NBA to go back to old ball - Chicago Tribune

SI.com

NBA to go back to old ball
Chicago Tribune - 17 hours ago
By KC Johnson. In a surprising reversal, the NBA is going back to the old leather basketball for the remainder of the 2006-07 season as of Jan. 1. "The one with the laces?
Bowing to Complaints, NBA Scraps New Ball NPR
NBA Notebook | Leather ball back in NBA Seattle Times
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Guardian Unlimited - Toronto Star - Chicago Sun-Times
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Sports [SHOW]

Airport Christmas Trees Removed - KOIN.com

Brooks Bulletin

Airport Christmas Trees Removed
KOIN.com - Dec 11, 2006
SEATTLE - Sea-Tac airport Christmas trees may be on the agenda when the Port of Seattle meets this week. The airport took down its trees early Saturday because a rabbi had threatened a lawsuit unless he was ...
So who nixed the Seattle menorah? GetReligion
Treeless in Seattle? The port stumbles Seattle Post Intelligencer
Seattle Times - FOX News - NPR - Fort Worth Star Telegram
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U.S. [SHOW]

Guides to Gear

Since I´m in the gear business, I pay attention to the many End of the year Gift Guides that pop up now. Most of these collections are filled with stuff that doesn´t interest me. For some reason editors, and maybe consumers, are entranced by gear that looks cool. You know, very design-y. These fashionable objects don´t work better, and often work worse, than what is already out there. As utility objects they are junk. Most often the editors haven´t even handled, let alone used, the object they are listing. It´s inclusion is simply based on the clever look and concept. And what is not fashionable, is electronic. Most holiday lists are full of all kinds of the latest cell phone/camera/DVD player/PDA and so on. As far as I can tell these items are selected for their features -- as listed on the product´s spec sheet -- and not by any trial or use. Their supposed advantage in reality has a half-life of about 3 months, as their feature list is topped by the next model.

There are a few seasonal lists that don´t get sucked in by these temptations and actually try hard to uncover new cool tools. Here are a few that I find have a high ratio of hits to junk. The primary quality they share is that the reviews have used the thing and demonstrate some passion and intelligence for it.

-- KK

Uncle Mark 2007 Gift Guide & Almanac
Mark Hurst runs the Gel Conference in NYC and every year writes up his personal recommendations of what you should get -- along with some other tips. He offers this advice in a very smart, succinct and well-crafted PDF, which is a joy to read.

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Wired´s TEST
It´s a lot more work than you´d think, but Wired actually tests the contenders in two dozen gadget catagories and comes up with clear suggestions of the best gear to get. You´ll get the magazine-like issue if you subscribe. If you don´t, you can get the web version for free here.

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NPR´s Great Gadgets
NPR´s daily All Things Considered program has a small segment where gadget experts rave about their own favorites. Called "Great Gadgets" it lets various gadget aficionados rave about their favorite things. You can listen to those segments online. [Thanks to Gregg Lewis for the suggestion.]

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2006 Street Tech Holiday Gift Guide
Gareth Branwyn collects the best of the stuff he had seen in a year of reviewing gear for his online site Street Tech and distills the best for the year. It is a personal selection, of (mostly) stuff that he uses, which gives the recommendations some clout.

Consumptivity [SHOW]

DIY Holiday Contest: Gingerbread house from scratch

Reader Kendall scoffed at the gingerbread house templates he saw at the his neighborhood box store this year, opting instead to build his gingerbread house entirely from scratch. The results, and instructions from Kendall, after the jump.

Kendall writes:

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house, but every holiday something comes up, like finals, having a baby, going out of town... This year I wanted to make it so.

Here´s how he did it:

1. Create a template. I made mine out of paper first, realized gingerbread dough sticks to paper, and used parchment paper instead (available at any decent grocery store). Because this was the first house I made, I was conservative in the design, next time I´m going for St. Peter´s Basilica.

For more pics of Kendall´s gingerbread house and the rest of his step-by-step, click here (click through gallery in reverse order... sorry).

Got your own savvy DIY holiday project? Want to win your own copy of Lifehacker the book and other great prizes? Check out the DIY Holiday Contest rules for details. — Adam Pash

ContestCookingDIYHolidaysHousehold [SHOW]