Slashdot Mirror
Uber Geeks Holiday Gift Guide
Johann Ramirez sent us
Hardware Extreme's Christmas Wishlist which has tons of lust worthy objects that you have seen on Slashdot in the past, and several more that will make you feel strange things in your loins that might be unhealthy in the context of electronics. I want me
a head mounted monitor and this wall mounted stereo santa!
This month's Maximum PC has gear of the year, as well as a geek shopping guide. Cool stuff in there. I just want a 60 inch plasma monitor.
I hate sigs.
...jobs for my friends out of work!
How to Download YouTube Videos
... when you can get the B&O BeoSound Century, which is far nicer? Of course, if you want a good stereo, rather than an aethetically pleasing one, you wouldn't get one that was wall-mounted (perhaps one from these people?), but B&O's products are quite good in terms of audio quality, given their form factor.
James F.
It looks like Hardware Exterme's hardware wasn't extreme enough to handle slashdotting. Anybody got a mirror?
The manufacturer's page is:
http://www.personaldisplay.com/english/f_whatis
At $1000, it's pretty reasonable!
Santa, I want one
So instead of asking for yet another slab of transistors and cathode-ray tubes this holiday season, ask for something that will last, something that will make you feel happy inside as a person. Ask a loved one to give money to your favorite charity in your name (if you read Slashdot, you've been planning on making a donation to the EFF anyway, right? No excuse not to do it now, and you'll get to be cool like Wil Wheaton!). Or better yet, don't tell anyone what you want for Christmas, and then see what they get you, because those gifts are the sort that require true thought on the part of the giver, and it's the thought that counts in the end, right?
Please try to raise yourself above the primal materialism that runs rampant this time of year, and remember what the season is all about. While you may not get the l33t357 b0x, you'll be happier in the long run.
LEGO! :))
:))
I turn 36 on xmas eve and am hoping my wife has caught onto my countless hints for Lego Mindstorms.
[rant] If you have young kids don't rot their minds with [Nintento|Xbox|DC|etc], get them books and Lego. Things that will help their young minds grow and analyze, not things that fuel ADD
Is enough bandwidth to survive a /.ing.
They do have a right to laugh. I'm 14, and if I really want something, I buy it myself. Find a job, or do odd tasks around the neighbor hood, the money adds up. My "wish list" totals about 700 bucks cause all I really want are a few classical music cd's and a Gamecube. Maybe if ya cut down your list, they won't laugh.
If I wasn't so lazy, I'd have a sig.
1. My @home cable modem service, which was shut off.
2. My omnisky palm service, which will soon be shut off.
Maybe I should have gone with Verizon all along
tcd004
sell the car, buy the player... no, sell the play.. buy the car.. sell your appendix to the medical campus.. buy player... install.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
What kind of stuff do you want that costs $3000??!! I'm 13 and my wish list is only about $250 total including a GeForce3 (which I don't really think I'll get). You're expecting too much.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
What would be nice is a slim-profile (wall-mountable == good) stereo that doesn't cost both arms and legs and also have the silly design that Nakamichi does.
If I hang a stereo on the wall, I'm not going to want to feed discs in from the top and grope around the top edge for the play button.
But that's an absurd wishlist, and it's not the one I tell people about when they ask me for gift hints. That one's real short, and is full of things that cost five or ten bucks.
The trick is to know your audience.
How many healthy 13-year-old heterosexual male prostitues do you know? I thought so.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
and absolutely useless gimmicks like cube-shaped computers and flat-screen monitors
Flat-screen monitors don't have flicker.
This is one *hell* of a useful improvement, especially for those of us who *have* to sit in front of a monitor all day.
Saving the desk real-estate of a CRT would be nice too.
all i really want is roughly four hours alone with my girlfriend and no interuptions. as for letting folks think real hard about what i want. good luck. no one knows me well enough. if i don't tell them what to get me i don't get diddley squat. and i don't know anyone that will accept "just donate to habitat for humanity in my name" aas a serious gift request. because they don't feel thats a real gift. they don't believe thats a gift that would make me happy. so i tell them not to get me anything. anything that i actually want is always too expensive anyway.
-
Then we made a nice Christmas card with color photos of Afghanistan refugees receiving food relief, including one bearded guy with a sack of USA wheat on his back that sweetly reminded us of Santa. We explained our decision in the card, including the total amount of our contributions - not to brag about it, but so that it would be clear this was not just our cheap attempt to blow off gift-giving. We asked that the recipients consider making similar donations in lieu of their usual Christmas gifts to us. The cards went out Thanksgiving weekend.
We've received no negative reactions, and many positive ones to date. It remains to be seen whether anyone will take us up on our request to donate instead of a present, but honestly we're looking forward to a Christmas tree with absolutely zero gifts under it.
No, no, no. This is not a sig.
Thank you for telling me where my morals & values should be. I wasn't aware of it, but it turns out I really needed *you* to point out to me what I should be feeling & doing. Wow. I'm apparently so unworthy to make decisions on my own. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.
i would suggest getting a job and buying hardware yourself... it's much more gratifying to know that you EARNED your new sound card, or video card, or whatever.. :)
The assasination of the person who invented the pop-up ad?! My God, how many of these stupid things must I close? I'm sorry, I couldn't finish looking at the list, I got tired of waiting for the adds to come up so I could close them.
I planned on inserting something witty here but never got around to it.
Your charity idea is worth considering tho.
"He who possesses little is so much the less possessed... Thus spoke Zarathustra."
That Sony TV is ridiculous. Who would pay over a grand for a TUBE? Oh wait, it's flat, and it's Sony, so it must be good.
Compare it side-by-side with a similarly priced rear-projection and you'll be able to pretty easily make the decision.
is fewer damn popups, my god.
Who needs another power sucking electronic gadget, when you can pick up a fat burning mechanical work of art?
I finally cracked the mountain bike frame I brazed together 6 years ago.. So, while I work up the next one, I decided to pick up one of these little numbers... It's not steel, and it's a bit heavier than ride I'm used to, but what the heck, right? The addition of rear suspension will be nice with the ground beginning to freeze..
Go to Control Panel/System/Advanced. Click on the "Error reporting" button in the lower right. Click on the radio button that says "Disable error reporting." Enjoy. ^_^
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
Because everyone knows, Bose RULES!
I carry mine around on my shoulder like a boom-box. Aww yeah.
Is it me or does this seem more like a commerical for Sony products than an actual wishlist?
_________________
The sun beams down on a brand new day, No more welfare tax to pay, Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light...
Boy if you could just give everyone's christmas presents that easily. =)
*snap*
Panasonic Plasma Display
Zeno
thanks, =)
I haven't poked with XP much, i've been too busy with my slack box.
I commend you for helping anotherlinux user get used to this unstable windows thing.
Remember that you are unique, just like everybody else.
I like some stuff Sony makes, but I wouldn't call their products "geek friendly".
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
Hey guys sorry about the lag on the site. We were not expecting quite that much traffic. I had the bandwidth increased quite a bit so things should go much smoother now.
You should be proud you almost took down all of www.realgn.com www.realshell.com and www.keystreams.com With a total of more than 30 sites and 9 servers. Pretty amazing stuff.
Looking at that AIBO with the lights on, it seems a step or two away from being one of those deadly mechanical hounds from Fahrenheit 451. "The LEDs pulsate as AIBO becomes more excited"...and readies itself for the kill...
Two very simple but practical suggestions for geeks who already have a lot of toys spread all over their home (I got both for myself during the past year, and they've helped me clean up my living room a bit, and were well worth it):
First, the cheap one: a $20
video/S-video switch (the SVS1000, not the AVS500 on that page) to connect more things to the TV. I've got my N64 and Dreamcast going through it, and will probably also route one or two of my VCRs through it. Simple but handy. But a warning: if you give one to an uber-geek he may complain that the box degrades the video quality noticeably; I didn't notice any image degradation at all with Mario Kart 64, which was my main concern. I just picked up one of these when I bought a Dreamcast after they came down to $50, since my TV didn't have any more free inputs.
Second, and much more expensive, a KVM switch, to share one keyboard/monitor/mouse among multiple computers. I got myself a Belkin OmniView SE 4-port (they claim list price around $260, but I'm pretty sure I got mine quite a bit cheaper) and I'm really happy to have reclaimed so much room on my desk; now I'm able to pile up so many more papers than before!
Lately when Christmas approaches, I've started wondering where I can make room for any more stuff I get. These two things have given me a bit of extra room and helped me organize all the wires a bit.
Well, I agree that the I want it crowd really seem like they are begging sometimes, but sometimes I wish my family members would provide such a list for me. I LIKE to get AND Give gifts. I KNOW I spent more on all of my gifts I gave to my side of the family, but I don't care. I spend 20-30 on my brother and his wife and while mine was worth about the same, my brother got my wife a bunch of cheap pics to hang on the wall and we don't care! In fact, I like it! Showed ingenuity! Also, I don't know about you, but I go all year most years with out getting most of what I want. and gosh darn it I would like to get SOMETHING nice for once! Looks like I am getting a Radeon VE card from my wife (we have no time to shop....2 year old occupies our time...). I know, the 3d performance isn't that great but I watch more DVD's then play games so I want the TV out and dual monitor support more then supa fast 3d. That's called compromise. I REALLY want a Radeon AIW (Or the 8500 DV, the 8500 equivalent to AIW). Why won;t I get it? Costs to freakin much. Personally, the gifts I have gotten so far I like the ones that the gift giver does:
;)) or a DVD or heck even CD-R blanks. Don't buy me sweaters (I will wear them like once...and then not again until it's SUPER COLD!). Oh and a pound of good coffee is a nice cheap idea as well(espresso roast please).
...:)). I need my HD space for work...
1. Think about what I may want...getting me gift certificates (I hate em, but will gladly take them) shows no thought and is a cop out. I am not THAT difficult to shop for. Hell get me a pack of socks! The washer always eats em and I can always use some new ones....
2. Don't go hog wild....unless you really want too. You don't have to spend lots on me to make me happy. Well over half the items on that list are not of much use to me. I'd rather have a new laptop (if you HAVE to spend lots on me!
3. Spend more on my kid....he needs it more then I do anyway.
That's so easy. I just wish I could tell people just get me all the things I wish I had picked up at the store or have been meaining to get but haven't (not that I couldn't...I just coudln't justify it at the moment or talked myself out of it over and over again...).
Also, what's WRONG with wanting nice stuff? Sure, I can BE HAPPY with out it. I don't have it now and I am happy, but why is it so wrong to want things? We all want things(your lying if you say you aren't.). Some want World Peace, some want Osama's head on a pike. Why is it materialistic to want? It would be different if we just wanted it to say we have it, but I know most of the slashdot readers would use alot of that list everyday! Sure, we'd throw things away, but only if we had alot of that list. Heck I wish I had not bought that stupid web cam about a year or two ago and bought the TV/radio card instead. I would have used it more. My point is just because you think you are all high and mighty because you don't succomb to the I want monster, you are lying in saying that you never want anything for Christmas or never wanted any of these things. It would be so much easier for me if the people on my list would have given me a list. Also how would you know if I would be happier if I hadn't gotten that new video card? Sure, I might be able to deal with it, but it would make me immensely happy to get that video card this year. It would save me time and make things run better on my system so I would be happier with it then without it. Sure, I can live with what I got, but I sure would like to dump this POS video card I have now.
PS My monitor is 3 years old. Same with my video card, my Ethernet card and my speakers and my ram. Only things in there that are newer then that are my CD-RW drive, my soundcard, my motherboard+CPU and my Hard Drive. I DO by stuff that lasts. I DON'T have to have the latest stuff because if I want to game, I would rather have a console to do that (XBOX or PS/2 anyone?
Gorkman
I also notice that, although you complain that Oxfam and Unicef have "awful delivery rates," you do not suggest any better-performing organizations, which one expects you would do if you were really concerned about the percentage of food that makes it to hungry mouths. Nonetheless, your assumption that I failed to do my homework is incorrect. Many NGOs achieve high "delivery rates" by indiscriminately handing off truckloads of aid to any handy "local leader," who may or may not have the interests of his community at heart. Often, this food and medicine winds up as a life support system for local warlords terrorizing the population (case in point - Somalia) Also, NGOs who function solely as delivery networks do not help the population become self-sustaining - it takes infrastructure projects to do that. I researched and chose the organizations I felt were most consistent with these concerns.
And, if anyone but you cares, which I doubt:
car - 1996 Honda Civic CX
TV - two, both 10+ years old.
stereo "specs" - it sounds good
Living a less-privileged lifestyle than one could otherwise afford comes with its own benefits. One of them is the ability to make substantial charitable donations. Your attempt to characterize charity as selfish hedonism overlooks a simple fact: if the "hugely privileged" do not provide the necessary assistance to poor countries, who will? Of course, you don't care about your illogic, because you're against the whole concept of privileged nations and people helping the less fortunate. Myself, I prefer the approach advocated by John F. Kennedy over 40 years ago:
To those people in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help themselves, for whatever period is required; not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
The abandonment of Kennedy's pledge by the US is in part responsible for the sociopolitical climate that feeds modern global terrorism and tyranny, as exemplified by the Taliban/bin Laden. No, I am not excusing them - regardless of how they became what they are, they are heinous murderers and they should all be executed. However, cleansing the wound of germs doesn't help if you just let it become re-infected. Looks like we failed to save more than a few who were rich on September 11. If I happen to be in the next target, I will fail to be saved no matter how many TVs I have. Yes, my freedom and happiness are enhanced by contributing to the freedom and happiness of others around the world. Only the most perverse and mean-spirited mind can characterize this sentiment as "smug."
No, no, no. This is not a sig.