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Yet Another Holiday Gift Guide
ptorrone writes "I was tired of seeing all the gift guides that had a lot of useless junk, since I work at MAKE Magazine I thought I'd try another approach and write a gift guide for holidays that might be useful for people that like to make stuff." Most of the stuff here is under a hundred bucks. There are many great ideas in there that could get you on your way to some stupid hack.
I think my family would be upset if I gave them makefiles for their gifts instead of the gifts themselves... :P
Join the Empire! http://www.empirereborn.net/
TheOpenCD download - a few cents of ISP bills
Blank CD - dimes or less
Not having to disinfect my relative's PCs every few months - priceless
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The 3rd Generation Ipod idea is great. I still have my 3G. Besides looking awesome (completley white in the front with ALL touch-sensitive buttons. It also looks bad ass when the backlight is on because the buttons glow red) it was the Linux Project's origional goal.
My mom said she wanted something for Christmas that would make her happy, I'm planning to build a dopamine molecule with toothsticks.
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I was tired of seeing all the gift guides that had a lot of useless junk
me too, I just didnt expect to find one on slashdot , cheers Taco!
serenity now!
Christmas Projector: $10
1/2 Roll Duct Tape: $2
Leftover Wires: $0
Fooling the World: PRICELESS!
Cost me a LOT more $$$ this time around (the webcams are a grand apiece), but hey, at least it is real this time. And note that theme for 2005 is Christmas Lights for Celiac as I try to raise money for the University of Maryland to find a cure for this malady.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
...not to buy a crappy present.
What part of that was a question?
For example, this is neat.
A variable 40W grounded soldering iron with replaceable element and a 0.8mm tip? FOR $35?! Where do I sign up?
Maybe not for true professionals, but even this would be a nice iron for just thier home projects. I already have a dual-tempreture Radio Shack, but I want to give this to myself for Christmas.
Anyone know how the Griffin SmartDeck works? It appears to be a cassette deck adaptor that can respond to (changes in tension?) cassette deck commands, and relay them to an iPod.
The iPod shuffle (and the even cheaper thumbdrive form-factor MP3 players with drag-and-drop) is proof that you don't need much internal space to make an MP3 player.
Once upon a time, the Mobiblu folks (yeah, the same guys who did the 1-inch-cube MP3 player) built a player into the form of a cassette adaptor.
I'd like to wedge the Griffin SmartDeck's ability to use the tape player's controls into the form factor of the MobiBLU DAH-220 form factor, perhaps with the buttons carved into the shell of the "tape". No staticy FM-adaptor stuff. No dangly wires.
Something like this (or the sequel, here), but without the problems that caused this guy to give up and end up with a more dangly solution?
As far as I can tell, some tape decks respond well to this sort of treatment, and some require that the tape adaptor have the full-size gears/etc. to maintain proper tension.
The ideal product would fit in the tape's form factor, and use the tape's built-in buttons. No need to teach the old dogs any new tricks - it'd just work like a 900-minute cassette tape capable of infinitely-fast fast-forward/rewind, that would never break. (Every 5-10 hours, you'd eject the "tape", carry it inside with you, and recharge it (and fiddle with the music on it) by means of USB.)
Anyone ever tried this, and if so, how far did you get?
The coolest gadget I have seen so far this Christmas is this USB Rocket Launcher. I had picked one up in the shop before I remembered that I live on my own and I've got no-one to shoot them at!
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
After which you will be left alone to beat your own whackin' stick!