As I hope you recall, on January 1st, 2008 I listed my Top 10 tech predictions of for 2008. Today, I’d like to take a look at those and see how they turned.

1. iPhone will go 3G, will be available on Verizon or Sprint.
• Well, I was right about one thing, it did go 3G. But it’s still attached to AT&T.
2. Apple will come out with a 12-inch sub-notebook for under $1300.
• Okay, it wasn’t 12-inch or under $1300- but it was still cool.
3. A new iPod Shuffle will come out and will be upgraded to 2GB.
• Nailed this one on the head.
4. Windows Vista will still suck (A real stab, I know).
• Yup, still sucks- but it has gotten better.
5. Serious heat will pop up in the world of piracy.
• Yea, I think so.
6. The drop of Analog Cell Phone signals will create mass chaos.
• Okay, it really didn’t.
7. I will still be the only one in my family with a Mac.
• Still the Family’s only Mac fan, but my Dad now has an iPod so we’re on the right track.
8. Both Tivo and Tumblr will be acquired.
• I was way off on this one.
9. Google or Yahoo will launch a Facebook look-a-like.
• Nope, nothing here.
10. Google will pay stupid money for the 700MHz spectrum.
• Again, this wasn’t as big I thought it would be.

So, with that said, this leads into tomorrow’s post, where I will talk about my tech predictions for 2009. Have a Happy New Year, we’ll see you in 2009!

Good Morning Everyone- We are just days away from the end of 2008 and welcoming ourselves into 2009. As I mentioned last week, I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s Manic Monday to the best of 2008- my favorite stores of the year.

• iPhone Mania continued with the launch of the 3G iPhone on July 11th.
• Also from Apple this year, the new MacBook Air- the world’s thinnest notebook.
• And Apple even got mocked by The Simpsons.
• Moving on, HD DVD officially died and was buried, ending a format war.
• And the RIAA got their site wiped, and rightfully so.
• Speaking of the RIAA, 2008 brought the end to a 5-year war of lawsuits.
• 2008 also saw the launch of Chrome, Google’s web browser.
• And speaking of web browsers, Mozilla created a world record for the most downloads in one day, with Firefox 3.

So those are my favorite stories of 2008. Any stories you think I missed? What are your favorite stories of the year? Put your thoughts in the comments.

It may be after Christmas, but this is the most important Christmas post I do. If you need to make a Holiday return or exchange, here are few things to keep in mind.

At Best Buy, Gift purchases made between November 1, 2008 and December 24, 2008, qualify for their Holiday Return policy, which means they may be returned through January 31, 2008. The other terms of standard policy (including, but not limited to, “non-returnable items” and “restocking fee,” etc.) apply. Also, the original receipt is needed for all returns and exchanges.

At Circuit City, they’ve extended their return policy for purchases made November 15, 2008, through December 24, 2008. Items with a 30-day return policy can now be returned through January 25, 2009, and items with a 14-day return policy can be returned through January 8, 2009.

At Staples, Any electronic or furniture product, which usually falls within the 14–day return policy, purchased between 11/23/08 and 12/24/08 may be returned until 1/6/09 or as regular policy allows, whichever is later.

Both OfficeMax and Office Depot do not have a Holiday return policy. Their regular return policy applies for them. Hopefully that helps you out. Enjoy your Gifts!

Good Morning- We are just two days away from Christmas. Indeed it is the most wonderful time of the year. And there was a lot of big tech news this week. Let’s get started.

• The RIAA has agreed to stop suing file sharers. About damn time!
• Free WiFi is apparently spreading like a virus, in a good way.
• ZDnet poses a good question: Has Internet Explorer ever been safe?
• On to Apple news, Mac OS X 10.5.6 released with improved MobileMe syncing
• Apple announces final MacWorld, and Steve Jobs won’t deliver keynote. What will we do?
• That said, A New Mac Mini may be coming to Macworld 2009.
• One More Thing: Apple also my have New Multi-touch Mighty Mouse.
• SSD advancements the final nail in HDD’s coffin?
• If not, this is: Toshiba has a 512GB SSD to come out in 2009.
• And finally, The Pirate Bay Launches Free Mobile Video Converter.

And that’s this week’s Manic Monday. This will be the last news related Manic Monday for 2008. Next Monday, I’ll be breaking down my favorite Manic Monday news stories of 2008. While I’m at it, I’ll mention that next Wednesday, New Years Eve, I will be recapping my tech predictions of 2008 and discus what happened this year, and next Thursday, New Years Day, I’ll do my predictions for 2009. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

It’s the last weekend of shopping and you don’t have stocking stuffers. Not to fear; Today, I have some stocking stuffer ideas for you.

Flash Drive

The most inexpensive of gadgets just so happens to be the most useful one, and great stocking stuffer as well. I’m talking about USB flash drive. I talk about them all the time, and from experience, they do make great gifts.

So what size and what model, you ask? First off, it makes no sense to get anything smaller than a 1GB, just merely based on price. You can find a good 1GB Flash Drive for less than $15. That said, I recommend the Lexar JumpDrive Firefly, as small compact choice of flash drive drive. Also, my personal favorite, The SanDisk Cruzer Micro, with a retractable USB plug so you don’t have to loose the cap. Both are great options; Check out your favorite retailer to see what they have in stock.

I have one more idea after the jump. READ MORE »

Your computer’s hard drive it probably the most important of devices on your computer. If it fails, your computer stops working and your data is gone. One way to prevent this from happening is to keep on eye on your hard drive. This is made possible with Crystal Disk Info.

CrystalDiskInfo is a HDD/SSD utility which supports S.M.A.R.T. It supports a part of external USB/IEEE 1394 disks. It monitors health status and temperature and graphs S.M.A.R.T. information.

It does display all the usual information as well. Begins with the hard disk temperature, serial number, transfer mode, drive letters and supported features among other parameters.

The temperature of the hard drive is an important diognostic. This is because it can be a cause for system crashes. It if goes to high it can lead to data loss and errors. The transfer mode can be interesting if you think that your hard drive is not as fast as it should be.

All of this info is important for keeping your hard drive in working order. It’s worth running this utility- your data is too important. The software is free and supports almost all versions of Windows.

CrystalDiskInfo [Crystal Dew World via gHacks]

What would Wired For Gifts be without talking about new computers and the stuff to go with them? That’s exactly what we are talking about today.

My main focus here is what I call “minor upgrades”. So I mean like keyboards, mice, and other extras that, when upgraded, can add to the computing experience. If you’re back at square one and still need a computer, check out my posts from Wired For Gifts 2007 and Back To School 2008, as they should have what you need to know.

Now for the goods. I’ll have those after the jump. READ MORE »

I must apologize for the delay on today’s Manic Monday. If you haven’t been watching the Weather Channel at all, Fargo got hit with the worst blizzard seen since 1997, so I spent my day digging my car out of the snow (No, that’s not my car pictured above). That said, a very belated Manic Monday.

• Gmail Enables SMS Messaging From Chat
• Also added to Gmail, a To-Do List
• Google Chrome breaks out of beta. How about a Mac and Linux version?
• Mozilla to pull the plug on Firefox 2 “soon”. Time to upgrade!
• That said, Mozilla added multitouch gestures to Firefox 3.1 for Mac.
• And HP apparently will wipe your hard drive to fix a broken keyboard.
• Canada Increases ‘Music Industry Subsidy’ on Blank CDs. Good day, eh?
• And a Russian has apparently trademarked the emoticon.
• Apple gets official acceleration spec for Snow Leopard.
• Apple and AT&T bring back iPhone home activation.
• Finally, Seadragon is Microsoft’s first iPhone App. Voice Search Next?

And that’s this week’s Manic Monday. I did two installments of Wired For Gifts last week, and I plan to do the same this week, as well as some other tips and tricks in the middle. Enjoy!

Happy Friday once again. Today we’re talking iPod gifts. On Wednesday, I talked iPods. Today I’m talking accessories.

It’s safe to say that the iPod is one of the few gifts (beside a new car) that will please just about everyone. And if your loved one has an iPod, accessories make the experience that much better. We get started after the jump. READ MORE »

For my fellow bloggers who run WordPress, I have some exciting news. WordPress 2.7 has been released.

The first thing you’ll notice about 2.7 is its new interface. From the top down, we’ve listened to your feedback and thought deeply about the design and the result is a WordPress that’s just plain faster. Nearly every task you do on your blog will take fewer clicks and be faster in 2.7 than it did in a previous version.

Next you’ll begin to notice the new features subtly sprinkled through the new interface: the new dashboard that you can arrange with drag and drop to put the things most important to you on top, QuickPress, comment threading, paging, and the ability to reply to comments from your dashboard, the ability to install any plugin directly from WordPress.org with a single click, and sticky posts.

Last, but certainly not least, this may be the last time you ever have to manually upgrade WordPress again. We heard how tired you were of doing upgrades for yourself and your friends, so now WordPress includes a built-in upgrade that will automatically notify you of new releases, and when you’re ready it will download them, install them, and upgrade your blog with a single click.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg for new features. I just upgraded myself, and I, too, and trying to figure out how to publish this post. The new features look cool- another reason why WordPress is the best for blogging.

WordPress 2.7 “Coltrane” [WordPress Blog]