Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
On the same day MySpace and the attorneys general for 49 states announced an agreement that will allow parents to have their kids' email addresses blocked from the social networking site we get this tragic story out of Florida:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cindy said 10:47AM on 1-25-2008
You ask what kind of idiot let's their kids play on the Internet? These people are not only on the Internet but are in our SCHOOLS, CHURCH'S, and may be in your FAMILY. So don't just blame it on the Internet. Start by educating your kids at home about these people/preditors and what ways they use to get to the kids.
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nichole said 1:21PM on 2-08-2008
Thank you, cindy. A breath of fresh air, for sure.
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Michael Rodriguez said 7:07PM on 2-07-2008
You have these little kids on her that put on there my space page that they are 16 and older when in fact they are 12 and 13 yrs old. Who do i blame the parents .because my sister let her 2 sons 10 and 12 make a my space page the 10 yr old profile says he is 16 the 12 yr old says he is 20 . myspace should do like alot of places does require a credit card to sign up
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Lisa said 1:14AM on 2-09-2008
When my daughter signed up for My Space it was and still is on PRIVATE. The only people that know that she is online in my space are her friends whom she gave her my space name to and theirs to her. I regularly check her my space page and ask who they are and where do you know them from. I think she only has maybe 5 or 6 friends on my space and most of them I already know them the other 1 or 2 are from school. I often ask her teachers when I see them who is she hanging around with basically to confirm her my space friends. I know that I don't have to worry about someone who she doesn't know trying to chat with her 'cause she'll just x it out. Example: I was in the computer room with her helping her look something up on the internet and well, she got an IM and she just x'ed it out and I asked her why did you do that her response was "I don't know who they are or where they got my I'm name from so I just closed the box. I'm not going to talk to some weirdo on the computer they creep me out. Mom you know I won't do that do you?" My response "honey' I'm so proud of you! You know what you're doing don't you? I know that you will always do that with names you don't know, oh and let me know if anyone else tries to chat to you too that you don’t know. ok?" "Ok mom I will, you know I always ask first right", (which she does even to look up any site too).I said honey, I know and just to let you know that person that you x'ed out was your aunt in Alabama your grandmothers sister". Here response," OH CRAP! I'm SOOOOOOO sorry mom I didn't know who they were." Moral of story "KEEP COMMUNICATION LINES OPEN. DISCUSS EVERTHING ESPAILLY THE INTERNET AND WEIRDOS. YOU TALK TO YOUR KIDS LIKE THEY'RE HUMANS WITH FEELINGS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU LOVE THEM AND RESPECT THEM THEY WILL SHOW YOU THE SAME AND COME TO YOU FOR HELP AND GUIDENCE. She is 16 yrs old and I'm 35 yrs old and I LISTEN TO HER!!!!!! SO PARENTS WHY DON’T YOU GROW UP GET A HEAD ON YOU SHOLDERS AND TALK TO YOU KIDS IT WILL SURPRISE YOU IF YOU JUST TRY!!!
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Lisa said 1:15AM on 2-09-2008
Oh by the way I forgot to mention that I am VERY PROUD of my daughter she is very smart. And she is not afraid to talk to me about anything at all. I LOVE MY DAUGHTER VERY MUCH! And I know that I don't have to worry about her 'cause she gets her smarts from ME!
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Sid said 9:07AM on 2-10-2008
I don't see the purpose to this whole "myspace" crud. I DO NOT let my son in on this at all! That way I don't have to bother worrying whether he is being targeted or not.
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Matta329 said 7:34PM on 2-10-2008
I use K9 Web Protection by Blue Coat. Blue Coat is the company that my job uses and trust me, it is very good. They offer it for FREE to parents. You can find it at:
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Spread the word on this one!!!
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Sarah said 11:33PM on 2-10-2008
Kudos to Cindy, I couldn't have said it better.
Cindy says:
You ask what kind of idiot let's their kids play on the Internet? These people are not only on the Internet but are in our SCHOOLS, CHURCH'S, and may be in your FAMILY. So don't just blame it on the Internet. Start by educating your kids at home about these people/preditors and what ways they use to get to the kids.
01/25/08 10:47 AM
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wendi said 10:05AM on 2-11-2008
thank you matta329 for the link, even though my kids DO NOT have a my space account, they don't even go there to check it out.But having all the help we can with protection, is priceless. Amen Jenn for trying to protect your family! Please parents, don't let your kids have a my space accouint! they didn't need one before computers!
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Lauren said 10:36AM on 2-11-2008
You know, I am 21 years old. I have had a computer in the house w/ internet since I was 12. It is EXTREMELY hard for parents to keep 100% eye on their children, and I know this because I remember. Pretty much a link between you parents and your children. It's hard, because when you're a pre-teen or teenager, whatever your parents say you can't do is automatically something you HAVE to do. You make it your mission to defy them, because you feel at that age that you're invincible. I have had some pretty scary situations, and it was wayyy before Myspace ever existed! Once, my friend wanted me to accompany her to meet a guy at the mall. We were pretty young, around 13 I would say. The guy ended up being 18, and he had a vocal disorder and had extremely poor hygiene. He wasn't necessarily a threat, but at that moment we realized that it was reality and that we shouldn't have done this. I went into a store a found a teenage boy to come and tell him we felt weird around him because he was too old and the guy just left. I actually befriended that teenage boy for awhile until we lost contact with each other because it was so nice of him to take his time and help naive girls who didn't know any better. There was also another time that I had my best friend over, and we gave a guy our phone number and he called...and was obviously masturbating loudly into the phone. I hung up immediately and me and my friend were disgusted. We were around the same age as the first incident.
Around 12-13 my mother was perfectly fine with me having an internet friend who was my age. We spoke on the phone sometimes, and he used to webcam to me. He was from England I think. She thought it was so cute, and she approved. I can't remember what we talked about, but it was probably cartoons and how life is different in our respective countries.
Tips for you parents. Take the internet connection with you to work. Give your child chores to do to give her x amount of hours online so they aren't on long. Give your child examples of what happens when you give too much info on the internet. Let them know that they are able to make it so their profile is private and that people who want to friend your child will have to know his/her email or last name prior to requesting friendship. I have that now, because I don't want random people asking to be my friend. You can't freak out on your children and start yelling-because they're going to shut you off using their "selective hearing". My mother was just lucky that I was a very honest girl and I, for the most part, told her the truths about any trouble I got into. My little sister, on the other hand, is taking Myspace to an unsettling level. I do notify my mom of her profile, and my mother then takes her to the local library to change it since they don't have internet at home.
I hope this helped everyone. The internet is some scary shit, no doubt about that. It is one of the best and worst inventions, and as parents you need to get an upper hand in the relationship you have with your children because respect towards parents is something that more and more children lack everyday.
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dee said 11:54AM on 4-06-2008
About kids MYSPACE ,my daughter keeps on changing her name and password like every week. I want to see whats on there. She has created a seperate account from my account and Im not to great at computers, any suggestions anybody?
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dee said 5:36PM on 4-23-2008
About kids MYSPACE ,my daughter keeps on changing her name and password like every week. I want to see whats on there. She has created a seperate account from my account and Im not to great at computers, any suggestions anybody?
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Dan said 8:00AM on 2-12-2008
Lisa, Being #5 and having a child when you were 19 ? that is not good advice to any child in this time of worldly imorallity and perves out in this world tha twe so love tha twe fight and die for, So for her smarts, perhaps you should thank a teacher ?
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Dan said 8:02AM on 2-12-2008
soory about the above mistake # this was surposde to be a 3 as in your current age 35 which means you were only a9 when you had this *smart daughter ,
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Dan said 8:03AM on 2-12-2008
wow is this site mis-pelling word on me? i know what I am typing, lets see if this one gets corrected..lol
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TOV said 2:55PM on 2-12-2008
MySpace isn't able to do enough to help parents and kids. That is why Child Predator Busters exists. there is no other organization like it. It is respected and endorsed by law enforcement agencies worldwide because of their by-the-book approach to investigating assisting police with the aprehension of pedophiles. They also do training, teaching and seminars to help raise awareness.
They also closed several cases the day MySpace made its big announcement and not one of them made the news...even though all those cases involved MySpace.
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Tom said 6:34AM on 2-14-2008
Forget Myspace and Facebook, just rent a bill board and advertise your life history there. Who really needs that many people to know you? You'll never meet them so why advertise unless your life isn't really that important to you.
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Cara said 11:26AM on 2-14-2008
You know it is so easy to say ignorant things about something you know nothing about. If you are uneducated about the in's and out's of Myspace you really should not have any opinion. It's like complaining about the president even though you didn't vote.
I have 2 children (10 and 12), 2 brothers (35 and 40), a niece and nephew and we all have a Myspace. There are settings so that no one can even find you child even they wanted to. We keep in touch from across the country when we otherwise would hardly talk. I have my childrens passowrds and check them regularly. It is a way to express yourself and show just who you are. These people with the stalking problems I can pretty much guarantee that they not only don't talk to thier children the way they should, but allow them to have thier Myspace with no restrictions on it. Again, ignorance. Thay also are more than likely the kind of people that would blame other people or things for the things thier children do wrong. Oh, my child wouldn't do that!! It had to be so n so's fault! Myspace is far from the beginning of this problem. It's going on for a long time. Guns don't kill people... people do. Be responsible. Be educated. There are ways to protect your children from this issue. But try putting the blame where it belongs...!
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momma bear said 9:53AM on 2-27-2008
Could someone please post programs that are used to see what your children have been doing on the computer? I need some suggestions. Also, is there anything that monitors you tube? My daughter made a goofy video at a friend's house and then the friend put it on the web. No personal information or anything but I was shocked that they had the skills to do that. My kids are more computer literate than I am and I could use some help catching up. Thanks!
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Jody said 11:07AM on 2-27-2008
Whatever happened to parents watching out for their children? Granted, we cannot be everywhere all the time, constantly watching, but we can monitor them. My child does not have a computer in her room, and anytime I want to see her myspace, all I have to do is say so. If I see something I don't like, then we take care of it. We are the parents, and what we say goes in this house. She knows that there are consequences to her actions, and that there are all sorts of unsavory people in the world. If you would not invite them into the house, then you don't invite them onto your computer.
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