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Gifts For Geeks
Way back in October we solicited ideas for Christmas presents for geeks. This was done with Wired, and the results appear in the current issue (the lime-green colored one: unless you're blind, you can't miss it. You'll only be able to find the first copy, tho). The authors' money will be a nice Christmas present to the EFF. Thanks go to Paul, who did all the really hard work compiling the final list from all your ideas. Now read on to see the
list.
- PlayStation2 - Sony list price $299.99; winning bids on eBay $550-1,375. Supplies are extremely limited. CowboyNeal has been waiting for his for months.
- Beowulf parallel computing cluster; 3 nodes for $1,305.95. A build-your-own supercomputer: three bargain PCs with Ethernet cards ($415 each), one four-port network hub ($16), and one Building Linux Clusters book from O'Reilly and Associates ($44.95), which includes Red Hat Linux and cluster software on CD. Perfect for trolls who lack a single iota of creativity, or that guy you know who always wants to simulate weather patterns.
- Car MP3 player - empeg $1,199 (and it even runs Linux, if you're into that sort of thing).
- IC-R3 handheld wideband radio/TV receiver - Icom America $599. 500-kHz to 2.4-GHz spybox tunes in to everything but cell phones. Voyeurism isn't just for breakfast anymore.
- iPAQ H3600 Linux-compatible handheld - Compaq $499, but good luck finding one. Apparently there is quite the shortage.
- Nomad Jukebox - Creative Labs $499. Give this, instead of a CD player, to your loved one in the Napster T-shirt ...
- Matrix- and Blade Runner-styled trench coats - TrenchCo. $375-482.
- CD-RW drive, $150-350. No drive fits all machines, so verify compatibility before you buy. Many popular drives have to be back-ordered, but others are always in stock.
- Voodoo5 5500 AGP or PCI graphics card - 3dfx Interactive $299.99. Better graphics than PlayStation2, on your computer instead of your TV.
- Klein Bottle - Acme $25-250. Designed by astronomer-author Cliff Stoll.
- MindStorms - Lego MindStorms $50-200. Classic Lego building blocks, updated with motors and microchips.
- GlobalMap 100 GPS - Lowrance Electronics $199.95. I get lost in my backyard. I wonder if this thing has a map of my back yard.
- TiNi Pocket PowerPlier - SOG Specialty Knives and Tools $84.95. Just keep those fingers free of extra holes.
- Broadband Internet access $39-50 per month (plus installation charges). Check for availability in your area. Consider moving. I know I do almost every day.
- Interactive Yoda - Tiger $39.99. A Jedi craves not these things. But if he gets one for Christmas, that's different.
- Non-computer games - Looney Labs $5-35. Card games that modify their own rules, and board games for the brainy.
- EverQuest - Sony $29.95 (plus $9.89 monthly service fee). Addictive multiplayer game lets you collaborate with others on the Net. Suitable even for a 200-MHz PC with a 28K connection. And the graphics look like ass. But I have many friends who've lost countless productive hours all for the lucrative reward of being able to take a bear by yourself in a virtual world.
- Tech-book gift certificate - Fatbrain.com $10-25. Let her choose her own robot-building manual.
- Klein Bottle knit cap or Mobius ear band - Math Hatter $12-22.
- Penguin Caffeinated Peppermints - ifive brands $12 (four-pack). Essential fuel for all-night hacking: sugar and caffeine wrapped in a handy breath mint. I'll never forget the time Trae ate a whole tin at ALS and traveled forward through time.
The shortages of PS2's may be artificially created. My nephew works in the warehouse of a well-known toy retailer. He called me Sunday (knowing I've been waiting weeks for a pre-paid PS2 to arrive) and said that they got several unmarked crates shipped in Saturday about the same size as the crates that their last shipment of PS2's came in. No markings as to what they were or where they came from, which is rather unusual. When he asked what was in them he was told they were for a special promotion and that the warehouse crew was not to open them under any circumstance. They were all placed in the secure area where all the expensive stuff is stored. However, one of the crates had a small rip in the outer box which the manager quickly taped over, but not before my nephew saw that it indeed contained PS2's.
My nephew suspects that the toy store is hoping the people who have PS2's on reserve, desperate for a gift for their kids, will go ahead and buy something else in place of the PS2's. Then the day before Christmas, the toy store will call all the people with reserved PS2's and tell them they've "just arrived", come and get it NOW or we'll drop your name back to the end of the list. And a lot of people will probably do it, too.
What a sneaky way to try and increase sales. And they'll probably get away with it, too.
Anonymous because I don't want my nephew to get fired. (even though it _is_ a crappy job)
electronics make fine gifts, but the above reads more like a list of cool concepts than a list of things people would actually want to get. i mean, i love the empeg and drool over the idea of a personal beowulf, but for a christmas gift i would much rather get some cool games, no matter whether or not they're computer-based.
:)
:)
speaking of games, i can't believe nobody mentioned companies like cheapass games, who make really cool and relatively inexpensive card, board, and dice games. make sure to check out 'brawl' and 'button men' - i'd take those over a thinkgeek gift in an eyeblink.
another good place for gifts is mayfair games, publishers of such fine products as settlers of catan or the original edition of cosmic encounter. and if you're into small/indie game makers, there's also the wizard's attic, who sell such twisted little games as black death, in which you play the plague trying to wipe out europe, or the non-verbal role-playing game the land of og.
is anybody else on slashdot a fan of non-computer games? if so, post your favorites! the more gift ideas, the better...
My other car is a cons.
Despite the coolness factor of running Linux in your car stereo, I simply can't imagine spending $1,199 for an Empeg. It seems like a tremendous waste of money to me, and I'm just not in the habit of throwing away money like that...
I'm much more interested in the Aiwa CDC-MP3 system. It's only $299, and can play CD-Rs, CD-RWs and standard CD's, including MP3s. And it's $900 less than the Empeg...
Deven
"Simple things should be simple, and complex things should be possible." - Alan Kay
That has to be the most depressing item on the list... That's what geeks want for Christmas?
Sheesh. I'm embarassed to be associated with y'all.
Check out the website, 'cause it's similarly depressing.
That was the Twin Pines Mall.
(UPDATE Hill Valley SET TREES = (TREES - 1) Where FAST MOVING DELOREAN = TRUE)
Ooops, it was the Lone Pine Mall.
Assuming the Beowulf thing is supposed to refer to the parallel computing project, and not to some guy, the link should point to: http://www.beowulf.org/ and not http://www.beowulf.com/.
But fortunately the some-guy has linked to the project too. Thank you, some-guy.
Look here for this post on the 'magical disapearing Xmas post' from 12.05.00. This neat little toy is worth checking out for young Geeks on your list:
I just bought a Cybiko handheld 'Inter-Tainment' (eek Markatroid Buzz alert) computer for my 11 yr old niece. She loves my CasioE100 - so this seems appropriate. Ive been trying to geekify her for years, videogames/build-it-yourself robot (not a big hit)/Legos etc.
This Cybiko device has a decent little screen, a free SDK, 900MHz Adhoc networking (@19200baud), instant messaging & email repeated on the Cybiko Network you are a part of, Email via a internet gateway (ie xxxxxxx@cybiko.com where xxxxx is the unique ID of each Cybiko - requires syncing w/ a PC to Internet), free(gratis) games/software/PIM software daily online, has a vibrating alert and sound.
cheese_announcer_voice(start);
if (buy_right_now) {
recieve(MP3_AddOnModule.free(mail_in_rebate);
}
cheese_announcer_voice(stop);
You can buy them Online @ Cybiko for $90 USF. Pretty reasonable Id say.
Additional Links:
General Info - Hardware Specs - Software Specs - RF Specs
The list looks great - an honorable mention should be, IMHO, the Aiwa mp3 car player. Seems easier to transfer songs via burned CD's vs. USB/etc... Not only is the media cheaper, the Aiwa unit only costs $299, and is in stock at Crutchfield.
Not picking a fight or arguing - just making a (what I see as) a reasonable alternative. Sure, it runs Linux, but functionality is so limited, I'm not sure I see the point. (other than the seemingly unwritten standard of, "It runs Linux, therefore we must choose it.") I mean, it runs Linux, but practical application-wise... so? It doesn't really enhance the current use of "play music in car," although it does open up doors for expanded use...
This coffee maker runs Linux, and the CPU load average is 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 - you must buy it.
heh...I know what I need for Christmas. Let's see here....Palm Vx, cell phone, pager, Minidisc/MP3 player, Leatherman...anyone see Batman costumes on sale? 'Cause I could really use one of those belts... :D
My girlfriend loves everything about Christmas except for one thing.... buying a present for me. My family isn't too keen on it either, but then... they can just give me money and I'll be happy. It's always good People coming up with these lists... it saves me the trouble of saying "Okay Sweety, what I really want is a 21inch Trinitron to beat the 19inch I bought myself last year." and then smiling while she looks at me like I'm crazy.
....I hate finals....
Still, I think the greatest gift I get every year is socks. I have one friend who buys me that every year because I annihalte them all by July and then walk around in flip-flops or sandals for the rest of the year claiming that I'm boycotting them.
lim brain -> meltdown
From the Christian point of view, Christmas is to celebrate God's gift of Jesus to the world, and to look back at the Christmas story of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem. The angels and the shepherds, the three wise men, and "Peace On Earth".
Listen to the words of some old Christmas carols to see what Christians think Christmas is supposed to be about.
It's true that some Christian organizations do treat religion as a commodity, but that unfortunate fact is recognized and condemmed by many Christians, who know that it's not supposed to be that way. It's also true that many aspects of the western european style Christmas celebration were ripped off from pagan winter festivals. But that's not really relevant to the question of why Christmas has become so commercialized.
Most sincere Christians hate the whole commercial aspect of Christmas even more than you do.
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
I'd like the Aquatic Pod Suite from Hammacher Schlemmer. It only costs $91,100, and that's including the Bose stereo and diesel generator.
The fact of the matter is, anything that costs little enough for someone to give it to me as a Christmas gift, I could buy for myself. However, it does feel good to get someone that perfect gift. And, if someone gives you a really good gift, defined as something that you want, but can't justify buying for yourself, it makes you feel positive things about the other person, because it shows that they really know you.
The point is not to spend as little as you can get away with, while guilt tripping others into getting you things. The point is to demonstrate what a great person you are by getting your friends even better gifts than they get you. Likewise, with open source software, the point isn't to contribute just enough to keep the movement alive, so you can keep getting free software, the point is to contribute more than everyone else, so you will be worshipped like Linus.
I apologize for the rambling nature of this email, but I've been up all night, and I'm tired.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
I think theirs is the geekiest shipping policy I've ever seen:
Canada Shipping: 1st bottle $7, primes (2nd, 3rd, 5th) $3, nonprimes(4th, 6th, 8th) free.
If these things weren't $US 80 a pop... :)
- if you love something, set it free; if it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it
Did no one want Natalie Portman for Christmas ?
Surely N P would be considered the ulitmate geek christmas present...
- Greed. Give me everything.
- Anti-greed. "No, no, nothing for me...I just want to get everybody else things."
- Other-awareness. Realizing that when you tell your mom not to buy you anything, that makes her *unhappy*, and that if you really want to concentrate on other people's happiness it won't kill you to make a Christmas list.
Anybody that tells me that having a christmas list means not thinking about other people's happiness, i point them to state 3. If it's evil to receive, then there's no point in giving.Duane
P.S. The fourth state is "Now go do something nice for a total stranger, like volunteer at a soup kitchen, instead of thinking that your friends and family are the only ones that merit your help this year." Not a lot of people get to this one, unfortunately.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
What, did you think Bill Gates invented "embrace and extend"?
/.
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
For those of you that are interested, CNN also has a geek gift list.