Slashdot Mirror
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 ;)
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 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)
A few pounds of Sodium...
I could have so much fun with that stuff...
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
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
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 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...
Lasers Controlled Games!
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. =)
...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
Give them a gift that keeps on giving. Donate money in their name to EFF!
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!