Holiday Gift Guide: Electronics edition, at the Atlantic, begins,

Well, it's hard to find cheap steals in electronics, so I'll just go ahead and recommend them, and you can view it as a nostalgic symbol of better times

I think Megan McArdle wrote that after she realized she'd be recommending a mountain of hardware -- 17 tech objects from Wii to mega TV, TiVo, Kindle, iPod, iPod cables, 'phones, drives, camera, printer, etc. -- an outlay that could equal, say, a year's mortgage payments. And these are the cheap steals.

I have older stuff that does some of this, not sure I want the rest, sure I don't want to deal with much upgrading. (Wii is the exception. it's a gateway platform with first-gen apps so far. But Wii Fit will expand its users beyond gamers, and more sophisticated interactive environments will emerge.)

But it's lean times, and we're mostly in a mood to top each other up and make do.

If you're in a "Can't take it with you" mood, here's your shopping list.

Or maybe you could pick just one.

Thursday, Dec. 18, is Free Shipping Day with more than 100 merchants participating. Free Shipping for the 2008 Holiday Shopping Season includes the date free shipping ends for some 75 online sites. 2008 Christmas Eve Shipping Deadlines is even more comprehensive, adding dates when even standard shipping ends, and when Next Day rates apply. (Dec. 23, of course.)

When the free shipping windows close, local shopping really kicks in. I like wonderful versions of everyday items -- pencils, warm gloves, chopsticks, big soft handkerchiefs for colds, paperback books, bookmarks and hand-burned CDs. Keeper Christmas decorations, candles, herbs & seeds and dried flowers, socks, chocolate all make me smile.

Gold, frankincense, myrrh and wise men would be okay, too.

Out with the old: If you're cleaning the closets of useful items you don't want, you can post it on your microlocal Freecycle group and someone will probably come take it off your hands. Or other's recyclables may be just what Santa ordered.

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,649 groups with 6,236,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free.

Pick your preference:

Westerly
Woonsocket
Wakefield
Charlestown
Coventry
Newport
Providence
Warwick

Freecycle operates through Yahoo Groups, so you'll need to sign up for a Yahoo ID to participate.