Herding Cats: Kindle Fire Update, Nokia Lumia 710 and Santa's Net Worth

^{Image courtesy of ICanHasCheezburger}

This week we have the Kindle Fire update, the NTSB cell phone guidelines, Santa's net worth, Nokia and T-Mobile team up, how to tip during the holidays, and saving money on Christmas by not celebrating Christmas.

Plus, a Bearded Dragon eating imaginary ants.

CNN: Amazon planning Kindle Fire updates to fix complaints - We've covered the Kindle Fire before, but it's pretty interesting how bad a rap it's getting. Some of the issues are head-scratching--like no volume control. How expensive would it be to add that? I know personally that I was going to get one for my daughter and found out that the device has no parental controls, which is pretty silly given that Kindle Fire commercials are in part directed towards children and children's books. But unlimited access to the internet isn't a good idea for a child.

PC Mag: Cell Phones Get the Red Light in Cars - This opinion piece is pretty snide about the idea of banning cell phones in cars (what's a "crazy old Berkeley woman"?), but he's right.  At this stage, banning all phone conversations in cars makes little sense because cell phones are such an integrated part of our lives. It certainly makes little sense to ban hands-free devices.  How is a hands-free device any different than having a conversation with a passenger? People should definitely not use a handset while driving, but outlawing the act of speaking is a really silly regulation.

Consumerism Commentary: The Santa Index: How Much is Santa Worth? - This is a pretty hilarious infographic. Turns out Santa is doing quite well for himself. He's the 1%. Occupy the North Pole!  Actually, making $130,000 a year doesn't sound all that great for someone who has to deliver presents to millions of homes. But then, he only works one day a year. If he's paying the elves out of that $130,000, then the elves are definitely the 99%. Given that Time Magazine named "The Protestor" as person of the year, this Christmas could turn out very different.

PC Mag: How Nokia Stumbles With The T-Mobile Lumia 710 - This article is entirely negative, but I'm going to be all over the Nokia Lumia when it's released in January.  A confession: I have the lamest cellphone in the United States.  It is not smart. I have an iPad and many other gadgets but my own phone can make calls and texts and that's about it. My idea for this was that I didn't want to be attached to Facebook/email when I was out in the world (like so many people you see), but now it's just not practical.  I'm locked into a T-Mobile account, so it's better for me than making the switch to AT&T and an iPhone.  So, yeah, it's not the kind of phone that will light up the industry--but it's cheap and versatile and that's good by me.

Dougroller: Holiday Tipping Guide 2011 - Handy guide.  I didn't realize that you weren't allowed to tip a postal worker cold, hard cash.  I'm sure this hasn't really stopped people over the years. What difference does it make if it's a cash card?  Money is money.  Tipping a garbage man seems harder.  Where do you leave it?  Do you chase after him/them on the street? I bet if you do that, they'll look sort of confused.  Again there are regulations prohibiting this some places, so do your research.  It's good to be reminded of this because for many people the money they make via tips is their Christmas bonus, so you should take part.

Washington Post: To save money on gifts, some families celebrate Christmas a few days late - Wow, file this under extreme saving: People are celebrating Christmas post-Christmas so they can buy gifts during all the after-Christmas sales.  It's understandable if you're hurting for money and have no other option, but if you're doing it to say a few dollars on the back-end that's some serious dedication. At the same time, a lot of people who are doing this are people without kids, so they're not really disappointing anyone. If it's a mutual agreement among a couple--it can even be fun. Convincing kids this is a good idea is a whole other matter.

Would you ever do this?  How far would you go to save money for Christmas?

Video of the Week: A lizard playing a video game: