It's the final countdown, people. One more week until we find out here whether or not Santa's tucking some coal in our stockings or maybe just a couple iPod touches. Meanwhile, to distract yourself and steady your eggnog-dizzied head, why not peep the hottest stories cooking over our Mac|Life Yule log?

Features:

- 50 Rad Firefox Add-Ons - Ah, browser add-ons and extensions. While we like the zip of Safari or Chrome when we really need something, nothing beats Firefox for customizability. Sure, everyone's got all the big name AdBlock add-ons and that sort of thing, but here's a goodly list of tons more great ways to make the web your web.

- 10 Years After Y2K -- Stories From the IT Battlegrounds - The kiddies on the site might not remember all the hoopla that surrounded the big tote board turnover from 1999 to 2000, but we oldsters recall the hype. Planes would crash, the global economy would seize up, the nukes would launch without provocation, digital clocks inside computers would all turn back to 1900 and you'd be forced to wear monocles and dance the "kickapoo." And, of course, none of that happened, but a lot of survivalist stores and IT alarmists made some decent coin cashing in on the fear.

- Will CES Eat Macworld Expo's Lunch? - The answer is clearly, yes. After Apple jumped ship from the jumbomatic nerdfest that is the annual rite of passage, Macworld Expo, superjumbo tech show CES is gobbling up Mac-related vendors and expanding their Mac space at the exhibit. Does this spell the end of Macworld Expo? Go back and read that first sentence again.

- The Complete History of Social Networking -- CBBS to Twitter - It all started with a computer geek's dream of an electronic bulletin board just like ye olde office corkboard. From such humble beginnings we're now awash in social networks of all shapes and sizes and catering to the general (Facebook) to the very specific -- as in sci-fi/fantasy wiki communities (Elftown).


How-Tos:

- Call a Podcast a Podcast in iTunes - This actually used to be much harder. It involved loading up some AppleScripts and changing all kinds of settings. But with the constant stream of iTunes updates, this one's a snap.

- Troubleshooting Bluetooth - The more wireless devices you have, the better it is to know how to make 'em work. Bluetooth products are just more finicky than others sometimes. We got your back.


- iCal: One Contact, Multiple Birthdays - It seems like a simple little program, but iCal actually can deliver on the power, if you just know how to whisper the right sweet nothings. We'll show you how to squeeze a little more date-related functionality out of it.


Reviews:

- LogMeIn Pro2 Launches Mac Beta - For serious road warriors with multiple machines, LogMeIn Pro2 can help you find every document you create and access them, no matter what machine you made it on.

- Type n Walk App Enables You to Do Some Extreme Multitasking - We all do it, even if we pretend we don't. Typing while moving can lead to awkward encounters and collisions with telephone poles. So even if don't have the sense to find a seat, there's an app for you too.

- Ten One Design Pogo Sketch - Icy winds and cold hands make doing anything on your iPhone outside in the winter a real chore. Luckily, someone's got a stylus made just for you and your cold, cold, fat fingers.

- Classic Board and Parlor Games Move Into the Digital Age - Games like Monopoly can last forever, which is why that box doesn't get opened that often. Of course, our silver thimble might get a little more action with classic board games like this on the iPhone.


News:

The carrier we love to hate, AT&T, apparently hasn't been spending much on upgrading their 3G network. Shocker, we know. And they also seem to have learned not to fiddle with iPhone users' and their beloved data access. After a couple weeks of comments, they seem to be backing down from any tiered pricing arguments. Of course, waiting in the wings, as always, Verizon keeps dropping little hints that they could pick up AT&T's slack any day now. Any day now. We're just saying...

In the world of apps, NAVIGON's MobileNavigator just got a shiny new, free update; fans of streaming TV from your Mac to your iPhone can check out Elgato's new Live3G web app, the workaround that resolves that whole pesky block on their EyeTV iPhone app; Apple's iPhone iDisk app just got spiffed up with a new icon, bigger cache, faster downloading and more; and EA has added multiplayer modes to several of their top selling games including Madden NFL 10, Command & Conquer Red Alert, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. (You can add your own "multiplayer" jokes about Tiger Woods right here if you like.)

Finally in the miscellaneous news round-up, we got a granny Twittering with paper and ink; super popular video software VLC possibly going under because lazy, lazy computer geeks won't slave away for free; Mac wins the Clone Wars by grinding Psystar to dust in court; Toshiba's 64 GB NAND chip likely headed to the iPhone; Steve Jobs fails to quite impress the Time Magazine Person of the Year editorial staff and the win goes to some Bernanke guy; and Safari is now losing out on market share to Google's Chrome. What a holiday BURN that's gotta be.