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1999 Miscellaneous Gift Ideas

Handsome Prints — Herouth Maoz <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> praise for the Jerker desk from IKEA, "the ultimate computer desk". Gordon Meyer <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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/>


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