This week we begin the slide into the Holidays with Black Friday & Cyber Monday, Microsoft & Apple drop key team members, Apple patents the page turn, Nintendo launches the Wii U, and real (and hoax) Facebook changes make users nervous.

Headlines

• Thanksgiving breaks Instagram records: Over 10M photos shared at a rate of up to 226 per second
• Black Friday online sales up nearly 21%
  • E-Commerce Spending On Black Friday Tops $1B For The First Time; Amazon Is The Most Visited Retailer
• Cyber Monday sales up 17% to nearly $2 billion, exceeding forecast
• Google expands max Gmail attachment size to 10GB, thanks to Google Drive
• Windows Head Steven Sinofsky to Leave Microsoft
  • Who is Julie Larson-Green? Meet the new head of Windows
  • Sinofsky speaks, denies he tried to take over Windows Phone division
• Microsoft: We've sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses to date
• Apple Said to Fire Maps Manager as Flaws Hurt IPhone 5

Audible Book of the Week

• SEAL Team 666 by Weston Ochse

Musical Interlude: Turn The Page by Metallica

More Headlines

• Google Preps Maps App for Apple iPhones
• Apple Patents the Virtual Page Turn
• Nintendo: 400K Wii U units sold, 1.2M devices total
  • Nintendo’s Wii U Takes Aim at a Changed Video Game World
• Grand Theft Auto V Trailer #2

• Ubisoft's upcoming 'Watch Dogs'

• Facebook Asks Users If It Can Abolish Their Right To Vote On Future Site Governance
• snopes.com: Facebook Privacy Notice
• Fact Check - Facebook Newsroom

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Geeks Of Doom’s The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all.

Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), VentureBeat editor Devindra Hardawar, marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Startup Digest CTO Christopher Burnor. Occasionally joining them is Box tech consultant Tosin Onafowokan.

The holiday season is coming up and The Drill Down would like you to be ready for it. So as we do every year around this time, we’ve prepared a list of what we consider the perfect gifts to give... and get this holiday. So before you stand around for hours this Black Friday, spend some time with us.

Intro: Give a Little Bit by Supertramp

Gift Picks

Devindra:

1. iPad Mini
2. FreedomPop
3. Big Jambox
4. Eytomotic MC5 in-ear headphones
5. Sony NEX series 5n

Dwayne:

1. $140. Kindle Paperwhite - Amazon delivers a true upgrade. They claim the same 8 weeks of battery life with kindles signature e-ink and some great, great extras. What's even better? The special offers version is $119.
2. $80. Fitbit Ultra/Fitbit 1 - for a friend you're close enough to know they won't be embarrassed
3. $150. iPod Nano - Got someone you know that likes to work out but you don't know them enough to spend a CHUNK of change on? This is your best bet.
4. $10-25 Amazon gift card. Yeah-- it's not exactly tech, but any techie you know completely understands it's value. You're saying that you want them to get $10-25 closer to purchasing something awesome. And that, my friends, will be appreciated.
5. Jawbone Mini Jambox.

Chris:

1. GoldTouch Adjustable Keyboard
2. Foundation Series (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3)
3. Contigo Travel Mug
4. Fab.com
5. Bruichladdich: The Organic

Tosin:

1. Board games: Alien Frontiers, Disaster Looms, Ticket to Ride
2. Squishables
3. Books: How to Archer, The Dangerous Animals Club, Delivering Happiness
4. Apple Tv
5. Fitbit & Fitbit Aria

Andrew:

1. Kindle Paperwhite
2. JVC HAFX1X Headphone Xtreme-Xplosivs
3. Dishonored, Papo y Yo, The Unfinished Swan
4. Networked / AirPlay enabled amplifier / speakers
5. Restored transfers of Jaws & Lawrence of Arabia on Blu-Ray

Audible Book of the Week

• Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov

Outro: Shopping by Pet Shop Boys

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The Drill Down on iTunes (Subscribe now!)

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The Drill Down on Facebook

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Geeks Of Doom’s The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all.

Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), VentureBeat editor Devindra Hardawar, marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Startup Digest CTO Christopher Burnor. Occasionally joining them is Box.com tech consultant Tosin Onafowokan.

This week, President Obama wins another four years-- what tech aided to win him the election, and what can we look forward to from his tech agenda?, Frankenstorm Sandy gives Instagram growing pains,  Microsoft’s rumored XBOX tablet, and how can we not geek out over the Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm?

Headlines

• Obama Wins The Election! Here’s His Technology Agenda
  • How Obama's Data Crunchers Helped Him Win
• Instagram Launches Web Profiles, Looking Much Like Facebook Timeline
  • 800K #Sandy-grams Showed Systrom Instagram Is “Going To Need To Be A Big Data Co.

Audible Book of the Week

• The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - but Some Don't by Nate Silver

Musical Interlude: Lando's Palace from "The Empire Strikes Back" by John Williams

More Headlines

• Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4.05B including ILM, LucasArts and other tech, Star Wars 7 coming in 2015
• Xbox Surface: Microsoft's 7-inch gaming tablet

Outro: Ewok Celebration from "Return of the Jedi" by John Williams

Subscribe!

The Drill Down on iTunes (Subscribe now!)

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The Drill Down on Facebook

The Drill Down on Twitter

Geeks Of Doom’s The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all.

Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), VentureBeat editor Devindra Hardawar, marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Startup Digest CTO Christopher Burnor. Occasionally joining them is Box.com tech consultant Tosin Onafowokan.