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Christmas Gifts for Geeks
scottfi writes "The shopping season is just about over and I'm always on the lookout for the cool geek gadget to get friends and family (or myself). What cool items are on your list this year or you have wrapped up for others? There are a ton of gift guides online, but I always like to see what the slashdot crowd would like under their tree." I recommend the Harmony Remote, an iPod, and of course a Slashdot Subscription ;)
1. 5+ MP digital camera to replace the 2MP I dropped which is now taking fuzzy pictures
;)
2. DVD Player that plays DVD+-R/RW and VCDs on both CDR and CDRW.
3. Both seasons of 24 on DVD, Family Guy season 3 on DVD (the divxs just aren't as much fun as the DVDs), and free tickets to LOTR3.
4. Gore-tex hiking boots (not too geeky unless you're a geocacher like me
- Pentium 4 2.8C ($213)
- Intel D875PBZ motherboard ($142)
- Two Kingston 512MB DDR400 DIMMs ($168 for both)
- Antec SLK3700-BQE quiet case ($77)
Prices are from http://www.newegg.com/I'm looking forward to a full Intel^3 (cpu/chipset/board) solution for ultimate stability.
Books:
- Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace ($12 new)
- The Principia by Isaac Newton ($15 new)
- Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith ($12 new)
- Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice in C (2nd Ed.) by James D. Foley ($30 used)
- Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (2nd Ed.) by Andrew S. Tanenbaum ($20 used)
- Design and Evolution of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup ($28 used)
- The Book of Numbers by John Horton Conway ($22 used)
Used prices are from www.AbeBooks.comScrew the Karma... Get a Neuros then you can play Ogg and transmit FM radio as well....
I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
Basically it like this
-rw: the most compatable format out there that can be read by 99.999% of the readers out there
+rw: newer and almost as compatable around 95% or so as long as your OS or third party app supports packet writing.
Firewiree s Music Store
Calendar
Adress Book
Brickout (more on newer models)
iTunes
iTunes
iTunesiTunesiTunes
iTun
Looks better
And its the bestest gift EVER!
Thanks mom : )
You can't take the sky from me...
For example, the swinging Tux pendant is simply adorable! She'll love you forever for it!
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Amazon's Early Adopters section has lots of great toys looking for new homes....
I have a Leatherman Micra that I end up using just about every other day... Lend it to co-workers all the time too... Carry it everywhere (fits on a key chain)... All the basic tools in a tiny package -- rock solid... I got it as a gift from the in-laws... Truly a great gift idea...
Platform independent bug tracking software
Or an iRiver iHP-120
* Ogg Vorbis support
* USB 2.0
* 20Gb
* Optical and analog inputs and outputs
* FM radio
* Microphone input
* Recognised as a standard USB Mass Storage Device on all regular OS'es
* Backlit remote control with LCD screen
* Upgradable firmware
* 15 Hr battery life (LiPolymer battery)
* Best audio quality on the market, and enough power to drive "larger" headphones.
If you ask me, the iPod sucks rocks compared to this little gadget.
I had the same problems, and decided to go with DVD+RW (Just for video, not data storage.) Dual format burners are coming down in price, too, so you don't have to settle for one side.
:D
An FAQ
Useful link
have fun, nothing like getting a new geek toy
Get a multi-format writer, and experiment! I did. Generally, I use DVD-R and DVD+RW. Those formats seem to be the most readily available. DVD+RW discs burn at 2.4x. Apparently DVD+R media are supposed to be more compatible with stand-alone DVD players than DVD-R, however I have had no problem with DVD-R in stand-alone players.
The writer that I have is a 4x burner, however I have only been able to get my NEC1300A to burn DVD-R at 4x a couple of times (yes, I AM using the latest hacked firmware!). No problem with burning the DVD-RW at 2.4x. I've tried about 3 different makes of media, and the ones that worked were about 50% more expensive than the budget disks that I have been using.
I can't comment on alternative makes of burners (Pioneer, Sony etc)
They have most of it covered, here.
Get off my launchpad!
I've had a complete console set for a while now, and it does make life much nicer on the gaming front; no more worrying about if the title you want is coming to the platform you own. If you've got broadband then Live is a must too - because everyone has a headset you have the of other players being much more social. Plus, when you're being owned by some 15-year-old, at least you know its because they are really good, not just because they are running on better hardware or running a wallhacked graphics driver.
You've specifically mentioned MM3 (which is brilliant, by the way) so I'm assuming you like racing games. If thats the case, then buy one now - Project Gotham Racing was possibly my favorite driving game anyway, and now the sequel has Live support its even better.
A lot of people will preach the joys of modding your machine, as there are all sorts of fancy things it can then do. I would caution against it though, myself - if you've got a decent PC about the only thing a modded XBox will do over that is play pirated games, which I wouldn't recommend, and you'll get banned from Live if you accidentally forget to turn it off before connecting.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
MOD PARENT DOWN for spreading FUD.
When a track is finished and it goes to the next track there is 0 skip. On the iPod there is about a 1 to 2 second pause.
Pure bull.
The iPod loads 4-5 songs to its 32 megs of RAM and will not skip unless you select a new song that is not allready in its RAM, then it has to spin up the HD and load the song, that takes 1-2 seconds.
If you let it run its playlist without interference it will spin up the HD 5 seconds before the last loaded song ends and load up the next batch without any pause or skip.
You can't take the sky from me...
Hordes of the Underdark already has my gaming fix for this finals rotation.
There is nothing wrong with being gay. It's getting caught where the trouble lies.
In no particular order...
- Athlon 64-FX53
- An Athlon64 mobo tha I can OC...
- WD Raptor of the 74 GB flavor
- A nice Cannon digicam
- ATI 96XX or 98XX card
- A muzzel for my sister
- Girlfriends for my geek buds that REALLY need a hobby (do I need to explain why GF's are a hobby to geeks)
- Two days of no phone, no family, my kick ass comp and uncluttered bandwidth...
Take care of yourselves, help your mom with her PC and eat like a videogeek at a LAN party...
A LED flashlight that will knock their Christmas stockings off. MAME fans will want an arcade joystick. Or if they prefer their classic gaming fun on the go, a portable SNES/NES/2600. Some others have mentioned Leatherman tools. From Thinkgeek, an LED binary clock. How about an Archos media player? Probably not geeky, but something weird like this a magic tree. Or lastly, and perhaps not least, a very affordable Shortwave radio for $10.
Your kernel is being asked to execute some binary whose first two bytes are 498B. This is a binary file but not an ELF executable; it seems likely that some program is attempting to exec a random binary data file or you have some filesystem corruption. Errno 8 is ENOEXEC, file is not a recognized executable format. You can track it down with something like this:
Save that asNow, will someone on Slashdot buy me an iPod?
And since I'm not using OSX and I won't be using iTunes and its DRM' format
Man this seems hard to understand: iTunes != iTunes Music Store.
iTunes plays MP3s, encodes MP3s, burns MP3s, and runs on Windows too now.
The iPod plays MP3s.
You do not have to buy music from the iTunes music store. You can rip your own CDs or pirate away on the P2P networks all you want, the iPod will play your songs.
I use an iPod, I do not use DRM files. That simple.
You can't take the sky from me...
Apple has all kinds of keen stuff for holiday gifts. I just bought for myself a 15" G4 Powerbook. Other ideas include an iPod (w/ engraving for that personalized touch), new 20" eMac, or even a DP G5.
Of course, you may not like Apple stuff, that's too bad, but if you do not, you can try Best Buy or Thinkgeek for some cool stuff.
Get me one of these
psnxdc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
You're right of course, it's not a traditional drive, but the fact of the matter is that retailers and consumers alike are calling them "Pen Drives", so that's the name that's going to stick. "Memory stick" would probably be a better term, but since Sony owns that term, and produces a memory stick product which is nothing like these USB sticks, that name is out of the question.
That's a direct-drive "DJ" turntable. It's designed for scratching records at the expense of sound quality. Good audiophile turntables are almost exclusively belt-driven to reduces vibration, and usually feature a glass or poly matted table. This is not the type of turntable you'd want to use to accurately reproduce sound.
Petzl E43P Tikka LED Headlamp helps when using the leatherman http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000 06LUMC/
I considered a USB coffee cup warmer for my husband until I read that it only keeps coffee lukewarm. I also considered the WFS-1 wifi detector, which is far superior to the Kensington model, but I nixed that because it doesn't distinguish between open and closed networks.
If we were filling stockings for grown-ups, I'd have gotten a bunch of Cyberguy Power Strip Liberators, which double your outlet access and are only $2.39 each. I have some and love them.
I was going to get my puzzle-loving brother-in-law a Shmuzzle Puzzle, but the U.S. rerelease, which had been scheduled for Dec. 3 on QVC has been postponed indefinitely. Canadians can buy them over the counter.
Some of the geekier presents I ordered for my nieces and nephews, all of whom are of course brilliant:
Slightly less geeky gifts:
Check out the ultimate guys' company: C.C. Filson. They've began making outdoor gear during the Gold Rush in 1897, and have continued to produce according to their slogan, "Might as well have the best." Their stuff ain't cheap, and it ain't stylish...but it's tough and it's warm. You can't beat Filson quality.
I own the Outfitter coat, with a moleskin liner. My friends have a lot of fun with the fact that I look like a logger, but damned if it isn't the warmest coat I've ever owned. In a year or two, I'll buy the Double Mackinaw Cruiser for a bit of variety. I also own a pair of Filson gloves, and a hat (which gets me more grief than the jacket).
They also sell a terrific laptop bag. Paired with a sleevecase from Waterfield Designs, Filson's bag is the perfect transport and protection for my 12" PowerBook. It's a beautiful thing.
My Christmas list this year includes a Filson blanket. Again, the price is high, but it's matched by the quality and the craftsmanship. This is a winter blanket that can be handed down from one generation to the next -- and in my family's case, it will.
I love Filson, so this is a great opportunity for a plug. Buy their stuff. And order their free catalog. It's the most masculine mail-order catalog you'll find. It's filled with stories like, "Your coat protected me from a bear attack," and, "I was wearing your pants when I fell through the ice, fishing in Alaska, otherwise I'd be dead." Great stuff.
crib
Please don't read my journal
All the geeks here should look into the Swiss Army Cybertool. I have used it to fix countless computers, and I never have had a task it couldn't handle. The range of screwdriver bits it has is great. I even fixed a clock radio with stupid Torx screws with it.
"Men lie."
"Yeah, about sleeping with other women, but never about bioluminescent plankton."
-Dan Brown
Check out the December 2003 issue of Stereophile. The editors chose the iPod as the budget component of the year. I think it may have placed in another category also, but I don't have the magazine on me right now. These guys are serious audio snobs. They especially liked that fact that you can copy CD's in full resolution to the iPod. You might be able to do that with other audio players too, but the large hard drive in the iPod makes it a bit more practical. It would be nice if Apple could build in support for Shorten (lossless audio compression).
I hear in some other countries, they don't tip, or gratuity is automatically added to each check. In the US, that just isn't the deal. It won't change either. Please try to take the mindset, that part of the price of dining out, especially for full service, is the gratuity. Just like a beer costs x$'s...so, does the tip. It is not optional. I worked through college waiting tables and later bartending...MUCH better money bartending. It's been awhile, so, I don't know the exact figures anymore, but, there are TWO minimum wages set by the US. The normal one...and one for tipped personnel. When I was waiting tables..was like $2.19/hr (most of the 90's is when I did this). And, the Gov. expects you to declare 8% of your total sales as tips. So, you are automatically taxed 8% for everything you ring up for a customer. Now, depending on the scale of the restaurant, and the heirarchy, each server has to tip out. In most low end, chain restaurants, like Olive Garden, Friday's...etc...you as a server don't keep all your tips. You are expected to tip out to the bartenders a percentage of your alcohol sales, and you have to tip your bussers for cleaning your tables...and in some cases, I've had to tip the kitchen...especially if they help you through large parties. In upscale places...your tip also goes to maitre de (sp?), the captain...and possibly others.
So, this isn't the case of an employer not paying employees enough. It is the tradition, long standing, of US food service...which takes its roots from way back to other countries. The mindset is, that it should be considered part of the cost of dining out to pay for service. The part that is good and bad...is that it is left up to you the customer to pay as you wish. My standard is 15%...for regular service. I rarely ever tip only that I usually am around 20%. If you are a regular at places...and tip well, they remember...and you level of service can skyrocket. I have bartenders when they see me, to make my usual drink before I get to the counter...ahead of other people in some cases...and just start a tab with no questions asked. Same in restaurants...and I live in New Orleans...so, food is definitely important....
So, try to sit back...and do a mindset change on this...and you'll find you enjoy dining/drinking out more. Remember that YOU are NOT the only person they are waiting on...usually servers have a minimum of 3-4 tables of 4 or more people each. And, they are human. Mistakes can be made...and often times...not by them. If the kitchen loses an order...it wasn't your server's fault, although they are the ones that catch hell. So, relax, enjoy, and consider a tip as part of the price of a meal. If the service is bad...and I mean bad, with bad attitiude...then, speak to a manager. While tipping should be considered part of the price of a meal out...you should expect good service...and if it isn't good...then your restaurant needs to know this so they can fix it, and believe me, in most cases...they do want to. It is very competitive, and they don't want to lose you as a customer.
And, lastly...it is not an easy job. If you think so, try it yourself. On a busy night, with 12- 15+ people under your care you have to remember everyones requests, who ordered what...what course each table is on, deal with little kids in some places running around and throw food, refilling drinks, putting drink/food orders in, and watching for them to all come up, timed right with table..do side work which most everyone is assigned...cash people out, dispense money...and try to smile and have a good attitude the whole time. It isn't as easy as it might look...and you have to be intelligent to do it right...most people I knew in the business..were either in school...or working on advance degrees....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
http://www.upcdatabase.com is one place to start, they have UPC codes for supermarket and department store type stuff as well as other odds and ends. But another exciting source of info was the Amazon.com web services API which I use to do ISBN lookups and they now also have UPC code searches for their other products. I wrote a Java API which can query either site.
Last I saw it was because of this issue that DVD-R was "more compatible" with stand alone players.
I too got a multiformat writer and have had no issues writing so far. I picked up a Hi-Val writer which does 4x -R/4x +R/2x -RW/2.4x +RW for $90 after rebate. It takes a little while to write the RW discs, but most of the time I've not found it to be an issue, since I just do other stuff while waiting for it.
If not now, when?
Oooh, I've been moderated as a troll, goodie.
i po d/compared.html
http://www.reviewcentre.com/review31485.htmlp ://www.zensbikeshop.com/
You want references? Here ya go....
http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~m.heijligers/
Distortion for the iPod is reported to be 0,42% (which is quite some), where the iRiver measures 0,04%.
From a C'T review:
Battery time of the iPod (30GB version) is reported to be 8h, the Zen 10,5h, the iRiver 13,5h, and the Philips 15h (twice as long!!!).
I won't go into the Ogg issue. The iPod simply doesn't have it. Just Google around the web and you'll find plenty of references to the poor sound quality and the low battery life.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/452/452815p1.html
htt
etc...
A digital camera with 5x or better optical zoom is a nice thing, too.
The Logitech Pocket Digital (~$100USD) is a nifty, tiny toy (the H/W size of a business card and 1/4" thick). Just don't expect good photo results unless you shoot outside on a bright day or in really good indoor light. The one I bought at a rock-bottom price is the older version - apparently the new one incorporates a flash. It's small enough to take everywhere, and is easily added to your daily loadout.
Come on, you need a really good turntable.
Having said that I own a pair of 1210 Mk II's and am not planning on changing any time soon.
-- Paul
[X]Digital camera - stick to brand name if you don't know what you are doing. Sony, Kodak, HP, etc. Make sure it uses CompactFlash cards and uses regular AA sized batteries if possible. One that uses those mini-CDs would also be cool (but is a little on the costly side.)
I'd advise against mini-CDr for digital camera medium. The file-write time is rather slow compared to CompactFlash..and in many cases, speed counts when taking pictures. Plus you're running into the reliability issues of cd-rws. A friend of mine has a Mavica CD cam, on occasion he'd have some difficulty retreiving the photos.
If anyone's shopping for a camera to give to a 'non-photographer' I'd recommend the Canon A80: AA batteries, CF card, swivel&tilt LCD. Plus it's got manual controls (Tv,Av,M) so it's a camera someone could grow into.
$cat
And don't get me started on dj'ing with cd's - something isn't quite right about that, the tactile feel of scratching just isn't there - and it nowhere nearly looks as cool.
And worse still, you can't see when the drop is coming up by looking at the grooves. The only real advantage that CDs have is that they weigh far less than vinyl, and that you can burn your own cheaply.
To me, the role of CDs in a DJ setup is as an economical replacement for dubplates (short run acetate records). If you're a DJ who produces music, you can burn a CD at home, then play your new creation in a club alongside your vinyl set. If the CD sounds good and the crowd responds well, you can get it pressed to vinyl. If not, it's back to the drawing board, and you're only out the cost of a single CDR.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
The 20gig karma is $290 at walmart.com