Crave

A not-so-merry holiday gift for Amazon.com: hackers say they've successfully cracked copyright protections on the company's Kindle e-reader, making it possible to export e-books to other devices.

One hack reportedly resulted from a Kindle DRM challenge issued on Israeli forum Hacking.org. On that site, an Israeli hacker known as Labba claims to have created a tool that lets e-books stored on the Kindle be transferred as PDF files.

A U.S. hacker has written a program to crack copyright protections on the Kindle for PC application.

(Credit: Amazon)

A U.S. hacker who goes by the name "i♥cabbages," meanwhile, created a program called Unswindle that promises to convert books stored in the Kindle for PC application into a different file format.

The free Kindle for PC app lets book buyers read their books right from their PCs without having to buy a Kindle reader. Unswindle has to be used in conjunction with MobiDeDRM, a program by another hacker named "darkreverser."

Posters on i♥cabbages' blog give Unswindle mixed reviews, ranging from "works like a charm" and "worked flawlessly" to descriptions of various errors.

You can give someone the gift of a Netflix subscription--complete with printed gift card.

(Credit: Netflix)

Uh, oh! Just a few more shopping days until the ho-ho-holiday. Are you scrambling for a last-minute gift for your trusty mail carrier, the kids' schoolteacher, a co-worker, or someone else on your list?

Good news: All you need is a printer. These five stores let you print your own gift certificates for fast, easy, and downright special in-person giving:

1. Amazon.com On any Amazon page, click the Gift Cards link, then choose Print a gift card. The minimum amount is $5, but you're not limited to increments: Your certificate can be in the amount of, say, $12.09 if you want.
2. Gifts.com The recipient of a Gifts.com certificate can redeem it at one or more of a hundred-plus stores and restaurants, such as Barnes & Noble, Pottery Barn, and Starbucks.
3. iTunes Obviously you can grab an iTunes gift card in just about any store on the planet, but did you know you can print your own? Just fire up iTunes, click Buy iTunes Gifts, and then choose Printable Gift Certificates. Amounts range from $10-50.
4. Netflix Netflix gift subscriptions start at $8.99 per month, and you can choose just about any duration you want: one month, three months, a year, etc. And that gift includes not just DVDs by mail, but also unlimited streaming to a PC or "Netflix-ready" device like an Xbox.
5. Restaurant.com Once again, Restaurant.com is offering $25 gift certificates for just $2 (with coupon code SANTA). Not familiar with the site? Get the details from one of my earlier posts. Even better, send a free $10 gift certificate to anyone and everyone on your list!

By the way, most of these gift certificates can also be e-mailed--perfect for last-minute gifts that can't be delivered in person. You know, for faraway relatives or, I dunno, beloved bloggers. (Usually all I get in my in-box is a lump of e-coal, sniff, sniff.)

Goodbyes are never easy, but it ain't so bad when you're leaving for a three-week holiday vacation to Huntington Beach, Calif. On today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast, the dudes celebrate Justin's last show in 2009. To everyone's disappointment, he'll back back in January 2010 for one episode, and then the dudes are off to CES for four shows from the CNET stage!

(Credit: Flickr/Justin_Levy)

It's hard to believe that 2009 is almost coming to a close, but it's been a fantastic year of growth for the show. We're very excited to see what 2010 has in store for us, but this year won't be over until we get through the dreaded holiday shopping season. With Hanukkah starting tonight and Christmas just around the corner, there's not a lot of time left for us to head to the store or order gifts online. Then again, there's always the wonderful gift of debt relief!

We also can't officially wave goodbye to 2009 until we finally see "Avatar." In an unexpected twist, apparently someone at the movie studio leaked the film to a few critics who had surprisingly positive reviews!

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter assures us that "every bit of technology in Avatar serves the greater purpose of a deeply felt love story," which should come as a relief the film's detractors. Wilson also brings up a good point about Cameron's depiction of independent women that reinstates our confidence as well. Plan on watching the movie during the holidays? Let us know what you think!

There's still a full spread of 404 episodes next week featuring special guests Russ Frushtick, Bonnie Cha, Natali Del Conte, and more, but I want to wish everyone an amazing holiday and a super green New Year, see you in Vegas!

Win this Kindle!

(Credit: Amazon)

While we've got no Nooks to give away, we do have a spiffy Amazon Kindle to offer up for today's daily holiday giveaway. The Kindle remains our highest-rated e-book reader, and I know you want one.

Quick thanks goes out to Amazon.com and CNET's Shopper.com for making this prize available to Crave readers. In case you didn't know it, Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products.

Normally, the Kindle would cost you about $259, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, how do you try to win this Amazon Kindle? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

• Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
• Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
• Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
• The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Amazon Kindle. Approximate retail value is $259.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Thursday, November 26, at 7 a.m. EST.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 7 AM ET on November 26, 2009. See official rules for details.

Good luck.

Come back tomorrow for our next holiday giveaway. Tomorrow's prize will be a LG 32-inch LCD TV.

(Credit: Ditto Book)

Though Amazon and Barnes and Noble are grabbing headlines with e-readers aimed at consumers, Ditto Book--a CES 2010 exhibitor--is marketing its device for niche markets.

The $249 e-reader doesn't compete with Nook and Kindle specifications, as it is not wireless, has a 6-inch screen in four shades of gray, and doesn't support the standard ePub format yet.

Its focus is on customization; companies interested in ordering the e-reader in bulk can add a logo, brand name, color, and welcome screen. A unique option is to load the e-readers with bundled content.

Ditto is a subsidiary of Macrotron Systems, a Silicon Valley company that offers design, engineering, and manufacturing services. By targeting corporations, nonprofits, and possibly education agencies, the company might be able to stand alongside its larger competitors.

The device is also available to consumers, but customization requires a 250-unit minimum. According to business developer Hentry Jebasingam, Ditto Book's goal is to support many formats, including ePub within the next few months.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Last Sunday, Palm and Sprint released their second WebOS device together, the Palm Pixi, for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

In the grand scheme of things, $100 for a smartphone is a pretty darn good deal, but when you consider the fact that there are other products out there with more power and more features (for example, Wi-Fi) for the same price or lower, it makes the Pixi look foolish. Fortunately, thanks to third-party retailers, you can now get the entry-level smartphone for much less.

Both Amazon and Wal-Mart have lowered the price of the Palm Pixi by 75 percent, so now the smartphone is only $24.99. You will still need to sign up for a two-year service agreement, but it's certainly a much more enticing offer. In addition, the Palm Pre is now available from Amazon for $79.99, which is $70 less than Sprint's price.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

If you were interested in buying the Barnes & Noble Nook as a holiday gift, strike it off your list. The e-reader is now officially sold out through 2009, according to the B&N Web site.

(Credit: Barnes & Noble)

"The hottest holiday gift is out of stock," a message at the top of the page reads. "Order the Nook today to be first in line for the new year."

If this sounds familiar, it's because last year Amazon had a similar message on its site when it stock ran out of the Kindle. However, in the case of the Nook, the company hasn't shipped a single unit yet, and it's a little unclear what day it actually will. (We've yet to receive word when we'll get our review sample).

The New York Times' Bits blog has a quote from Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research, explaining what a lot of us already knew: that Barnes & Noble had rushed to announce its product to ... Read more

The National Federation of the Blind is applauding the decisions of Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison not to Amazon.com's Kindle DX as a textbook replacement.

Kindle DX

(Credit: Amazon)

The universities cited the Kindle's inaccessibility to the blind as the problem.

The federation said Wednesday that while it appreciates the Kindle's text-to-speech feature, the "menus of the device are not accessible to the blind...making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from Amazon's Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available on the Kindle DX."

For its part, Amazon believes in the Kindle's potential. An Amazon spokesperson wrote in an e-mail that "With a few modifications, Kindle has the potential to be a true breakthrough product for the blind, and we're already working on it. We're excited about it."

According to the federation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison experimented with the Kindle in upper-level history classes.

"The big disappointment was learning that the ... Read more