The Mind of Dr. Mac

Touch Arcade has done it again. Here’s a link to their article pointing out four games – Return to Mysterious Island, Galcon, Radio Flare, and Mecho Wars — currently on sale for a fraction of their “list” prices.

The only one I’m familiar with is the adventure game Return to Mysterious Island, which I’m reviewing for iPod Observer and happen to like a lot. I’ve recommended it when it was $4.99; at $0.99 it should be a no-brainer if you like puzzle/adventure style games.

Read about it (with links to the iTunes App store) here: $0.99 Sales | Touch Arcade.

TidBITS Publishing is having a 50%-off sale on all Take Control ebooks and Macworld Superguides through July 7th, with topics covered including Macs, Mac OS X, iLife ‘09, AirPort networking, and more. Here’s a partial list of the excellent eBooks you can buy for half price:

To visit the Take Control Web page and take advantage of this limited-time sale: Click here.

I guess it’s the time of year but I’ve come across yet another incredible bargain: The MacUpdate Holiday Bundle includes ten excellent and useful applications that would normally cost a total of $447.69, but for the next nine days you can get all ten of ‘em for just $49.99. 

We’re not talking shovelware here, folks… we’re talking ten truly terrific programs:

	Drive Genius 2.1: Optimize/repair/test/resize and clean up your Mac’s drives.  I recommend this program at its retail price ($99) all the time. It would be worth buying this bundle for Drive Genius alone…    .
	RapidWeaver 4.2.1: Create template-based websites rapidly.  This is the program I used to create my  Web site (www.boblevitus.com).  It was a bargain at its retail price ($79) and it’s a steal as part of this $49.99 bundle.  .
	Default Folder X 4.1: Enhances Save and Open dialog boxes.  Default Folder is one of  my all-time favorite utilities. It makes the Open and Save dialog boxes much better and usually costs $34.95.   .
	VirusBarrier X5 10.5.5: Kill the latest viruses. I’m not presently running an anti-virus program but if I was, this is the one I’d be running. (A $69.95 value.)  .
plus:	MacGourmet Deluxe 1.0.5: Easily create, build, and share your recipe collection. Little Snitch 2.0.4: Alerts you to outgoing network connections. iVolume 3.1.4: Improves the built-in ‘Sound Check’ function of iTunes. KeyCue 4.3: Displays all menu shortcut commands. MacPilot 3.2.1: Enable over 700 hidden features in Mac OS X & other apps. WhatSize 4.4.1: Helps find out what files are taking up all your HD space.

This bundle is a fabulous bargain even if you think you only need one or two of the included programs. But trust me when I say these are all really useful programs and that there isn’t a single clinker in the bunch.

You can even download and try the entire bundle if you like.

For complete details on this amazing offer, just click here.

As much as I love shopping at the Apple iTunes store, I like buying music at Amazon MP3 even more. For one thing, songs purchased from Amazon MP3 can be played on any MP3-capable device. Of course they can be played on iPods, but they can also be played on Zunes, Zens, RAZRs, BlackBerrys, and any other music playing device that supports MP3 files (which is almost all of them ever produced).

Another thing I really like is that Amazon MP3 files are free of digital rights management (DRM) software, so you can burn your songs to CDs, play them on all your computers, and transfer them to all your devices with no embedded limitations.

Finally, all songs are encoded at 256 kbps, which means better audio quality than songs purchased from the iTunes Store.

That’s why I think Amazon MP3 rocks.

Now, at the risk of turning this blog into “Dr. Mac’s Discounts & Deals,” check out this awesome deal from Amazon MP3. 

Amazon MP3, Amazon’s music download store, is pleased to announce a cross-promotion with our CD and Electronics stores where purchases of $25 or more of qualifying CD’s or Electronic items from Amazon.com gets customers a $5 credit at Amazon MP3. This promotional offer is only applicable to U.S.-based customers with a U.S. billing address and is valid from now through December 25, 2008. 

Click here for complete details.

RadTech: 20% off all RadTech products. Expires Monday December 1, 2008. Excludes sale items, Seagate, Impact & Westone Brands.  Use promo code BUYGIFTS.

My e-mail box gets filled with press releases laden with phrases like, “super savings” and “huge discounts,” right around this time of the year. Here are 4 deals worth considering:

1. Apple: Apple generally offers numerous “best of the year” deals on Black Friday in both retail stores and the online Apple Store. If you’re in the market for an Apple product, it would behoove you to check one or the other on Friday. 
2. Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac: Special Media Edition: This edition, which includes the Expression Media program and usually sells for $499 is on sale for 75% off on Thursday, November 27, and Friday, November 28, at all Apple store retailers, Best Buy Online, and Amazon.com.
3. Chronos Software: 50% off all software (excluding upgrades) from November 24-30, 2008. Use the coupon code “black2008″ and get SOHO Organizer, SOHO Notes, iScrapbook, F10 Launch Studio, iClipboard, SOHO Business Cards, SOHO Labels, SOHO Art Pack, SOHO Signs, or StickyBrain for half price. 
4. Elgato Systems EyeTV Hybrid: This digital/analog TV tuner for your Mac will be available from midnight 11/28/08 to midnight 12/1/08 for the lowest price of the year — $99.95 (regularly $149.95). 

So there you have it… four bargains that are too good to miss, so don’t miss ‘em!