Will this be you the day after Thanksgiving?
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)CNET News Poll
Black Friday is my favorite day of the year--not just because retailers and manufacturers are falling over each other to try to nab my holiday dollars, but because the rush at the big-box stores is hilariously insane.
Working at a Best Buy-like store for several years, I made sure to take full advantage of my tryptophan-induced coma so I'd be ready to go for the 16-hour workday ahead. In the end I was always exhausted, but also happy, as I'd helped many people get the good deals they were looking for.
We've featured quite a few Black Friday deals in the last few days as they trickle out, and we're sure many of our Crave readers are gearing up for the Super Bowl of gadget buying. So we'd like to know: what, exactly, is your strategy for tackling Black Friday this year?
Vote in our poll, and if you're planning to mark the day in a way we didn't cover, be sure to let us know in the Talkback section below.
My dream evening circa 1999.
(Credit: Matt Hickey)CNET News Poll
So we've all heard that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released Tuesday, broke all kinds of sales records this week and is being touted as the biggest video game release of all time. But that's coming at the same time that we get word of some less-than-good data from The NPD Group: the video game industry was down a staggering 19 percent in sales in October.
Some say the much-anticipated Modern Warfare 2 could give the industry a boost, but it might not be enough.
As a self-proclaimed influential tech journalist and longstanding pundit of the absolute highest caliber, I've come up with a list of ideas that gamemakers might want to use to prop up their sagging market. These are good ideas and I'm offering them to the industry for free. And that's because I'm a very nice guy.
What do you think, readers? How can the game industry make sure it doesn't see a repeat of October's performance? Vote in our poll.
On Sale Now: $58.99 - $59.99
View the latest prices for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC)
On Sale Now: $55.99 - $59.99
View the latest prices for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (XBox 360)
On Sale Now: $54.97 - $59.99
View the latest prices for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
On Sale Now: $78.99 - $79.99
View the latest prices for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Hardened Edition, XBox 360)
On Sale Now: $68.99 - $79.99
View the latest prices for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Hardened Edition, PS3)
CNET News Poll
A new option: the Eris.
(Credit: Verizon)Verizon on Friday is getting the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris, a duo of high-end Android handsets. These are the first next-gen handsets the VZN has offered, and its subscribers are understandably happy about that.
And it's about time. AT&T has offered Apple's iPhone for more than two years. Sprint users have been enjoying the Palm Pre for a while and can also opt for the HTC Hero, a sibling of Verizon's Eris. T-Mobile users have had access to Android devices for more than a year.
So why is Verizon so far behind the other carriers in offering these awesome new phones? Vote in our poll. And if you think of a reason we didn't mention, be sure to share it in our TalkBack section below.
CNET News Poll
This week, we learned of a guy who proposed to his girlfriend in the game Super Mario World. Using an editing program called Lunar Magic, he put the words "Lisa Will You Marry Me?" inside a game level. And (spoiler alert): she accepted.
(Credit:
JD Andrews)
But that's not the first geeky marriage proposal we've heard of.
Way back in the early days of the Information Superhighway, Slashdot co-founder Rob Malda popped the question to Kathleen Fent on his own "News for Nerds" site.
More recently, one of our readers engraved a proposal on the back of a new iPod Nano. Of course, there are those who have taken the risk of floating the big question via Twitter. We even dug up an awesome patent application for "Method and instrument for proposing marriage to an individual," wherein one Ryan Grace asks for the hand of his true love, Ellie.
If none of those melt your hardened heart, Wired has a few others in its list of five geeky marriage proposals. A couple of our faves include a Google employee who posed the question via Google Maps and a guy who modded his girlfriend's favorite game, Bejeweled, so the jewel pieces formed the shape of a diamond ring. Awww...
So, what's the most romantic geek proposal of them all? Vote in our poll. And surely, some of our inventive readers have told their inamoratas (inamoratos) how they feel in a way only geeks can. Made a Facebook app? Rearranged the keys on your loved one's MacBook? Created a shmoopy comic? Let us know in the TalkBack section below.
CNET News Poll
Even a classic jingle needs a refresh now and then.
As part of a $100 million ad campaign, Yahoo had musicians record new versions of the famous Yahoo yodel in 22 musical genres--from disco to ska. The resulting snippets are amazing--in that so-terrible-you-can't-decide-whether-to-stab-your-own-ears-with-a-pen-or-make-these-your-new-ringtone kind of way. At any rate, they've had us cracking up all week, and for this week's Crave Friday Poll, we wanted to invite you to join in on the fun.
So here's a sampling of some of our favorites. Listen to these little bits of musical genius and let us know which one you like best in our poll. We don't want to sway your opinions or anything, but the CNET cubicles have been ringing with (or is that assaulted with?) the sounds of a few editors spontaneously busting out with the final line of "Old Skool 1" at random times. Just sayin'.
Want more? Check out the complete list of revamped yodels here. And remember: Some PC, some prefer the Mac. But if you Yahoo, then we got your back.
Big Band 1
Download mp3
Funk 1
Download mp3
Latin 2
Download mp3
Metal 2
Download mp3
Miami Bass 2
Download mp3
Old Skool 1
Download mp3
Reggae 1
Download mp3
R&B 2
Download mp3
Techno 1
Download mp3
CNET Poll
(Credit:
eBay)
Someone, somewhere, may be willing to pay $1.1 million for an Xbox 360 signed by former governor, former vice presidential candidate, and best-selling author Sarah Palin.
We aren't sure how Palin's name gives a game console cachet, as from what we can tell she isn't much of a gamer (looking up SaraccudaAK as a gamer tag turned up nothing).
Nonetheless, the starting bid on eBay for this thing makes us wonder more broadly about the Xbox. Is it magic now? Enchanted? Cursed? Or is this just about the name recognition? It's certainly a one-of-a-kind item (for now anyway).
I want in on this game. If I can get a celeb to sign my Xbox 360 and sell it on eBay for loads of cash, I could be rich! So I'm going to leave it to you, readers, to tell me who I should get to sign my Xbox. And yes, I'll do it. CNET is owned by CBS, so, you know, I know people who know people.
CNET News Poll
Mail-in rebates are a pain in the neck. I'd stop short of calling them a scam, but I really don't like the fact that they seem to rely on consumers' forgetfulness and/or laziness.
And there doesn't seem to be any oversight--as far as I can tell, there's nobody watching to see if a company happens to "lose" a few rebate forms.
But I also know people who've had incredible luck with mail-in rebates and save money often. I even know one person who filled out one rebate form and got two checks back from Acer a couple of years back!
CNET blogger Rick Broida asked a good question in a post Thursday. Has the reliability of mail-in rebates improved? While the jury is still out on that one, we'd like to know how our gadget-attentive Crave readers feel. Which statement best describes your current thinking on mail-in rebates?
CNET News Poll
How low can it go?
(Credit: CNET)This week saw a number of price cuts. The Nintendo Wii is only $199 (if you can find one), and Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite can be found for as little as $249 (after a pesky mail-in rebate). And it's not just consoles: Amazon is offering Sprint's Palm Pre for only $99 with no rebates to worry about. Those are all great prices as we head into the holiday season.
But there's more that we'd like to see "encheapified," of course. And more encheapifying might take place before the holiday rush. Which of these would you most like to see made more affordable by the end of the year? Vote in our poll.
CNET News Poll
The Zune HD: Microsoft's latest version of the iPod challenger.
Microsoft has made a few forays into hardware--notably the Zune and the Xbox--with varying degrees of success. What kind of gadget might Redmond try next?
Vote in our poll, and if you have any other predictions, be sure to share them in the TalkBack section below.
CNET News Poll
(Credit:
CNET)
The iPhone has a video camera, and as of this week, the iPod Nano is getting the video treatment as well. Apple is really pushing video these days, which prompts the question: what's next for Apple and video?
Vote in our poll, and be sure to add your two cents in the TalkBack section below.
