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2008 holiday gift guide from downloadsquad


Happy Holidays from Download Squad! Can't figure out what to get? Techies and complete n00bs alike will find something fun, useful or wonderful in our guides. Each blogger has lovingly sorted the wheat from the chaff so you can spend more time sipping hot cocoa and surfing the web. Enjoy!

5 Fun, casual Steam games you can give for under $20

downloadsquad holiday gift guide 5 casual games to give
If you're a gamer, chances are good you've bought something from Steam - Valve's "Nexus of PC Gaming." If not, it's a great place to purchase some inexpensive and extremely fun games. Steam, of course, offers a gift purchase option, making it an ideal spot to find a nice, cheap gift for that special someone on your list.

Six Geek Movies on your Holiday Gift Guide

download squad holiday gift guide movies
Every geek has a favorite movie or two, and often it's easy to quickly scan their shelves to find out if they already own them. So what movies would we suggest buying your geek?


Subscriptions make great presents - Holiday Gift Guide



Here's a gift idea for the computer user who doesn't really need any new software: subscriptions. Nothing says I love you like a year's worth of unlimited domestic VoIP phone calls, or the security of knowing your files are securely backed up to an offsite storage space. Well, maybe not nothing, but certainly few things. Here are a few ideas for subscription based services you might want to buy for your loved ones.


3 photo sharing sites for your new shutterbug

If you know someone on your gift list is getting a camera or is a new shutterbug, you might want to consider getting them a "pro" photo sharing account where they can upload all their new photos.


The best apps to put on the iPhone you're giving


If you're giving an iPhone or an iPod Touch as a gift, like thousands of other people this season, you might want to think about personalizing it with apps that your beloved giftee would enjoy.


Three apps for the Windows sysadmin

If you have a Windows systems admin (the kind of person responsible for managing a computer network and/or server farm) on your holiday gift-giving list, check out these commercial apps that they are sure to love.


Give the gift of music, e-books and more


Wondering what to get your less-than-tech-savvy friends? On a tight budget and can't buy them a PS3 or even a single Blu-ray title? Worry slightly less courtesy this cheapskates' guide to gifting content from the internet. Not everything is budget-friendly, but almost everything on the list is a terrific value.


Tis the Season for Small Business Gifts


Every year, small businesses struggle with the customer appreciation gift. Should we give one to every client? Only to new clients? What about long-term clients? Should we order pre-printed (and clever) cards? And the big question: how much is this going to cost?

Want more? Check out:

Engadget Holiday Gift Guide 2008


Switched Holiday Gift Guide 2008

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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