1-800-FLOWERS.com
2. FTD.com
3. ProFlowers

1-800-FLOWERS
The first few times I ordered flowers, they came from ProFlowers.com. Then one day I found a better deal on 1-800-FLOWERS so I ordered from there instead. My wife proclaimed, hands down, that the quality of flowers were much better than ProFlowers.com, as well as having arrived in nicer packaging and had a longer life.

FTD
My wife actually puts FTD.com on the same quality level as 1-800-FLOWERS. The reason that it’s listed as number 2 is because my wife claimed that the edges on a few of the flowers were slightly wilted, but nothing unsightly. The package that I purchased included chocolates, but she didn’t even know until I told her that there should’ve been chocolates included. Because of the way the flowers were packaged, she thought that the box of chocolates was simply an ice pack and had put it in the garbage. So, if you place an order that includes chocolates, you may want to make mention of it in the personal note.

ProFlowers
It’s unfortunate that ProFlowers falls into last place, because many times I’ve found better prices on their site (I’ll let you determine how that reflects the quality of the product).

The first order I purchased from ProFlowers, my wife called and was thankful but said that all the flowers were wilted and looked to be half dead. I immediately called the site’s 800 number and filed a complaint. My wife received fresh flowers the next day at no extra charge. So, if the flowers aren’t up to snuff, just give them a call and they’ll get a new set out to your loving spouse asap.

The important thing to remember is, money won’t buy happiness; but money will buy roses which will make your wife or girlfriend happy. So, instead of buying yourself a copy of Left 4 Dead this month, think of the sweet woman in your life (your wife!) and order her some flowers!

• If you’re in need of a good laugh, check out Awkard Family Photos.
• Very cool concept photography from Martin Wilson. No Photoshop here; he creates montages by piecing together frames from an entire roll of film. Very meticulously done.
• Got a hankering for an Amazon Kindle but aren’t ready to fork out the cash? Search for a used Kindle at UsedKindleGear.com.
• MacUpdate Promo is a good resource for getting quality Mac software for a discount price. New deals running weekly!
• ColoRotate is a very cool way to come up with custom color themes for your designs.

I know we all love to hate Microsoft, but there really are many different ways to enjoy your Xbox 360. Of course, the most obvious way is to play those wonderful, $60 discs of gaming joy. But there’s so much more you can do, even with a busted DVD drive.

First, I’ll cover some of the things you can do that involve using your Xbox. After that, I’ll show you some of the other creative ways you can get some use out of the Xbox 360, but possibly not in the ways you’d imagine.

Play Xbox Live Arcade Games

Just because your DVD drive is busted, it doesn’t mean that you can’t play games! There are tons of great games that you can just download and run from your hard drive. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this feature. Also, the more recent games that have been coming down the pipe feature full multi-player modes, achievement points, you name it.

Play Original Xbox Games

Nostagia is great. Not getting up from the couch is even greater. There are scores of original Xbox games that you can purchase and download to your Xbox 360’s hard drive. It kinda hurts if you’ve bought the games before, but it’s a huge bonus if it’s new to you. And hey, if you bought a game a few years ago for the original Xbox, just consider it a “lazy tax.” Once you purchase and download, you jump straight into a game without moving.

Stream Movies from a Media Center

Got an PC in the house with Media Center installed? You’ve got a whole new toy, my friend. If you’ve never used your Media Center with your 360, you’re really missing something. I can’t tell you how many movies and episodes of Dexter and 24 I’ve streamed through my Xbox.

What made this extra special to me was that my media machine was upstairs, and my nice HDTV and Xbox were downstairs. Can’t find anything on? Fire up the Xbox and watch a few episodes of your favorite series. Bonus points if you decide to watch Battlestar Galactica. So say we all!

Stream Movies and TV from Netflix!

Guys, I’ll be honest. This is really what helped me through my gaming dry-spells. Seriously, if I couldn’t use my Netflix, bad things would happen.

I’m amazed that more people don’t take advantage of Netflix. Not only is Netflix an awesome service, but you can use it in so many ways. You’ve got your movie rentals, no late fees, streaming to your computer, and now you can stream through the Xbox 360! Who would turn down such a service? Especially if you still rent movies the “old fashioned way.” I honestly believe that if everyone knew how great Netflix really is, none of those brick and mortar stores would still be open. Netflix is my favorite way to watch streaming movies at home.

Ok, so you’re totally excited about signing up with Netflix, right? Well, I have a link for you. Check out WatchStreamingMovies.com. These guys have put together a site that lists everything you’ll need.

I want to play my expensive games!

I hear you, friend. There comes a point when nothing but tearing down the streets in GTA will satisfy. So what’s a gamer to do? Well, the choices are obvious, but the way you go about them are many.

Fix your Broken Xbox

First, there’s the option of fixing your Xbox 360. Yeah, I know, I know… how obvious! But, maybe your Xbox is no longer under warranty. Maybe you don’t have the money on hand to get it fixed. Don’t worry!

Of course, if your Xbox is still under warranty, I don’t know why you’re reading this. You should call Microsoft and set up a repair as soon as possible (1-800-4MY-XBOX). However, if the warranty has run out and you’re strapped for cash, you have a couple of options.

Sell your busted Xbox on eBay

Yes, believe it or not, there are lots of people out there who would like to buy your broken Xbox. Depending on what exactly is broken, you can probably get a good amount of money for it. The people who buy broken Xbox’s are usually good at repairs. They buy your Xbox, disassemble it for parts, and then either sell those parts to other people or use the parts to make their own repairs. That’s why you can still get a fair amount for something that’s broken. Often times you can get enough to buy a used Xbox on Craigs List or other listing on eBay.

Strip your Xbox for Parts

Let’s do a little math. Let’s say your strip down your XBox 360 into 30 separate parts (I’ve seen people bidding on the eject button!). Now, you take those parts and sell them for $8 – $10 each on eBay or Craigs List. Suddenly, your broken Xbox has gone from worthless to a value somewhere around $300. Now you can buy a new Xbox 360 and have a new warranty. It’s a little work and you’ve got to know what you’re doing, but it can be totally worth it. Just search around eBay and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Got any other bright ideas?

That’s all I can pull out of my head at the moment. Do you guys have any other big ideas? If so, leave a comment below. Your fellow gamers will love you for it!

There are tons of really good tutorials and videos on the web that explain how to disassemble your Xbox, so I’m not going to break things down to that level. It’s my hope that approaching the problem from a broad overview will remove some of the fear and uncertainty that surrounds cracking your Xbox 360 open. If you’re not yet ready to repair your DVD drive, check out the different ways you can use your broken Xbox 360.

Please note: If your Xbox 360 is still under warranty, I recommend sending it to Microsoft for repair. Warranty repairs are free and you should get an extension on your warranty, which is a nice bonus. I can only suggest that you attempt the repairs yourself if the warranty has run out and you’re comfortable with handling computer components. Also, even though your warranty may have expired, you can still pay to have it fixed. However, if you open up your Xbox, I’m not sure you’re still eligible for repairs. So, consider that before you begin.

If you’ve ever made a computer repair that involved replacing hardware, repairing your Xbox should be pretty simple. If the thought of opening your computer and replacing a DVD drive frightens you, please stop here and read something else. I’m working on another article that covers all the things you can do with an Xbox even though your DVD drive is broken. Sit tight!

Still here? Great! So let’s talk about some of the things that can go wrong with your DVD drive. There are several common problems out in the wild:

• A magnet has come unglued. This is the problem I had. After searching the web for a couple of days, it looks like this is a very common problem. Symptoms include the Unreadable Disc error, funny noises, a scratched game disc or DVD, and random Stone Temple Pilot references.
• The motor that spins the disc is not working properly. To verify this is the problem, you’ll have to open your Xbox 360 and take a peek inside the DVD drive. Though, if your drive is really, really quiet and you haven’t installed your games to the hard drive, you’ve got a reason to suspect the disc motor. You can either just replace the motor assembly, which involves opening up your DVD drive, or you can just replace the whole drive. Replacing the motor requires finding the same motor for the original model of DVD drive installed in your Xbox 360. Replacing the entire drive opens another can of worms, as it means you’ve got to either swap the boards or flash the new drive with the old drive’s key (I know! It’s confusing!)
• The motor that moves the laser assembly is not working properly. This problem is often associated with odd noises coming from the DVD drive, especially when you first insert a disc. The easiest way to verify this is to open up your Xbox 360 and take a look inside your DVD drive. Spinning a disc up is kinda cool with all the DVD drive’s guts exposed. Just don’t look at the laser.

Before you sit down to disassemble your Xbox 360, you need to gather a few tools. Links to Amazon.com are provided in case you need to make a purchase.

• A set of Torx Drivers (Sizes T10 and T8 will be used, but you might as well pick up a good set).
• A Philips-head screwdriver.
• A really, really small flat-head screwdriver. A precision set will do nicely, and you’ll be able to fix your glasses later if they break.
• A flashlight or headlamp. I found myself using a headlamp so I could see the little plastic tabs that hold the Xbox’s outer plastic shell in place. When you’re done, you can use it to read late into the night.
• A flat surface with some sort of protective layer between the Xbox and the table/floor/whatever. Once you’ve removed the plastic shell, the metal chassis can scratch your work surface. Don’t fix your Xbox on your mom’s dining room table
• Some patience and TLC. <3

As I said before, I’m not going to go into the step-by-step process of taking your Xbox 360 apart. There are tons of tutorials and videos on YouTube you can refer to. To summarize, the Xbox 360 hardware is encased by a plastic shell that is comprised of 5 major pieces. Most of these pieces are held together using a series of plastic clips (one of the large panels is held in place by several screws that require the Torx drivers to remove). Here’s a quick and dirty break-down:

• Remove the hard drive.
• Remove the front bezel (the piece where the power button is).
• Remove the skinny side panels (these use the plastic clips).
• Remove the large bottom panel.
• Remove the large screws that run through the chassis.
• Remove the large top panel.

With this accomplished, you’re ready to take a look at that pesky DVD drive. Note that there are four screws running through the bottom of the chassis that holds the DVD drive in place. Just remove these screws and the DVD drive will come out. On the back of the drive you’ll find two cables that run to the mother board. Disconnect these two cables from the drive.

Remove the drive from the Xbox and flip it over, you’ll see four to six screws holding the DVD case together. Remove these screws and the two pieces of the DVD case will come apart. Now we’re getting somewhere!

You should now be able to see the inside of the drive. Take a look at the top piece of the drive case. Do you see a little magnet stuck to the top? If so, you just need to re-glue it back into the spindle that sets below the center of your game discs. Don’t use too much glue and take care to allow plenty of time for the glue to dry.

Be sure to re-assemble your Xbox before you return to normal use. There’s not much harm in just testing it out before you put it all back together. Just be sure to use extreme caution to never touch anything inside the Xbox. Yes, this means your finger, your little sister’s Cool-aid, etc., needs to stay away from the Xbox! Once you’re sure everything is working properly, put the Xbox back together. Doing otherwise is putting your money, hard work, and safety at risk.

If you believe your trouble is the result of something other than a loose magnet, you’ll likely need to replace a component within the DVD drive or the entire drive itself. I’ve seen numerous videos on YouTube (some better than others) that show how to do this.

If after you fooled around with your DVD drive and you begin to notice odd sounds, check to make sure the magnet didn’t come back out. If the magnet is still where it belongs, adjust the laser assembly. Do not touch the lens, but check to see if the laser assembly slides back and forth rather easily. Set the laser about an inch away from the spindle and try again. Of course, don’t do any of this while the Xbox is on, silly.

If you were already planning on fixing your Xbox yourself, I hope you found this article encouraging. In my case, a few minutes of my time and a squirt of glue saved me $100. I hope you have the same great results! Until you decide to fix your DVD drive yourself, head over to my post on how to use your broken Xbox.

I watched in mild horror as the ladies dipped my son’s hand in the blue liquid paint and attempt to press his hand flat against the construction paper. Only, my son closed his hand to make a fist. They had to pry his fingers open and feebly press down on the paper while he screamed and struggled to get away.

Afterwards, it looked like someone had spit a mouthful of blue paint onto the paper. It barely resembled a handprint at all. And even after the kind ladies scrubbed on my child’s hands to get the remnants of the paint off, there was still a slight hint of blue on his hand all day long.

I figured there had to be a better, easier way to get a handprint and footprint of a child. Here is what I’ve come up with.

Items you’ll need

• Crayola Washable Kid’s Paint
• A sponge – Any sponge will do. I found a rather large one in the automotive section in Walmart. Just make sure it’s big enough to cover a child’s or human’s foot.
• A white sheet of paper – The heavier the paper, the better. You can use regular printer paper, but the area around the footprint might start to wilt or warp over time.
• A child with a foot – This exercise is not limited to children, but within the scope of this article we’re focusing on a child’s footprint.
• Damp washcloth

Step 1 – Avoid the Hands
As I witnessed first hand (pun not intended), you want to avoid dealing with the hands if you’re doing this. The child is either going to ball up their hand, make a mess in an infinite number of ways, or stick his or her hand directly into their mouth. Bad idea, buddy.

So, just stick to the feet. Much cleaner and easier.

Step 2 – Apply Paint to the Sponge
Pop open the paint color of your choice and pour out a little onto the sponge. Don’t go overboard here, simply apply quarter-sized dollops of paint and spread it over the sponge until you have a paint spot big enough to cover the child’s foot.

Step 3 – Step In It
Now simply take the child’s foot and press it gently on the paint spot on the sponge. Because you’re using a sponge, the paint should be applied evenly so you won’t have dobs of paint on the final footprint.

Step 4 – Step On It
Press the child’s foot firmly against the sheet of paper. Try to press straight down and then lift straight up without moving or dragging from side to side.

Step 5 – Rinse and Repeat
Using your damp washcloth, wipe the paint off the child’s foot. If done correctly, the paint should only be on the child’s foot for under 10-15 seconds, so the paint should come off very easily. Now you can easily switch to the other foot or do the same foot again.

Step 6 – Display Your Work
There’s no official drying time indicated on the Crayola paints, but the paint seems to be dry enough to touch after 1-2 hours. Since there are no dobs of paint, you should be able to instantly hang the footprint on the way without risk of running lines of paint.

If you have a scanner, you can easily scan the sheet of paper (make sure the paint is dry!) for easy digital archiving or for use as design elements and compositions. Keep the size of the footprint at 100% (don’t resize) and it should print out as actual size.

As soon as I opened the Kindle, I was immediately pelted with spitballs questions about the features and functionality of the device. Let’s address some of those questions first, and then talk about some of the lesser-known advanced features.

Is the screen backlit?
Nope. While this may seem to be a drawback, I can assure you that the screen is one of the most unique features of the Kindle. Deemed as an “electronic paper” display, the Kindle’s screen is built to mimic the page of a book. As such, the Kindle can be easily read outside in direct sunlight. The matte-like finish of the screen helps cut down on unwanted glares and reflections. To further aid in ease of reading, you can change the text size to one of 6 different sizes.

So, how do you read in the dark? Check out a clip-on light, or do what I do and use a Petzl headlamp.

How do I download books?
You can easily download books directly on the Kindle by visiting the Kindle Store. It’s easy to browse, search, read samples and reviews, and then buy your books right there on the device. You can also buy books on your computer through your Amazon account and then transfer the books to your Kindle via the included USB cable.

Do I need to have to enter my credit card when I buy a book on the Kindle?
Nope. When you first turn on your Kindle, you are prompted to login to your Amazon account. Once your Kindle is linked to your Amazon account, all purchases are processed through the credit card information you have on file with your account. This makes it very easy (almost too easy) to purchase books through the Kindle.

How does the wireless work? Do I need to be near a wireless hotspot?
Nope. The Kindle uses EVDO, a high-speed network that many cell phones use. Thus, you have free wireless access without the need of connecting to a wireless access point (assuming the Kindle’s wireless receiver has at least one bar of reception).

What kind of batteries does this thing take?
The Kindle comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that recharges fully in about 2 hours. With the wireless receiver turned on, the battery lasts for about 24-48 hours. With the receiver off, the battery life is said to last for about a week.

Need more battery life? Order a replacement battery.

Do I need to buy a case for it?
Nope. Another surprise was finding a decent quality case included in the box with the Kindle.

Want more options for cases? Check out more available Kindle cases on Amazon.

Do I need a memory card for the Kindle?
The Kindle has 118mb of usable internal storage. At this amount, it’s said to hold over 200 titles. However, you can add a Secure Digital card for additional storage.

Wait. It plays MP3s too?
Yup. Add music to your Kindle to listen while you read. There’s no built-in speaker, so you’ll have to listen via the 1/8″ headphone jack.

The downfall to the headphone jack is that it’s positioned in the bottom left corner of the Kindle. Depending on how you hold the Kindle, your headphone cord may get in the way.

Do I just scroll through pages of the books?
On either side of the Kindle is a large Next Page button; a Previous Page button is located on the left side only.

These buttons are almost too easy to hit. I still hit them accidentally as I’m reading. It may take some time to get comfortable with the Kindle before you can read without unintentionally hitting one of the buttons.

Can I transfer my own documents to my Kindle for accessing them on the go?
Most definitely. You can transfer your documents by connecting the Kindle to your computer via USB. However, the better way is by your Kindle email address.

If you login to your Amazon account, go to the Manage Your Kindle page and setup a Kindle email address (example: your.name@kindle.com). Then, simply email your document to your Kindle email address and it will appear on your device’s Home page when it is downloaded via wireless.

How durable is this thing?
More durable than it looks. Check out the 30″ drop test (in slo-mo!) about on the Amazon Kindle description page. I can attest, after dropping mine twice (in the case), this thing can take a few knocks and still power up just fine.

Any other helpful tips?

• To search Wikipedia, move Kindle’s cursor to the search bar and type @wiki followed by your search term (example: @wiki geek). Just hit Go and you’ll be automatically taken to the related page on Wikipedia.
• Move the cursor to any sentence and press down on the scroll button to look up the words in the sentence in Kindle’s included Dictionary.
• Hit Alt+T to display the current time in the bottom left corner on the Home page. Do this while you’re reading and the time will be spoken aloud (only when using headphones).
• Go to Menu > Experimental > Basic Web and go to http://m.google.com. Bookmark this page and you will have access to most all the essential Google apps such as Reader, Google Maps and Gmail.
• Alt + aA key puts the Kindle in standby mode; basically, it locks the Kindle and puts up a screensaver. Hit the same key combo again to unlock.

Bottom line. $359? Is it really worth it?
Let’s be honest, that is a high pricetag. And unless you’re reading new hardcover releases every week or so, you’re probably not going to see a big return on your investment here.

The Kindle is about the experience, the convenience. Just grab this thing before you’re heading out the door and you’ve got a great solution for your reading entertainment.

“Is it worth it?” is really the question you have to answer for yourself. I’ve never considered myself to be an avid reader but I’ve already used this thing much more than I thought I ever would. It’s made reading more fun and appealing than ever.

If it was lost or broken, I would highly consider getting another one, or at least requesting it as another gift. You’re not just throwing your money away on some device that will likely end up collecting dust in the corner. It’s far too convenient to ignore.

Considering the technology that is at play here and what is included, I would say that $359 tag is justifiable.

Interested in an Amazon Kindle? Buy one now!

• Amazon Kindle
• Kindle Accessories

Here are a few of the hottest gadgets of the year (in no particular order) that won’t break the bank, and will definitely earn you some cool points with your geek friends and family members.

Belkin Mini Surge with USB Charger
A nifty travel-sized surge protector with dual USB ports for charging your USB mobile devices at the same time!
Price: $18

Gorillapod Flexible Tripod
Of course, if you have a digital SLR you can pick up the Gorillapod for Digital SLR Cameras.
Price (Regular Version): $22
Price (SLR Version): $50

Blackrapid Camera Strap
The Blackrapid is a camera strap on speed! Designed to give you lightning quick access to your camera while also carrying it in a relaxed and comfortable manner. The strap also features slots for extra memory cards, IDs or cell phones. Trust me, you’ll never want another strap.
Price: $46

Gadget Charger Station
To the geek that has every gadget imaginable, I present you with a charging station so you can charge all your precious accessories in one tidy place.
Price: $45

Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet
While it is one of the pricier items on this list, it’s definitely not one to disregard. If the person you’re buying for has any interest in photography, drawing, illustrations, or graphic designing of any kind, then a good graphics tablet would be an ideal gift. There are several companies that make graphics tablets nowadays, but Wacom is without a doubt the leader of the pen pack. And for the low price, you really can’t go wrong with the Bamboo.
Price: $62

Sanyo Eneloop Rechargable Batteries w/ Charger
Hands down, the best rechargeable batteries I’ve ever owned. Eneloops hold their charge longer than other rechargeables and come pre-charged. If you’ve been let down by other rechargeables, then you should really give Eneloop a try. This set comes with 4 AAs and a charger (that can also charge up to 4 AAAs).
Price: $18

Digital Voice Recorder Pen
Never forget an idea again! With this handy pen, either write the idea down or record a voice message up to 60 seconds.
Price: $15

Red Swingline Stapler
I’ve got one of these on my desk and everyone who sees it makes a comment about it. It’s a very cool collector’s item to have, and it’s actually a very good stapler. Nice and heavy and durable.
Price: $18

Logitech QuickCam Deluxe for Notebooks
Just about anyone can get some use out of a webcam nowadays. These things are great for fun communication with friends and family members. Or you can just record yourself doing something stupid and become a star on YouTube!
Price: $30

Human Key Holder
For those who take their key storage seriously. Possibly the most expensive key holder you will ever buy, but a pretty neat concept nonetheless. Also comes as a female version.
Price: $25

Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle
It’s a fact: all geeks like stainless steel. Klean Kanteens are stainless, toxin-free, BPA-free, and non-leaching. Slim and sleek design and a nice range of accessories available for the large 27oz size. That’s right. Accessories. For a water bottle. Just check out the shoulder sling, insulated totes, or bike cage!
Price: $15-27

Leatherman Micra Multitool
What geek wouldn’t want a handy little multitool? Leatherman makes some good ones. The Micra has all the essentials: scissors, tweezers, screwdrivers, nail file and bottle opener. Oh, and a knife!
Price: $17

SanDisk 8GB Flash Drive
It never hurts to have a few gigs of memory in your pocket. I’m not a big fan of the novelty USB drives; I’d prefer to pay for more storage space than for a cute idea that might get a few half-chuckles from co-workers. This SanDisk drive is slim, lightweight, sleek, and packs an 8gb punch. Granted, it’s not bulletproof. For that, check out the titanium version for a few bucks more.
Price: $15

Mini File Cabinet for Business Cards
Need a cool, unique way to store your business cards? Try out this small file cabinet that can hold over 700 cards. The top drawer also had a digital display that tells the time and date!
Price: $11

Fender Strobe-E Keychain Tuner
For the traveling musician on your playlist, here’s a handy little tuner that will always be with them. Unless they lose their keys a lot. In that case, you may want to buy them two!
Price: $10

Cold Heat Soldering Tool
Hold cold heat technology in the palm of your hand! Personally, the best thing about these things is that they are cordless (operates on 4 AA batteries…and for those, see the Sanyo Eneloops listed above).
Price: $16

Helping Hands
Well, you need to have someone to help you when you’re soldering with your Cold Heat Soldering tool, right? This thing has two clasping “hands” and a 4″ magnifying glass, helping you out with the detailed projects.
Price: $8

Laser Guided Scissors
Ok. They’re scissors with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads! What more could you ask for! For use on those very, very, VERY detailed cuts.
Price: $7

Thermos E5 Travel Mug
I’ve been through just about every coffee mug and thermos on the market. I can firmly say that this is the best mug/thermos I’ve tried so far. It holds 16oz and keeps the liquid either hot or cold for HOURS. Seriously, I fill this thing up at 8:30am and whatever I don’t drink by lunchtime is still hot when I get back from lunch around 2pm. It’s also leak-proof, gives you a 360 degree drinking surface, and dishwasher safe. I take my coffee mugs seriously, so if you’ve tried one that’s better, please let me know in the comments.
Price: $20

3-in-1 Tripod LED Flashlight
This handy flashlight can be separated into 3 individual flashlights or combined into one bright master light. Features a tripod and each flashlight has a multi-directional head, meaning you can setup light to shine in virtually any direction. It’s also weather-resistant with shatter-proof lenses oh just buy one already!
Price: $28

Moleskine Ruled Notebook
I am a self-proclaimed Moleskine addict. I have several of these things laying around that I have not written anything in yet, but I still can’t keep myself from buying a new one everytime I go to Borders bookstore. My personal favorite is the 12 month daily planner (pocket size), but I also seem to accumulate a lot of the pocket ruled notebooks and the large ruled notebooks.

Big Lebowski Action Figures Set
Relive the good times we had with the Dude with these unique action figures. These are some of the cooler action figures I’ve seen. Each figure comes with a real cloth outfit and accessory from the movie.
Price: $40

Wired Magazine Subscription
Wired magazine kinda sells itself, featuring great articles on technology, science, art, etc. Any kind of magazine subscription is a great way to make someone remember you; they will continue getting issues delivered throughout the year and you are sure to cross their mind when they see it.
Price: $10

Do you know of a gift or gadget that’s missing from this list? Please let us know in the comments!

Uncontrolled INFLATION! That’s right, the cost of goods could dramatically increase from DAY TO DAY. Meaning the cash you have becomes less and less valuable the longer you hold it.

The Fed’s usual supply of money in the market normally sits at around $800 billion but the government has been flooding the markets with cash over the last year. Some experts say it could be as much as 2 trillion at this point. History shows that the value of the dollar will drop dramatically as a result of too much money going after too few goods. If we increase the cash supply by 200% but goods and services only increase 10% then we have too much money competing for goods and prices will increase.

At first this increase in the cash will keep us spending in an attempt to fend off an economic depression but it will catch up to us in the end. That’s why I say look out for late next year. Buy some food, you can’t eat the $5000 you put under your bed.

When I lived in Argentina in the early 90’s this happened. Inflation was so bad that the people were being paid twice a day and the wives would like up at the fences of the factories, get the cash from their husbands, and run out and buy food because by the end of the day or in the morning the prices would have gone up so much that the cash became worthless. We would take bus rides to appointments in the morning and the return ride in the afternoon cost us more money because the prices had gone up during the hours we were gone. At the end of it the currency exchange was 10,000 to 1. I don’t think it could get that bad here, but we could EASILY see a double or triple increase in the cost of food in a very short time when inflation hits.

Yes, I’m being alarmist. Yes, I don’t have a complete grasp of the complexity of the markets. But I know history and I know that just because we have computers and modern medicine doesn’t mean we can’t be hit with some serious inflation in the next 12 months.

Do me a favor and set aside an extra $100 a month and buy canned goods, some dried pasta, some flour and rice, some cooking oil and some dried beans. Get a book and learn how to make a few things from them. Can you even bake a loaf of bread from scratch? Well get on it.

Since November is here and the Child’s Play site is being updated with information and a new toy drive, I’d like to help by trying to get the word out.



Here’s some information about the charity taken from the Child’s Play site:

Since 2003, we’ve set up and organized Child’s Play, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 40 hospitals worldwide. In four short years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars.

That was awesome. You guys have proven over and over again that you are an overwhelming force, and you really came through and made a real difference to the millions of kids that children’s hospitals care for each year. So we’re doing it again this year, only this time we’ve expanded Child’s Play to more hospitals around US and the globe so you can send toys to a hospital a little closer to home.

Child’s Play works the same as last year. With the help of hospital staff, we’ve set up gift wish lists full of video games, toys, and movies. You can go to each hospital’s list and buy a toy, and that toy will be sent to the hospital. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape. Imagine being stuck alone in a hospital over the holidays, getting something from a fellow gamer would really raise their spirits. Some of the stuff the hospital will give away for kids to keep, while other gifts (like consoles) will be kept by the hospital for patients to use throughout the year.

We are arguably the largest community of gamers on the internet. The important word there being community. We are not a faceless corporation and you are not just a number tracked by a database and then relayed to hungry advertisers. You guys have proven yourselves to be a powerful force when stirred into action. Here is your opportunity to use that power to do some real good.

If you’d like to make a donation, go to the Child’s Play site, select a hospital, and choose a toy to purchase for them. If you’d like to make a donation via PayPal, send the money to:
childsplaycharity@penny-arcade.com.

And yes, you can donate even if you don’t have a PayPal account.

I think it’s great how the generous folks behind Penny Arcade are using their popularity and the power of the gaming industry to help so many people around the world. Keep up the great work, guys!

So far I’ve only bought the AA sized batteries. However, I recently purchased a few baby items that require C and D sized batteries. I didn’t hesitate to go online to buy more eneloops, but after a little searching I found that Sanyo doesn’t make C and D sized eneloops available in the United States. Only very recently (at the time of this writing) did they become available overseas. So, I decided to send a brief email to Sanyo to see what I could learn.

Here’s the brief message I sent:

I was wondering when your customers in the United States will be able to buy the new C and D sized eneloop batteries (not just the “spacers”). Thanks for making such a great product!

To my disappointment, this is the message I received back from Sanyo:

Thank you for your interest in Sanyo eneloop products. In regards to your inquiry, we do not have any plans to sell the C & D size eneloop batteries at this time.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
Sanyo Energy (U.S.A.) Corp.

I hope that means they simply haven’t made an official announcement, because I could really save some money by picking up their bigger C and D sized batteries.

By the way, you may have noticed in my message that I mentioned the “spacers” that are available. These are just hollow sleeves that AA batteries slide into. So, don’t expect to get full performance out of your batteries when you use these.

If you’ve used eneloops before and you’re anxious to get your hands on the C and D sized batteries, you can go to the Sanyo website and show your support. If you’d like to buy some eneloops, Amazon usually keeps them in stock:

• Sanyo eneloop 4 Pack AA
• Sanyo eneloop 4 Pack AA with Charger
• Sanyo eneloop 8 Pack AA