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Sorry, these are just "pretend" gadgets for gadget-buyers. Just the kind of overprized gadgets you can get for any hobby. Usually, they say things like "for the serious foo lover", or "for the real foo conoisseur". Bullocks.

And gadget-buyer and geek is not the same thing. Even though gadget-buyers are the kind of people who run around telling everyone that they are real geeks.

This is a geek barbecue

This is a geek barbecue

And so is this

Please do cite your sources on the Google tests. As a professional in psychometrics, I'd be very curious to know what evidence they provide for the efficacy of their tests. I'm also very curious as to what outcome they are looking for--e.g., most creative, but also compliant employees? Most loyal?

If their test looks like this: http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/001031.html#001031, the psychometric reliability of a 20ish item test is probably not all that high.

When I bought my laptop last summer, I was dreading having to deal with Vista. To the point I was researching how to wipe Vista and install XP. (What I found is the newer hard drives do not have driver on XP natively so XP might not recognize the drive and so you have to load those first....) Anyway, I decided to try Vista first to see if it was really worth going through a major headache of wiping the drive and starting over.

I was, in fact, pleasantly surprised...mostly. I don't know if it was the manufacturer (HP) doing a great install configuration or the version (Home Premium) or the fact it was built for Vista vs. just slapping an upgrade on a current computer, but I've had very few problems. Only thing I've done was upgrade the memory from 1 to 2 GB. I also turned off UAC which I found beyond annoying. The computer is used mostly at home and behind a firewall--not to mention that UAC can be foiled--and chances are most people are going to automatically approve something when they're installing a program (which is usually when a person gets a virus), so the UAC becomes useless.

If you're into voice recognition, the voice recognition that comes with Vista works surprisingly well--better than Dragon Naturally Speaking and with less training. (Just be sure and have a good microphone.) However you won't be able to use it with Open Office--you'll have to stick with MS Office, notepad, etc. Also I'm able to play even ancient DOS games with DOSBox and I've found very few programs I've had a problem running. Networking with my wireless router was a breeze.

Vista IS a Mac rip-off with eye candy--stick a few new screensavers and Yahoo! Widgets on your XP and you're 2/3s there. The most annoying thing is once again having to FIND where they hid the settings again--almost none of it is helpful or makes things smoother--especially if you want to just view ALL the programs. It's not as great as the fan boys praise, but it's not as horrible as the nay Sayers make out either. Personally I wouldn't upgrade from XP as long as possible, but if you're getting a computer with it installed, you might find it isn't as bad as you think.

A BBQ smoker from a trash can

Looks like Microsoft thinks they're Google now.

Not that its a bad thing. Remember the Google Labs Aptitude Test? Or the billboard with the digits of e on it? This is more of the same. Its a way to screen out potential employees by motivation and skill in a real world environment. Think of it as a summer-long job interview at minimum-wage or less.

It has side benefits, like helping out the OSS community (that is, if the students don't do negative work, drawing more of the mentors' time than the usefulness they contribute). But, first and foremost, its about screening potential employees.

Here you go http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/001031.html

I considered a USB coffee cup warmer for my husband until I read that it only keeps coffee lukewarm. I also considered the WFS-1 wifi detector, which is far superior to the Kensington model, but I nixed that because it doesn't distinguish between open and closed networks.

If we were filling stockings for grown-ups, I'd have gotten a bunch of Cyberguy Power Strip Liberators, which double your outlet access and are only $2.39 each. I have some and love them.

I was going to get my puzzle-loving brother-in-law a Shmuzzle Puzzle, but the U.S. rerelease, which had been scheduled for Dec. 3 on QVC has been postponed indefinitely. Canadians can buy them over the counter.

Some of the geekier presents I ordered for my nieces and nephews, all of whom are of course brilliant:

• Harry Potter Wizard Chess and Chess for Juniors for 8 year old.
• Skyrail Suspension Marble Run for artistic 9yo and engineering 5yo.
• Smart the Dog LEGO set for 9yo (also considered Motor the Monkey set.
• Techno Blocks, "the world's only preschool remote-control construction toy", for my 5yo engineer.
• Terry Pratchett's delightful Bromeliad (fun for ages 5 to adult) to begin reading aloud and then leave behind.
• Grow-a-Frog kit for 8yo naturalist.
• Geometric and creative Images coloring kit for artistic 6yo.
• Cattus Petasatus [Cat in the Hat] and a Latin dictionary for a sister-in-law.
• 500-in-1 electronic project lab for grown sister-in-law because you're never too old to learn. (Note the large discount over the Amazon price.)
• Disney's Princess Magical Dress Up software to encourage my 6yo niece to wrest the family computer from her 8yo brother (although that may be futile, since we're also giving him a Real One Arcade subscription).

Slightly less geeky gifts:

• Family Classics 50 Movie Mega Pack 12-DVDs at only $29.99

There can only be one true Y2K Bug (even with many incarnations).

I made a page of a few of my geocaching exploits. Read a couple and you will get the idea...

http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/cachelinks.html