christmas

Those of us who celebrate Chanukah may get eight nights of presents, but you X-mas folks get all the good music.

Thanks to Mrs. Cheapskate, who tinsels with the best of 'em, I've really come to enjoy Christmas songs over the years. Consequently, I'm always on the lookout for new (and cheap, natch) tunes to add to the holiday playlist.

Amazon has quite a bounty this year. For starters, check out these 29 free holiday tunes from artists like Tori Amos, Lady GaGa, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Over at Dealnews you can find 11 more holiday freebies from Amazon, … Read more

The North American Aerospace Defense Command isn't messing around this year.

Each year since 1955, the military agency--a joint U.S. and Canada operation--has been providing data on Santa Claus' annual trek around the world for kids (and non-kids, I guess) who really, really, really want to know when those coveted electric hamsters or whatever the big material sensation of the year will be getting shoved under their Christmas trees.

For 2009, the NORAD Santa Web site will also have offshoots on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Earth, and Flickr. A partnership with navigation company OnStar also means that subscribers … Read more

Maybe I'm feeling extra Grinchy today because stupid iTunes keeps timing out when I sync my iPhone, but I don't like Grinchmas.

In this new game from Oceanhouse Media, you're a disembodied Grinch hand that flings snowballs--or presents, if you're in more of a "Merry Grinch" mood--at houses down in Whoville.

And that's it. The challenge, if you can call it that, lies in flinging accurately: you have to swipe at just the right speed and in just the right direction to score a hit.

If I'm any indication, grown-up players will … Read more

Piggly Christmas Edition is a basic game in which users must locate and roll apples to Mrs. Piggly's house, all while devouring sweets and avoiding hazards along the way. The game's not awful, but we didn't find it particularly fun or impressive.

The first thing about Piggly Christmas Edition that we found off-putting was its Christmas-ness. The only things Christmasy about the game are the Santa hat that Mrs. Piggly wears and the fact that her house is adorned with Christmas decorations. Apparently we are supposed to ignore the fact that the first level of the game … Read more

The holiday season is upon us and we know most of you are struggling to "find the money" to buy gifts for your friends and family, so we make the long trip across the hallway and invite Jill Schlesinger on the show to help us keep our heads above water. Jill is editor at large for CBS MoneyWatch.com and has plenty of experience with financial planning, so listen up!

As you might already know from past episodes featuring The Financial Decoder, Jill isn't the biggest fan of credit card companies, or "legalized drug dealers," as she calls them, but this time she has her scope pointed at the dangers of using a debit card.

Despite proposed laws that would outlaw overdraft fees, Jill suspects we haven't seen the end of hidden fees and actually recommends budgeting this season with presents that won't leave you with an empty bank account. Your dear old mom doesn't really need that Tiffany's necklace or box of Godiva chocolates! Leave that stuff for Mother's Day, and just go out and have fun together--it's free, and it won't drain your bank account.

Jill also drops knowledge on us (in a Bulgarian accent, no less) about how to develop optimistic (and realistic) financial goals for the year instead of frantically scrambling to plan around the holidays. With Valentine's Day coming up, it's too bad Jeff isn't here! Jill tells us the best way to stop the cycle of "hedonic spending" is to play a game she calls "Find the Money."

Have fun and play games while balancing your spending and saving money at the same time?! Be sure to listen to this episode of The 404 Podcast to get the whole story!

Christmas Card provides users with a way to send warm wishes to others with an animated, multithemed card. Its smooth animation and fun images are sure to please family and friends.

The program's interface is not really an issue. There is no way to customize it, and there is no Help file. Users simply open it and it runs through its cycle. The card itself begins with a twinkling animated Christmas tree framed within a border and surrounded by colorful gifts. Smaller windows float by, one with a red candle that says "Merry Christmas," and another with … Read more

Town and Country Christmas Screensaver is the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit and add some snowy cheer to your computer screen. With charming graphics and easy-to-use interface, this could become as much of a Christmas staple as a tree in the front room.

This program's interface will be immediately familiar to anyone who has used a screensaver through Windows. The program doesn't have its own controls, instead embeds itself into the computer's screensaver catalog. There is no Help file, but users shouldn't find any trouble managing this screensaver. The screensaver features scenes of … Read more

Did we turn to Facebook for Christmas cheer, or to cheer up Christmas?

The social-networking site, which has been experiencing explosive growth in membership, saw record traffic on Christmas Eve. Facebook achieved its highest-ever traffic level, accounting for 2.18 percent compared with a 1.42 percent average for November, according to numbers gathered by Hitwise. That's a 54 percent increase compared with the November average and a 53 percent increase year over year.

That pattern was mirrored in the U.K., where visits to the social networking site had a market share of 4.65 percent, accounting for … Read more

There's twelve days of Christmas, eight days of Hanukah and for the first time ever, five days of Yuletide 404 Mini-sodes. Installment Two invites you to come hate "the most wonderful time of year" with us! We've saved up all our bitterness for this one mini-sode. Christmas music? Bah. Pine trees? Feh! The film - A Christmas Story? Horrendous! Claymation? Sucks!!! Bah-Humbug!