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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 ;)
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!
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.
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!
What about the real geek gifts? World domination? A Beowulf cluster? Or what all geeks are in need of. A girlfriend.
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.
the ultimate geek gift would definately be an early release of the linux nwn client (or getting it before everyone else)....
Whoops, read it wrong.
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."
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.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
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?
Follow me
here goes my karma again ;)
I fuse with Mercer every single day...
A few pounds of Sodium...
I could have so much fun with that stuff...
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.
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."
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...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??
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
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 Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
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.
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
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...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
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
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.
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
I have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence. Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1845
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 :(
True warriors use the Klingon Google
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.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
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. =)
That's how a bunch of us get to work.
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mod points
'nuff said
...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.
Kill Trolls Dead. Here's
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.
We who were living are now dying
With a little patience
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.
Give them a gift that keeps on giving. Donate money in their name to EFF!
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
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.
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
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.
People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.
--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.
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...
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