This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Parallels. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

If you’ve ever wanted to retweet the link to a post but were afraid of what might happen, this will be the one to break you of that fear. Read on (or scroll to the bottom if that’s how you roll) to find out why!

So you’ve got a Mac, and you love it. OS X is pretty, it’s functional, and in spite of the ribbing you might get from your more Windows-centric friends, it’s the system that you happen to prefer. But sometimes, because of its popularity with the rest of the world (those savages!), you still find that you need to use Microsoft Windows for any number of reasons. Maybe you’ve got software from the time before you made the switch that you don’t want to buy all over again. Perhaps you want to check out a new game or application that’s been put out, but it’s got a blasted “Runs on Windows — OS X Coming Soon!” sticker prominently displayed on the box. Or maybe those aforementioned Windows-centric friends keep sending you files that require their operating system of choice.

So you can roll your eyes, curse through your teeth, and make the costly choice of buying a new PC to take up more precious space in your home office, or you can simply get a nifty little thing called Parallels that will allow you to run Windows on your operating system of choice.

It is nice to have such choices, right?

And Parallels won’t confine you to making the choice of running Windows on your Mac. It’ll also allow you to run Linux, Google Chrome OS, and/or several other operating systems on your Mac if you so desire. How’s that for having choices?

Here are just some of the other benefits you might want to consider when weighing the buy a new PC vs. run Parallels on your Mac dilemma.

• Parallels allows you to enjoy Windows without the risk of ruining your system with malware and other vicious online-contracted critters that exist only to mess up (or steal) your data and thrive on your tears.
• Parallels allows you to install Windows and all of its drivers without having to deal with oodles of OEM junkware and half-trial crud.
• Parallels allows you to easily “boot” between multiple installations, and even different versions of Windows.
• If you frequently need to use both Windows and OS X and you travel a lot, it’s sure nice to only have to bring one computer equipped with Parallels along for the ride instead of two (especially if your airline charges for extra baggage).
• Parallels allows you to use OS X functions like Full Screen, Launch Pad, and Mission Control with your Windows programs.

Retweet This Post for a Chance to Win a Mac or an iPad with Parallels!

If you’d like to pick up a copy of Parallels Desktop 7 — either as an upgrade to your current version or a brand new, full version — between now and the new year, why not save $10 for your trouble? Just go to the Parallels site, enter the coupon code PIRILLO when you check out by the end of December 31st, 2011, and we’ll hook you up with the discount.

And if you retweet the link to this post between now and January 1st, you’ll be eligible for our giveaway of either a MacBook Air + Parallels Desktop 7 or an iPad + Parallels Mobile!

Need to Run Windows on Your Mac? Parallels Has Got Your Back

We’ve teamed up with Dell to offer another giveaway. This time around we are giving away a Dell 1355cnw printer aimed at boosting your office efficiency.

Complete requirements to qualify are provided in the official contest rules, but here are the basics:

• You must be a resident of the United States.
• You must be following @ChrisPirillo on Twitter.
• You must submit a tweet with a business efficiency tip.

To submit your tip, simply tweet @ChrisPirillo with your tip and the hash tag #printsecrets before the end of the day on 8 December 2011. You can submit up to 3 tips in 3 separate tweets.

The printer recipient will be selected at random from all qualified submissions.

You may also want to check out the Dell Trade Secrets Facebook page to find out what advice others are giving to improve business efficiency.

Boost Business Efficiency with a Free Dell Printer

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Streaming content into your home is more than just some passing fad. Thousands of people have already “cut the cable cord” in favor of set-top boxes such as the Apple TV. Using a device like this gives you more control over the content you are watching. It’s also cost effective – it will cost far less than traditional cable or satellite programming. The Apple TV is a fantastic device – and this one could be yours.

This tiny little black box (it’s just under 4″ square, sits about an inch high off the table and weighs just .6 ounces!) packs a lot of punch. Inside, you’ll find the A4 CPU, the same chip that powers the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod touch. There’s a built-in 6-watt universal power supply and several ports: HDMI2, Optical Audio, Ethernet, IR receiver and a Micro-USB slot that Apple claims is for service and support.

It supports a slew of different formats. For video, you have:

• H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
• MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
• Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format.

Audio files supported include HE-AAC (V1), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through. And for photos, you can browse anything ending with .JPEG, .GIF and .TIFF.

So what can you DO with an Apple TV? I’m so glad you asked! Turn your TV into an HD photo album. Listen to your extensive music collection. Browse and play YouTube videos, watch your favorite HD podcasts, and listen to Internet radio through your home entertainment speakers. Watch Netflix movies and television on the device in HD and with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound when available. Rent your favorite TV shows on the spot, commercial free and in HD for just 99˘ per episode as soon as the day after they are aired. And of course, with the Apple TV, you get instant access to all of the best movies – usually the same day they are released to DVD.

Are you drooling yet? Are you ready to win?! Anyone in the United States is eligible to enter. I apologize to those of you in other countries. International laws and restrictions prohibit us from running contests worldwide.

Jump over to your Twitter account and make sure you are following the Lockergnome account as well as the one for the Frugal Geek. Once you’re following both of us, send out a Tweet stating the following: LockerGnome is Giving Away an Apple TV http://bit.ly/fcyJRE @LockerGnome @FrugalGeek. The giveaway is open from now until April 15th. One winner will be chosen at random who meets all qualifications laid out in this paragraph.

Are you using a set-top box? Which one do you prefer – and why?

Giveaway of an Apple TV

The Kodu Kup contest is here! This is a game design competition for kids aged nine through seventeen residing in the United States. The contest began on March 11, 2011 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time and ends on May 10, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. ET. There are two categories to enter: the 9-12 age group and the 13-17 age group. You can win any one of some seriously cool prizes – including a copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2010 just for registering – even if you decide not to enter the contest!

Microsoft has provided a Kodu tutorial to help kids get started. Every child who has ever played a game has dreamed of creating one that’s even better. This is their chance! Encouraging their creativity in this contest can help bolster their skills and confidence. Heck, you never know – your kid may be the one to create the next best-selling computer game!

At the end of the contest, qualified judges will select the top six games (3 from each Category) and each finalist will be judged on the following judging criteria:

• Innovation – How creative and technically unique is the Game? (25%)
• Fun Factor – How intense, exciting, and entertaining are the attributes of the Game? (25%)
• Production Quality – How complete is the Game including its polish of design, functionality, and thematic execution? (25%)
• Presentation – How clear and precise is the Game Summary and Game Play Instructions (25%)

The finalist that receives the highest score in from each of the two categories will be the Grand Prize winners, and the remaining finalists will be the First Prize and Second Prize winners! I know… you want to know what you’ll win, right? Hold your horses, I was getting to that!

Grand Prize Microsoft Prize Pack

• $5,000 Cash Prize
• New York Trip for 2 to the Imagine Cup including roundtrip airfare, transportation, 3 nights occupancy at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, and $250 cash
• Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect
• 3 month Xbox LIVE Gold
• Toshiba – Satellite Laptop
• Microsoft – Arc Laser Mouse
• Microsoft Office Professional 2010
• Grand Prize Trophy

First Prize: Microsoft Prize Pack

• Toshiba – Satellite Laptop
• Microsoft – Arc Laser Mouse
• Microsoft Office Home & Student
• 1st Runner Up Trophy

Second Prize Microsoft Prize Pack

• Zune HD 16GB MP3 Player
• 1 year Zune Pass subscription
• 2nd Runner Up Trophy

There will also be four (4) copies of Microsoft Office Professional 2010 given away at random just for registering. Additionally, one “School Award” will be presented, with the winner receiving $5,000.00 in cash and a 1 year Gaming Magazine subscription… from a choice of Computer Gaming World, EGM, GamePro, or PC Gamer.

Get your thinking caps on, and let your creative juices flow! Good luck to anyone and everyone who enters this awesome contest.

Create New Games with Kodu and Win from Microsoft

Geeks love gadgets. We love gadgets that are functional. More importantly, we love functional gadgets that are cool looking. The Mimobot Designer USB Flash Drive fits all three of these bills perfectly. These awesome little drives come in sizes from 2GB up to 16GB and offer an optional key chain attachment at a small additional cost. How suave are you going to look when you whip out your Star Wars or Halo key chain, pop off the top and stick it into your laptop or computer?

Boston-based Mimoco has fused the art of contemporary characters with personal data storage devices since 2005. They offer up flash drives housed inside of popular geek culture icons, fan-voted submissions and even an exclusive artist series. They’ve long been a favorite toy amongst elite geeks, and I’ll be giving you a chance to win one of your own later in this post.

Each drive comes packed with preloaded content for you to enjoy. The quarterly MimoZine is a video-based magazine featuring interviews with musicians, profiles of artists, coverage of fun pop-culture events and many other things you’ll expect to find at the crossroads of technology and art. You’ll also find wallpapers, icons, avatars and screensavers to enhance your desktop experience.

Your Mimobot will work on either Windows or Mac OS X, and some Linux users have reported success when plugging in their device. The flash drives are Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and are backwards compatible with USB 1.1. The little dudes and dudettes are a mere 2.5″ tall by 1″ wide, easily fitting into a pocket or purse. They don’t take up much space in your travel bag, and it’s okay if you feed them after midnight!

So now you’re wondering how you can win one of my Batman series Mimobots, aren’t you? It’s simple! Make sure you’ve checked me out on Twitter and YouTube. Choose your favorite video from my uploads, and Tweet a link to it – be sure to include @lockergnome in the Tweet so I don’t miss it! Winners will be chosen completely at random, so keep an eye out on your messages to see if we send a congratulatory Tweet your way! The contest ends next Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced via Facebook and Twitter on Thursday, March 24th, 2011.

Mimobot USB Flash Drive for the Geek in You

Trying to organize and use all of the content on your iPad can be a nightmare. You may need to buy different apps to open, read or consume different types of media and files. This could potentially cost you quite a chunk of change – and give you one massive headache. Your iPad stores documents, PDF files, music, eBooks, images and – well – I’m not sure if I want to know what else you have on that thing. The point is, there are an ungodly number of different types of files to be organized and opened. This is where Zen Viewer HD will come in handy.

This app is a little powerhouse. It will unify your content into one place – read, watch, store, organize, protect and record your audio. View PDF files, documents, images. Listen to your music. Watch your videos and movies. The Zen Viewer HD allows you to do ALL of these things. Heck, you can even change the skin of the app itself if you don’t like the way it looks out of the box.

The Zen Viewer puts you in control of your files. Rename, compress, email and password protect your files and folders with a click of the button within the app. Why not download owner’s manuals or user guides for your favorite products and save them on your iPad? Forget searching for hard copies that you likely threw in the garbage at some point in time. Free up the space in your file cabinet – or get rid of the dang thing completely. Keep everything on your iPad – and then manage it with Zen Viewer.

Did you know that this little app can manage:

• Document Formats – pdf, epub, rtf, txt, csv, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, vcf, htm, html, xml, cbr and cbz.
• Image Formats – jpeg, gif, bmp, png, tif, cr2, nef, ico, cur and xbm.
• Audio Formats – m4a, mp3, wav, aiff, aac and caf
• Video Formats – mov, mp4, m4v, m-jpg

That is one heck of a lot of variation and choices. There are also a few special features you’ll be interested in:

• Enhanced file searching – Browse through your libraries and files using any of several different preset features. Choose your preset type by file extension or genre.
• Easy File Transfers – Transfer through iTunes, certain web sites, WiFi and servers.
• Resize your library – Need more room in your library? This is the app for that!
• Compress or decompress your content – Zip or unzip your files and folders for easier storage or transferring.

Are you convinced yet? Great! If you would like to win a copy of Zen Viewer HD, you will need to enter today – Monday, March 14th, 2011, before 11:59pm PST. All you have to do is click that cute little Twitter button at the bottom of the post, and you’re automatically entered. Five people will be chosen at random to win a copy of their very own tomorrow, March 15th, 2011.

How do you manage files on your iPad?

Win a Zen Viewer HD Promo Code for Your iPad

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It’s no secret that no matter what platform you are using, there will be rude commenters. With this new giveaway, we decided to reward those of you who do NOT fall into this category!

You could get this Lenovo ThinkCentre M75e desktop computer and 2 ThinkVision L1951p monitors. To qualify, all you need to do is say something nice in the comments section for the video. Be sure to leave your comment on YouTube itself – not here on the blog.

Kelly will pick her favorite nice comment and award the lucky person the computer. Deadline for sharing your comment is Midnight 18 February 2011.

How to Win a Lenovo Computer

Trey Ratcliff has taught several thousand people how to do HDR photography through workshops, his award-winning tutorial, his book “A World in HDR” and now a video tutorial. This video tutorial normally sells for $99.00, but we’re giving away three copies to a few lucky people.

Trey is best known for his site, StuckInCustoms, which has become the #1 Travel Photography Blog on the internet with around 350,000 visits per month – including one from his mom. He’s also on Flickr and SmugMug, where his photos have recently passed over 45 million views. His work first became popular after he had the honor of having the first HDR photo ever to hang in the Smithsonian.

Trey’s work is nothing short of breathtaking, and any budding photographer should want to learn at his feet. This video tutorial will open your eyes to an entirely new world, allowing you to let your inner creative side shine.

One man who recently purchased this video said: “Viewing Trey’s HDR DVD series is like finding a mad scientist’s book of secret formulas. His screencasts immediately dispel the barriers and hurdles of achieving stunning HDR images. This series is worth every penny.” The praise doesn’t get any better than this.

So! How can you win!? It’s quite simple, folks: Make sure you are following me on Twitter and have liked my Facebook page. Leave a comment on this blog post telling me why you would like to win a copy. The contest will run now through Monday afternoon (January 24th) at 3PM PST. Three winners will be chosen at random and contacted via the email address left with the comment (so be sure you put your actual email address!). That’s all there is to it!

Happy picture taking!

HDR Video Tutorial Giveaway

All of our gamer friends know that World of Warcraft Cataclysm release date is getting closer. Things around Azeroth will never be the same, but most players are excited about that prospect. It’s always good when a game shakes things up and makes them almost new again. It keeps players interested, right? There are lots of cool things going on to help promote the launch, and we’re happy to be taking part in a giveaway right here in our community.

Our friend Rubin and his team over at DiabloSpot have graciously donated some seriously cool items to give away. We will be doing two random giveaways – one begins today and the other will be next week! You have two chances to win, simply by sending a tweet. Your tweet must include @Chrispirillo, @diablospot and #Cataclysm in it. By sending that tweet between now and midnight on Friday night (October 29th), you are automatically in the running for this week’s prize.

This week, four lucky people will win Limited Edition Warcraft Trading Card Game Cards… each of which are still sealed in foil and were signed by the artist! At this point in time, there is no monetary value placed on them. I would definitely hold on to these if you win one… they could be worth some decent bank one day.

Are you looking forward to the Cataclysm? What do you feel will be the best change to the game? If you missed out on BlizzCon, be sure to check out the information that Rubin and the gang put up over on DiabloSpot – and don’t miss out on all the talk of Diablo 3.

Are You Ready for the Cataclysm?

David Spark attended Gnomedex this year on behalf of Dice. He interviewed several people throughout the event, asking everyone the same question: “What makes you a true geek?” The answers were as varied as they could possibly be. My idea of what a geek is was reinforced by everyone who participated. You don’t have to be a technology buff to be a geek. A geek is someone who is passionate about something, whether that something is cars, technology, gardening or even swimming.

Do you think you are geekier than anyone in this video? You could win an iPad courtesy of Dice for telling your story. The deadline is today, so head over to their Facebook Page and enter now! After you “Like” the page, you will see a tab at the top called “Inner Geek.” Click there and tell your story. You could end up being the winner!

Thanks to David and the entire Dice crew for coming out to support us during Gnomedex. We had a great time talking with you!

Your Inner Geek Could Win an iPad

Gnomedex is now officially only nine weeks away. Tickets are selling quickly, but the team at Tungle wants to make sure you don’t miss your chance to attend. They are giving away an all-access pass to the conference – a $300.00 value! Entering is easy, and the prize package is seriously cool (if I do say so myself!).

The winner will receive, courtesy of Tungle.me:

• 15 minutes of face time with yours truly
• A Tungle.me invite
• One free All-Access pass to Gnomedex
• An armload of Tungle.me swag
• Their winning post published on Tungle.me, Lockergnome.com and chris.pirillo.com

What would you do with 15 minutes of face time with me during the conference? The sky is (almost) the limit. You can get some advice, pitch an idea to me, ask me to sing or dance or even challenge me to a quick game of Tetris. That time will be yours if your essay is chosen as the winner, and we can use it in whatever way you wish (within reason!).

Entering is simple: Blog your story titled “Why I Deserve to Tungle with Chris Pirillo at Gnomedex,” and send a link to the post to the Tungle Team. If you don’t have a blog, you could also create a video to upload, record a podcast or even draw a comic strip. The choice is yours, so be creative.

The best entry wins, and will be chosen by the Tungle team and myself. The deadline for entering is July 31st, 2010. Travel, hotel and other expenses are not provided and you will be responsible for them.

Why do YOU feel you should get to Tungle with me?

Win a Ticket to Gnomedex and Tungle With Me

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What questions could you ask? Which questions will you answer? The sky is the limit for all of those who participate. The first one to attain 100,000 karma points (legitimately – cheaters are disqualified) will get this Optimus Maximus keyboard.

In order to give our new Lockergnome.net site a proper launch, we’ve decided to do a giveaway. The site is now a question and answer site where you will earn karma points simply by asking questions, voting on the questions others have answered and answering questions you find interesting. If you flag questions with a thumbs up or thumbs down, you’ll also gain more karma.

The more karma you gain, the more you can do on the site. Once you reach a certain level, you’ll be able to delete trash answers and even edit questions when someone forgets their PUGS. You’ll need to be careful when doing those things, though. You don’t want to get too big for your britches and earn a bad rep in the community. Doing so will get you kicked out faster than you can try to spell Optimus Maximus.

As of the writing of this post, there are now over 4000 questions and more than 20,000 answers! That is a lot of participation going on. Don’t miss out on all of the fun. Please remember to ask your questions as specifically as you can. Also, always give the most specific answers possible.

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Win an Optimus Maximus Keyboard by Asking and Answering Questions

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LeapFish. All opinions are 100% mine.

The LeapFish $100K Cash Dash kicked off just a few days ago, and people have already won things like iPod Touches and Flip Mino camcorders. There are still some pretty cool prizes left, so don’t wait too long to begin.

To enter the contest, you’ll need to earn points. Start by singing up and setting your homepage to LeapFish. Then, use your social media prowess to create videos, blog posts and tweets. You’ll also earn points by linking to the contest on your own home page, as well as for every person who signs up under your account.

In addition to prizes like a Dell Laptop, an Apple iPad and a MacBook Pro, there will also be random cash drawings. To win the physical products, you’ll need to be one of the first three people to reach the point level for that prize. To win the dough, you’ll be relying on the luck of the draw. You’ll gain 1 raffle entry in the Grand Prize drawing for each point you have racked up. Cash prizes range from $1000.00 to $50,000.00.

You already spend a large part of your day using various social media sites. Why not put that usage to work for you, and enter to win some pretty awesome gear? Signing up and setting your home page to LeapFish will earn you 75 raffle tickets. That’s 75 chances at fifty grand, folks. Who couldn’t use that kind of extra money?

This contest is a perfect example of being creative with social media resources to engage your community and followers. The more you talk about the contest to your audience, the more chances you’ll have to win. I think this contest is going to be a lot of fun for some people, as well. Good luck to anyone in our community who chooses to enter!

LeapFish $100K Ca$h Da$h

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The season of giving is now upon us. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you still like to receive gifts, right? You’re in luck… I love to give gifts – and I want to give some to YOU!

This holiday, you have a chance to win a gift from me. This is open to anyone in the world, no matter where you live. Post a video response on YouTube (NOT here on the blog) to this video. Tell me what you want, and why you deserve the gift. It doesn’t matter what holiday you celebrate – or even if you celebrate anything at all. What matters is that you have a need or wish, and that you are willing to leave a video response to tell me what it is. You don’t have to be a professional videographer or come up with the funniest few moments ever recorded. I’m looking for sincerity, people who I feel will truly benefit from whatever it is they ask for.

I don’t care what religion you are (or aren’t!), what your background is, or even what your ethnicity is… you still have a chance to win! I will be choosing a winner live on the stream on Christmas Day – December 25th. Everyone deserves a little happiness and sunshine in their life. It doesn’t matter if YOU celebrate Christmas – I do, and this is how I am choosing to honor the day this year… by giving back to my community.

Happy Holidays everyone!

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The Gift of Giving

Anne, Karen, and their teams from HP were an awesome addition to the Gnomedex sponsor roster last year. They were on-site with several of their products – and even gave away many things! I was fortunate to receive a TouchSmart from them during this time period, to review and use for myself. Even though I’m a Mac guy at heart, I have to admit I really love using the TouchSmart whenever I need to be on Windows. It runs beautifully, and has never given me any issues at all. It’s a powerhouse of a machine, honestly. I can convert videos while searching on the Internet, having multiple other programs open and even running a Skype conference all at once. There is no “lag”, like you would find on many systems while trying to do all of these things. And, of course, you can’t beat the sheer fun (and yes – functionality!) of using the actual Touch features! It’s not just me who loves this machine. My assistant, Kat, won a TouchSmart after the conference was over. She has used hers ever since as her primary machine, and is quite happy! HP continued with a presence this year at Gnomedex, too!

So why am I waxing poetic about HP and their products? I’m glad you asked! Not only were they awesome to work with during Gnomedex last year, they continue to support our community to this day. They’ve come up with an excellent new contest – just for all of you reading out there! You have a chance to win for yourself a brand-new HP Pavilion dv6t series laptop! Entering is so simple, you won’t even believe it. All you have to do is leave a follow-up comment on this blog post, (including your email address!) talking about HP. You can tell us what HP products you own – or have owned. You can talk about the ones you’d like to own. It doesn’t matter, so long as your comment talks about an HP product or service. Any comments which simply state things like “I want to win the HP laptop” will be disqualified. Put some effort into it! You should pore over the contest rules prior to entering, though. The contest is open now, and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on September 30, 2009. The winner will be notified via email within three days of that date, provided they are proven to have a valid entry (as described above).

Not only is HP giving away a laptop, they also have cooked up an awesome deal for you to take advantage of! Take 30% off of the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion Notebook PC, configured at $1199.00 or greater at the HP Home and Home Office Store. Use coupon code: NBR49875. The offer excludes the HP HDX16t, HP Minis and all Compaq models. The offer is limited to the first 1800 coupons redeemed, and will become void after that. Only 1 redemption per person or address is allowed. The coupon is not valid with other promotions and restrictions apply. For complete conditions, see Coupon Information in the Customer Service section.

I gotta thank everyone at HP for their continued support, and all of the opportunities they keep bringing to our community. Good luck to everyone who chooses to enter!

Would You Like to Win an HP Laptop?