Geek Christmas Gift Ideas

Anonymous Coward writes "EDN magazine for December 12 has an article on Christmas gifts for techies. The best are a mouse pad that uses your hand as the mouse and Hokey Spokes (Why didn't I think of that?)." Getting desperate for ideas yet? I'm currently in the juggling fedex tracking numbers phase of christmas ;)

Comments

Tech TV

[kpdvx]

Tech TV has had a "Top 20" geek christmas list for a few weeks now. Good stuff-Told all of my friends to get it. And don't tell me you can't get Tech TV, do like me, and be a dishhead! Tech TV is free on Satcom C4 Transponder 12!

Re:Tech TV

[uncoveror]

Geeks don't celebrate Christmas. That's for consumer lemmings. Happy Festivus!

Re:Tech TV

[Capt. DrunkenBum]

Its a festivus for the rest of us.

Geek Gifts

[von Prufer]

Anyone know where I can get a good penis enlarger or a new home mortage for Christmas? I've been searching all over the Internet without any success.

Micro RC Cars

[Stavr0]

Tomika Bit CharG / Hobbico Microsizers

They're tiny (2" 1:66) Remote control cars that run off a rechargeable battery charged on the remote control.

They're affordable ($20 for a starter kit) and upgradeable (faster motors, better tires, NiMH battery pack).

Perfect for boardroom tabletop racing!

Re:Micro RC Cars

[BadlandZ]

You mean the ones I get about 2-3 spams a day that people are trying to sell? I'd not even consider them simply because of the spam factor.

Re:Micro RC Cars

[ism]

Actually, the ones I see in spam messages are the low-quality clones being sold by importers. They are usually not upgradable at all and only useful for parts cannibalizing. The Tomy Bit Char-G cars have both official and aftermarket upgrades in terms of gears, tires, and motors. There are also many modifications possible if you are handy with a soldering iron, as well as hobby modelling tools. Hobbico Microsizers are exactly the same as the Bit Char-G's and the same parts and mods will work. For more information of Micro RC Cars go here.

I can understand your frustration with the spam, but it would be unfortunate to pass this up because of that. Boycott the individual spammers. There are many non-spamming businesses that sell these.

Re:Micro RC Cars

[ShavenYak]

I used to have one at my last job and would drive people nuts racing it around the office while talking on the phone.

Is that why it was your last job and not your current job?

Hoonestly, what kind of company do you work for where you don't get fired for driving a remote-control car around the office? And is your old job still open? ;)

Re:Micro RC Cars

[DaytonCIM]

These lil' guys are crazy fun! My office used to play Counter Strike every Friday at lunch; until we found these lil' guys. Now we have created an entire racing season (16 races) and have created (with liberal use of desks and chairs) 16 different courses. (Yes we are true geeks)

Great great great fun!

Re:Micro RC Cars

[coffeedreg]

The Hobbico Microsizers are actually about $30USD retail. Target ran a four day special on them for $20USD earlier this month but that's over. TOMY Bit Char-Gs can't be had after shipping in the US for less than $35 or so.

Anyway, there are a lot of potential rip-offs in this market. The cars advertised at the mall or sold in spam that come in the plastic bullets can be found for about $12 if you look hard enough -- these places are trying to sell them for $25+

There are also a lot of knockoffs from Hong Kong that mimic the packaging of the official TOMY Bit Char-G. Make sure that it says TOMY everywhere on the box, otherwise you might get something you didn't expect.

To find out more about micro RC, visit http://www.microrccenter.com

Re:Micro RC Cars

[plumby]

Well our place had a 4 lane scalextric track in the atrium today, and my boss was chasing a director round with his remote control car a couple of days ago. If you would get fired for this kind of behaviour at your place, I suggest it's time to quit.

Re:Micro RC Cars

[Lumpy]

if you have a Walgreens drugstore near you get the Micro-ZXR el-cheapo knock off... $8.99 and you only get 2 frequencies... but you dont feel bad about breaking or modifying them... they are twice as fast without the body and if you double the motor voltage they are insanely fast for about 5 minutes... then they stop working. oh well :-)

Real X-mas gifts

[Tolleman]

What about the real geek gifts? World domination? A Beowulf cluster? Or what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[mks180]

> Or what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.

When that fails, a copy of The Sims Hot Date expansion.

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[schon]

what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.

I sure hope nobody gets me a girlfried.. my wife would be pissed.

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[slide-rule]

What about the real geek gifts? World domination? A Beowulf cluster? Or what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.

All possible with the appropriate application of money, but dude, you got any idea how much that last item takes?

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[Tolleman]

Multitasking?

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[ari{Dal}]

I wouldn't be so keen on waking up on christmas morning to a chick wrapped in a bow under my tree either.
Especially not when I'm considering doing exactly that for my boyfriend :)

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[mstyne]

Especially not when I'm considering doing exactly that for my boyfriend :)

"What, no Playstation!?! Jesus Christ, woman!"

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[mustangdavis]

> Or what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend. When that fails, a copy of The Sims Hot Date expansion.

This won't help out those poor, lonely people. All it is going to do is leave them frustrated and angery at the world.

Two worrds here people:

Pocket pussy!!

btw: I only troll anonymously, so just smile and laugh ... you know its the truth! ... and please don't tell my wife I posted this :)

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[Tackhead]

> > what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.
>
> I sure hope nobody gets me a girlfried.. my wife would be pissed.

How so? Tell your girlfriend you're with your wife. Tell your wife you're with your girlfriend.

Then you can get down the office and have that massive frag-fest on the company LAN!

Re:Real X-mas gifts

[drinkypoo]

ALERT TO ALL READERS OF THE PARENT COMMENT: We have seen the "humor" in the blurb about uninstalling wife before installing girlfriend. Move along, nothing to see here.

exercise??

[miltimj]

Hokey Spokes? Cool...

Oh yeah, but when do nerds have time to pull themselves away from the monitor to actually get some exercise?..

Re:exercise??

[Gudlyf]

That's how a bunch of us get to work.

Re:exercise??

[Greedo]

Okay, I looked at your site, and have a few comments.

A $10 monthly bus pass plus a bike can take you anywhere you want to go.

Sure. However, a monthly transit pass in my part of the world costs $90 CAD (roughly $60 USD). Until our governments pour as much money into public transit as they do into road maintenance and construction, a $10 bus pass is (unfortunately) a pipe dream.

In stop-and-go traffic, a fit cyclist can generally keep up with the traffic flow, so it's acceptable to maintain your place in the roadway. Hugging the curb invites danger as cars try to squeeze past you.

Very true. A bicycle is a vehicle. As such, it is entitled and subject to the same rules of the road as any other vehicle. Specifically, you are entitled to an entire lane of traffic. Don't let a car try and convince you otherwise.

Granted, you need to make some accomodations for the fact that your are probably going slower than the cars. But still, like the author says, don't hug the curb. Bike authoritatively (not offensively) and you will be safer.

Finally:

To help prevent injury always wear a helmet. ... Wear light colored reflective clothing, use a good lighting system ...

Not only are these excellent suggestions, most likely they are the law in your part of the world. Helmets, reflective tape, front and rear lights, a bell ... these are required.

Although I find yelling much more effective then a bell, but that's just me.

Re:exercise??

[ncc74656]

In stop-and-go traffic, a fit cyclist can generally keep up with the traffic flow, so it's acceptable to maintain your place in the roadway. Hugging the curb invites danger as cars try to squeeze past you.

Very true.

I'm not so sure that it is. When's the last time you managed to get 45-55 mph out of your bike? It's easy for cars to get up to that speed between lights. Meanwhile, I'm lucky if I can get 30 mph out of my bikeand that usually happens only when going down a fairly steep hill.

A bicycle is a vehicle. As such, it is entitled and subject to the same rules of the road as any other vehicle. Specifically, you are entitled to an entire lane of traffic. Don't let a car try and convince you otherwise.

You are correct about that...but would you bet your life on getting some random asshole to believe you? I wouldn't. I usually keep within 3 feet of the edge of the road, and I've still been beeped at and, in some cases, almost run off the road. (Then again, we probably have more ex-Californians here than you do. Dealing with them on the road is bad enough when you're in your car...they must be the worst drivers in America.)

Re:exercise??

[bfields]

I don't care what you are, as long as you're going with the flow of traffic. Spot the problem here: 2 lane road, no passing, 35 mph speed limit, and some vehicle (ahem) is fighting to barely make 10 mph. You get a huge line of more capable vehicles behind it.

This is, of course, what everyone is afraid of; in practice I've never seen it happen, and I ride about 2000 miles a year, about half of that in places where I take a full lane. A variety of reasons for this:

• With lanes 12 feet or over in width, there's usually space for a cyclist and a car to split the lane, while still giving a few feet between the cyclist and the car and between the cyclist and the lane's edge. Cars will still have to move over a bit, but they don't generally have slow down much if at all.
• On non-congested streets with more than one lane in each direction, it's rare for a car to have to wait more than a few seconds for a chance to pass a slow vehicle in one lane.
• In urban areas with lots of intersections and traffic, traffic on streets with a single lane in each direction is often not much more than bike speed anyway; the limiting factor is usually intersection capacity, and it usually doesn't matter much whether your vehicle is capable of 19mph or 90mph if all you're doing is rushing to get into the next line.

The case you mention is the hardest: a single lane in your direction that's too narrow to share, with heavy fast traffic. I'll find alternate routes to avoid such roads if I have to, but if I'm stuck on what I do is just wait for people to get stuck behind me and then pull over to let them pass; same thing as any other slow-moving vehicle would do.

Either go faster, or use your toy somewhere else.

Sorry, it's not a toy--it's my main vehicle (no car here), and most of my miles come from commuting to work or running errands. Not that I don't enjoy it; but recreational users (whether in cars or on bikes!) have a right to the road too. We don't expect car-drivers that are driving somewhere for fun to give up the roads either....

Look, most of us are just trying to get from point A to point B with a minimum of hassle and a minimum of time, and most road users--on bikes or in cars--understand this. There's no inherent conflict between the two modes, given adherance to traffic law and some basic courtesy.

--Bruce Fields

Re:exercise??

[bfields]

A bicycle is a vehicle. As such, it is entitled and subject to the same rules of the road as any other vehicle. Specifically, you are entitled to an entire lane of traffic. Don't let a car try and convince you otherwise.

You are correct about that...but would you bet your life on getting some random asshole to believe you?

I'd rather bet on the random asshole not running into someone directly in front of him than I would bet on him not breezing by me on my left and then immediately right-hooking me at the next driveway. The latter accident is more common and hugging the curb puts you at more of a risk for it.

Correct bicycle lane-positioning requires more than a slashdot post to do it justice, though; see John Allen's Bicycling Street Smarts (read it online or order it for cheap) for a good concise summary of the standard advice on this subject.

--Bruce Fields

Hokey Spokes-how soon for autos?

[Enigmia Man]

These things are future-scary. How soon before we see Pepsi ads on the wheels of school buses?

Re:Hokey Spokes-how soon for autos?

[Nevermore-Spoon]

The Craziest coincidence I saw lights similar to hotkey spokes on a chevy silverado this morning on the way to work! So I googled for this link that has similar lights to what I saw

Re:Hokey Spokes-how soon for autos?

[GlobalEcho]

I note those are battery powered. You would think they could make it use some of that plentiful motion to power the lights.

My Christmas list

[bareman]

Well, for all of you that are still wondering what to get for ME for Christmas...

Just make an anonymous donation to an open source project on my (or anyones) behalf.

Thank you and may the joy of christmas be with you.

Re:My Christmas list

[the_rev_matt]

If I had mod points, you'd get one. I'd rather have someone give a subscription to KRUD to their local library than buy me some geek toy I'll play with for a week and then forget about. There are a lot of great projects out there. Support them. It may be something some guy developed and put out there for free, not even asking for donations, but if you use it and benefit from it, send him (or her) ten bucks for the non-specific-winter-observance-of-your-choice season.

nah, the ultimate geek gift...

[ElectronicEnima]

the ultimate geek gift would definately be an early release of the linux nwn client (or getting it before everyone else)....

Greek Celibate Christmas?

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoops, read it wrong.

Re:Greek Celibate Christmas?

[freeweed]

That wouldn't be anything close to news.

toys...

[BobRooney]

Go to the back of radio shack and look for anything that resembles the inner workings of a computer...pick up said items and purchase for your geek.

Also, let me know if you come across a flux capacitor or an oscillation overthruster!

(shameless buckaroo banzai reference)

Re:toys...

[Cpt_Kirks]

No, and the oscillation overthruster has nothing to do with Buckaroo Banzai.

xmas gift

[sstory]

The best things you can get a geek are some non-stupid-looking clothes, and a course in how to not act like a doofus. If I see one more CS student with a sweat-stained Linux T-shirt, in public, making some snide comment between something and Queen Amidala, I'm going to throw up. I mean really. Some of these people make Comic Book Guy look like James Bond. Maybe get them a plaque for above their monitor that says "Knowing obscure Perl modules won't by itself stop me from appearing retarded."

Re:xmas gift

[kldavis4]

Who are these people you are referring to? I work in an IT department at a major university and I don't see these extreme geeks you appear to be referring to. Even if they are there, why the hate? What are they doing to you?

Live and let live already!

Re:xmas gift

[mstyne]

"I'm an elementary particle physicist."

No, you're not.

Re:xmas gift

[poot_rootbeer]

I work in an IT department at a major university and I don't see these extreme geeks you appear to be referring to.

Two possibilities:

1. No one you see at work is a real geek because geeks don't want to support PeopleSoft for a paltry $32K/yr, or

2. The geek is YOOOUUUUUUUU.

Hope that helps.

Re:xmas gift

[freeweed]

why the hate? What are they doing to you?

Beyond perpetuating the stereotype that everyone in CS is an unwashed social outcast, thereby making it very difficult for our student group to ever get funding... "all you folks want money for is to have LAN parties and Portman ogglefests".

There is a lab for higher up undergraduates on campus. Nice, high power machines. Poor ventilation. Cram 25+ unshowered people in there day and night, and see just how much you enjoy the smell. It's gotten so bad that I'm purchasing a laptop for next term, just so I can breathe again.

And no, I'm not making this up. Any CS student at the University of Manitoba is all too well aware of the legend of the Cargill lab.

Re:xmas gift

[sstory]

As my profile says, NCSU, not duke.

agh

[tps12]

Enough already. There's more to life than consumer electronics and parts for your PC. "Geeks" has become synonymous with "xtreme consumer." You don't need a TiVo (or even a TV, for that matter), or a watch that uses Bluetooth to irradiate your testicles (okay, maybe that's a keeper), or a new Palm Pilot for writing out next year's Christmas list. Go outside, read a good book, snuggle with a loved one.

Re:agh

[shivianzealot]

Hear hear! I'm tired of be likened to the dimwits in Best Buy commercials. We play computer games, solder, slap our heads in the presence of lesser mortals, and occasionally endure a full body dip in sun tan lotion to embark upon the outside world... and sometimes we buy digital watches to irradiate our testicles, but that is only a minor part in our lives.

Re:agh

[evilviper]

Go outside, read a good book, snuggle with a loved one.

I would go outside and snuggle with a loved one... but I don't have an extention cord long enough.

*rimshot*

Re:agh

[klocwerk]

As an anthropologist specializing in internet communities, I find it very interesting and indicative that this was modded +5 funny.
I agree with you 100% ;o)

Re:agh

[drinkypoo]

I understand that they're thinking about making the hitachi magic wand come with a 50' cord for just this reason.

Re:agh

[jhines0042]

Amen!

(Though the keyboard/mouse/gesture thing does look cool....)

minivan DVD?

[JJ22]

Best Buy has POS DVD players for $39 - any thoughts on what would be necessary to strap that and a tiny tv into the back of the minivan for a less than $1800 (retail) auto-theater?

Re:minivan DVD?

[stratjakt]

a dvd player (or a ps2/xbox), one of the LCD displays for PS1 or Gamecube, and a DC-AC adaptor works great to keep kids quiet on long car trips. I just strap the screen to the back of the front seat, sit the PS2 between the kids, and you're all set.

A good mobile dvd player would no doubt be less prone to skipping, but if you aren't offroading (ie; highway driving) it's all good.

Be warned: many, if not most, children will get carsick trying to watch a movie or play video games while driving. Whether you spend 2000$ or 400$ on your car entertainment center won't make kids puke any less.

Hokeyspokes

[jaavaaguru]

My first thought when I saw them was: can they be hacked? Can I change the message they display to a custom one? Can I advertise my web address on them?

Re:Hokeyspokes

[John Harrison]

The website says that they are fully programable. You can use the ir port of a Palm Pilot to communicate with them. So yes you can make them say dirty words or your web address. If anyone is looking long and hard enough to read the words though they are likely to hit you unintentionally if they are in a moving car. Other patterns might hypnotizethem or trigger siezures. Maybe these aren't a saftey product after all...

Re:Hokeyspokes

[Neon Spiral Injector]

I had seen in the Noah's Ark fun house in Kennywood Amusement part something similar to these mounted on a wall. It was just one vertical row of LEDs. They were blinking seemingly randomly. I looked at them for a bit trying to figure out what it was. It wasn't until I turned my head that I saw what it was doing. The persistance of vision as I turned my head painted a picture in the air.

Has anyone seen these wall mounted LED things, and know where I can get them?

I guess I could look into building my own.

A doll would be great ..

[ciupman]

.. a real doll would just be great ..

here goes my karma again ;)

How about...

[mschoolbus]

A few pounds of Sodium...

I could have so much fun with that stuff...

Geek Gift Links

[StCredZero]

• Valley of the Geeks
• Amazon Listmania
• Last Week's Article
• Another Geek Gifts Site

Vectron

[YrWrstNtmr]

Vectron Blackhawk

UFO-like semi-remote (wired) flying thingy. Before I wrapped it for my son, I HAD to try it out. Hard to fly initially, but very cool.

Re:Vectron

[Keighvin]

Just took a look at the site, and darned if that thing isn't tethered to the base via a PS/2 connection! If someone were to reverse engineer the protocol (as long as the power requirements are compatible) it could easily be computer controlled for precision flight and more adaptable messages.

Re:Vectron

[YrWrstNtmr]

A couple of things we'll be trying is a longer cord (PS/2 extension cable), and a pinhole video camera velcroed to the bottom, pointing straight down.

Why pay $179 for a mouse...

[Gudlyf]

When you can just get a Touchpad Mouse that'll probably do the same and be more compact to "slip easily into your travel bag as the perfect external USB pointer for your laptop."

Re:Why pay $179 for a mouse...

[poot_rootbeer]

Well, mainly because touchpads are garbage. They're the reason I started learning a lot more keyboard shortcuts when I got a notebook that had one.

Re:Why pay $179 for a mouse...

[al3x]

Gestures support, dumbass. Read the FingerWorks site. I have their full ST model (a "keyless keyboard," essentially) and it's amazing. Their technology goes far beyond simple touchpads. It's worth every penny.

Re:Why pay $179 for a mouse...

[William Tanksley]

It won't do the same -- this one can detect multiple touches, allowing it to act as a gesture detector as well as a mouse. In other words, it augments your keyboard, not just your mouse.

Read the page.

-Billy

Re:Why pay $179 for a mouse...

[tswinzig]

When you can just get a Touchpad Mouse [amazon.com] that'll probably do the same

Well if you read about the mousepad in question, you'd know that the one you linked to does NOWHERE NEAR the same! Anyone can do a touchpad like that. The cool thing about this mousepad is the gesture technology built in.

They also have cool keyboards that have no keys on them, they feel your fingers touch the space where the key is painted. You might be thinking, so what. However, realize that if you touch this keyboard with multiple fingers at once, in certain configurations, you can use it as a mousepad as well! (as well as other shortcuts that can be done with gestures)

These things look badass!

Hokey Spokes

[mizukami]

At $30 per blade, the text message should probably read "Steal Me". :-)

The Best gift for a techie...

[FortKnox]

...is cash. The cold, hard kind. Techies know exactly what they want, and if they don't have it, its cause they don't have the moolah to buy it. Don't sit and dream of what they want, cause you have a 90% chance of being wrong. Give me cash, and I'm happy. Who is going to object to cash??

Re:The Best gift for a techie...

[ch-chuck]

[this was blatantly copied from http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/check.htm ]

Gift-giving is an integral part of the holiday season, and one is expected to expend not just money on the endeavor, but time and effort too. To write a check or enclose money in a card is to distill the process down to only one aspect of the tradition, arguably the least important. One, in effect, puts an explicit pricetag on a relationship, making a cold but straightforward assessment of that person's worth in the giver's life. It is for this reason etiquette frowns upon the practice -- though the cash might be welcome, the lack of sentiment behind the present is not.

Re:The Best gift for a techie...

[Apathy costs bills]

Right. So if I give my girlfriend $150 for Christmas, and she gives me $150, then we have achieved what? Cash is a miserable gift if only for its fluidity; no gift should be cancelled out by its reciprocal.

the best gift

[tanveer1979]

In my view the best view will be "Kharma Whorer 2002, Enterprise edition" This is for the geeks who do not know how to/or dont want to post insightful/funny/interesting/underrated posts. So what happens. Their Karma goes for a toss. this software will see the slashdot main story... then do automatic googling... and find out more information. In case of the story being a repeat it will also copy the insightful comments from previous one and post them on the story. This will earn insightful points... And googling will get informative points.

My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[airrage]

You know, I'm thinking, Bill Gates has all this money and yet, he's probably the loneliest guy in the world. Does anyone ever say, 'Hey Bill, wanna go fishing?' or 'Did you catch Letterman last night?'; yeah, I thought it sucked too.

So this Christmas, as Bill is drinking Crystal and eating Beluga Caviar, I just wish Bill would get his little Christmas wish of new best friend.

So Bill, I don't know what your getting this year man (maybe a H2 Hummer), but I really hope you find someone you can really talk to.

Merry Christmas Bill...and Happy New Year.

Re:My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[bigmouth_strikes]

I think you got it all wrong. Filthy rich people always have "friends", real or pretended, that will say shallow things like 'Did you catch Letterman last night?'.

Think Osama Bin Laden would have any friends without his millions ? Mike Tyson ?

Re:My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[kin_korn_karn]

1 lexus per stroke

Re:My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[clarkc3]

bill's married and has kids - I'm sure he hears the 'Hey Bill, wanna go fishing?' from them. Well, maybe more 'hey dad, wanna go fishing' - but its pretty much the same

Re:My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[airrage]

Oh, it is so on...you are now my foe. If only I could figure out how to do that :)

Re:My Christmas Wish for Bill.

[Trogre]

Send him Linus to cheer him up.

Advertising not scary...

[bje2]

why is advertising so scary? schools already take money from soft drink makers (mostly Pepsi) to have their vending machines solely in their school districts...school districts advertising has a couple of possible benefits as far as i see...first, schools would have more money to spend on quality teachers, materials, facilities, etc...second, with the added income, the money the schools would need from taxes could go down, and thus taxes would go down...both of these are positive benefits to something that has relatively benign side effects...

Re:Advertising not scary...

[hrieke]

A Simpson's quote to rebutle your quote:
Troy: {[on TV] Now turn to the next problem. If you have three Pepsis and drink one, how much more refreshed are you? You, the redhead in the Chicago school system?
[a window opens up on the screen to show the girl]}
Girl: {Pepsi?}
Troy: {Partial credit!}
(http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F15.html)

Re:Advertising not scary...

[evilviper]

has relatively benign side effects...

Yes, generations of overweight kids, with diabetes and heart problems, is a "relatively benign side effect".

You know, schools could make even more money if they sold cigarettes and alcohol... Taxes would be lower, and that would make everyone happy.

Re:Advertising not scary...

[bje2]

Yes, generations of overweight kids, with diabetes and heart problems, is a "relatively benign side effect".

i didn't advocate schools selling any specific product...i cited an example that schools currently take money for soft drink vending machines...i also stated that i was not against schools using advertising...i never said schools should start serving McDonald's or Pizza Hut in the lunch room (which some schools do, and i think is wrong)...in any case, i just condoned schools letting companies sell advertising space...that alone won't be leading to "generations of overweight kids, with diabetes and heart problems"...

Re:Advertising not scary...

[evilviper]

Kids being encouraged to drink soda 6 hours a day is certainly "leading to "generations of overweight kids, with diabetes and heart problems"..."

When was the last time you saw a juice dispenser at a school? Juice is actually healty for you, but the companies that sell juices apparently don't pay as much to the schools as Pepsi does.

As for ads... I don't like staring at advertising, and I don't like the idea of a bunch of impressionable young kids being a captive audience for the highest bidder. The problem is that schools are government institutions, and attendance is mandator. If you don't like the ads on TV, you change the channel or don't watch. If you don't like the ads in a school, you have very little recourse...

In fact, the problems with our educational system run so deep that no ammount of cash alone can repair them, so I also don't agree that advertising money helps schools very much in the first place.

Gifts for Brainiacs & Gadget Lovers

[overunderunderdone]

Amazon.com has lists of gifts for different types of people including:
Gifts for Brainiacs (mostly books & brain-teaser party games) and
Gifts for Gadget Lovers (uh... gadgets).
Their Impossible to shop for list is also worth looking at (all sorts of weird stuff).

For your non-geek kith and kin here are all the other Gift lists by recipient

Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[flatpack]

Yet again Christmas rolls round, and yet again we get an article in which geeks across the world can indulge in willy-wangling posts about who wants the latest and greatest geek toys. Since when was Christmas just about how much consumer electronics one can acquire?

What about intangible things such as goodwill, family and happiness? I know these things are deeply unfashionable to modern corporate consumers in USia, but they're what Christmas is supposed to be about. Whether you believe in God or not, you should be spending time trying to make others happy, not indulging in naked avarice.

I'm sure this is going to get me flamed, but why can't we have more focus on how we can make others happy rather than how we can make ourselves happy, before Christmas truly does become nothing more than Giftmas, the celebration of all things commercial.

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[mccalli]

Since when was Christmas just about how much consumer electronics one can acquire?

About mid-1980s.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly!
I want WORLD PEACE for Christmas. But I want to watch the news reports about world peace on a new 60" plasma screen.

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[NerdSlayer]

Spoken like a true poor person.

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[sporty]

This will come off bitter, but hear me out before you just think 'troll'. The human race is flawed.

It's not about group survival.. it's about good ol' #1

It's not about good will to all man, but just so long as it makes ourselves look good.

It's about feeling guilty because your parents taught you better.

It's not about keeping jobs in the US instead of hiring in India, or having our president elected by a corrupt system, or dumping our electronics in China.

The people I love, and I care about, I make sure htey know it every day.. and if not every day, at least once a week. And if not every week, as soon as fesably possible. X-mas has become a cookie cutter holiday where everyone is supposed to be nice, and then go back to the daily grind.

When people start to change their ways, maybe i'll see x-mas as a real holiday, where we all celebrate as a reminder of the ones we love vs a day to nag our consciouses to "do good".

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[Kintanon]

Hey, when they slap some blinking LEDs on the front of World Peace I'll be all over that! Until then, I want a MiniDisc player!

Kintanon

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[drinkypoo]

Since when was Christmas just about how much consumer electronics one can acquire?

When they started bundling them with two packs of smokes. That's when I started getting radios and watches in my stocking, anyway.

What about intangible things such as goodwill, family and happiness?

1. You can't wrap that kind of shit up in pretty paper and put a bow on it.
2. The sales markup on goodwill, family, and happiness is pretty dismal. Not a lot of margin there.

They do try to package goodwill every year, it's called * Aid (Farm Aid, etc) but it ends up being concentrated smarminess instead.

Whether you believe in God or not, you should be spending time trying to make others happy, not indulging in naked avarice.

First of all, this isn't MY religious holiday. Hell, it doesn't even actually belong to the christians. They stole it from a variety of sources. All of its rituals have been co-opted from other peoples' holidays. Some of them came from people who didn't even see them as holy days per se, because it was not strictly about gods; Some of the rituals are simple observances of the beauty, power, and relevance of nature. Others are serious religious observances.

I'm sure this is going to get me flamed, but why can't we have more focus on how we can make others happy rather than how we can make ourselves happy, before Christmas truly does become nothing more than Giftmas, the celebration of all things commercial.

You want to see something funny? go see what bible.com thinks about the origins of christmas. "Should We Celebrate With The Christmas Tree?" is the thing that really got me going.

Jeremiah 10:2-4 (NRSV) "Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan; 4 people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move."

Then the article goes on to say "this is speaking of hewing down a tree and carving an idol to be gilded or silvered, and placed as a "god" for worship. This has nothing to do with a Christmas tree as you and I know it."

It's amazing how the bible actually tells you one of the actual origins of the custom, and then the nice people who write articles for bible.com tell you that that has nothing to do with the modern christmas tree. Pretty neat, huh?

Face it, Christmas never had the meanings it has now. Even if it did it would be a religious holiday (note "holiday" == "holy day", or it used to anyway) and I would be avoiding it in protest of the atrocities done in the names of Jehovah and Jesus. But now it's an American cultural phenomenon. Christmas is now the time when we overcome our alienation to our families, and go through the enormous hassle of traveling to meet them :)

There are many days of the year when we can be helping other people; in fact if we were all "good" people then we would arguably be giving more of our wealth to others than we keep every day, given the tragic inequality in this world. Why THIS day which is supposedly about the birth of a religious figure and thus about your relationship with "God" and not about helping those in need -- This has long been the message but not the primary activity of the xtian churches and those derived from them -- has to be the day when we help others is beyond me. Maybe we should do that on earth day.

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[sporty]

Given that it's not ever likely that people are going to be nice to each other all the time, isn't it a good thing that they are more nice for even a couple of weeks of the year? What kind of Scrooge are you, anyway?

That's called hypocrisy my friend. You aren't being nice for the sake of being nice. You are being nice because someone else or society tells you to be nice.

That's like brushing your teeth for everyone else's sake. You should be doing it because you want to keep your teeth.

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[sporty]

I don't think letting everything hang out is some virtue--the virtue is in being able to behave in a civilized manner, taming your wilder passions. I certainly think that hypocrisy is preferable to everybody just letting all their ugliness hang out in some quest for being "real". The "real" in people is far from perfection, as our decadent culture attests, and much of it is not fit for viewing. It can only be good for people to try to be nicer. I try to be nicer all the time.

Then there lies the problem. Is it ugly for a human to express his true feeling? Or is it uglier when the hypocrisy is revealed?

Should I act kind to all people, even those that I don't care for? When they comes around again, should I think of Xmas when I saw them last? What about before hand when I never cared about some to begin with?

I care greatly about my close friends as I've said before. Should I make others feel awkward by patting them on the back, saying how much I care and all, and then when I'm needed or most counted on, I turn my back because I'm truely not interested in their friendship even though X-mas has passed?

You, my friend, if you are as nice as you claim to be year 'round, and feel the same kinship to everyone year 'round are not a hypocrite. Is that good? That's not for me to judge. Is my not being a hypocrit for reminding those that I have no care for about the times I was in need that they weren't there as well as showing appreciation to those who I hold dear any worse? Isn't that a dual standard?

Re:Oh look, it's all "Me, me, me!"

[sporty]

It _is_ ugly to express your true feelings always. And to express your true feelings to people you don't even know. Civilized society is based on a level of manners and treating others decently. Doing otherwise leads to chaos and barbarity. Which is pretty much what we have in the US today.

Right, but who do we apply those manners to? If I have no kinship to someone, it doesn't mean I go around punching people in the eye. But why should I go the extra mile?

Am I your friend already? I don't feel kinship with everyone. I don't feel familial love with people on the other continents. But with strangers, there is a politeness and kindness. It makes life in society much more pleasant than a Darwinian jungle. It makes it civilized. Opening doors for people, letting someone else in in traffic, etc. It says a lot how you treat others, because you're acting on your initiative, despite your treatment, not just reacting instinctively to others' behavior, giving good for good and evil for evil.

Maybe our society (if you are in the US) doesn't know manners anymore, so it's assumed you should be willing to empty your wallets at every chance, or you're just a hard-hearted greedy person. I would say that's a bizarre cultural expectation, since it expects you to love strangers like you love your family.

Lol, it's a colloqualism showing I don't think youare a blithering idiot :) I'm not saying we shouldn't act civilized. Don't start slamming doors in people's faces, much less not saying excuse me when bumping into people. And certainly not throwing flamming paper bags of poop at each other. I just don't feel the same for people that you might.

Company x-mas parties? I wouldn't dream of going. I see these people everyday, why should I be extra nice just because one single day out of the year comes by? Especially when they have their own agendas and wouldn't even go the extra mile for me? Same of random people? I'll never see some people ever again, ever. Why act as if now they are my friends for life when it's not true? Worse off, why bother accept it?

Recently, a boss of mine took me and "the team" out to lunch. Nice gesture, eh? The same boss is trying to get my personal cell number in case of emergencies and tried to sugar coat it as "in case of..." situations that made no sense. There are a lot of people with agendas to either make themselves feel good at the odd expense of looking and feeling good due to disonance or trying to get someone else.

Maybe I've just lived too long and see too much BS being presented to me. :)

Denial phase

[codexus]

CmdrTaco may already be in the FedEx numbers tracking phase but I'm still in the denial phase. It's easier to pretend that christmas doesn't happen this year until the last minute where I'll enter the panic phase and be forced to go buy stuff. I hate christmas :(

Re:Denial phase

[richie2000]

What Christmas?

Re:Denial phase

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

It's time to change religion or start being religious if you not already. Look for one that finds it offensive to celebrated Christmas. This is you get out of jail free card, so to speak.

A real christmas gift...

[tigress]

Personally, I think the best christmas gift for a geek is... a christmas without computers. I'm serious, christmas should be a time for relaxation and spending time with your family.

I know for a fact that I will be spending my christmas with my family. Sure, I might bring a laptop to entertain myself during the trainride, but the christmas itself will be spent without any computers or network connectivity at all.

For you other geeks out there, please do consider giving yourself and your family the rare gift of time spent together. =)

Re:A real christmas gift...

[evilviper]

Hmmm.... That gave an idea... A nativity scene using PCs... Okay, I never said it was a good idea...

Re:A real christmas gift...

[drinkypoo]

I know for a fact that I will be spending my christmas with my family. Sure, I might bring a laptop to entertain myself during the trainride, but the christmas itself will be spent without any computers or network connectivity at all.

You know, this is going to sound pathetic (but you can eat my shorts) but I don't WANT to go a whole day without using a computer. Computers help us do stupid things faster and satisfy our curiosity more easily.

But in any case, like many geeks out there, when I go home for the holidays, I end up being mister on-site technical support. If I'm going to have to fix everyone else's computers, I might as well use them to my own ends as well :P

Re:A real christmas gift...

[richie2000]

Oh God, I can smell a crib case mod coming up. With hay fluttering in the breeze, sticking out of the fan and three Fedex guys bringing Athlons, DDR RAM and water cooling pipes while admiring the neon light in the east.

Note to self: Stop creating monsters.

Last Year

[stratjakt]

I got a NeoGeo Pocket, and a Flashlink adaptor and 2 blank cartridges. I had tons of fun boxing day hacking homebrewed stuff, and whatnot. Though I pretty much had to spell out *exactly* what to get and where to get it for my wife.

I'd frankly rather let people surprise me with whatever. A far as the 'geek' stuff goes: computer parts, video games, etc, I know what I want better than anyone I know. It's less fun when you have to give people the exact part numbers of what you want.

It's better to give than to recieve, so this year I'm giving the geek gifts. I bought up a couple of abandoned 'barbie' pc cases for 6 bucks, fitted them with Shuttle FV25 flex-atx mainboards, 1.0A Celerons, a chunk of ram, some dvd players, and am giving each kid their own media PC. One painted up to look like Scooby's Mystery Machine (for the boy), the other upholstered in mock leapord-skin fur (for the girl).

Another great Geeky gift type place...

[Tmack]

Think Geek

Lots of neet stuff, T-shirts, coffee mugs, gadgets, etc. Mostly stocking-stuffer type stuff, but some larger items as well.

TM

Beyblades!!!

[X-Nc]

I just got some Beyblades for my son who's birthday was Monday (he just turned 6). I don't know where they would stand on the Geek-Coolness-Meter but they are absolutely a blast. I got Dracile and he's got Dragoon. I haven't had so much fun in years.

I'm a lucky guy

[SteweyGriffin]

I just have to gush about my early Christmas "gifts". Even if they are from me to me - with a little help from a few "elves".

Last night I received a call from the one and only Lars...letting me know that the dagger that I ordered from Lundegaard in Sept. was being shipped to me today! So I should be getting this really cool dagger with a kris blade (dubbed shorty) on Monday...at work! Can't wait! Woo Hoo. Just in time for Christmas.

Also, I received in the mail today my very first Invasion danglie! I want to thank William Iserman for taking care of ordering the danglies and shipping them off so quickly. He was also generous and did not take payment for them.
Merry Christmas to you all. I also look forward to seeing many of you at Thursday's Slashdot Meetup (slashdot.meetup.com).

mod points

[JonKatzIsAnIdiot]

mod points

'nuff said

That's cool!

[foxtrot]

Hokey Spokes look pretty much like a spirograph for your bicycle...

Best thing for a geek...

[Apathy costs bills]

...is something that isn't geeky. Chances are a geek is going to know more than you do about sdram, a tivo, an ipod, a palmpilot, or anything else geeky you can get them. The best thing to do with the gift giving opportunity of Christmas is to buy someone something they wouldn't know how to shop for themselves. Shopping is a skill as those of you with girlfriends know well. If you know a lot about comfortable hiking socks or shot glasses, consider getting some of those for somebody.

In short, the gift you're giving isn't just the amount you're spending (otherwise, give cash) but the knowledge you have about good products and where to find them. The worst thing to buy a computer geek is computer stuff - the worst thing to buy a carpenter is a new drill. Both will object to you usurping their extremely picky opinions. Buy them something they suck at shopping for - something you're great at shopping for. This will vary from person to person.

I stole my father's old slide collection from the attic and spent a couple months with a slide scanner digitizing it. He lost our family's photographic history when he lost his slide projector, and I'm going to give it back. Over a thousand images from when I was growing up that he hasn't seen in years, built into one DVD with a custom viewer application so all he has to do is put it in his computer and autoplay will do the rest. Just one idea, but you get the picture.

Re:Best thing for a geek...

[Belgand]

I disagree. Certainly you make a good point as most technical gift probably won't be exactly what you want, but that's not all there is.

A good wishlist can easily alleviate many of these problems and allow you to give the geeks in your life the expensive toys that they can't otherwise afford. If they know you want the 10G iPod for Windows, a Logitech MX700 wireless optical mouse, or a Klipsch 6.1 THX speaker system (I can dream can't I?) there isn't a great deal of extra options or work to go into.

I think the important thing here is not to give tech gifts randomly. Check up first to be certain you're getting what they want.

When you tag along at the stores while they drool over hardware start asking some questions, most geeks will gladly gush about what features they like on this model or go into a holy war diatribe about this implementation or such. Just don't pick up something off the shelf thinking "it's computer stuff, they'll like it" and you'll be fine.

Re:Best thing for a geek...

[mgblst]

Just one idea, but you get the picture.

Surely you saw this? Anyway, a damn good idea, but personally i don't buy presents or accept presents from anyone over 13 years or age. I think our society is to shallow, and to product oriented.

Not doing Christmas

[EllF]

My family and I are entering the second year where we don't swap gifts, but instead just get together and enjoy each others' company. It's wonderful.

When I was seven or eight, the excitement of the holiday was "getting stuff", and if there were kids in the picture I imagine we'd all still do the gift thing. What's the point of a bunch of adults spending money they don't have on shit they don't need, though?

The most enjoyable part of the non-loot-oriented approach is how relaxed we all are. There's no rush to the stores, no fretting over our wallets, no concern that someone's been left out. Our only obligation is to drive home and see each other, share a meal, and talk.

I suppose it's a minority view, especially among the /. crowd, but I'm still really surprised by how many comments mention the stress and dread of this time of year.

Re:Not doing Christmas

[imadork]

We do a variation on this theme. On both my side and my wife's side of the family, we get together sometime in December for a big Christmas party. That in itself is a present for me, especially since my family is in NYC and that party is the one time of year I get to see some of my cousins.

But while we'll buy presents for the kids in both families, once you hit 18, you go into a kind of "secret santa" thing where you're assigned one person to buy for. This is good because when you only have to buy a few present, you can put some real thought into them. Sometimes, it gives an excuse to call extended family members and talk about what you might buy where otherwise you wouldn't make the call. It's especially interesting when I need to buy for an older or younger member of my family and have to think outside my generation when finding something to buy.

It gets Christmas back to basics with an emphasis on giving and not on getting.

Re:Not doing Christmas

[BlackSol]

My family also. This is the third year we have not exchanged gifts. Its fantastic.

There is still one side that does a gift exchange, but that means each of us only has to buy one gift.

I would have had to buy the girlfriend something, but instead I let her go skidding to curb last week - making me even more relaxed ;) (ever notice how nutty chicks get this time of year?)

Re:Not doing Christmas

[Belgand]

About the only stress I get around this time of year is from finals.

Considering that I'm an atheist to begin with and never spent holidays with family (my mother's is across the country and I don't even really know my father's side of the family) the entire point of Mythmas is getting presents. It's fun to shop and recieve gifts and without family there aren't that many people to shop for. Sure I might spend two weeks or so looking for the perfect gift for my girlfriend, but when I find something that really is perfect it's worth it no matter how poor I am.

Re:Not doing Christmas

[mosch]

My family and I are swapping gifts as always. In addition to this, we're planning to get together and enjoy each others' company. It's wonderful.

We're all successful adults, and it's enjoyable to spend a small fraction of my time and money finding useful, enjoyable gifts for my loved ones.

The best part of this approach is that we're left with little reminders of our family all over our homes and in our memories. I've received useful electronics that reminds me of the person who gave them to me, vacations which left me with lasting memories (and photographs) and all sorts of little things that show that somebody was thinking of me.

Nobody cares how much money gets spent, because that's not the point. Some gifts are worth tens of thousands of dollars, others have no financial cost at all. And honestly, I like the golf course first aid kit I received from one of my friends just as much as one of the all-out vacations I've received from my family. The important thing is that they took some time out of their busy lives to find something special for me.

Enjoy your non-gift holiday, but don't forget that it's possible to have a relaxed and wonderful holiday, and to exchange gifts. Not to mention the fact that it's fun finding those gifts that you know will be well loved.

Re:Not doing Christmas

[Snowdog668]

I almost had my immediate family trained to accept the fact that I hate presents for birthdays, Christmas, whatever. The fun wore off about the time I was seven or so. After many years of complaining they finally stopped buying me stuff... Then my sibs all got married and started having kids and started the cycle all over again :( I got married last year and added seven new nephews to my already existing four nephews and nieces (with two more on the way). Can't win I guess. This year I came up with a new idea though, I opened up Brightstart accounts for my brother and sister's kids. Now instead of falling into the crass commercialism trap my gifts are money towards their college education. :)

Re:Not doing Christmas

[sclatter]

I've been involved with gift exchanges with a boyfriend's family, and they were universally characterized by extreme *apathy*. Nobody cared anymore. Each person would just tell their giver what they wanted. Most often it was a gift certificate in the predetermined gift amount. It was like everyone just handed the person next to them $75. Completely and utterly pointless.

My family goes *nuts* at Christmas. Everyone gives and gets mountains of gifts. Everyone is excited about both what they are giving and receiving. It's great!

Shopping for that perfect Christmas gift for each person gives me some time to reflect on them, think about their likes and dislikes. I love surprising people with something they never even knew they wanted! It's so much fun! I would never want to miss that. Maybe that's why doing gift exchanges seems so totally depressing to me.

Yeah, I *love* Christmas! :-)

Sarah

/. Effect Solution

[bwalling]

This page is completely shut down. Slashdot readers don't like it. I'm sure the people whose server is down don't like it. Perhaps, in the next version of Slash, there could be a method of locally caching linked pages. I'm thinking that Slashdot should just mirror a copy of the page and include that link in the story, with an additional link to go to the actual site if the reader chooses. The majority of readers will just read the Slashdot copy, and the server will survive.

As much as it would be a benefit to the Slashdot reader, I think it should be done as a courtesy to the site linked (as well as their hosting provider).

Re:/. Effect Solution

[MikeBabcock]

A freenet-like solution that partially cached visited pages on individuals' machines and then allowed them to be fetched p2p style would be even better :).

Re:/. Effect Solution

[bwalling]

You're new here, aren't you?


No


They don't care about what they link to. They see the 'slashdot effect' as being 'huh huh cool, we can break the shit out of sites legally and get mentioned in the Jargon File for it'.

It actuall surprises me that with all of the fantastic liberalism around here, there isn't more concern for the websites that Slashdot just smashes into the ground. There is most likely a compromise between smashing them and caching them. They claim that caching them takes away their ad revenue. How many ads do they serve up while their server is down (and that includes their regular visitors who can no longer view the site)? Slashdot needs to become more responsible in this regard.

Re:/. Effect Solution

[bwalling]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!! YOU'RE A GENIUS!!!

Except for the fact that everyone from the lowest troll up to the grand doofus taco himself has already thought of, and rejected, this. It's even in the FAQ, but I'm sure you noticed this. (If you're still to lazy to RTFF, you'll just have to live in suspense.)

It is a weak mind that can't come up with a compromise here. The /. FAQ is concerned about banner ads. The linked website is not serving any ads at all while it is being pummeled by Slashdot. How does that help them?

If you want to cache it, then also include their banner ad code, so they get credit for the impression. You'll actually be helping them by doing this. No one ever seems opposed to using the Google Cache.

I want a Japanese TV channel w/real Japanese shows

[AtariDatacenter]

And Santa can't bring it to me. Probably the only one with the power to do it is an executive vice president at DirecTV, damnit.

RTFF

[Adam9]

RTFF.

Re:RTFF

[bwalling]

I'd bet that if you asked the sites, you'd get some that wanted the cache. They're not serving up any ads at all right now, and their regular visitors are being shut out. Sure, it's not a simple issue, but it is one that needs to be addressed a little better than the weak answer in the FAQ.

5 DVD set of Steven Spielberg's "Taken"

[teamhasnoi]

So I can play it 24/7 until March and pretend its still on the SciFi channel.

Re:5 DVD set of Steven Spielberg's "Taken"

[_ph1ux_]

OT but...

I wasnt able to start watching Taken every night. But I did catch the last three episodes and I must say that I am thankful that I only wasted 6 hours of my time watching instead of 20.

The ending was so anti-climactic that I felt bad for all the people who wasted all that time watching it.

Seriously, every show that has been on SCI-FI exclusively has been a dissapointment.

Dune was absolutley terrible (who cares if it more closely followed the book - its visual impact was sickening). I hope that Children of Dune does a much better job - at least I hope they pick some good actors this time.

Children of Dune will be the last chance I give that channel. Its a joke - have you seen the commercials for the DreamTeam? WTF kind of show is this? /rant

Spoken like a true sociopath

[flatpack]

Spoken like a true poor person.

Are you being serious? Do you really equate caring about things other than possessions with a lack of money? Or vice versa, that having money means that you can suddenly ignore things like decency and happiness? That's a monumentally scary attitude similar to that of sociopaths and other people with serious mental problems.

Please someone tell me that this isn't the common geek attitude around here.

Re:Spoken like a true sociopath

[NerdSlayer]

As official representative of the common geek attitude around here, I can assure you that having money means that you can suddenly ignore everything.

Seriously though, you're going a little too far. Though my first post was a joke, I don't think that decency has anything to do with money.

You then take it a step further, and propose that a desire for money is some how indicative of a whacko. While it may be true that money doesn't buy happiness, it does buy everything else.

If it's Christmas day and you have no job, the time you spend worrying about where you're going to go when you get kicked out of your apartment on the 31st is certainly no good time. In this specific case, money would certainly buy you a fair amount of happiness, wouldn't it?

I think the phrase "money doesn't buy happiness" is wrong. Money does in fact buy happiness. You do however need your health to spend that money, that's something you can't buy. Also, money has diminishing returns which people often forget about. Certainly your second Ferrari will not be as satisfying as the first one.

In summation, relax. The world isn't coming to an end. But don't discount the importance of money, either.

EFF

[cetan]

Give them a gift that keeps on giving. Donate money in their name to EFF!

Good point.

[BadlandZ]

Good point. I didn't realize there was a difference.

I don't think I'll be doing that this year though. My goal is high quality overkill wiring in at least 5 rooms in my house by 2003. So my entire Christmas list revolves around wiring bits. 2 high quality coax (DirecTiVo), 1 CAT7 (data) and 1 CAT5 (phone) in at least 5 rooms. Distribution rack in basement. Lot's of parts, lots of pulling wires, and I'll be happy when it's done... :-)

Puzzles!

[oever]

give puzzles!

You can have a lot of fun and satisfaction from solving these puzzles.

There's a belgian website with even better puzzles, but I forgot the link and and google isn't helpful. Look for Eureka! puzzles from Belgium.

Re:Puzzles!

[oever]

I've been trying to solve this one for a while now.

The objective is to untangle the cords so that you end up with seperate wooden rings with a single cord on each ring.

Well obviously that should be the case

[flatpack]

The people I love, and I care about, I make sure htey know it every day...

That should be the case for everyone, but let's face it, it just isn't the case for many in today's self-centred world. As much as we might with it wasn't so, at least at times like Christmas people are reminded to think about someone else other than themselves.

But nowadays even that is being lost under an avalanche of greed; people are using it as a day for getting what they want, and not doing what they can to make others happy.

Re:Well obviously that should be the case

[sporty]

Heh, realists of the world unite! We should just form our own damned holiday. Call it everyday, copyright and patent it. :)

Jumpers.

[Hank Reardon]

You know, those little things you used to have to set on motherboards?

I'd like a million of them, half the standard size and the other half the little tiny hard-drive size.

I can never find one when I need one...

Alternative gifts...

[MrIcee]

...I had a very hard time buying this year... but then I started to go down the unusual gift way. Sure, you could get mp3 players, pda's, etc... how geekishly boring. Or, you could get cool educational things that are just plain fun.

Consider these products from Teachers Source. That link should bring you directly to their magnetics page. There's lots of cool things on this page... but scroll down to the 4th item which is a Diamagnetic Levitation Demo. Now that's cool! Other things on that page are also cool, like the Eddy Current tubes.

Or check out their UV DETECTING PRODUCTS page. Those multi-colored UV detecting beads are pretty neat!.

The site is chock full of things that are unusual, conversational, and just play cool.

Note that the site is a FRAMES site and the links above take you right to the frame. The site home page is here.

Aloha

Do you want tech gifts?

[briancnorton]

I buy enough geeky crap ove the course of a year that what I really want for xmas is a clothing, personal hygine products, or books. If I want something techy, I want to pick it out and play with it first.

A life?

[Col. Panic]

Like, maybe a full-color brochure of the Great Outdoors(tm), you know, something we haven't seen for a while.

two words

[Xaleth Nuada]

*snuggle with a loved one*

Restraining Order

Socks

[TexTex]

How often are you going to actually run out and buy some socks? Never. Just look at 'em. They're probably raggy and in pathetic shape right now.

Socks. The Christmas gift I once hated but now hate to buy for myself.

A Little Shameless Self Promotion

[LevJohnson]

kcgeek.com just put up our yearly (last-second) list of items that we considered to be lust-worthy presents for the geeky and pseudo-geeky.

You can check it out here.

We promise the server will keep running :)

Re:A Little Shameless Self Promotion

[kiwimate]

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So far, so bad...

For that special someone...

[evilviper]

This year, do something extra special for the person you care the most about...

Kill something they love, that way, you move up a notch. :-)

3xAA batteries in a Hokey Spoke.. why not kinetic?

[buro9]

Hokeys looked cool, and OK I quickly looked at the price and considered it... but what it needs is better power source.

Surely this one is crying out for converting kinetic energy!

Knuth

[gleather]

The box set of Knuth's Art of Computer Programming (First 3 volumes) is on sale at my local B&N. As soon as I post this message, I'll be forwarding the link to my folks. Now THATS a geek-gift.

Strange Japanese Glowing Head Xmas Lights

[AtariDatacenter]

I saw this on Fuji News Network. I want some of these strange glowing boxes that they put around their heads and do some sort of performance art with. Actually, I think they'd look cool in my lawn, stacked on top of each other.

big dishes

[zogger]

--to get free or cheap big dishes, drive around in the country and look for them, then see if they also have a small dish installed. Chances are pretty good if they have a small dish the big dish is now yard art. Knock on door, ask if you can have it for dismantling it, or perhaps a small fee and dismantling it. It's Christmas season, people are up to extra cash in their wallets. I got one for just the asking, but alas the receiver was broken, I'll find one though sometime. The dish itself and the pole mount and tracker/adjustment mechanism are "neat stuff", even if I don't ever get the receiver I was thinking of some solar projects with it, or maybe some other wireless stuff. Don't know but I collect gadgets like that, ya never know when a project inspiration will present itself. Conversely if you can get the dish, perhaps ebay would provide the receiver cheaply.

Gifts for the working geek?

[phorm]

Aspirin, alka-seltzer, stomach tablets.
Perhaps some muscle relaxants, a gift certificate for a massage parlor.

And for when he/she gets home... I nice big bottle of 80 proof.

It may not be exactly what your geek was looking for, or even considered, but all those things will probably come in handy on those days when he/she is dealing with users...

Re:Gifts for the working geek?

[Capt. DrunkenBum]

Would that be a gift certificate for a massage parlor, or a "massage parlor"?

Re:An unsolicited recommendation

[BadlandZ]

Yea, I know, I'm trying to work that out myself. Living room needs 2 live (DirecTiVo) as does the bedroom (that's 4 total live needed). But I think I will only have 1 line live in each of the other rooms.

I'm actually looking at a wiring diagram for the house now, and I have 1) Kitchen, 2&3) Livingroom, 3&5) Bedroom 1, 6) Bedroom 2, 7) Bedroom 3, 8) 3rd Floor (media-room to be). So that will be the 8 off of my 5x8 multi-switch will get me 8 DirecTV feeds.

But I still want 2x coax on the 3rd floor, because the DirecTiVo will likely go there when the Media Room is done. And, we are also doing an addition off the house, so the 2nd bedroom will be expanded and become the master, so it should have 2x coax lines also.

Basically, I got the walls opened up, I'm just running tons of wire! Some of them won't be live for a while.

But, more to your question, I believe you can cascade some of the better powered multi-way switches. I'd ask around in the TiVo Community Forum in the DirecTV section if you want to know. There are a lot of guys who know quite a bit about multi-way switches there, and they just love to pull out these really cool graphics to explain them too!

Re:Completely off-topic

[kin_korn_karn]

thanks! if you did, we would have to say....

A WINNER IS YOU !!

radio shack/radios/emergencies/energy

[zogger]

IIRC radio shack is going out of the shortwave business. I don't know about transceivers though. With that said, they got some deals on shortwave receivers. Shortwave is both fun and practical, these days you got no idea when "normality" will change on you, in an emergency it's *nice* to have the option to be able to at least listen to some "news" that might not be filtered through some government propoganda FEMA control box that are installed at the commercial broadcast stations. Even better is to have the ability to converse. HAM and shortwave are very interesting geekish hobbies. So is "alternative energy". Tons of interesting and practical gift ideas in those areas.

Hokey Spokes and a patent WTF?

[abolith]

what the hell is up with this patent thing on the hokey Spokes? haven't people been doing things like this for years? hell I know I made shit like this for my own bike when I was a kid.
Does anyone know what they are trying to patent?

A real geek

[drinkypoo]

Has a wish list on various online retailers already, and they have for years and f'n years. The only place I keep mine updated is Amazon, because Amazon sells (licenses to) data, and data is something I cherish. Whether it's a DVD containing a movie, or an instructional book, that's what I want.

Note that I will not be linking to amazon in this message because this shit already looks like a commercial.

You can never really know what someone wants unless you spend a lot of time with them. If you're not doing that it's best to just find out what they want, or get them something you in general know they want. The things I have enjoyed most, however, have all been things I asked for by name. If you want to make someone think you tried hard, spend a lot of money. If you want someone to think you care (whether you do or not :P) take the time to find out what it is they actually want, and get them that.

You need the gifts for the TRAVEL!

[mekkab]

I plan on having an 8 hour delay, followed by a few flight cancellations, and possibly being shoved on a bus for 6 hours (I'm flying Northwest- and thats what happened two X-mas' ago ;)

So yeah, I can't wait to spend time with my relatives, however for all those hours that I'm sitting around trying to not go postal in the airport, It should would be nice to have a beepy-thing (i.e. some electronic gadget) to help waste some time.

I want an Open Source Handheld Game!

[Cpt_Kirks]

The gameboy advance is nice and the GP32 is better, but both lack horsepower. The Dell Axim is close, but even at $199 too expensive.

How about an Axim with the most expensive bits replaced? Replace the touch screen with a non-touch screen, the lithium ion battery with "AA" types and Pocket PC with a stripped down Linux?

Maybe add a chip to improve 3D performance, rotate it 90 degrees and put in decent game controls. Aim for a $99 price.

Just think of the games that could be ported to that baby!

R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

[jimmcq]

I recommend the R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid. It's a great little gift for under $80.

While it doesn't exhibit advanced robotics, it does have some pretty advanced features for a "toy" including infared motion detection, actual sonar navigation, limited voice recognition, and a beer holder!

For more details and pictures, check out the mini-review.

Nice stove for a cooking geek...

[cr0sh]

Not bad - but I still think if you were going to give a cooking geek a stove as a gift, the best stove to give would be a reconditioned O'Keefe Merritt - preferably one (such as this lovely cobalt blue stove) with a Grillevator (tm).

To be honest, I have seriously considered getting gas run to my house just to be able to purchase one of these (I am not really a cooking geek, either, though I aspire to be one - but my wife is. I just want one because they look nice, solid, and reliable - they look like they would be both fun to cook on, and beautiful to look at)...

Hokey Spokes -- too heavy

[GlobalEcho]

You know, those Hokey spokes look pretty cool (especially in the video if you haven't checked it out yet) but didja notice the weight? 6 ounces (170 grams) once you put the batteries in.

To quote: 2 Blades/Wheel look good, 3 Blades/Wheel look great, and more than three look amazing.

After figuring the marketing-speak you would need -- per wheel -- US$90 and 510 grams of rotating weight to get a good looking setup. Not a problem on farm roads in Kansas but I sure wouldn't want that kilo of rotating weight during my stop-and-go city commute. Which, incidentally, is otherwise the best opportunity to show those babies off.

I wonder if you could eliminate the batteries by powering them from some of that rotational energy. There would still be a performance cost, but maybe not so steep.

BTW if you are interested in bicycle lighting, check out these hub generators. I don't have or sell them, but they're neat.

The Blackberry PDA / Phone

[bjb]

I was startled to see the RIM Blackberry PDA / cell phone combination in there.

I have a friend who was one of the beta testers of the device. I personally use a blackberry nearly every day (at least I wear the darn thing on my belt), and not only does the large PDA version of this thing relatively suck compared to Microsoft and Palm PDAs, the cell phone addition is a bit of a joke.

You see, they don't mention the worst part about the device: to use the cell phone, you have to have the ear piece around. It plugs into the top, and is REQUIRED to use the cell phone.

With a regular cell phone (even the Tungsten / TMobile / PDA-phone things), you hear/feel the ring, flip it open and talk. With the Blackberry PDA / phone, you hear/feel the ring, find your ear bud, untangle the wire, plug it into the blackberry, then press buttons.

Ok, you could leave the ear piece plugged in, but you still have the issue of a potentially tangled wire. Ok, you could also be one of those people who always uses ear pieces. I'm just speaking plain practical use.

Don't get me wrong, I think my Blackberry is a great device for keeping a remote handle on my work related email, but the cell phone feature wasn't very well thought out. I wouldn't have really included it on this list.