T-INT: Thanksgiving Week Intelligence You Can Use (Link List)

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. Not only is it a time for us all to give thanks for our blessings, it is also a time to give something back to the communities in which we live. So, be thankful for your health, your family, your friends and your freedom and get out there and give to the local food drive, work for a good cause or just write a check to your favorite charity.

But...

We'd all be lying if we didn't admit that we are going to be doing a little bit of eating and maybe even some shopping over the next several days. For some of us (those who love Black Friday sales) this is heaven and, for some of us (on a !@#$ diet), this is ... not heaven.

Here are some links to get you through the season:

Topics To Avoid At Thanksgiving Dinner. What a perfect way to start the holler-days: A huge fight with your crazy Aunt Edna over elections/religion/economy/what-have-you. Don't do it. Really. Don't. Do. It.

Last Minute Thanksgiving Tips And Tricks. Never cooked a turkey in your life? Your significant other's parents coming over for dinner? Been there, my friend, and so have these people.

Coupon Codes For Discount Eating Out. So the turkey is dry and Aunt Edna put the rum in the dressing instead of the sweet potato pie. Don't let this spoil your dinner; go out! No need to pay full price, though, and this site offers links to coupons, etc. for discount meals at a variety of popular chain restaurants.

Full now? Try these shopping sites:

Top 5 Black Friday Tips. For shopaholics only.

The Pogue-o-matic. Not sure what gadget to get someone on your gift list? Not sure what gadget to ask for? The personal technology columnist for the NYT, David Pogue, has a fun, interactive site to help you decide.

Cool Spy Gadgets. Mom, Dad, don't know what to get your intel studies student? Here is your shopping list. I guarantee that they would enjoy almost anything on this list.

OLPC Give One, Get One. Here's a way to give something AND do some shopping. The One Laptop Per Child Foundation is offering its buy one, give one promotion again this year. You pay for two OLPCs and you get to keep one of them while the other is given to a child who needs one. It is a very cool piece of technology that works exactly as advertised (I got one and gave one last year).

I hope this helps at least some of you and, to the 50,000(!) of you who took some time out of your day to read, comment or link to these posts over the last year, thank you for making this a great first year blogging at SAM! Happy Thanksgiving!