Well, perhaps we should title this missive "Last-Minute Christmas Shopping," but, hey, well, whatever... In any case, if you have a Mac Pro owner on your list, you might pick up a couple of quad-core Xeon E5335s, which Intel just started shipping -- according to one enterprising blogger, popping them into a Mac Pro makes Photoshop CS3 scream. (Or, for that matter, you could simply give your gift-target the promise of a CS3 upgrade -- according to Bare Feats, it'll definitely be worth the wait.) If $1,380 for two quad-cores is a bit rich for your blood, how about one of two new iPod games, Sudoku and Royal Solitaire, for five bucks each? Too boring? The wow 'em with a USB shaver or tickets to Nerds://A Musical Software Satire, a musical comedy that "charts the rise of computer industry giants Bill Gates and Steve Jobs." Is one your to-be-giftees a Mac road warrior? Then check out the ever-perspicacious Jason O'Grady's suggested "10 must-have software tools" for that wandering soul. But if you're feeling decidedly Scroogesque this holiday season, just hand out copies of the Snowfall screen saver -- the download's free. In other news:"I'm a Mac" Justin Long and "I'm a PC" John Hodgman just won the Garfield "Bobby" award for best actors in a TV commercial; a Microsoftie explains why there's little to worry about if you installed that quickly pulled Office patch last week; Matsushita is developing a new type of laptop battery that it hopes won't 'splode like so many did this year; it appears that Apple is shopping for engineers that will help the company produce follow-on products in the iPod Hi-Fi line; and -- just for giggles 'n' history -- check out the long and torturous history of iPhone rumors.
