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Top SciTech Gifts 2002
Steve0987 writes "Scientific American has a list of suggested Christmas presents for the those technical people on your shopping list. There are a couple I might add to my letter to Santa." Um, I'd also like to add some wireless speakers, but the the coal from the Titanic seems a bit macabre.
The perfect gift is a job...
This frenzy about hitech gizmos makes me think about the introduction in HHGTTG.
A Soviet Whiskey class submarine.
Whiskey tango foxtrot, OVER
there *are* thinkgeek products on that site. you obviously didn't read it.
Sure, those pet tornadoes _look_ cute when they're small, but boy, they grow up - they grow up big.
Why doesn't the XBox section sell a modchip and linux distribution?
But I do. Even those people who come here just to bitch about this post went and read the link. Most of them even got that little lift out of seeing a cool toy they liked.
I think people cause themselves more stress and concern trying to complain about SPAM, then they receive from the SPAM itself.
I mean really, if something doesn't interest you...just go away, leave it alone.
Cocaine and hookers, and plenty of both...
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Technical gifts are cool; that microscope on page 5 is exactly what I was looking for for my brother.
But they soon lose their charm, run out of batteries and end up polluting the environment with mercury, Lithium, Chlorine and other heavy metals.
SciAm should also promote more ethical gifts, such as adopting endangered animals, areas of threatened land and donations to trusts promoting research in to disease cure and treatment.
It's cliched, I know, but christmas is far too commercial but I hope simple things like this can reverse the trend
Tom's Hardware Guide has their list up, too. Nothing spectacular, but looks like some neat ideas if you're stuck.
In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
--VonNeumann
for one one of these phones, so i can troll on the go!
I get that in my stocking every year.
Here's a better idea: Buy Nothing Day.
They have that covered too, at least if you are a molecular biologist. http://www.sciam.com/careers/
Dear Santa,
I've been a really good geek this year. I have studied the intricacies of the quantic string field network and built a beowulf cluster out of my old Apple II. I have also helped my school to install their own park of budget PCs and given classes to the senior citizens in our town's retirement home.
So I think I deserved that Terabyte HDD system I saw online [pricegrabber].
Maybe your elves can built it. I have some schematics for it. Pr0... er... pencil holder schematics are becoming really big, with the internet and all, you know, Santa?
Yours,
Geeky Geeks.
The ENIAC Demo Competition
Slashdotted already. Anybody get a mirror? This shiznit sounds cool.
...but it does get better.
I particularly liked the Cat-a-pult, though I'm sure they caution "not to be used with real cats". He-he-he...
This formatting is a little strange, anyone else think that looks like "this delicious 350-million-year old Trilobite"? (in the second paragraph)
As the linked sites are well on the way to a good slashdotting, this site http://www.scienceteecher.com/ has some corking t-shirts & ties, including the bell curve & pi shirts mentioned.
I would like a server that can survive a slashdotting.
I think Santa should give one to the people at Scientific American as well.
Sci/Tech gifts are easy to think of!
Now someone come up with a list of flowery/cute/thoughtful gifts for my girlfriend!
(No, really. I post to Slashdot and have a girlfriend. Incredible but true.)
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
Claritan(TM) is now available without a prescription!
I'm sure all of you have seen that particular piece of newsvertising by now. I think what is upsetting to most, is the realization that the news is not really so interested in providing information so people can make their own informed decisions but to brute force people into behavior with deception. (ie, disguise advertising as news).
You might think of the press as becoming some Pavlovian Theater that seeks to control the audience. And once that realization has been made,
you can't help but feel a little disgusted.
Well that is assuming that they transmit at 2.4Ghz, which I assume they do. Everytime Britanny hits a high note, the ftp connection to the warez site will drop. Oh wait, she can't hit high notes so I guess you're safe.
A grammar checker ?
I ran accross http://www.scitoys.com in an earlier /. article. Not only do they have some pretty cool items but they even tell you how to build a lot of them them yourself if you don't have the cash. I bought a Gauss rifle (http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/magnets/ga uss.html) for my boys. I can't wait for Xmas.
A Zany-Brainy exclusive:
Cause Kids learn best when they're having fun.
Pagans MC "Little Cooker" Organic Chemistry Kit (Ages 8 to 80)
Who needs a wimpy chemistry set when you can give your child a leg up on the competition with our super-fun crash-course in organic chemistry?
Your child will learn the Ephedrine reduction technique and the German technique to turn Pseudoephedrine into pure organic gold.
When the experiment is over, simply call the Pagans at 1-800-GOT-METH and we will safely "dispose" of the harmful end product and award your child cash prizes and a Pagan "Little Cooker" merit badge.
(Pseudoephedrine, rusty bathtub, and HAZMAT team not included.)
Nowhere on that list do I see a Cray supercomputer c'mon SciAm, it's the dot-com boom! Everyone has millions to throw around!
err.. oh.. scratch that.
Trolling is a art,
My two favorite endangered animals donation sites are the Bat Conservation International and Duke University Primate Center's Adopt-A-Lemur program.
Two leading sci am links seems to be taking quite a toll on the Sci Am servers!
Um actually, the microscope was on page four. If you RTFA, then you might have seen on page five:
- Adopt a Whale
- Sponsor a Big Cat
- Blue Planet (documentary)
Or are there specific whales/big cats that are not politically correct to adopt, and therefore don't count?
Karma: Neutered (Mostly affected by lack of balls)
The guy that has an army of green elves working in a toy factory paid with a whiff of magic powder is not really the best guy to ask for a job...
The ENIAC Demo Competition
All that i want for the holidays is college tuition.
-Windchill2001 The One, The Only, The Cold...
Sheesh, that's like for kids. If you really want to want to have a nice Ant Farm setup, check out my personal Web site for resources. At least those Ant Farms aren't kiddie type. You can even build your own. :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
For the geek you want to get outdoors, get a basic Garmin eTrex GPS unit for around $100, then point them to geocaching.com. It's a fun geek activity, but maybe not suited to all geeks during the winter months. I'd be caching this weekend, except that I live in NH and it's about 10 degrees outside. (No, I'm not a New England native.) During the summer and fall, I had a great time hunting caches.
Even if they don't want to cache, it's still a neat geek toy.
Sorry, but these "gifts" do suck. Most stuff on ThinkGeek is ten times better (especially those cars).
http://dtum.livejournal.com
That the top gift for too many /.'ers would be "a love life". :)
(yes, I'l take one too, Santa)...
Could someone tell me what is the message they are trying to get to retailers?
"Stop selling me so much stuff?"
"Thanks but I'll go shopping on Saturday/Sunday after Black Friday?"
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
The steady stream of security patches to IE have prompted me to disable scripting. That means there are way too many websites such as the rocket car which just don't render in my browser.
Unfortunately, as more sites demand scripting because the designer doesn't know how to design sans scripting, more sites become invisible due to more people realizing that Microsoft's implementation of scripting is fundamentally flawed.
Karma hit be damned, don't buy anyone a damned thing. Draw them a picture. Write them a letter. Fold them an oragami barn complete with animals.
I realize the point of this post is to be informative and this is a tech/nerd site. So be it. I'm suggesting that the best tech gift you can give someone is more of your time which, I might point out, is going to be spent working -- as opposed to spending time with them -- to earn the money for that runaway consuermism, optical, wifi, 3D, open-source imbedded OS GPS-capable caffienated, programmable biometric teeshirt.
Yeesh.
My
Limekiller
In the toy category I recommend the vectron blackhawk. It's cool infred computer controled gryo stablized flying saucer. See http://www.slowflyers.com/airplanes/vectron/vectro n.html
http://www.slowflyers.com/airplanes/vectron/vectro n.html
Haven't any of you seen Face Off?
That's pretty gross though, I don't think I know anyone that would want the face of someone deceased.
If they can do it with the face can they do it with fingerprints as well?
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
i want a nifty program that will guarantee me getting first post on slashdot.
and also automatically put where the capital letters should be.
Time Flows By
>Here's new twist on the time-honored hourglass egg timer.
>The Bubble Timer is a polished two-inch acrylic cube that
>reckons the minutes by the lazy ascent of a bubble through
>a tube. Depending on the face the cube is set on, the
>tube has three inclinations--and hence counts out three
>different times: ten seconds, one minute or five minutes.
>Invert the cube to repeat the measurement.
>bubbletimer.com/
First thought: ooh! Clever!
Second thought: My kitchen table/desk ain't flat.
Seriously, I do wonder how accurate these can be. The fact the cube is only a couple of inches per side must mean the slope is accurate to within a tiny percentage to get times of five minutes, however viscous the liquid. A couple of degrees out would be enough to really influence the time period.
Bah, I burn enough stuff already. Maybe not.
Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" whilst looking for a rock
Um, I'd also like to add some wireless speakers, but the the coal from the Titanic seems a bit macabre.
./ this is how rumors get started!
So there's coal from the Titanic in wireless speakers? Tsk, tsk
I stole this Sig
Does the bat detector come with a rabies vaccine?
HH
ps don't mod up as funny
My point is that too many sites require scripting without realizing that that choice means cutting off those of us who don't want to get bitten by malicious scripts, or gee, maybe even use Mozilla.
Don't buy gifts for people, any idiot can wield a credit card. Instead, build something for someone. Use Legos, use paper (origami, cards, poetry), grab that game boy sowing machine and make clothes for someone if that's what you think they want, but don't just buy stuff. Make it meaningful, and stuff. Something that you put time and heart into will be appreciated much more than the stupid "duh, i bought you this because it was 15% off, here's the receipt if you don't like it" bullshit that capitalist pigs foist on us for their own pleasure. Or something.
And while I'm being cantankerous, I have a grand idea: why don't we be thankful before we worry about Our (ok, maybe your, but I'm still a little confused here) Savior's birthday?
[o]_O
I would like my karma set back to a numerical score. I know you and Cowboy Elf are hard at work for Slashdotmas, but that is my wish for the year. I have been very good and not trolled all year long.
dr_dank
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Macabre... good SAT word ;-)
Have a Happy.
See Face Transplants on the Way.
All I what for xmas is one of those fancy "Rhesus monkey torture kits". :-O
I just hope that the one who buys it for me, remembers that the monkey is not included.
my sig
Before y'all descend onto the site to buy yourself a little radioactivity, Cash'n'Carrion WILL NOT SHIP OUTSIDE OF THE UK. Various reasons listed here
If I remember my nuclear physics correctly, Tritium (Hydrogen-3 (1 proton, 2 neutrons)) decays via a weak Beta-particle emission into Helium-3 (2 protons, 1 neutron). This beta particle, which is not energetic enough to make its way outside of the glass tube in which the tritium is stored, exceites the phosphor on the inside of the tube causing it to glow in one of several cool shades. As Tritium has a half-life of the order of 4500 days, these things should last a good few years (they suggest atleast 10) before the glow fades.
Advertising works because it makes a hole that you now need to fill with the product in question. It tells you that you stink, you're stupid, you're abs aren't trim enough, that you aren't dating someone cute enough, that you'd be OH SO MUCH HAPPIER if you could just get that new Lexus,
[...]
For you to argue that runaway consumerism doesn't exist is to argue that advertising does not work
By and large, it doesn't. When was the last time you paid attention to commercials, online or in conventional media? Do *you* have a burning need to buy that Lexus or palm-pilot or to drink Pepsi because the artist-du-jour told you to?
Advertising influences _what_ people buy quite strongly (by building brand awareness), but not so much how much they spend on buying things. It represents corporations slugging it out with each other to make sure that the money that will be spent, will be spent on them.
A high-tier executive may spend most of their money on frivolous items. The rest of us spend most of it on things that are necessities (rent/mortgage, food) or things that do substantially increase our quality of life (getting a car instead of using public transit, eating a fancy meal, going to a movie).
Your argument that we'd be much happier making half as much money and kicking our "addiction" assumes that most of our money is spent on things that do not contribute to our happiness. This does not appear to be the case for most people.
Thus, your arguments do not seem to apply.
[Yes, OK, I know, it's still not quite big enough to launch cats. But you could launch kittens.]
[And no, I'm not really that disturbed. Probably.]
A home nuclear reactor kit complete with Boy Scout merit badge.
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
OK here is the link I meant to include in the prior post. Will remeber to always preview before posting...
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
A cancellation of one's subscription to _Scientific American_. The magazine has become complete pap. No "Amateur Scientist", no "Mathematical Recreations", no "Computer Recreations", no Phil Morrison, no James Burke. They booted James Burke for wossisname Shermer? What the f. is this, _Scientific American_ or "Skeptical Enquirer"?
A hearty "up yours" to anyone on the SciAm publication staff out there. To the rest of you, have a good Thanksgiving.
hyacinthus.
Do I have to spell it out for you all?
SEGWAY!
Robert Anton Wilson
The exact same remote control watch that thinkgeek sells for $39.99 is available for half the price at RadioShack. And you thought there was no reason to go there anymore :)
Drug Lab Equipment from http://www.scientificsonline.com/ Help fight terrorism by showing those children featured in commercials on how they can make their own drugs. No longer will poor little Sarah have to feel guilty about how she funded some evil Drug Cartel when she got her last fix...... Errrrrr, Maybe not :)
SuperGlue
Home wine making kits are another good one - full of all types of uses for geek toys like hydrometers, pH meters, hand refractometers, etc.
Note to USAians: Your right to brew at home is embedded in the US Constitution. Celebrate our freedom loving country by brewing your own.
If your children ever found out how lame you are, they'd murder you in your sleep
From the site:
"Cat-A-Pults
Watch mechanics in action as Newton the foam cat flies from one catapult to the next. This set contains five catapults, each with 25 adjustment settings to control the cat's trajectory up to distances of eight feet, and 10 actual Newtons, for a total of 90 feline lives."
First, I didn't see the word "foam".
Some years ago two guys built a full scale trebuchet big enough to launch VW beetles, dead cows. After launching nearly anything and everything they or anyone they knew could think of, they got bore and were looking to sell it to a new home. Like I said, that was a few years ago, so maybe it's on the market again.
Me, I'd like to get some leaf springs and javelins and make a whomping big crossbow.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
With 20 or 30 people that I wish to present with a little something I have not got the time to DIY my gifts.
Get real.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
... check it out here. It costs less than an hundred bucks and all the data is saved with a few perl scripts and mySQL.
Live web cams
Definately designer drugs, coke is like, so twentieth century. Maybe a genetically reengineered Ellen Feiss. "I was dropping this acid, and it was like, really good, and then it went beep beep bip... it was kinda.... a bummer.
Oh good grief. Are you that anal? You said in another post that you are not in the habit of dismissing people outhand, but now you've done it twice. First to the other guy and now to me. When you have real life discussions do you just wave people off if they don't follow the standard form of convseration that you have setup in your own mind? Or is it just a cop out? Someone who erks you in that tiny way couldn't possibly have any valid points to discuss could they?
It just sounds too convienent. You don't want to truly discuss anything so you find very insignificant reasons to ignore what other people say. If you truly don't want to talk about something, why you post to a web forum such as Slashdot is beyond me. Its not like I am some random troll posting l33t sp34k, hurling obsceneties or ACSII art in response to what you write. Furthermore the point of discussion should not be reduced to simply aiming to change the point of view, opinion or thinking of the other person. If you can't discuss something without such an alterior motive then quit discussing anything at all. But I guess whatever standards of conversation you have just can't be met by us poor minded simple folk who simply cannot resist advertising. Did it EVER occur to you that I never meant that you said people work 80 hours a week, but that I was just pointing out that most people work a lot less? And you're the one talking about hitting reply and ranting without thinking? Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
http://www.fu-fme.com/
:-)
Well, sure some extraordiary gift, but sure something that's not in every house
You've criticized my Ellen Feiss reference(EF 4eva) but you quote LA punk songs from the early eighties, from a band that became hip-hop, before breaking up. I smite you in the name of Feiss!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_bloc
When you are young, you enjoy a sustained illusion that sooner or later
something marvelous is going to happen, that you are going to transcend
your parents' limitations... At the same time, you feel sure that in all
the wilderness of possibility; in all the forests of opinion, there is a
vital something that can be known -- known and grasped. That we will
eventually know it, and convert the whole mystery into a coherent
narrative. So that then one's true life -- the point of everything --
will emerge from the mist into a pure light, into total comprehension.
But it isn't like that at all. But if it isn't, where did the idea come
from, to torture and unsettle us?
-- Brian Aldiss, "Helliconia Summer"
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