When it comes to CafePress, we love riding the latest tech wave to help our shopkeepers and give our fans something to like. And so it goes, with our newest web-worthy offering: our CafePress widget!

The CafePress widget is a unique tool and gives you an interactive experience with the millions of diverse designs on CafePress.

You can create your own with a few simple clicks of the mouse. Shopkeepers and affiliates can use the widget to promote your products and your shop, and it’s a great marketing tool to share your designs with friends, supporters, and the world-wide-web (affiliates, all you have to do is enter your CJ PID and all sales are credited to you, just like the usual). Type in your shop ID, and you can randomly select various products to feature, and anyone who clicks your widget will be directed to your shop.

For our amazing fans out there, from Edward Cullen fanatics to yoga enthusiasts, simply type in your favorite tag (like, Edward Cullen, or yoga), and products will pop up, just like that. Choose the perfect size and color widget, and create your code. Then you can utilize the widget on your own shop, webpage or your blog by cutting and pasting the created code.

I have a freakish love for giraffes, so after cooing over all of the cute giraffe t-shirts on CafePress, I went ahead and made a giraffe widget. I typed in “giraffes” into the tag field, and after some snazzalicious styling, this is what I got!

You can scroll back and forth to see more of your favorite gifts using the arrows at the bottom. For me this means more squeals of delight with every click of the arrow. Try out your very own CafePress widget and keep us posted on the results!

Happy 255^th to Mozart. Yes, you still rock me Amadeus. Which is sort of odd, since Wolfgang hasn’t had a chartbusting #1-with-a-bullet Top-40 hit in more than two centuries (and no gangster rap music videos to speak of). But I still love the man and his music.

In fact Mozart is now on my heavy rotation list – along with more “current” composers like Lil’ Wayne (it’s hard to believe those two have ever been on the same planet, let alone the same iPod). It’s just that there’s always a time and a place for some good chamber music, and Mozart was the best-of-the-best. Which is why Beethoven, Chopin and other great composers were among his groupies. I think Beethoven even opened for Mozart once at London’s Hammersmith Apollo? Can’t remember if it was him or The Clash? Maybe it was a triple bill?

Anyway, as classical music fans know, Mozart was born in Salzburg on this day in 1756 and quickly became a musical child prodigy. He wowed the Austrian court and European royalty while touring from Vienna to Paris and everywhere in-between. With a greatest hits list from symphonies and choral music to operas, Mozart set the stage for classical music.

Consider this post a requiem for the man and his masterpiece, Requiem. Happy birthday, Wolfie. You take the cake.

Terrie Marcoe and Living on the Edge

Just because you live in a log cabin in the woods, with no plumbing or electricity, eight miles from town doesn’t mean you can’t run a successful CafePress shop for a niche market. Terrie’s shop, which focuses on rock climbing, makes full use of the many features that a CafePress shop offers!

“My customers get a confirmation on their order and have the goods shipped in just a few days, as well as a 100% customer satisfaction policy. These benefits are very valuable to me as a shopkeeper. I would never be able to offer these things were I handling every aspect of the business.”

Terrie loves the wide variety of products offered especially the SIGG bottles and the new yoga mats. “Many climbers are also yoga enthusiasts!” she shares.  As a caretaker on the Shawangunk mountains nature preserve in Ulster County, NY, she loves making designs with “insider climbing lingo” to appeal to the true fans of rock climbing.

One of our favorites includes this Top Ten List of Things People Say to Climbers iPhone 3GS case!

And for the future? Besides more rock climbing (of course), Terrie’s got plans to add more fun products to her shop – and we can’t wait to see what’s next. We don’t want her to leave us hanging.

With the Collective Bargaining Agreement (known affectionately by NFL billionaire owners & multi-millionaire players as the “CBA”) hanging in the air like a last-minute, desperation Hail Mary pass, the February 6th Super Bowl may be the last professional football game for quite some time (gulp).

Ah, but what a game it promises to be! With two “old school,” defense-minded teams matching up (both who play in outdoor stadiums in cold-weather regions on real grass), it should be a real donnybrook. I can’t wait to see the Packers and Steelers (even their names sound tough – unlike the “Saints” and “Cardinals” and all these fair-weather teams who play indoors).

But alas, unless there’s a CBA reached soon, the owners are threatening to lock the players out and cancel next year’s season. So let’s enjoy the moment. Then focus on baseball, because they haven’t gone on strike for 10 years or so. Yea for sports, eh?

Here’s your mash up of interesting things that happened over the last few days. Did you have a good weekend?

An Illinois Appellate Court ruled that Rahm Emanuel cannot run for mayor of Chicago due to residency issues. All candidates need to have lived in Illinois for a minimum of one year, whereas Emanuel and his family moved to Washington during his tenure as White House Chief-of-Staff. Sure, he may be miffed. Emanuel will appeal this decision, most likely moving to the Supreme Court, to have his name on the February 22 ballot. Will his name make its way back onto the ballot one way or another (printed or scribbled in)?

All of you football fans and commercial lovers out there know its official: the Super Bowl is going to be a fiery fight of braun and …packing. Yes, that’s right. The Pittsburg Steelers vs. The Green Bay Packers come February 6^th in Dallas. Cheese will be involved. So will some Black Eyed Peas. Which team will you root for, and more importantly, which commercials are you looking forward to? All I know is I’m going to be going out for a snack if I see one delicious Doritos commercial like last year.

The U.S. Postal Service plans on closing thousands of offices starting in March in plans to reduce costs, relatable to a multi-billion dollar loss in the 2010 fiscal year. For small towns and rural areas, post offices are a link to the rest of the world, in a sense – and those rural post offices up for review may be in danger of closing.

What do you think about the way of the online world? Do you think we’ve lost a sense of written communication? Or do you think smart phones, the Internet and technology is better for all?

Winter getting you down? Missing the ol’ sun’s rejuvenating warmth? You’re in luck. Word out of Russia is that Moscow’s infamous Butyrka prison (known for its Spartan accommodations and cruel conditions) is getting sun-tanning beds later this year. No joke.

The notoriously-cruel 19th-century penitentiary has long been regarded as a literal hell hole. Butyrka has been the residence of many famous “guests” – from Soviet writers Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Adolf Hitler’s nephew Heinrich.

With no sunlight in cells, squalid surroundings and outdated medical equipment and facilities, Butyrka is considered by many to be the worst place in the civilized world for imprisonment. They don’t even have cloth linens, if you can imagine that? No wonder they call it hard time.

Apparently the sun-beds are being installed for medical reasons – with the lack of sunlight coming through the concrete and brick walls causing problems for many inmates. But they’re also talking about adding spa facilities such as mud baths, and Skype service for inmates to stay in touch with friends, relatives and convicts on the outside.

Who knows, maybe Butyrka will go condo or start selling time-shares? If so, count me in. I could use some color.

Thank you everyone for submitting entries to our giveaway! With all of you waiting patiently, fingers crossed (warm thermos to wrap your cold fingers around?), I’m happy to announce our winner of the Winter Thermos Giveaway. Because no one ever said waiting was cool.

Congrats to Christie Cartolano!! We’ll be sending you an e-mail shortly with details on how to claim your prize.

In the meantime, we’re going to be hosting additional giveaways throughout the year, so check back often to see what’s in store. And by golly, have a wonderful weekend.

As the hit-makers from American Idol fine-tune their sets & frets for the historic 10^th season (premiering Wednesday, January 19), the viewing public is on the edge of its collective seat. Everyone wants to know if the chemistry is there … and if the new format is going to rock our world.

In case you haven’t been following the bouncing ball, judges Simon, Paula and Kara left to chase their dreams (or something). Only to be replaced by Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith fame) and J-Lo (of Jennifer Lopez fame). There’s also a new band leader, which could come into play when those notes just ain’t gettin’ hit? Also, early-round contestants have to sing cover songs — so no more overnight sensations like “Pants On The Ground.” But then again, William Hung was singing “She Bangs” when he made American Idol fame/infamy, so maybe we’ll all be huddled around YouTube on Thursday mornings anyway?

Plus, reportedly there’s a new format. Rumor has it they’ll be going to a sudden-death Top 20 round (instead of a 3-week Top 24), which will then whittle the finalists down to 12 or 10. There’s also no gender parity, which means the finalists could feature more girls or more guys instead of 50-50.

I’m ready, so WOW me. Strike up the band (although the a capella stuff is more entertaining, honestly).

If you read your horoscope today, make sure to look again: you might be following someone else’s supposed fate. There is talk around the world as people discover the addition of the Ophiuchus (the serpent-bearer), a zodiac sign – now running from November 29-December 17 – that has invalidated their personality and love and career predictions. Personally, I’ve always been on the cusp of two zodiac signs and merely claimed the better of the two fates.

According to astrologers, everyone born in or after 2009 between November 29 and December 17 gets to be a part of the new, exclusive Ophiuchus club. This idea is so foreign that spell check redlines it. I still remember the day when scientists decided Pluto was no longer deemed a planet and when they broke the news about the Triceratops and Brontosaurus; what’s going on in the world?

Maybe its part of the 2012 conspiracy or someone got rid of the zodiac sign they found the hardest to pronounce? Good news is you hopefully didn’t get that zodiac tattoo. Or maybe you even get to reinvent yourself with your new zodiac qualities. What do you think?

Snow, wind, ice, snow, cold, more snow. Its that time of year! For those of you who have been outside shoveling, had some snow days, or been stuck in transit and delayed, we have something handy to offer you for the next time so you’re fully prepared. And let’s be honest, besides sledding, and winter activities such as skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing, who doesn’t want to be bundled up inside with a warm fire, a blanket, and some delicious hot cocoa (or warm beverage of your choice)?

My mom’s favorite thing about ice skating when she was younger was the hot cocoa she got to enjoy after about five minutes of skating on the rink. Ah, she was a princess at its finest. And her hot cocoa was kept hot by that old trusty thermos my grandparents brought with them whenever they were going to spend some time outside in the winter months.

With that said, we want you to stay warm and cozy, so one lucky reader will win a FREE large thermos of their choice from CafePress. Its super simple to enter: just follow us on Twitter, Like our Facebook page, and send an e-mail over to blog@cafepress.com with your name and shipping address, and you’re entered! Also, be sure to read our giveaway rules, and you have one week to enter. We’ll be announcing our winner next week, on January 20th!