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Gifts for Valentine's Day, 2002?

Telemakhos asks: "This was asked last year, and though hardware may come and go in the course of a year, the mid-February question is eternal: What's Geeky and Good for St. Val's this year? Moreover, if roses aren't yet too bleeding-edge, whence is it best to order them?" Guys, while you are suggesting presents for the ladies, aside from the obvious, what would you like for Cupid Day?

22 of 395 comments (clear)

  1. Best V-day present by cperciva · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone to whom presents may reasonably be given on Valentine's day.

  2. Books! by Kozz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think it's a gift option that's always overlooked, primarily because the buyer isn't sure what the recipient would want. But I've always believed that books can be a timeless gift, treasured for years. Whether it be fiction, non-fiction, reference, or a little of each, I know that I always appreciate books. Heck, go to FatBrain to find a huge collection of technical books, or maybe to ThinkGeek for options like fiction, non-fiction, programming reference, and so on. And if you're not sure, DO get a gift certificate for your loved one at a bookstore (or even for the aforementioned websites!). Then they can pick out the books themselves, and they can't hardly go wrong.

    --
    I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
    1. Re:Books! by Flower · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's always the Kama Sutra. After all it is a book about geometry.

      --
      I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
  3. How about no tech toys? by _PimpDaddy7_ · · Score: 5, Informative

    How about for V-day, no tech toys, but a nice evening alone with your lady? Dinner, wine, etc...

  4. I don't know about you.. by RainbowSix · · Score: 5, Funny

    but I usually get death threats and restraining orders.

    --
    --------
    It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
  5. Get her a nice shirt by harmonics · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ThinkGeek has got a great little baby tee (God why do I love these so much!) It's all black with the words "I love my Geek."

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/5981.shtml

    Very appropriate.

    What I would love to have? Get me a nice OpenBSD tee shirt.

  6. A sweet note ... by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 5, Funny

    A sweet note telling how Emperor Claudius beheaded St. Valentine in 270 CE, and compare this to your relationship somehow.

  7. For guys? by Havokmon · · Score: 5, Funny
    You mean guys actually get stuff for Valentines Day? I thought :

    (Quality(Rose)* totalroses) + Quality(dinner) = total_sex_time

    Where Quality() is a seperate program for each chick, based on past total_sex_time :)

    --
    "I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
  8. The perfect gift... by Jurisenpai · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, since I already have this to match my boyfriend, nothing would be nicer than another T-shirt to proclaim my geekiness to the world.
    And, boys, don't forget to make it a night she won't forget of champagne, roses, chocolates, and patching your kernels together.

    --
    "Equal bytes for women!"
    1. Re:The perfect gift... by odaiwai · · Score: 5, Funny

      Of course, if you're Australian, 'Got Root' means something completely different...

      I guess a lot of chicks would like a good rooting for Valentine's Day...

      dave

  9. Re:Nothing beats musical instruments! by Peyna · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Agreed! If I need something computer related, I'll buy it. I'll be more likely to find the best deal on a product that meets my needs and requirements.

    I would much prefer to have a gift that wasn't computer related, but related to something else I enjoy doing. For instance, I skateboard in my freetime, so skateboarding stuff is good too (Although, I'm picky about that as well, bad example!).

    Anyway, the point is that computer related items do not always make the best gifts unless you provide them with a full URL to exactly the item you want, but what's the fun in that?

    --
    What?
  10. What not to get. by saintlupus · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's Geeky and Good for St. Val's this year?

    I'm not sure what my girlfriend is getting this year, but after her last birthday I can assure you that it won't be any sort of kitchen appliance.

    You know, you'd think that if she said so many times she wanted a toaster over, she'd appreciate it more.

    I'm such a lummox.

    --saint

  11. Roses HOWTO by dschl · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Buy them fresh. Many smaller florists only get them in once a week, you may want to call in advance (today) to find out what day they get delivered. Of course, if you are waiting until the 14th to give them away, they are better off stored at the florists.
    2. Plan ahead. Valentines is peak season for florists - your best bet is to order a bouquet today for pickup on the 13th or 14th.
    3. Get Floritech or a similar preservative to get the longest life from the roses - they should last a week at least. For bonus points, get the florist to place a water-filled vial on each stem (called waterpicks, IIRC), to give you a little more flexibility in transporting the roses home / to your significant other's (SO) place. Rose care instructions.
    4. Buy a really nice vase which matches your SO's decor, and bring help your SO place the roses into it. Alternatively, you can get a florist to place a bouquet into a vase of your choice, as long as you can transport a vase full of water.
    5. Buy one, three, six, or multiples of a dozen roses - two or four roses look too symmetrical in a vase. Also, ask for some greens (fern-like green stuff that helps to fill in the bare rose stems) and baby's breath. Of course, colour matters
    6. Look into rose preservation - you can dry roses easily at home, and make a decent arrangement. Do a google search, but even hanging them upside down beside a window should work.
    --
    Slashdot - the place where you can look like a genius by restating the obvious
  12. The PERFECT gift for the special geek in your life by icejai · · Score: 5, Funny

    Her: "Happy valentine's day!"
    You: "Happy valentine's day!"

    You: "Here's your valentine's day present!"

    (hand her big wide, long, flat box)

    Her: (looks at the wrapping) "Oh wow... you got me a pizza

    You: "nonono! take off the wrapping!"

    (rip rip rip)

    Her: (looks at the box) "Oh wow... you got me a big box of chocolates

    You: "nonono! open the box!"

    (rip rip rip)

    Her: (looks inside the box) "Oh WOW!!! YOU GOT ME A RACKMOUNT SERVER!! Let's have sex!!"

    You: (air guitar)

  13. Re:What do I want? by spacefem · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm a lady, I run Linux. But I also think Valentine's day is RETARDED, as any logic-lovin' geek does.

  14. What I Want by PRickard · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't have any problem thinking up gifts for a significant other. I'm creative, I'm financially blessed, and I've had several decades to think of romantic things I would like to do. The problem is that I have nobody to do them with - thus my gift wish for Valentine's day: a Valentine girl of my own to share it with. Instead, I always have to spend all of February avoiding public places and changing the TV channel quickly when some V-day ad comes on. Oh well, I guess we can't all be happily involved... *sigh*

    (ThinkGeek would be bigger than Amazon.com if it offered mail-order Geek brides.)

    --

    == Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign ====

  15. A show of spine is a nice gift by ColGraff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a high school senior, I find I am completely and utterly lacking in anything resembling "nerve", "spine", or "courage". So while a statement to the amazingly attractive, intelligent, insightful girl who sits in front of me in Calculus (hope she doesn't read /.) that she is quite possible the most remarkable person I have ever met would be nice, it's out of the question. So instead I'm sending her an anonymous flower and card through the school "Valey-gram" program, and a box of the Oatmeal Square cereal thingies. Ah well, backbones are for other people, I always say.

    Enough with this maudlin Valentine's Day related self-pity - a high-caliber site like slashdot doesn't need the mumblings of a sappy highschooler. I say the best possible gift would be a Furby modded to say "Happy Valentine's Day" in as many different languages as possible.

    --
    I'm the stranger...posting to /.
  16. Re:Check out richdate.com by zCyl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Check out richdate.com
    Its where you can win 3 dates and money! its pretty cool


    I have 4 mod-points left to spend, but I searched, and sadly there is no +1 Pathetic.

  17. You don't regret your losses... by SatoriMan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    only the things you never tried. (I'm sure someone famous said it better, but you get the idea).

    Take it from a shy geek who is MANY years out of high school. I don't remember the names of any of the women who turned me down, but I do remember the ones I never asked out.

  18. Re:The PERFECT gift for the special geek in your l by TFloore · · Score: 5, Funny

    This would, of course, be for the girl that has a nice rack?

    No, I didn't even try to resist. :)

    --
    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is... Oops. Frank, I've got your sig again! Where's mine?
  19. Obvious, but it needs to be said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A high school senior. God how I envy you.

    The path from high-school senior to middle aged man is maddeningly short with plenty of disappointments, triumphs and lots of experience that really kicks you in the nuts.

    Make a play for her. Risk embarassment. The truth is that she'll probably blow you off. But at a minimum, you won't look back with regret.

    In my sophomore year of college I spent a lot of time with a young lady that I absolutely found the most breathtaking, wonderful girl (woman?). And I didn't ask her out. I spent 9 months with her and didn't have the gonads to just say "Hey, how about you and me go get a pizza tonight". how foolish. Funny how we learn about courage after we don't need it so much.

    And understand that marriage, kids, mortgage and career are just as effective prison bars as the keenest steel and thickest walls. You can't go back for so many reasons. You have people who depend on you, from the littlest baby to the people who work for you and depend on you to point them in the right direction every day.

    There's every chance I'm the pathetic middle-aged loser you laugh at. There a sure chance you'll be the same thing in 25 years. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt so much. And I suppose the rewards are worth it.

    Revel in your time. Have fun. Don't worry so much, you'll do fine. And just ask her out to talk. Movies are a bad first date, unless you think you'll run out of things to say.

  20. Stuffed animals are great for geeks sometimes... by grammar+fascist · · Score: 5, Informative

    How about a plush Cthulhu?

    --
    I got my Linux laptop at System76.