Top 100 Christmas Presents 2008: 80 – 76

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Having eliminated some of the lesser gifts in the top hundred, things are now starting to hot up. Today we’ve got some gifts for the older presentee. None of these will really work for your 14-year-old godson, but an ever-so-slightly older gadgetee will be over the moon. Don’t worry – more Triceratops tomorrow.

Click through to the main post to begin.

100-96 | 95 – 91 | 90 – 86 | 85 – 81

Top 100 Christmas Presents 2008: 90 to 86

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The countdown to Christmas continues as the UK gets a load of snow dumped on it over the weekend. I say ‘dumped’, but I only saw snow very briefly when I woke up at 8am on Saturday and peeked out the window. By the time I actually got up at 11, there wasn’t any sign of snow at all. Just grim rain.

Still, rain’s not all that bad. Especially if you’ve got a weatherproof iPod dock lying around. Or a ridable Triceratops. Both are in today’s list, but let’s start with the dock. Click through to the main post to begin.

Top 100 Christmas Presents 2008: 100 to 96

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Welcome to the Tech Digest Christmas Gift Guide 2008! Not a top ten, not a top twenty, not even a top fifty – this is our top ONE HUNDRED gadgets that we recommend as presents this christmas. They range from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous, but with a few tiny exceptions, they’re all very affordable. We’re hearing some rumours that there’s some financial turmoil on the way. You heard it here first.

We’ll be doing five of the list every day for the next four weeks. If you want to keep track of all of them, you can do that here. For the first five in the list, click through to the full post

It may be Bill Gates's last day at Microsoft, but it's also…my last day at Tech Digest!

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Long-term readers of Tech Digest will know that I have more than just a crush on Bill Gates and Microsoft. Of course, I’m usually objective when writing about their products, and Apple stuff too (I will confess to owning an iBook and have had two iPods to date), but there’s just something about Microsoft that makes my heartbeat quicken. Adam Frucci over at Gizmodo summed up the attraction well, and managed to hit the it on the head when he said “Windows is an OS that feels structured and it makes sense”, and that it has “its engine exposed, and while it might not always be pretty, if you know what you’re doing you really have access to the whole thing”.

That’s why I’m both pleased – and sad – to tell you that today, I am joining Bill Gates on the miserable journey home, clutching a cardboard box full of desk furnishings like personalised mouse-pads, and Star Wars figurines. Yep, it’s my last day here at Shiny Media, and my last day as your Editor on Tech Digest. After three years of service, it’s time to hang up my log-in privileges and hand the reins of Tech Digest over to Daniel Sung, who has been Editorial Assistant on the site the last few months. His more than capable hands take over this Monday, the 30th of June, and if I’ve managed to gain any fans along the years, don’t stress – you’ll still be able to find me online as of the 7th of July, working at a major UK tech site.

See over the jump for some behind-the-Shiny-scenes photos, and some of my highlights from the past three years…

Today on Tech Digest: Xacti camcorder from Sanyo, Joy Division Zune, Ricky Gervais in GTA IV and more…

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THE BIG THREE
Another new Xacti camcorder from Sanyo – the DMX-CA8 Waterproof
The day the music died – Microsoft to launch the Joy Division Zune
Ricky Gervias appears in GTA IV – bet he’s already got a copy too

THE OTHER NEWS STORIES

Bluetrek: X3 – hands-free calling in all elements
Lonelygirl15 creators to launch online TV-studio-cum-social-networking site
Sound Hive speaker system – spread the music
Research: remote workers prefer wanking to banking
Sunview PMPP – first media player with built-in projector
Buddhist mobile phone: The Nokia N95 of enlightenment
How addicted are you to social networking? How addicted could you be?
MoGo Dapter – the 1cm ‘plug and forget’ bluetooth adapter
Could Microsoft launch Windows Mobile 7 on Microsoft hardware?
BedFan, air-con for your bed: sweaty sleepers, sweat no more
BT Vision to get Universal’s PictureBox for a fiver a month
Better late than never, O2 to offer mobile broadband from Friday for existing customers
Small child gets trapped inside arcade claw machine
YouTube Hits: Microsoft internal video shames even the Zune tattoo guy
Keiko Takamura’s Second Life myPod: download real tracks for Linden Dollars
Virgin Media trials complicated new traffic management policies, touting “efficiency”. Uh-huh?
BitTorrent at 8.2 million users and rising: legal cases acting like publicity
SEV – Space Efficent Vehicle: a greener, meaner looking car
I take back those insults aimed at Universal yesterday, Heroes season 1 & 2 Blu-ray announced
Hail the disposable DVD, another environmental disaster waiting to happen