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Father's Day, Geek Style?
mstyne asks: "With Father's Day coming up this weekend, it's been put to me to determine what we should get dear old Dad. Pants and ties are boring and old hat. What do you get for the tech-savvy pop that loves new toys?"
Duh!
I have been pwned because my
Maybe Mother's Day and Father's Day should be non-commercial. Just let them know you appreciate them.
This weekend there is no Father's day where I live.
I remember seeing some stuff about these on slashdot a while back. I think something analog like this would be a cool present for my dad. He is surrounded by too many digital things. Plus people would probably ask him about it a lot and then he would be able to brag about his fathers day gift.
My dad is so into his GPS, it is a little scary.
He takes it everywhere he drives when he travels. He sails and uses it to navigate on the Water as well.The later models are in Color and Have downloadable detailed maps for local areas.
Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
Past Times (which has stores in both the USA and the UK) sell some really neat build-your-own crystal radio sets. I've bought a couple for friends and family recently and they go down really well.
Some Dads are not entirely self-centered. Go figure. Some Dads are even (gasp!) socially aware. If your Pop fits the profile, try a gift in his name to one of these: Habitat for Humanity Save the Afghan Children RAWA The Heifer Project Southern Poverty Law Center Adopt a Solar Family in Guatemala Palestinian Red Crescent Maen David Adom
I really hope my wife/child don't get me anything. I have very specific wants/needs. For example: a new power supply for my computer. No, not a generic, one of the PP&C 400 watt silent jobs. I need a brewpot. Preferably stainless. I need an outdoor cooker. I need to play with the legs to see if it is stable enough.
The best thing they can do is leave me alone for 24 hours. Barring that, spend 24 hours doing stuff with me. Worst case scenario: buy shit for me.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
my daughter is six years old, so you better keep your fuckin' hands off, buster.
-------------------------
A person of moderate zeal
Old geezer engineer types love the old-skool reverse-polish-notaion HP calculators. There hard to find but worth it.
Normal calc: [2] [+] [3] [=]
RPN calc: [2] [3] [+]
RPN calcs are really cool if you have a lot of parens in your formula, and getting the right operation order is easy. RPN calcs are basically a little stack computer.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
How about ditching trying to get your dad to learn 'conventional' emailing and getting him an Ericsson Chatpen (http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=ERIC_CHA TPEN).
This is win-win thing - he can write you as much as he likes and you'll be forced to reply in writing.
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On a related topic, Mother's Day...
When my kids were younger, the best thing I could give my wife for Mother's Day was to not be a mother for a day. So ahead of time, I planned a day trip with the kids, frequently out of state or far away in-state. In addition, I had a sitter arranged for that evening, and tried to have the house reasonably clean the night before.
So my wife got to see us get up and out first thing, then had the day to herself around a fairly clean house. Late afternoon we'd get back. She'd "bounce the kids on her knees" (do the fun mommy stuff) for a few minutes, and then the sitter would arrive and we were gone for dinner and movie or play.
She did the same type of thing for me several times. As the kids got older there was less need for this type of relief.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Everyone needs a TiVo.
I recommend volunteerism to you as a way to put a little perspective in your life. Habitat might be a good start - check out your local chapter. Keep in mind that although it's a Xpian charity, you are not required or even expected to have any particular religious affiliation (the local chapter in my neck of the woods is run by Unitarian Universalists and Bhuddists!).
We get enough grief honoring International conventions here on Earth!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Check out ThinkGeek.Com. Lot's of cool toys to tinker with. Personally I think the Binary Clock is cool.
...Habitat for Huge Manatees instead.
:)
obSimspons
(extra karma if you can name the episode!)
My thoughts exactly. My dad and I are going to golf 18 holes on Saturday and then hang out at the club house for a while.
As I've gotten older, I've developed more of a guy relationship with my dad instead of the whole father - son thing. I think the big turning point was when my wife and I bought a house and I asked for some help doing painting and such around the place. I'd much rather spend time with him than box him up a tie and UPS it to him.
Let's take a step back and look at the falacy of this "Ask Slashdot" question:
How could you have a geek for a dad when we all know that kids require sex?
A grandson, just three weeks ago. He doesn't want anything else.
(However, I did make a nice print of him holding the baby and put it in a frame for him)
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."