Order Deadlines for Christmas 2009

To help you plan your holiday shopping we've compiled a list of stores and their drop-dead holiday shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery. We've done our best to make sure the dates and times are accurate, but we recommend that you confirm this with the merchant you are shopping with. And all times listed refer to Eastern. Happy shopping!

And if you know any order deadlines not listed in the chart, feel free to share them in the comments! [Image]

It looks like Apple has unsurprisingly told UPS not to jump the gun by delivering the iPhone 3GS ahead of its official release date.

People who ordered on the Apple Store have started receiving information that their packages are being held frustratingly close to their houses, but will not be making that final leg of the journey until a "future delivery date," presumably meaning the 19th. Oddly the package progress info seem to be saying the "receiver" requested the "hold for a future delivery date" though I can't imagine too many of you would have done that. [Thanks, Matthew!]

The postmaster general is asking Congress to remove the requirement for the post office to deliver mail six days a week, since the USPS lost $2.8 billion last year and could lose as much as $6 billion this year, since people are mailing less crap and it costs more to deliver it. So, the postmaster general says, "It is possible that the cost of six-day delivery may simply prove to be unaffordable." Worst-case scenario surprisingly isn't cutting Saturday delivery, which I've always kind of looked at as a bonus, but actually Tuesdays, which is a pretty light day.

Who do you trust to deliver your gadgets? Personally, I prefer Fedex, but I use USPS a lot when I buy from Amazon because I'm cheap and pick free Super Saver shipping, which isn't bad. For some reason, Newegg's new Egg Saver shipping, which also uses the USPS, is pretty terrible. If there was one less day a week, would you actually change your behavior though? Like stream more movies from Netflix, switch your Gamefly subscription or use more Fedex?

I guess you could always use the pony express: [AP, Image: aubergene/Flickr]

Well done, sir. [LiveLeak via Neatorama]

It replaces a whole bunch of larger, less green gear—a giant thermal printer, PC, monitor and scanner. UPS says it'll save 92,456 hours, 1,338 tons of paper and 3,807 tons of carbon emissions a year. Who ever said going green had to cost green? Next please: Package teleporters. [Treehugger]

The bad news is that these larger lead acid batteries are not sealed, and will be releasing some not-so-good gases into his computer room. Hit the movie at about halfway for the money shot. [techspot]

Tech specs

Full power protection and back up your equipment.
Intelligent microprocessor control.
Lightning and surge protection.
Output short and over power protection.
Smart battery management.
USB/SNMP capability.
MP3/4 charger.
Stereo audio function.
RF protection (CATV coaxial jacks).

– Jesus Diaz

Product page [Remio via Impress PC Watch]

Besides having a flashlight that's always charged when you need it, it also has a 550VA battery load capacity with 20 minutes of backup time. And at $99, it's pretty comparable to other battery backups that don't come with a flashlight. – Jason Chen

Press Release [Belkin]

"Special Delivery," For Sure [Defense Tech]