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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 ;)
Give me a job for Christmas. After that, I can take care of my own toys.
I would subscribe, but I do not see any value in it.
/. would offer services like a dup detector for stories, spellcheck for subscribers. more technical stories (like /. used to), and if the editiors would actually post/interact with the users then I would subscribe.
If
Till then? Well their are quite a few other projects that will be getting my money.
I think an iPod (or similar) is a bad geek gift, since most geeks probably have their eyes on these devices already, and have strong opinions on what they'd like.
An iPod is also too expensive a gift in most cases, and since you'll probably end up with the cheapest 15GB one, you'll feel shitty if you go out and buy a decent 40GB one a few months later, selling the gift on eBay or something.
I say geek gifts shouldn't necessarily be geek-exclusive gifts. Independent music in a genre the person likes.. movies they've shown an interest in.. box sets of the TV series they like. These things are smaller, more likely to open their eyes, and more likely to be remembered than a gift that could be obsolete within the year (because geeks upgrade often, as we know).
Or, even better, something off of their Amazon/whatever-store-isn't-evil-today giftlist.. that way you KNOw they'll like it! And, even better, you'll know someone else didn't buy it for them!
mogorific carpentry experiments
uh. . . a good book?
--It's a special device that requires no memory cards, no special power cells, and can be used with simple sunlight.
But then that might be pushing too far for today's geek:)
(Say something in an Umberto Eco)
-[joke removed for your safety]-
I sent my holiday spending money to the USO, who will buy gifts for people that need it more than me.
Phone cards, and online time are the two big items for them this year
Because the iPod is a masterpiece of design. I have one and must say it's worth every penny. Just use one for a little while and you'll know why everyone is going crazy for 'em.
--- witty signature
I'd rather a mp3CD player for $50, ten CD-Rs, and the extra $349 in cash, please.
For the holidays, I want people to stop referring to solid state storage as a "drive".
And masterpiece of design? Besides the aesthetics of the material used, the interface could use a little work. For example, how do you get the backlight to turn on? I fiddled with my friends iPod for about two minutes trying to find a button to do that, and after running out of buttons trying to read the menus in near darkness before he told me to hold down one of the buttons (don't remember which) for a couple seconds. Oh, obviously... I should have guessed that.
If not now, when?
The iPod has a very respectable feature list, but at the end of the day, here's what it does:
- Play mp3s stylishly, painlessly, intuitively, dependably.
And no other player has been able to do it as well.Used to carry mine everywhere too, and then they started taking any tool away from you when you traveled on a plane - now, I have beg and borrow when on the road. Cna't count how many little screw drivers I have had to give up at the airport.
Home Automation & Linux -- now I know I'm a geek
I've made a start. Fortunately(!), my midi-tower PC died. Normally I'd just take the bits still working and build another, but this time I'm eBaying them all off. This still leaves me with one desktop PC - a Shuttle small form factor, so that's not so bad.
Next up are the laptops. I have four in the house, although 'only' three of them are mine - another is from work. One I've given away to my wife, one I'm keeping for me...hmm. Another ebay target then.
Now let's open my study's cupboard. Oh no - howmany universal power adapters? How many now pointless cables? How much RAM for older motherboard standards? Nope - off to Ebay we go.
Now lets have a look round the desk. Hmm. When's the last time I used that HP 620LX clamshell CE device? About three years? Well, you know where that's going then. And what about that Creative Labs 5.1 sound thingy, with the non-optical SPDIF that now nothing will connect to? Time for a replacement there methinks. Off you go then.
Now let's look in the next room. My god! Look at all the pointless music keyboards that are now entirely outclassed. Hmm....quite like one of them (a Roland D20). The rest? Well, have a guess. Go on. I dare you...
Cheers,
Ian
"ipod? ogg? bah! what you really want is a good turntable!"
Speaking of good turntables, for those who are not wanna be DJs and just want to listen to music, try the
Linn LP12
or the more afordable but still enjoyable Rega Planar line
To complete the gift for your geek make sure you include a small gift certificate to your local used record store
Also set aside an entire weekend of free time for him/her because that's what a music lover will need when faced with the staggering vinyl selection at Amoeba. Best of all, Vinyl can often cost a few pennies to a few dollers, far cheaper than CDs. And guess what, NO DRM!!! and NO extra money going to the RIAA (Assuming you are buying USED)
What geek wouldn't want to flip off the recording industry while enjoying a geeky vintage medium like Vinyl.
Vinyl does not sound better then CD, and many prfer the warm analog sound of vinyl to the harsh processed tinny sound of CD, but don't try to argue which is better, they are just different. Everyone has their favorites.
a good turntable? what your really want is two good turntables and a crossfader!
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
I made a lot of money in 2003. I used it to buy just about anything I wanted and had time/space for; the same holds true for material desires down the road. Christmas drives me nuts, because it means that my friends and family will be wasting money buying me more stuff that will likely end up in a closet or at the salvation army. My only really memorable gift from xmas 2002 was a Barnes&Noble gift card, and I still haven't had time to read the damned books I bought with it!
So how about everyone just does me a favor and gives the money away? Following are my favourite charities:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Human Rights Campaign
The Sierra Club
Amnesty International
Greenpeace
I'm sure, in fact I know, that I have left a lot of worth organizations out. But seriously, my christmas wish is that people would stop wasting money buying cheap asian trinkets and spend it on something useful. Christmas doesn't have to be a load of crap. Make it worthwhile.
Unless, of course, you want to get me gift certificates at the Apple store.
I figure I'll get an 'early start' and do it this week. 2-3 hours...BAM swoop in, get everyone's gifts...and out.
It isn't that hard...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I've finished all of mine already. ...then again, I'm also a girl, so take that as you will. ^.~
Bít, zabít, jen proto, ze su liska!
I have a Leatherman Micra
I had a micra on my keychain until those bastards at airport security took it away from me and put it in their big ``confiscated terrorist tools'' box. I wasn't even flying, just dropping someone off. They could've held it for a couple of minutes like they did when they took my phone...but no, I had to either have them throw it away or have someone miss a flight.
I used to always fly with my wave, and I felt pretty damned good about it. Nowadays, you have to be really careful where you take such a terrifying weapon, which greatly reduces its usability.
But hey, we all feel safer, right?
-- The world is watching America, and America is watching TV.
Pick any book by Edward Tufte at EdwardTufte.com and you'll make your geek happy with something that's interesting to read and beautiful to look at. Who knew the visual display of data could be so gripping?
My wishlist:
1. A wife just like Ellen
2. That my real wife doesn't read Slashdot when I'm not looking.
Congrats, Mr. Spertus. You've got a real gem.
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
10x700mb 40gb.
You're thinking more along the lines of 57 CD-Rs. Now add the cost of the helper monkey to carry that much extra bulk around with you.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Timex Bodylink
o Speed + Distance with Garmin GPS
o Digital Heart Rate Sensor
o Ironman Triathlon Bodylink Performance Monitor
and a Timex Data Recorder which connects to a PC and uploads all the above data for 2 second intervals.
I still feel I shouldn't need to be familiar with the manual to access such a simple feature, despite what my friend may or may not have done to the default settings.
Right. You should always be able to use any device in the dark even when you've never used it before and even if someone has changed the default settings. Sure. Even if there was a button labeled 'backlight' you wouldn't have been able to see it!
Best...comment...ever!
Yeah, I've pretty much learned my shopping skills from my mother. Her theory is that all of the truly insane shoppers go early (like the day after Thanksgiving) so if you wait until Christmas eve it'll just be the slackers who realize they have all day to get gifts.
So far her system hasn't failed me, especially since I tend not to buy people trendy gifts that are likely to run out.
Now, if only I could convince my family to celebrate Christmas a day late, I could go to all those after Christmas sales...