My desktop wasn't looking terribly merry until a few seconds ago. Someone at InterfaceLIFT posted a Christmas Wallpaper. It's quite jolly. I'm looking for other media fun now… know of any Christmas wallpaper sites I should see and share? It's much easier to right-click and Save As than it is to string up the lights. Let's get into the holiday spirit…! I've found quite a few Christmas Lights in my travels today. [More]

How are my dogs feeling right now? Here, let me find out… ah, they're in a playful mood. I can't read minds - but I can read LCD screens. There's a new product on the market called the Bow-lingual. Gag gift? Yes and no. I saw it sitting on the shelf and couldn't resist its promise. A dog toy that won't wear out in less than an hour? Too cool for words. It's clearly labeled as an “entertainment” device, but I think there's a bit of truth sitting somewhere within these circuits. If you're a dog owner, or if you know someone who owns a dog, this is going to be the treat to beat this season. Here's the scoop.

Desktop Search is going to be the biggest battle in 2005. There's the Google Desktop, MSN's secretly working on a Desktop Search solution, Filehand Search is feature rich, and the undisputed genre visionary X1 has been around for ages. I've even seen advertisements for the Sleuthhound! Family and something called Enfish. Several of these products require a financial commitment, but… the FREE Copernic Desktop Search is blowing everything else out of the water. [More]

I've had to assemble a short Christmas wish list for family members, as nobody really knows what to get a geek. But what about a wish list for the non-geeks? I found a friend who could help; she gave me permission to republish her wish list today. There are a few good ideas in there, all things considered. One idea that didn't get listed was the gift of a geek… which every non-geek needs. Mobile geek units are becoming popular; I've used a few myself and have been pleasantly surprised.

I hear G4/TechTV revamped The Screen Savers show today. I can tune in through channel 23983 on my digital cable box, but… I haven't even bothered to watch anything there for the past couple of years since I left (save the two days when they invited me to host CFH again). Friends are sending me instant messages stating that their new format is… well, I should probably just let them speak for themselves. I can't pass judgement on something I don't watch. Been too busy with Lockergnome things to care.

I must be one of dozens of Nintendo DS owners on the planet right now. I checked the Linkup Engine, and I'm feeling quite lonely. Of course, the lonliness is made more tolerable with a Nintendo DS in hand! The included Metroid Hunters demo is fun, but… controlling the character is somewhat clumsy on the touch screen (at least, with the configurations I've tried). I also picked up Super Mario DS, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Any other Nintendo DS dudes or dudettes out there?! [More]

I picked up a 1GB SD card the other day… for $60 and a $15 mail-in rebate. I only have one device that supports Secure Digital at the moment, but it seems to be the “removable media” of choice for products today. I'm not sure if prices will go much lower than this before the end of the year, but I wouldn't skip any of these deals if you have the chance. I've heard of 512MB units going for half that price, but… you should always go for the most you can afford. And it's not just SD - there's other memory on sale, too!

For proof that you can write about anything, someone's set up a Lockergnome.net blog on herpes - specifically, “Empowerment Over Herpes.” Don't worry - it's not contagious. At least, you can't get herpes from reading about herpes… yet. I'm not joking about VD, mind you - just saying that here's a resource for those of you who might need it.

One of my favorite programmers just released a new tool, which I inadvertently renamed this weekend: SysSense. It's for automatically monitoring your Google AdSense account. “Load when Windows starts, 24-hour time display, auto update tray tooltip information, select which information to show in tray tooltip, proxy support, one-click to log into Google AdSense website, display tray icon balloon when AdSense information changes.” It's an incredible time-saver for me, who has become addicted to checking my AdSense stats every 15 minutes. It's not going to help you maximize revenue, but at least it'll help you streamline your daily monitoring strategy.

Google AdSense offers more ways for you to earn money while making your site more useful for visitors. Along with targeted advertising for your content pages, you can add a Google search box to your site and show targeted ads on search results pages. When visitors click on these ads, Google pays you.

The Holiday Season is finally in full swing - just had my first cup of egg nog a few minutes ago. I promised myself I'd enjoy it for at least a half hour, but it didn't last much longer than two minutes. This is a season of miracles, no matter what specific winter holiday you choose to celebrate. Here's to your health and happiness - hoping that this holiday season will be the best one yet. We all have holiday needs, but they all start with the Nog. Even Ben & Jerry are getting into the act - with “Yuel Fuel” and “Gingerbread Cookie” ice cream. Suckbucks has their Peppermint Mochas, which I'm quite partial to. What's your favorite part of the Holiday Season?

She is now the proud co-owner of an Epson PictureMate photo printer. Even though I've only spent about three days with it so far, I'm ready to recommend it to all you Holiday shoppers. I've never owned any kind of photo printer before, so let me explain why I believe it'll appeal to those of you addicted to instant gratification. For years, I worried about ink costs - opting to online photo printing services over local ones. Even the Epson PictureMate can't compete with a bargain, but when time is of the essence, you'll wish you had something sitting within easy reach. And let me tell you - the Epson PictureMate is about as easy, powerful, and affordable as they come.

The PictureMate from Epson is a photo printer designed to produce lab-quality prints from the comfort of your own home. With its simple one-touch printing, 5,760 x 1,440 maximum dpi resolution, and convenient PictureMate Print Packs, this printer is a remarkable combination of quality, ease of use, and affordability.

The rest of my thoughts on the Epson PictureMate has been posted here.

Another trend that has true Jedis somewhat worried is the flood of junk offering a “Complimentary Star Wars DVD Trilogy Set.” A company that goes by the name eMarketResearchGroup claims to be “Helping Build Better Products Through Customer Feedback.” Here's a bit of feedback, folks: don't spam me again or I'll do that Darth Vader force chokey thing on your necks. I already own Star Wars on DVD, so… this is only an incentive to hunt you down and slaughter you like the Tusken Raiders you are. In fact, I'd probably give up my Star Wars DVD set just to stop getting messages from your alleged company.

Thank goodness I finally have SONGS TO WEAR PANTS TO! I think he should do a tune based on Scoble's entry on Firefox. I would call it “The Scobleizer.” I should probably just throw money at him, eh?

• Canon PowerShot G5
• Extra BP-511
• Original Box
• Condition: Great (light external wear)
• Motivation to sell: low
• $550 (Buyer pays S&H)

“The PowerShot G5 uses a 5.0 Megapixel CCD sensor, providing a file with 2,592 x 1,944 pixels for stunning clarity and color in even your biggest enlargements of up to 20×30 inches in size. Primary color filters reduce noise while enhancing the natural colors of the scene photographed. At the heart of the PowerShot G5 is Canon's powerful 4x optical, 4x digital zoom lens. With a 35mm equivalent range of 35 – 140mm, a large maximum aperture of f/2.0 – 3.0, and macro focusing down to 2 inches, there's virtually nothing this lens can't do. A 4x digital zoom feature extends the telephoto capabilities even further, effectively making it a 16x zoom.”

Why sell? I'm likely moving to a Coolpix digital camera.

• Apple iMac Desktop 15''
• 10.3.6 (Panther)
• 800 MHz G4 / 256 MB SDRAM
• 60 GB Ultra ATA Hard Disk
• SuperDrive
• Condition: Great (normal wear)
• Motivation to sell: high
• Original Box
• $600 (Buyer pays S&H)

“The iMac's display literally glides through the air - allowing you to effortlessly adjust its height or angle with a touch of your finger. Inside its ultracompact 10.6-inch base lives a fast iMac, with an 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor that blazes through Mac OS X applications. Throw in a SuperDrive that lets you burn your own custom DVDs and you'll see why this iMac is several leaps ahead of other computers out there.”

Just not using the iMac all that much anymore.