Neha Tiwari Pvt. Ltd.

For most tech-heads, Christmas usually comes a little early. That’s right–while the rest of your family is polishing up the last bits of turkey and crans’, you are at the laptop looking up steals.

I follow this same ritual almost every year, yet I never really make any huge purchases. This year, that all changes!

For once, I actually have a lot of tech that I need to acquire. Ya, that’s right need. For starters, I need to buy my parents an inexpensive digital camera [for traveling], as well as a camcorder. I used to think that I would hold-out to see whether HD or DVD cams would come out on top, however, I feel that neither did. I basically think that when it comes to a video camera that is going to be used chiefly for home videos, Mini DV is the way to go. I’ve used Panasonic and JVC in the past, but have had the best experience with Sony.

I also need a kick-ass pair of headphones for the job. I know Patrick did a whole segment on inexpensive headphones, and I am thinking of finding some Sennheisers. I like Grado Labs as they give me the “purchasing from mom n’ pop” feel, but the pair I have seem to leak out a lot of noise when I use them. I highly doubt that Sarah and Heather are interested in hearing me edit, thus making Grado’s unsuitable for the work environment. I also am looking into an external hard drive, always love collecting USB flash drives, and may pick up a snazzy new backpack.

I am already planning my Modus Operandi as efficiently as possible, and have found great use of this link, sent to me by Patrick Norton. I’ll also be checking out FatWallet, GottaDeal, and BFads.net. Also, If you aren’t out shopping already, check out this weeks Tekzilla for more Black Friday tips.

Tivo and most DVR technologies have been around for many years, but I have yet to indulge in this functional piece of equipment.

This is a big admission considering that I am relatively tech savvy and do fancy gizmos. I really don’t mind spending a good amount of cash when it comes to gadgetry, and know that DVRs plus the service isn’t that much more then I currently pay for cable. But now, I’m questioning whether or not to take the leap…

First off, to get a DVR, it seems that you have to have digital cable. Believe it or not, I don’t even have that. My family and I have had the same cable service for years now and have never really felt the need to upgrade. My father still records his weekend cultural programs on VHS, and I continue to rush home to watch a number of programs. We have had no problem living in the dark ages of television thus far.

In the busy lives that we all lead, I still think it’s fun to have a show to look forward to and not on demand.

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While I was out for tea this last weekend, a friend of mine asked me if I had a Friendster account. Ah Friendster, the poor predecessor of Myspace and Facebook that got left in the dust. The site boasts of having “over 50 million profiles,” which is not much compared to Tom on Myspace’s 203 million friends. No offense to Tom, but not even everyone is his friend [some people choose to delete him...I've been nice and kept the fellow Cal alum]. After opening their doors to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet, I am sure that Facebook has a sizable community as well. For some reason, I think that Friendster might be doing okay overseas, but is really tanking in the States. Even their dorky Jansport backpack backgrounds can’t save them now.

Why all the bitter blood over Friendster, you ask? Well here’s a little story on my recent user experience. I logged on after approximately 3 months to add my aforementioned chai-going pal. I had a number of changes to make as I realized that most of my pictures were outdated, my favorite tastes had changed, and my “about me” section sounded uber-dorky. I also saw that they had swiped the personalized URL idea from Myspace, and the “It’s complicated” relationship status from Facebook. Way to go, wannabe copycats. I submitted my fancy URL like 4 times, and it kept leading back to my old page without the modifications.

After that, I decided to edit the text and photos. After making my grand total of photos on the site a lucky number 13, I was told that I could post 980+ more photos of myself. Do the internets really need like 1,000 pictures of me being a total dumbass? I think not, thus making this an unnecessary feature. Revising the photos and amending the text took several attempts, despite the “changes successful” message that I received after every update. In addition, I checked out their media section with videos from You Tube, and presumably, music. I eventually gave up because of the lack of direction on how to insert a different video on the profile page, or embed a music player. The only item that was really easy to update was the new “Featured friends” section. Think of it as the “Top 8″ on Myspace, but a tad less seamless. Finally, I tried to alter the background to something more me, which for some reason didn’t stick. Most likely because it was an indirect message–Friendster is so NOT me anymore.

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