#Gift Guides

[thesonicstadium]

Looking for the PERFECT gift for that certain #Sonic someone? Well look no further than The Sonic Stadium's ULTIMATE Sonic Gift Guide 2023.

We pored through the world's Sonic merch for good ideas, so you don't have to! #GiftGuide #SonicGiftGuide2023 #SonicTheHedgehog

[scholarlyhobbit]

If it's possible, ask for the nicest version possible of things you use all the time. That's the best way to get something you will use and won't have to replace any time soon.

You write by hand? Ask for a nice fountain pen. It will outlive you. Or a refillable ballpoint pen from a quality maker. Or a refillable leather journal.

You cook a lot? Ask for a very good chef's knife. Or a cast iron pan. Or an enamel dutch oven.

You like to dress well? Ask for a real leather bag, quality leather shoes, or well-made basics like cashmere jumpers, real gold or silver jewellery, or a nice watch. (Or giftcards to the places where you would prefer to buy those things.)

You travel? Luggage. Always ask for luggage, or money towards it. Or a leather passport holder. Or a AAA membership if you drive.

You're a homebody? Ask for bamboo or linen sheets, or a down duvet, or a good quality rug, or high quality Turkish towels.

When you ask for quality, and you ask for what you use daily, you are far less likely to end up with junk that gets tossed out straight away because it breaks or because it's completely useless. And I've found that when I tell people, "I'm trying to use more durable things and own less, it's better for the environment, so if you want to give me something, please give me something I'll use all the time so I can think of you when I do so," they respond really well. Most people want to give you useful gifts. (Some people give gifts as manipulative psychological warfare, but we're discounting them at the moment.) Building a list of what you use and what the nice upgrade would be is a handy thing, especially when holidays and life events are coming up.

In other words: don't wait for the wedding registry to ask for the nice versions of things. Let people know the kinds of things you're looking to have in your life, and often times, you'll get them, even if it turns into the communal birthday present from your friends or a collection of prepaid Visa cards. Let yourself have nice things, use your nice things, and enjoy them. I've made the decision to do just this since I got through COVID, since that was a literal brush with death, and nobody wants to die without ever unpacking the nice sheets or wearing the good shoes.

wish list for people who don’t want anything

aka possessions which are just possessions, but which have noticeably improved my quality of life: for when people ask you “what do you want for your birthday/Christmas/graduation” and you instantly transform into St Francis and pledge fealty to Lady Poverty because your mind went blank

nice. new. sheets. I cannot emphasize this one enough. if you’re still using the same sheets you had in college, you should probably get new ones. get yourself some 100% bamboo rayon sheets—they’re silky and perfect for summer and great for sensitive skin! or, if you’re cold all the time, flannel sheets!

kitchen knives. or even just one really good kitchen knife.

new curtains—blackout if you are a creature of the night like I am

fleece lined anything, but especially sweatpants and hoodies. wool lined socks are also good. if you don’t have the option of coming home after work and putting on an entire outfit that is loose and fuzzy, you should change that, because you deserve that option.

cookie sheets with a layer of air between the top and the bottom. the bottoms of your cookies will never burn again.

kitchen scale!!! no more leveling off flour with a knife and getting it all over the table!! now all your measuring is just shoveling stuff in and out of bowls like you’re at the beach. baking is both more accurate and also way more fun.

coffee bean grinder. if you want to upgrade your coffee experience, this is a great one-time purchase. just-ground beans have a much better flavor than pre-ground.

CDs!! ask for a gift card and expand your physical music collection! or a collection of the DVDs for your favorite show!

[haute-lifestyle-com]

When someone you care about is going through hardship, finding the right way to show your support can be difficult. A thoughtful gift can provide comfort, show empathy, and remind them that they are not alone

[affiliatemarketingclubhouse]

What are Good Gifts for Dads

What Makes Single Dads Special Single dads bring a unique set of strengths and experiences to fatherhood, here are some things that make them special Single dads often wear many hats. They juggle work, childcare, and household duties, often with limited resources. This constant adaptation builds incredible resilience and resourcefulness. They become masters of problem-solving and getting things…

[beautybylmarie]

The Ultimate Mother's Day Gift Guide

Remember the gifts we made for our Mom’s in elementary school? The macaroni glue and glitter photos and the handwritten cards with the big drawn portraits of flowers was all that we could do as broke little kids, but now that we’re grown, its time to elevate our gift giving. Shopping for the woman who seems to have it all can be a bit daunting, but I’ve put together the Ultimate Mother’s Day gift…

[everyday-life-products-reviews]

12 Holiday Beauty Gift Guide Ideas

Creating a holiday beauty care gift guide can be a thoughtful and appreciated way to help your friends and loved ones pamper themselves during the festive season. Here’s a comprehensive guide with various beauty care gift ideas: Skincare Sets: Hydration Kit: Including a moisturizer, hydrating mask, and serum. Anti-Aging Bundle: Featuring products with ingredients like retinol and collagen. Glow…

[taniasequinho]

Gift Guide: Things Every #WomaninTech Would Love to Get This Christmas

#NEWPOST Gift Guide: Things Every #WomaninTech Would Love to Get This Christmas

//This blogpost was originally published in 2021 but I added a little something in 2023. Hope you still enjoy the old and new ideas! It’s Christmas! Or almost there. The time of the year to gift the ones you love. So, if you have a woman in tech on your shopping list I got you covered. Or if you are a woman in tech yourself looking for ideas for your own Santa’s list, keep reading along…

[crazyblondelife]

The 46 Best Gifts for Her - Let the Holiday Shopping Begin

It’s hard to believe it’s time to talk about holiday shopping but there are only 44 days till Christmas! I don’t know about you but that’s kind of terrifying, but exciting at the same time! Whether you’re terrified or excited or like me, a little bit of both, I’ve got gift guides to help! My daughter Rebecca helped to create some really awesome gift guides for anyone and everyone on your list and I’ll be sharing them this week! to help you get a jump on your shopping!

Today, I’m starting off with my favorite gift guides…gifts for her! There is nothing on these guides that I wouldn’t like to receive and I know you’ll feel the same!

While I’m not one to rush the season, it does feel really good to be organized enough to enjoy this time of the year because it all happens so quickly! So, I’ll be planning my Thanksgiving menu and making a fall arrangement for the table at the same time I’m shopping for Christmas! I hope you love these guides as much as I do…you might just find a little something for yourself while you’re browsing! Enjoy!

I’m very excited for the week to come! On Monday, I’m making a YouTube video (my first in a while) that will show you step-by-step how to make several fabulous Thanksgiving sides that will also be perfect for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day! I’ll be adding new cooking content every month to my YouTube channel in order to provide more detailed instructions on how to make delicious dishes and also how to plate the food and create beautiful table settings! I’ll put it all on Crazy Blonde Life and it will live on YouTube as well!

I hope these guides help to make your holiday shopping easier! Happy Weekend!

[sewgeekmama]

The Christmas Gift Guides are Coming!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Kickstarting a book to end enshittification, because Amazon will not carry it

My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me — because Amazon refuses to sell my audio:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

Amazon owns Audible, the monopoly audiobook platform that controls >90% of the audio market. They require mandatory DRM for every book sold, locking those books forever to Amazon’s monopoly platform. If you break up with Amazon, you have to throw away your entire audiobook library.

That’s a hell of a lot of leverage to hand to any company, let alone a rapacious monopoly that ran a program targeting small publishers called “Project Gazelle,” where execs were ordered to attack indie publishers “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”:

https://www.businessinsider.com/sadistic-amazon-treated-book-sellers-the-way-a-cheetah-would-pursue-a-sickly-gazelle-2013-10

[Image ID: Journalist and novelist Doctorow (Red Team Blues) details a plan for how to break up Big Tech in this impassioned and perceptive manifesto….Doctorow’s sense of urgency is contagious -Publishers Weekly]

I won’t sell my work with DRM, because DRM is key to the enshittification of the internet. Enshittification is why the old, good internet died and became “five giant websites filled with screenshots of the other four” (h/t Tom Eastman). When a tech company can lock in its users and suppliers, it can drain value from both sides, using DRM and other lock-in gimmicks to keep their business even as they grow ever more miserable on the platform.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

[Image ID: A brilliant barn burner of a book. Cory is one of the sharpest tech critics, and he shows with fierce clarity how our computational future could be otherwise -Kate Crawford, author of The Atlas of AI”]

The Internet Con isn’t just an analysis of where enshittification comes from: it’s a detailed, shovel-ready policy prescription for halting enshittification, throwing it into reverse and bringing back the old, good internet.

How do we do that? With interoperability: the ability to plug new technology into those crapulent, decaying platform. Interop lets you choose which parts of the service you want and block the parts you don’t (think of how an adblocker lets you take the take-it-or-leave “offer” from a website and reply with “How about nah?”):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

But interop isn’t just about making platforms less terrible — it’s an explosive charge that demolishes walled gardens. With interop, you can leave a social media service, but keep talking to the people who stay. With interop, you can leave your mobile platform, but bring your apps and media with you to a rival’s service. With interop, you can break up with Amazon, and still keep your audiobooks.

So, if interop is so great, why isn’t it everywhere?

Well, it used to be. Interop is how Microsoft became the dominant operating system:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

[Image ID: Nobody gets the internet-both the nuts and bolts that make it hum and the laws that shaped it into the mess it is-quite like Cory, and no one’s better qualified to deliver us a user manual for fixing it. That’s The Internet Con: a rousing, imaginative, and accessible treatise for correcting our curdled online world. If you care about the internet, get ready to dedicate yourself to making interoperability a reality. -Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine]

It’s how Apple saved itself from Microsoft’s vicious campaign to destroy it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

Every tech giant used interop to grow, and then every tech giant promptly turned around and attacked interoperators. Every pirate wants to be an admiral. When Big Tech did it, that was progress; when you do it back to Big Tech, that’s piracy. The tech giants used their monopoly power to make interop without permission illegal, creating a kind of “felony contempt of business model” (h/t Jay Freeman).

The Internet Con describes how this came to pass, but, more importantly, it tells us how to fix it. It lays out how we can combine different kinds of interop requirements (like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Massachusetts’s Right to Repair law) with protections for reverse-engineering and other guerrilla tactics to create a system that is strong without being brittle, hard to cheat on and easy to enforce.

What’s more, this book explains how to get these policies: what existing legislative, regulatory and judicial powers can be invoked to make them a reality. Because we are living through the Great Enshittification, and crises erupt every ten seconds, and when those crises occur, the “good ideas lying around�� can move from the fringes to the center in an eyeblink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[Image ID: Thoughtfully written and patiently presented, The Internet Con explains how the promise of a free and open internet was lost to predatory business practices and the rush to commodify every aspect of our lives. An essential read for anyone that wants to understand how we lost control of our digital spaces and infrastructure to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and how we can start fighting to get it back. -Tim Maughan, author of INFINITE DETAIL]

After all, we’ve known Big Tech was rotten for years, but we had no idea what to do about it. Every time a Big Tech colossus did something ghastly to millions or billions of people, we tried to fix the tech company. There’s no fixing the tech companies. They need to burn. The way to make users safe from Big Tech predators isn’t to make those predators behave better — it’s to evacuate those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/18/urban-wildlife-interface/#combustible-walled-gardens

I’ve been campaigning for human rights in the digital world for more than 20 years; I’ve been EFF’s European Director, representing the public interest at the EU, the UN, Westminster, Ottawa and DC. This is the subject I’ve devoted my life to, and I live my principles. I won’t let my books be sold with DRM, which means that Audible won’t carry my audiobooks. My agent tells me that this decision has cost me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put my kid through college. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means that my books aren’t enshittification bait.

But not selling on Audible has another cost, one that’s more important to me: a lot of readers prefer audiobooks and 9 out of 10 of those readers start and end their searches on Audible. When they don’t find an author there, they assume no audiobook exists, period. It got so bad I put up an audiobook on Amazon — me, reading an essay, explaining how Audible rips off writers and readers. It’s called “Why None of My Audiobooks Are For Sale on Audible”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

[Image ID: Doctorow has been thinking longer and smarter than anyone else I know about how we create and exchange value in a digital age. -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock]

To get my audiobooks into readers’ ears, I pre-sell them on Kickstarter. This has been wildly successful, both financially and as a means of getting other prominent authors to break up with Amazon and use crowdfunding to fill the gap. Writers like Brandon Sanderson are doing heroic work, smashing Amazon’s monopoly:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

And to be frank, I love audiobooks, too. I swim every day as physio for a chronic pain condition, and I listen to 2–3 books/month on my underwater MP3 player, disappearing into an imaginary world as I scull back and forth in my public pool. I’m able to get those audiobooks on my MP3 player thanks to Libro.fm, a DRM-free store that supports indie booksellers all over the world:

https://blog.libro.fm/a-qa-with-mark-pearson-libro-fm-ceo-and-co-founder/

Producing my own audiobooks has been a dream. Working with Skyboat Media, I’ve gotten narrators like @wilwheaton​, Amber Benson, @neil-gaiman​ and Stefan Rudnicki for my work:

https://craphound.com/shop/

[Image ID: “This book is the instruction manual Big Tech doesn’t want you to read. It deconstructs their crummy products, undemocratic business models, rigged legal regimes, and lies. Crack this book and help build something better. -Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When Its Gone”]

But for this title, I decided that I would read it myself. After all, I’ve been podcasting since 2006, reading my own work aloud every week or so, even as I traveled the world and gave thousands of speeches about the subject of this book. I was excited (and a little trepedatious) at the prospect, but how could I pass up a chance to work with director Gabrielle de Cuir, who has directed everyone from Anne Hathaway to LeVar Burton to Eric Idle?

Reader, I fucking nailed it. I went back to those daily recordings fully prepared to hate them, but they were good — even great (especially after my engineer John Taylor Williams mastered them). Listen for yourself!

https://archive.org/details/cory_doctorow_internet_con_chapter_01

I hope you’ll consider backing this Kickstarter. If you’ve ever read my free, open access, CC-licensed blog posts and novels, or listened to my podcasts, or come to one of my talks and wished there was a way to say thank you, this is it. These crowdfunders make my DRM-free publishing program viable, even as audiobooks grow more central to a writer’s income and even as a single company takes over nearly the entire audiobook market.

Backers can choose from the DRM-free audiobook, DRM-free ebook (EPUB and MOBI) and a hardcover — including a signed, personalized option, fulfilled through the great LA indie bookstore Book Soup:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

What’s more, these ebooks and audiobooks are unlike any you’ll get anywhere else because they are sold without any terms of service or license agreements. As has been the case since time immemorial, when you buy these books, they’re yours, and you are allowed to do anything with them that copyright law permits — give them away, lend them to friends, or simply read them with any technology you choose.

As with my previous Kickstarters, backers can get their audiobooks delivered with an app (from libro.fm) or as a folder of MP3s. That helps people who struggle with “sideloading,” a process that Apple and Google have made progressively harder, even as they force audiobook and ebook sellers to hand over a 30% app tax on every dollar they make:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

Enshittification is rotting every layer of the tech stack: mobile, payments, hosting, social, delivery, playback. Every tech company is pulling the rug out from under us, using the chokepoints they built between audiences and speakers, artists and fans, to pick all of our pockets.

The Internet Con isn’t just a lament for the internet we lost — it’s a plan to get it back. I hope you’ll get a copy and share it with the people you love, even as the tech platforms choke off your communities to pad their quarterly numbers.

Next weekend (Aug 4-6), I'll be in Austin for Armadillocon, a science fiction convention, where I'm the Guest of Honor:

https://armadillocon.org/d45/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/31/seize-the-means-of-computation/#the-internet-con

[Image ID: My forthcoming book 'The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation' in various editions: Verso hardcover, audiobook displayed on a phone, and ebook displayed on an e-ink reader.]

[willwriteforboots]

5 Tips for Easy Budget-Friendly Holiday Shopping

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com It’s that time of year again. Labor Day has passed. The kids are back in school. Starbucks has released its menu of pumpkin spice drinks. (I still have to try the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Latte. I have heard really good things about it though.) Summer has officially ended and fall is upon us. While everyone is digging out those sweaters and loading up on…

[torpublishinggroup]

GET BOOKT

A guide of books to gift the people in your life and yourself!

For the person who made a 200+ slide powerpoint about Neon Genesis Evangelion for a presentation party… Also for those who attend presentation parties…

The Archive Undying by @emcandon

For all former and current theater kids (affectionate)...

Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston

For the reader who prefers their off-the-wall science fiction tempered with social commentary, or enjoys social commentary in a space opera font…

The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the friend with the SHUDDER account…

Piñata: A Novel by Leopoldo Gout

For the burned-out chosen one who’s so, so tired…

The Saint of Bright Doors by @adamantine

For the tumblr mutual that fell down the wuxia cdrama hole…

The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the gamer who fondly remembers their confrontation with Rayquaza atop the Sky Pillar…

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

For the “smash first, questions later” friend in your life…

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

For a tragic superwholockian in dire need of restorative sapphic fiction…

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the reader who wished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was actually Jonathan Strange/Mr Norrell…

The Last Binding trilogy by @fahye, including: 

● A Marvellous Light

● A Restless Truth

● A Power Unbound

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

Not enough books? We agree. Check out our other GET BOOKT guide.

[thewalkingmermaidblog]

Best List of Sustainable Mother's Day Gift Ideas - 2023

With this gift guide I hope to make gift giving a little easier for you with this list of over 40 ethical and sustainable Mother’s Day gift ideas. I hope that it helps inspire you to buy the perfect gift for your mom or that special mom in your life. Whether it is a small or large gift, just know that every mom would be truly thankful for the sweet gift and kind though of making sure it is a…

[haute-lifestyle-com]

With the official start to the holiday shopping season minutes away, the gift of sound and electronics are high on everyone's wish list. Bluetooth speakers, like all devices, are now available for travel, camping, home, and office

[sportswearworldwide]

37 Unique Gifts for the Person Who’s Impossible to Shop For 2023: Amazon, Uncommon Goods, Nordstrom, Etsy, Cameo- Raw Swag

It can be tough to come up with thoughtful, unique gifts that aren’t just your run-of-the-mill soaps or socks. Maybe you’re trying to find the right present for the mom who seems to have everything, the girlfriend who raves about experiences over stuff, or the nitpicky, ultra-minimalist boyfriend who scoffs at novelty items but still expects a considerate and useful gift. Fortunately there are…

[biglisbonnews]

45 Best Mother’s Day Gifts for Every Kind of Mom From gardening tools to crafty and cozy gifts. https://www.thecut.com/article/best-mothers-day-gifts.html