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Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Dec. 15, 2006 / 24 Kislev, 5767

Some favorite things

By Mark Kellner

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Come back next week for specific last-minute gift ideas, but if you are shopping now, let me nominate some favorite companies whose products, overall, make great gifts. The list is, intentionally, alphabetical.


APPLE COMPUTER — Without a doubt, the most significant tech company this year, and perhaps any year. Of the IPod, what needs to be said? It is flawless technology that just works when and where you want it. Just about anyone should enjoy getting one this year.


But it's the firm's desktop and notebook computers which truly shine, having made the leap to Intel Corp. processors earlier in 2006. These computers, albeit sometimes a bit higher-priced than bargain basement PCs, are just stellar performers. They work and work and work, and if a flaw does emerge — as happened with some MacBook units over the summer — it's generally fixed very quickly.


Just about every time I open a Mac portable or rev up a Mac desktop, I'm so very pleasantly surprised with what happens and what I discover. Switching from Windows to Mac has never been easier, it seems, and the ability to run Microsoft Windows on Intel-based Macs is a good safety net. Shop these people seriously.


CANON USA — Maker of cameras and printers and suchlike. What grabs me here is the utter stylishness of the Canon line. These people don't build products, they sculpt them with an eye that comes from the Bauhaus, perhaps, or the future. Sleek lines, low profiles and pleasing contours mark Canon printers as items which would blend into a home office, rather than just fit in one. Look for a review of one of their newer printers here, shortly.


On the camera side, I have yet to work with one of their new models, but again, it's impressive to see the range of features packed into relatively low-cost models. This is a nice thing to see in an era when some makers seem to want the most money for the least improvements.


HEWLETT PACKARD — Scarred, perhaps, by a rather silly corporate scandal, HP's product line deserves to be considered apart from the idiocy of some former executives and directors. HP essentially reinvented their notebooks this year, making these into super-powerful, and super-affordable, workhorse computers and multimedia stations. A week on the road would be made far easier by having an HP or Compaq notebook along. Their desktop systems offer a tremendous "bang for the buck," delivering great quality and capacity at super-reasonable prices.

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It would be temptingly easy to count HP as being down, if not out, because of their corporate woes. However, this is a company which I believe will not only demonstrate resilience at the top, but also continue to show quality at the product level.


LOGITECH — If you need a keyboard or mouse for your PC or Mac, or if you need a usable remote for your new flat-panel TV and other gear, check out Logitech. Not only does this Swiss-based firm — which has a large American presence in Fremont, California — have the design thing down pat, they also stand by and update their products. Example: I was able to reprogram and refresh a year-old Harmony 550 remote control with a few clicks on a software screen. Now, what used to run my old cable box and TV runs the new gear without missing a beat. That's impressive in an era where planned obsolescence, as noted here before, seems to be a business staple in some quarters. Bravo to Logitech for bucking that trend.


Thus, if you're still shopping, you now have four brands to look at. In each case, I'm impressed not only by immediate quality, but long-term potential.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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