Did you get an iTunes Gift Card for Christmas this year? Cool. There’s a lot you can do with that card, once you get it redeemed. Trouble is, Apple doesn’t make that easy. It’s hard to figure out where to go, and in some countries, iTunes doesn’t allow for app purchases to made with gift cards. But if you’re looking to redeem a gift card, here’s how you can do it via iTunes or the App Store app.

If you’ve been waiting for the deal of the year for iTunes content, you can stop holding your breath. It’s here. Today, Best Buy started offering $50 iTunes Gift Cards for just $40. That’s $10 off. Basically, you can get 20% off of any app on the App Store, any song on iTunes, and any iBook. Whether you’re buying gifts for others, or just lining your own iPhone with apps, you should probably pounce on this deal before Best Buy realizes what they’ve done.

Apple has enabled another payment option on the App Store called “Gift This App.” It does exactly what you’d expect it to; it gives you a way to give a specific app as a gift. This new feature actually has a number of advantages over just buying a gift card. Most obviously, you don’t have to trust your friends to make the right choices on the App Store; now you can force them to make the right choice!

I’m no longer surprised by the questions I’m asked. Or how many times I’m asked. This is the case with iTunes gift cards. They’re becoming more and more common, but the giver doesn’t always understand that the recipient may be new to these devices and is unaware of how they work. Thankfully, it’s actually quite basic once you know where to go.

This morning, the online Apple store went offline for a short time. When it came back, there signs the Christmas elves had been speaking to Mr. Jobs about gift options. If you’ve thought about buying gifts from Apple this festive season, you’ll be happy to hear of the elegant gift wrapping options, Christmas-styled gift cards and, of course, the personalization options available for several Apple products.

A group of Chinese hackers have been able to generate their own iTunes gift cards as a result of solving the algorithm that Apple uses to control and issue the cards. As a result, they are now selling $200 gift cards online for only $2.60. The price was originally higher, but the hackers have sold their gift card generators for undisclosed sums to other hackers and companies. As a result, more companies offering the cheap cards means the overall prices quickly dropped.

Folks at the Church by the Glades in Florida must be really displeased at the lack of spirituality in the west, so they’ve “gone where no one (other church) has gone before”. The church has organized seminars for the next three weeks, dubbed “i:Living in a Self-Absorbed World”, where Pastor David Hughes will be talking more »