TidBITS#510/14-Dec-99
=====================

  Happy Holidays! We've collected gift suggestions from TidBITS
  readers again this year, so read on if you're still trying to find
  the perfect gift for your Macintosh-using friends and relations.
  This is also our final issue for 1999, though we'll continue to
  post news items and polls on our home page. Assuming the world
  doesn't end at midnight on 31-Dec-99, we'll see you in 2000.

Topics:
    GiftBITS/14-Dec-99
    1999 Hardware Gift Ideas
    1999 Software Gift Ideas
    1999 Gaming Gift Ideas
    1999 Miscellaneous Gift Ideas
    1999 Gift Ideas for the Macintosh-Minded
    Gifts That Help Support TidBITS

<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-510.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/issues/1999/TidBITS#510_14-Dec-99.etx>

Copyright 1999 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved.
   Information: <info@tidbits.com> Comments: <editors@tidbits.com>
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

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* READERS LIKE YOU! You can help support TidBITS via our voluntary
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GiftBITS/14-Dec-99
------------------

  Welcome to our 1999 Holiday Gift Issue, which is full of great
  gift ideas from TidBITS readers. Although most are related to the
  Macintosh, we've found Mac users to be a broad-minded community,
  so we were happy to include ideas that fell somewhat outside our
  standard focus. At the end of the issue, we've included a few
  ideas that will help support TidBITS, and in the process, give us
  a chance to thank those who have already done so.

  Finally, best wishes for a happy holiday season and an uneventful
  start to the new year from the TidBITS staff: Adam Engst, Tonya
  Engst (still mostly on an extended maternity leave), Geoff Duncan,
  Jeff Carlson, Matt Neuburg, and Mark Anbinder. Here's hoping all
  the Y2K fuss was for naught!


1999 Hardware Gift Ideas
------------------------

**Speed Up Your Internet Access** -- Frederic Brehm
  <fbrehm@home.com> suggests something we could all use: faster
  Internet access. His solution was to install a cable modem. "I
  recently got Comcast@home. It sure beats dial-up! Plugs into your
  Ethernet port, or into a hub. The cable installers were happy I
  have a Mac. After setting up the cable drop to my room and making
  sure the signal was OK, the only thing they had to do was set up
  the TCP/IP control panel, run Netscape (already installed on my
  iMac) and define the various Web, mail, and news servers. Piece of
  cake! They said that PC's were harder because most of them require
  installing an Ethernet card and more software, which can take a
  long time." The availability of cable modems varies widely by
  region, but costs often fall in the neighborhood of $30 to $40 per
  month after installation fees.

<http://www.comcast.com/cable/>


**Modem Router** -- If you can't get high-speed Internet access in
  your area, Kiran Wagle <entropy@io.com> points out an Internet
  solution "for friends with more computers than phone lines. I
  recently got a Netgear RM356 modem router, which is a 56 Kbps
  modem with a 4-port hub. It was literally trivial to set up (if
  you can telnet and follow directions) and it does NAT and DHCP. In
  about five minutes, my network was connected to the outside world.
  The shipping version doesn't do anything much with incoming port
  mapping, but Netgear has a firmware upgrade (currently in beta)
  that does. It's nice to be able to reboot without having to
  reconnect PPP. And the Mac is much faster when it doesn't have to
  manage a dial-up connection - the Netgear router turned a 6100
  that was basically too slow to use into a perfectly reasonable
  machine.)" The RM356 is often available for less than $300.

<http://www.netgearinc.com/products/modems_routers.shtml>


**Add Fire to Your Wires** -- Derek Miller <dkmiller@pobox.com>
  suggests Orange Micro's OrangeLink FireWire/USB PCI Board, which
  should be available this week according to the company's Web site.
  "Perfect for anyone with a platinum PCI Power Mac - especially
  those with limited PCI expansion (i.e. everything but the Power
  Mac 9500 and 9600) - who would like to have modern connectivity,
  but without filling up all their available slots. The card
  includes two 400 Mbps FireWire ports on one controller and two 12
  Mbps USB ports, plus FireWire and USB cables, Adobe Premiere LE,
  and drivers." Orange Micro's OrangeLink FireWire/USB PCI Board
  should be available for about $150.

<http://www.orangemicro.com/firewire.html#anchor1981842>


**Agfa ePhoto** -- If you're looking for an inexpensive digital
  camera other than those Arthur Bleich recommended in "Digital
  Camera Buying Guidelines, Part 2" in TidBITS-509_, several readers
  recommended the Agfa ePhoto 780c. Andreas Martini
  <andreas@martini.org> writes, "It's a beautiful digital camera
  (less than $200) together with a Mac cable and Mac software. Okay,
  it has a low resolution, but good enough for the Web." (See Arthur
  Bleich's description of the ePhoto 780 last year in TidBITS-464_.)

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05713>
<http://www.agfahome.com/product/CatProd_DisplayPublic.html?id=3911>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05248>

  Mike Cohen <mcohen@pobox.com> added, "I strongly recommend getting
  a Microtech CameraMate or equivalent rather than using the serial
  cable to connect it to your Mac (especially if you have a USB-
  capable Mac). Agfa's connection software works _only_ with a
  Keyspan twin serial adapter (_not_ a Keyspan PDA adapter). With a
  CameraMate, just stick in the SmartMedia card and it will appear
  on the desktop. Agfa's software recognizes it as a PC Card and
  automatically view, download, and/or delete images from the card
  as soon as you insert it."

<http://www.microtechint.com/qs-usbcmate.html>
<http://www.keyspan.com/>


**Jabra Headphones** -- Scot Andrews <scot.andrews@teachers.org>
  found an excellent deal on the Jabra microphone/headset device
  offered by TidBITS sponsor Small Dog Electronics. "The Small Dog
  folks will sell you 12 Jabra microphone/headsets for $9 as opposed
  to the $50 Jabra would charge you for a single one (perform a
  search for "Jabra" to bring up the deal). Apparently they're
  trying to make room for 600 17" monitors the boss has just bought.
  I personally plan on giving them away game show-style to my
  students. And given pending changes in the Mac speech recognition
  field, I expect they'll be great for today's standard audio
  input/output-capable Macs."

<http://www.smalldog.com/>
<http://www.jabra.com/>


**Dr. Mouse Aids Sore Wrists** -- We're always on the lookout for
  ergonomic solutions, so Dee Brian's <dee@usedmice.com>
  recommendation looks interesting. "For your friends who have
  repetitive stress problems due to improper mousing, the Dr. Mouse
  from Animax USA takes care of this problem. I have had mine for
  two months and I no longer have any problem with repetitive
  stress. The Dr. Mouse looks like a small joystick, so your hand is
  in a more natural position for mousing. After using the Dr. Mouse
  I don't think that I will return to using a regular mouse."

  The Dr. Mouse hails from Norway and is also known as the Anir
  Vertical Mouse or the Anir Ergonomic Mouse Pro; it typically costs
  $60 to $80, depending on the model (both ADB and USB versions are
  available).

<http://www.animaxusa.com/>
<http://www.animax.no/>


**USB Video Capture** -- Derek Miller <dkmiller@pobox.com>
  recommends Interex/XLR8's InterView USB video capture solution for
  amateur Spielbergs who don't have a studio budget. "It's a low-end
  solution, but probably the least expensive way (under $100, I
  think) to get Web-quality video capture via a Mac's USB port and
  an elegant multi-wired breakout box that's about the size of a
  small flashlight. Interex also has another bundle that includes a
  PCI USB card for those computers without USB. Both include Strata
  VideoShop video editing software."

<http://www.xlr8.com/interview/>
<http://www.xlr8.com/interviewpci/>


**The Switch Is Still On** -- A few readers recommend an old
  computer standby: serial switch boxes. Although a number of
  inexpensive boxes can be found, Saint John <morrisoj@drexel.edu>
  recommends the $60 Port Xpander by MacAlly. Using the Apple
  Communication Toolbox, the Port Xpander can list and switch to
  attached devices. Of course, you'd need an older Mac that _has_
  serial ports to use this.

<http://www.macally.com/specs/ess03.html>


**Processor Upgrades** -- TidBITS Contributing Editor Matt Neuburg
  <matt@tidbits.com> has had good results adding new life to his
  older Mac system: "I've just acquired a Newer Technology MAXpowr
  G3 CPU upgrade, turning my PowerCenter Pro 180 into a 300 MHz G3
  screamer, for just $300. Installation couldn't have been simpler:
  pop out the old card, pop in the new. The processor card does
  _not_ take up a precious PCI slot. Wow. This particular model
  applies to a lot of PCI-based Macs and it looks like now is a
  great moment to buy if, like me, you've been putting it off."

<http://www.newertech.com/>


**Small UPS** -- Sarah Prince <ssprince@aldus.northnet.org> says,
  "I'd recommend about a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
  for the person who only uses a cheap hardware store power strip to
  save the effort of switching two or three items on or off? Some of
  them look more interesting now, not just like boring appliances."
  Even more important than their looks, however, is a UPS's ability
  to protect your data - and your hardware - from power outages,
  brownouts, and surges. Check out Adam's article in TidBITS-498_ to
  get an idea of the products that are available - many single-
  system UPS's are now under $100.

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05566>


1999 Software Gift Ideas
------------------------

**Put Time on Your Side** -- We could definitely use a gift of
  free time, but in the meantime Fred Miller <fmiller@theriver.com>
  suggests using MultiTimer Pro to track the time you're currently
  using. "For people wanting or needing to keep track of time spent
  on any project, from school papers to household computer tasks to
  client tracking, this is an easy to use valuable shareware program
  that is worth the $30."

<http://www.ironsoftware.com/MultiTimerPro.html>


**Backup Backup Backup** -- Phil Lefebvre <p-lefebvre@nwu.edu>
  shares our beliefs about maintaining a good backup system.
  "Retrospect ($150) or Retrospect Express ($50) from Dantz
  Development is one of those things that everyone should buy when
  they first get a computer, but usually only buy after a painful
  lesson. Save them the lesson." Read our series or articles on
  backup if you need more convincing.

<http://www.dantz.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbser=1041>


**First Aid Anywhere** -- Bob Williams <bob@trivectus.com>
  suggests buying a gift that can also turn out to be a gift to
  yourself. "If you help friends or family when they have Mac
  problems, get them Netopia's HouseCall. Buy them the Patient, then
  whenever there are problems, you can work on them from the comfort
  of your own home or office using the Doctor (which is free). As I
  prepare to move to the other side of the country, buying several
  copies for folks was one the first things I did to prepare." Jeff
  Carlson reviewed HouseCall for us in TidBITS-493_.

<http://www.netopia.com/software/tb2/mac/housecall/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05509>


**Type in Your Style** -- David Huston <dhuston@drfast.net>
  recommends Strider Software's TypeStyler for the amateur art
  director on your list. "I am a big fan of TypeStyler, which has
  been revived from its former Apple IIgs days of glory. It allows
  you to create almost all the special type effects the pros use for
  printing and Web use easily and instantly. It will save your files
  in practically every known format. If you want to add immediate
  eye appeal to your documents or Web sites, with a minimal learning
  curve (a couple hours at most), then this is an ideal
  application."

<http://www.typestyler.com/>


**Like, Colors, Wow** -- For artists or anyone looking for a legal
  hallucinogen, Peter Miller <peter@perpetualocean.com> writes, "I
  highly recommend Eric Wenger's ArtMatic, a very cool (and very
  inspirational) complex image generator. Graphic artists and
  animators could probably even get productive with it!"

<http://www.artmatic.com/>


**Mac Macro Might** -- Fredrik Jonsson <frjo@pobox.com> writes, "I
  would like to recommend the macro program KeyQuencer, by
  Alessandro Levi Montalcini. A good macro program is very important
  factor for my productivity. With it I can adjust my Mac to a great
  extent, and adapt it to me instead of the opposite." For more
  about KeyQuencer, see Matt Neuburg's "KeyQuencer - QuicKeys
  Quencher?" in TidBITS-351_.

<http://www.binarysoft.com/kqmac/kqmac.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=00838>


**A Second Look at OneClick** -- Christian Heurich
  <christian@heurich.com> writes, "Whether you used OneClick in the
  past and despaired at version 1.x's incompatibility with Mac OS
  8.5 and higher - or if you've never used OneClick at all - I would
  like to recommend OneClick 2.0. OneClick is a scriptable macro
  utility that's compatible with current versions of the Mac OS, and
  there are many authors contributing their add-ons and utilities to
  WestCode Software's efforts. The constantly growing source of
  useful component additions is one of the stellar aspects of
  OneClick. It offers additional ease of use, utility, flexibility,
  and extensibility to a great tool - the Macs you use. Hey, it
  works." For a review of OneClick and more thoughts about macro
  programs in general, see our article series "Mac Macros."

<http://www.westcodesoft.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbser=1044>


**Tip for Taps** -- Allan Moult <allan@ghostgum.com> writes,
  "Here's a lifesaver gift for anyone using a PowerBook with a
  trackpad: TapGuard ($5 shareware). Although I love using the
  PowerBook G3, there's one frustrating aspect - it's too easy to
  tap the trackpad accidentally with your thumb or shirt sleeve and
  select a swath of data that gets deleted with the next keystroke.
  TapGuard makes your computer ignore the trackpad clicks if you've
  pressed a key in the last one-sixth of a second. This is typically
  plenty of time to trap any unwanted clicks. When TapGuard ignores
  a click, the menu bar flashes."

<http://poseur.com/tapguard/>


**Looking Down from Above** -- The SETI@home project uses computer
  processing time to search for life in outer space, but Ed Holloman
  <holloman@airmail.net> suggests a method for peering at the
  goings-on at home. "I found a cool screen saver called Planet
  Earth from Lunar Software, which displays a three dimensional
  model of the earth with real-time night shadows and clouds. It can
  be set to display a pop-up when you pass the cursor over a city,
  displaying the name and local time (the longitude and latitude are
  also available). Planet Earth comes with a database of cities, and
  you can add your own locations - I added the North Pole so I'll
  know when Santa is about to leave and whether he'll be delayed due
  to cloud cover." Planet Earth is $30 shareware.

<http://www.lunarsoft.com/planetearth/>


**No. More. Staggered. Speech?** Bob Williams <bob@trivectus.com>
  writes, "Two words: voice dictation. IBM's new ViaVoice would make
  a wonderful gift for anyone who does a lot of text entry, or
  suffers from RSI symptoms. It also includes an active noise-
  cancelling headset/microphone." Although it's a brand new product
  without a track record, there's no denying the appeal of
  continuous speech recognition on the Mac!

<http://www.ibm.com/software/speech/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05703>


**Tight Genes** -- David G. Kanter <david@kanters.com> writes:
  "I'll endorse Leister Production's $90 Reunion 6 for the Mac for
  any Mac user who is either already bitten by the genealogy bug or
  considering jumping into the genealogy fray. Reunion 6 remains a
  brilliant, made-for-the-Mac product that help you organize family
  information and produce a wide-range of charts and reports that
  you can tailor to your needs. Although Reunion is easy to use and
  its default settings serve most users, the program is also
  extremely flexible. Even genealogy veterans using another program
  should look at Reunion - it can import and export data using the
  GEDCOM format, so sharing data with others is usually an easy
  process."

<http://www.leisterpro.com/>


1999 Gaming Gift Ideas
----------------------

**Get Goofy over Golf** -- Lisa Thompson
  <lthompson_usc87@yahoo.com> recommends Goofy Golf Deluxe ($25,
  demo available) as an alternative to shoot-em-up titles. "Goofy
  Golf Deluxe should be enjoyed by many users - except maybe those
  who don't bother with bloodless games or who have some aversion to
  miniature golf. It's simple to play - the instructions fit on one
  panel of the CD sleeve. It comes with only three 18-hole courses,
  but you can make your own courses and download others from the
  company's Web site. The course designer program is very un-Mac-
  like, but usable."

<http://www.squeegeesoftware.com/>


**Urban Sprawl** -- Anton Rang <rang@acm.org> suggests tempting
  your megalomaniac friends with Maxis's SimCity 3000. "I recently
  pulled out my old copy of SimCity Classic and, after playing with
  it for a couple of evenings, realized it's pretty limiting. On a
  whim, I picked up SimCity 3000, and it's much more interesting.
  There are a lot of variables to play with, your city can develop
  quite differently on each play, and the graphics are much improved
  over the original (which also helps keep the game interesting). My
  only complaint is that parts of the interface (particularly
  opening and saving files) are very Windows-like. Once the game is
  running, though, it has its own easy-to-use city planning
  interface."

<http://www.simcity.com/3000/3000.html>


**Build Your Own Civilization** -- Dan O'Donnell
  <Dan.O'Donnel@nbc.com> took the builder approach one step further
  by suggesting the world-building strategy game Civilization II
  Gold. "Designed for older children, teens (and adults) this allows
  single or multiple players to build societies by going through the
  stages and details of the development of civilization, - either on
  existing or user-designed land masses - from about 3000 B.C. to
  2020 A.D. You can also play out scenarios based on how the world
  as we know it developed. Many scenarios are included, there is
  good printed and online help (including descriptions of the
  developments of civilization and wonders of the world), and the
  game can be played across a LAN or over the Internet." TidBITS
  Technical Editor Geoff Duncan once spent far too much time playing
  Civilization II Gold against his music student and his friends
  over the Internet. "There's nothing quite like trying to take over
  a world where all the other nations are controlled by teenagers."

<http://www.wizworks.com/macsoft/civ2gm/civ2gm_01.html>


1999 Miscellaneous Gift Ideas
-----------------------------

**Handsome Prints** -- Herouth Maoz <herutma@telem.openu.ac.il>
  writes, "iPrint.com is an excellent idea for all kinds of
  interesting, custom-made gifts. You pick an item (t-shirt,
  babywear, mousepad, mug, etc.), and custom design it, either with
  ready-made graphics or with ones you upload yourself. You can add
  text, pick fonts, change colors, and it will be printed and
  delivered. The neat thing is that the interface is very easy on
  beginners, so if your mother, who knows only how to use a browser,
  needs an online gift option, this may well be the solution for her
  as well."

<http://www.iprint.com/>


**Furnishing Every Mac User** -- You'd think TidBITS readers spend
  a fair amount of time in front of their computers. Many
  respondents suggested computer furniture, such as Mike Wingstrom's
  <mikeasl@ameritech.net> praise for the Jerker desk from IKEA, "the
  ultimate computer desk". Gordon Meyer <bb@g2meyer.com> writes, "If
  you're looking for some excellent computer/office furniture, check
  out Anthro. I only recently decided to try out their desks, etc.,
  and I'm sorry I waited as long as I did. As far as I'm concerned,
  Anthrocarts are the Macintosh of SOHO furniture."

<http://www.ikea.com/>
<http://www.anthro.com/>

  EddieK <eddiek@aol.com> offered a more deep-seated furniture
  suggestion: "I just received the Herman Miller Aeron chair for
  Hanukkah. It's on the expensive side, but since you're planted in
  one most of the day, what's too much? The chair adjusts to more
  positions and levels of comfort than any office chair I've ever
  had, so I consider it an exceptional value." TidBITS Managing
  Editor Jeff Carlson added, "I recently bought an Aeron chair after
  wearing out two cheaper chairs bought at office supply stores in
  less than two years. Not only is the Aeron the best chair I've
  owned, I love its design."

<http://www.hermanmiller.com/product/index.bbk?id=21>


**Cool Your Book** -- Melanie Jo Watts <mjwatts@pris.bc.ca> found
  the perfect accessory for her new iBook. The iCoolPad is an iBook-
  colored (translucent tangerine or blueberry) pivoting stand that
  helps dissipate heat generated from laptops. [The original CoolPad
  is solid black and really does help to cool the space heaters some
  of us affectionately refer to as PowerBooks. -Jeff]

<http://www.roadtools.com/>


**A Better Mousetrap** -- Martha Robinson <marthag@earthlink.net>
  recommends the iCatch (or UniTrap, they're the same) for the iMac
  mouse. The iCatch is a plastic shell that snaps around the iMac's
  puck-shaped mouse to give it a more traditional (and easier to
  use) shape.

<http://www.contourdesign.com/unitrap.htm>


**Home X10sion** -- Dean Suhr <deansuhr@carpedis.com> is hoping an
  elf will update his 10-year-old X10 home automation setup with a
  modern MouseHouse interactive automation system with new software,
  a bidirectional interface, and IR/RF remote control. The $99 (on
  sale) starter kit includes an ActiveHome interface module, Mac and
  PC serial adapters and cables, an IR/RF handheld remote, a lamp
  module, and an RF transceiver appliance module.

<http://www.mousehouse.net/99/>


**Slip a Disk** -- Dan Ringrose <ringrose@warp6.cs.misu.nodak.edu>
  writes, "If you're looking for small gifts I'd suggest a box of
  about 50 of those paper/plastic CD jackets. My track record with
  jewel boxes is terrible (amazing that such high technology as CDs
  could be so thoughtlessly packaged) and now that I have a CD-
  writer it always seems that I have one more CD than I have boxes
  or paper envelopes."

  Marilyn Matty <mjmatty@earthlink.net> also offers a suggestion for
  organizing disks. "Know someone who has a lot of Zip or floppy
  disks and would appreciate a great looking storage option that
  comes in colors that coordinate wonderfully with iMacs and iBooks?
  The Museum of Modern Art in New York makes holders that snap
  together and can also fit into a 3-ring binder. The carriers come
  in packages of 10 each, and are $13.50 for members ($15 for non-
  members) for the Zip version, and $9 ($10.00) for floppies."

<http://www.momastore.org/>


1999 Gift Ideas for the Macintosh-Minded
----------------------------------------

**TiVo Killed the Video Star** -- Omar Shahine <omar@shahine.com>
  writes, "For me a TiVo (essentially a digital VCR that records to
  hard disk) is the killer app - it completely changes the way you
  think about viewing television! It is truly a fascinating device.
  I now never watch any commercials, don't have to fuss with a VCR,
  or miss any of my favorite TV shows. And the best part is that I
  can watch them whenever I wish. Quality is excellent (MPEG-II) and
  the device comes with almost any cable you could ever need."

<http://www.tivo.com/>

  Andrew Laurence <atlauren@e4e.oac.uci.edu> offered a bit of
  caution to new TiVo users. "My roommate just bought one of these.
  It's indeed a nifty little device, but beware the quality/storage
  combination.  You can record shows in varying degrees of quality,
  but if we found that at anything other than Standard (low)
  quality, the available storage fills up pretty quickly. One of the
  neatest things about TiVo is that, based upon what you tell it to
  record on a regular basis and the thumbs up/down ratings you give
  programs, it will record _other_ programs which it thinks you
  might like. So you need that disk space."


**Listen to Your Palm** -- A few readers recommended the Qualcomm
  pdQ smartphone, which combines a cellular phone with a Palm
  handheld in a single unit. Dean Suhr <deansuhr@carpedis.com>
  writes, "The Qualcomm pdQ phone is an integrated Palm III with a
  digital PCS phone; and like the Palm, it's Mac compatible."

<http://www.qualcomm.com/phones/products/pdq_phone/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbser=1030>


**Gifts from Foreign Shores** -- Brian Forte
  <bforte@adelaide.on.net> writes, "It will take extra effort, but
  consider using the Internet to find a present a friend or relative
  wouldn't buy for themselves, simply because they'd never think to
  look for it in their normal shopping haunts. This applies even to
  online haunts: Amazon.com may be a great bookstore but there are
  thousands of books published here in Australia each year that you
  can't get at Amazon.com; the reverse is also true with regards
  Australia-based online retailers.

  "Adopting this approach will almost certainly make finding and
  acquiring a gift more difficult (you'll probably be buying sight
  unseen) and more time-consuming (because of extra delivery time if
  the goods have to be sent from overseas). The potential impact of
  such a gift, however, is enormous. I didn't know I'd be a fan of
  Berke Breathed's work until my sister presented me a book of Bloom
  County comic strips, which were never carried in any of my local
  papers."


**The Truth Is Funnier** -- Saint John <morrisoj@drexel.edu>
  writes, "If you haven't heard of Randy Cassingham's This Is True
  yet, fire up the browser and go there. You can get the basic
  subscription for free, of course. But if there's someone on your
  list with a funny bone, why not subscribe him or her to the
  premium edition?

  For $15 a year, your friend will get twice as much TRUE (Mr.
  Cassingham prefers that to the acronym, understandably). And if
  you have a lot of catching up to do, there are print collections
  of past columns; order today and they may just get there by the
  25th!

<http://thisistrue.com/>


**Another Way to Think Different** -- The slogan "Think Different"
  has been used successfully to sell computers, but the phrase is
  also apt in the area of giving. A friend of ours on TidBITS Talk
  who wished to remain anonymous suggested the gift of giving in
  general. "Consider what means the most to you in your lives and
  please accept the humble suggestion of helping in some way this
  season with sharing the gifts of your time, your thoughts, your
  mindfulness, your success, your self. Although very personal and
  though not for everyone, one of the most powerful gifts in your
  power to bestow is the gift of life you can make as an organ
  donor."


Gifts That Help Support TidBITS
-------------------------------
  by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>

  We hope you've enjoyed this year's suggestions, and we'd like to
  close with a few that would make great gifts and would help
  support TidBITS at the same time.

**TidBITS Staff** -- Frankly, the main reason we can put out
  TidBITS each week is because the people we have working on TidBITS
  are truly exceptional. You can get by with a tiny staff only if
  each and every one of them is great, and I'd like to thank Geoff
  Duncan, Jeff Carlson, Matt Neuburg, and Mark Anbinder for all
  they've done for us over the years. Despite all of our hard work
  on TidBITS, some of us find the time to write books as well, and
  if those books sell well, it helps us devote more time to TidBITS.

  Managing Editor Jeff Carlson has written a number of books for
  Peachpit Press, including the critically acclaimed "Palm III and
  PalmPilot Visual QuickStart Guide," which Jeff is in the process
  of revising right now. Jeff's most recent book, written with
  longtime TidBITS friend and contributor Glenn Fleishman with help
  from Neil Robertson and Agen Schmitz, is "Real World Adobe GoLive
  4" - a seriously beefy book about Adobe's well-regarded Web
  authoring program. Jeff and Glenn are also running a moderated
  mailing list about Adobe GoLive.

<http://www.necoffee.com/palmpilot/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0201353903/tidbitselectro00A/>
<http://www.realworldgolive.com/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0201354748/tidbitselectro00A/>

  Contributing Editor Matt Neuburg also has several books to his
  name, written for O'Reilly. Matt's book topics are oriented toward
  explaining programming tools and environments, and when Matt
  covers a subject, he covers it completely. If you use either
  Frontier or REALbasic, you should check out Matt's "Frontier: The
  Definitive Guide" or "REALbasic: The Definitive Guide."

<http://www.tidbits.com/matt/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1565923839/tidbitselectro00A/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1565926579/tidbitselectro00A/>

  Technical Editor Geoff Duncan doesn't write computer books -
  something he points out gleefully whenever the rest of us face
  pressures from book deadlines. Instead, he's busy invading your
  living rooms. "Whenever you hear an obnoxious guitar line on
  television blatantly ripping off some music trend," he notes,
  "there's a greater-than-zero chance I played it - albeit not
  _much_ greater than zero." He's also on a one-man crusade to
  eliminate every instance of the word "that" in TidBITS issues.
  "It's extraneous. Really."

  Finally, although I've written numerous books over the years, my
  two current books are "Eudora 4.2 for Windows & Macintosh: Visual
  QuickStart Guide" for Peachpit Press, and the just-released
  "Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook," which I
  wrote with David Pogue for O'Reilly. The first is the most
  complete reference available for Eudora, and the second is a
  ground-breaking approach to learning to get around in Windows if
  you're a Macintosh user or learning to navigate the Mac OS if
  you're a Windows user.

<http://www.tidbits.com/eudora/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=020135389X/tidbitselectro00A/>
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1565925394/tidbitselectro00A/>


**TidBITS Contributors** -- Words almost fail me when I look at
  the list of TidBITS contributors - people who have contributed
  directly to TidBITS. We're just over 400 contributors right now,
  300 of whom are listed on the page, and you all have our sincere
  thanks for your support. If you've been thinking about
  contributing, that's great - everything remains as it was when we
  announced the program back in TidBITS-498_, with the small
  exception that we added some details about contributions to our
  official privacy policy and linked it to the TidBITS Contributions
  page. As always, contributions are completely voluntary, and you
  can contribute as much or as little as you like.

<http://www.tidbits.com/about/support/contributors.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05565>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>


**TidBITS Sponsors** -- Lastly, I'd like to thank our corporate
  sponsors, without whom TidBITS wouldn't be financially feasible. A
  few companies have come and gone, including Maxum Development,
  well known for Internet server software; Dantz Development, makers
  of Retrospect Express and Retrospect backup software (which has
  saved our bacon more times than we care to count); Microsoft,
  whose Internet Explorer is our Web browser of choice at the
  moment; Digital River, the company that runs the electronic
  software distribution for many of the Mac industry's well-known
  software firms; Trexar Technologies, a young company making a big
  splash in the Macintosh Internet software world; and
  999software.com, retailers of lots of great Macintosh software
  (along with Windows software and videos) for $9.99.

<http://www.maxum.com/>
<http://www.dantz.com/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/>
<http://www.digitalriver.com/>
<http://www.macalive.com/>
<http://www.999mac.com/>

  Equally as important are our current sponsors, some of whom have
  supported TidBITS for many years. APS has been with us for longer
  than we can remember, and has continued to sell storage devices
  and support TidBITS in their new role as a division of LaCie. Our
  friends at WinStar Northwest Nexus provide us with some Internet
  connectivity and host ftp.tidbits.com, which will soon move to a
  faster machine with a much larger hard disk. Small Dog Electronics
  continues to offer some of the best prices on new, demo, and
  refurbished hardware, and they now have iMacs, iBooks, and AirPort
  hardware in stock. As a retailer of almost all things Macintosh,
  Outpost.com has also been great to have in TidBITS, and we've
  taken advantage of their free shipping on more than one occasion.
  MacAcademy has been with us for most of 1999, offering numerous
  training courses, videos, and CD-ROMs for Macintosh software. Also
  appearing for almost all of 1999 was Farallon, which spun out of
  Netopia in 1998 to concentrate entirely on innovative Macintosh
  networking products like the in-home telephone wire network via
  HomeLINE and AirPort-compatible wireless networking via SkyLINE.
  Aladdin Systems, makers of the StuffIt family of compression
  programs, rejoins us as a sponsor after a several year hiatus, and
  until the next issue, we have the Mac Professional's Book Club
  offering a special membership deal to TidBITS readers.

<http://www.apstech.com/>
<http://www.nwnexus.com/>
<http://www.smalldog.com/>
<http://www.outpost.com/>
<http://www.macacademy.com/tidbits.html>
<http://www.farallon.com/tidbits/>
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/deluxe/tidbitsoffer.html>
<http://www.enlist.com/cgi-bin/re/www_BOOKSONLINE_com5>

  We hope you've been happy with the products and services you've
  received from our sponsors, and if you haven't tried them, we'd
  encourage you to think of them the next time it's appropriate,
  whether for yourself or for a gift.


$$

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