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Gadgets For a Budding Geek?
fprintf writes "As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like my 13-year-old son is following in my footsteps and preferring interesting, science-based toys. In the past he has been really interested in Lava Lamps, Newton's Cradle, and anything magnetic. It seems the knick-knacks that have generated the most interest were small and relatively inexpensive. For example, a small laser pointer keychain I bought him a couple of years ago still provides tons of entertainment. Yesterday I showed him ThinkGeek and he really liked the Levitron. I wanted to ask the Slashdot crowd what were some other really neat, interesting gadgets? Is there anything cool in the under-$50 range that you would like in your stocking this year?"
I love getting things from ThinkGeek.com They have "toys" and stuff for all ages.
Just looking at this tonight: Horizon fuel cell's hydrogen r/c car kit and retrofit for larger models... http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/store/h2go.htm As a kid I loved building my own R/C cars, this would have been amazing to have!
Assuming sufficient and sufficiently geeky parental involvement, there are lots of cool things from United Nuclear. http://www.unitednuclear.com/
A collection of the smaller magnets and some ferrofluid are a pretty good combination. Ferrofluid has aproximatly the same danger and potential for mess as old engine oil, so depending on the kid you might need to supervise it. A variety of magnets also add variety to a ROMP set. http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?eid=EID02&pn=3082172
You might also try throwing some mechanical puzzles at him. One that I particularly like can be found at http://stores.brilliantpuzzles.com/-strse-212/Internal-Combustion-Metal-Puzzle/Detail.bok but there are many.
When I was that age, which was about 10 years ago, I built my first computer. I was also tinkering with the infamous 'bread board' circuit test beds and random resistors and chips that I could get my hands on.
I would have loved to have a subscription to something so amazing as the Make Magazine at that time. It has some amazing bits in it about almost anything that I could ever have wanted to do or make. Besides that, it would have allowed me to find out about some crazier things to do in your own kitchen or garage to make something fun long before I would have played with it at school or college.
All in all, I can't recommend Make Magazine highly enough.
Communism will never work. People LIKE to own things.
it is a great way to get creative and it teaches basic programming skills
Model rockets are still pretty amazing, and pretty cheap. Just keep the engines until you're ready to use them. I would have killed for a radio controlled helicopter as a kid, and they're darned affordable these days.
For video games, Mindrover is still a programming and logic classic.
The ______ Agenda
the very best mechanical- and engineering-oriented building sets are still Fischer Technik (sometimes spelled here with no space). Made in Germany for decades, and still being made with new kits updated all the time, Herr Fischer designed the best engineering building blocks on the market today. They are still being made, and are often used by universities for mechanical and computer engineering projects.
These kits make Lego Technics and Erector building sets -- even the new ones -- look like, well, child's play. But they are not cheap.
You can often find used Fischer Technik kits on ebay, some of them 30 years old, for sale at a good price. Even at 30, if they are not abused they are quite usable. (I know, because I bought some and use them.) Unlike some other building sets, there is no shortage of replacement or add-on parts.
There are sets that go from basic building, like bridges and little toy push cars, to electric motors and pneumatic controls (compressor, air tank, air pistons, etc.!), R/C vehicles, and all the way up to computer control with feedback. The main direct-buy sites in the U.S. are: http://www.fischertechnik.com/ and http://www.studica.com/Fischertechnik/ but don't forget to look on eBay.
You will not be disappointed by the quality.
AND... you might also enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw
When I was a kid I loved my 50-in-One Electronics Kit from Rat Shack. They still make some kits: Electronics Learning Lab although I don't know if a 13-year-old would care as much as a 10-year-old.
Here's their kit category: http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032398
I see they have one that also includes a Basic Stamp. Or maybe it would better complement an Arduino.
John
I just clicked that link at work! You could have warned me at least!
The Mirage optical illusion is pretty amazing. I have it, and a Levitron, and while they're both really amazing for a while, there's not a lot of stuff to keep doing with them.
Those electronics kits from Radio Shack and other places with the resistors, diodes, etc and little springs and wires to use for breadboarding are pretty cool and educational. If he actually digs into those, it's pretty cheap to buy a real breadboard and a power supply and a bunch of real components and he can start making real stuff. If he graduates beyond the lessons in the book that comes with the electronics kit, pick him up a copy of Horowitz and Hill's The Art of Electronics, and let him get started with real stuff.
I think they're over your price range, but Lego Mindstorms are great.
You can always get him started with elementary computer programming. If "real" languages seem too challenging, HyperCard is great for starting programming, especially since pretty soon you start to find stuff you want to do but can't, and then find out that HyperTalk is a real programming language that you can start adding in piecemeal to your project, gradually learning programming.
If there are local scout troops, building and racing Pinewood Derby cars can be great if you get serious about going for either style or speed.
A basic model rocketry kit can be fun. It's cool to see it launch.
There are lots of cool science related toys/kits/gadgets here.
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
I know board games don't leap to mind, but check out some of the recent German games.
(I assume you can google these. Trust me, it's worth it)
Settlers of Catan
Carcassonne
Ticket to Ride (extra points for spotting the mistake in the game)
Puerto Rico
San Juan
Yes, these are just games, but they also aren't the garden variety he-with-the-best-luck-wins type of games. Settlers, a little bit, but the rest are intense strategy games. You may not be learning math or physics, but there's just as much value in reading people, long-term planning and anticipating others' actions. Sure, these aren't as tangible, but they're also real-world skills.
I know you've already been through ThinkGeek, but the Cuboro marble sets, if they still have them, continue to fascinate me.
Oh, and magnets. Magnets rock.
One more thing: Old cameras. If he likes to take stuff apart and put it back together, plus learn about optics and light, buy him an old film camera. Look up Canon AE-1 on eBay. Add in a few cheap lens and he'll be able to dissect the camera and examine all the lenses, mirrors, gears and everything. Easily under $50.
just consult this.
Want to improve your life? This guy will show you how!
How about:
- A subscription to Make magazine
- A chemistry kit
- A Velleman Electronics kit (he could build a pong game or whatever else catches his interest)
- A robot kit from Parallax.com
- Build a crystal radio with him. Even cooler, build one out of household junk.
- A Digicomp mechanical computer.
Heck, rather than me writing a long list, you should visit the DIY section on my site It should give you a few dozen good ideas. Just be sure to drop me a line if you actually build an ALTAIR 8800, tube amplifier or homebuilt ultralight, though.
The Cucko's Egg
The Dangerous Book for Boys
There are multiple types of geekery, best to satisfy the possibilities.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
For a young geek nothing inspires more than:
- BB gun
- can of gasoline
- old plastic models
- illegal fireworks
- magnifying glass
- bag of army men
- hot wheels
- pile of bricks
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown
You might also be able to pick up a pair of cheap binocs for under $50. 7x50s are great for astronomy. The optics won't be anything to write home about and there will be some purple fringing but I have bought usable binocs for under $50. (Note: DO NOT buy a cheap department store telescope. I have seen some nasty nasty rubbish for $50).
You might be able to buy a cheap camera, but it'll be rubbish.
Good gadgets seem to start at around $200. At that price, you can look at a radio scanner, a GPS...something of that nature.. Also you haven't told us how old your son is.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
If he doesn't have one yet. Preferably one with a proper locking blade.
This web site is perfect for inquisitive teens:
http://scitoys.com/
It's crazy cool. He shows you how to make your own working spectroscope with a box, a CD, two razor blades, and some tape!
The guy who put up that site has written some actual paper books, so you could give one or more of those. Or, just order some magnets and diffraction gratings and such for building the gadgets, from the catalog:
https://www.scitoyscatalog.com/
I really wish I could have had access to that web site when I was 13. Oh, well... at least I have access now!
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
In addition: explain how one can build an altimeter from an accelerometer of a known mass by using Newton's laws of gravity. Explain that the wiimote is too coarse-grained to measure the difference between ocean level and the peak of mount everest.
If I remember my calculations right, it might juuuust be feasible to measure the difference between the deepest ocean and the tallest mountain (here on earth, of course), but you need a very steady hand to pick up the difference. It'll be lost in noise.
Drive around to a couple of thrift stores or garage sales and pick up a couple interesting appliances he can take apart, give the boy a box of nuts and bolts and some tools and let him go to town.
YMMV, but when I was that age, returning home to find a new appliance on my workbench was like a tiny Christmas.
Buy a set of small tools ( including all the 'security' type screwdriver bits), and get a load of dead consumer electronics from friends & neighbours etc. and encourage him to take stuff apart, figure out how it works, try to fix stuff etc. A subscription to Make magazine would also be good.
Around ages 7-12 one of my cherished possessions was a small magnet with a super kick. It was a magnet from a junk-yard / recycling center presumably designed to test for metals. It was about the size of a AA battery, give or take, but the magnet in it was one of the strongest I've seen for it's size. What made it fun was things like making paper clips move around on top of my desk using the magnet underneath, the other kids in school would figure it out pretty quick but still found it cool. I can't say how many years I had it, but I never tired of it, until it was lost. I've since tried to find a replacement but haven't seen anything similar online.
So that'd be my suggestion, an insanely strong magnet that fits in your pocket.
It was probably a Neodymium or a Rare-earth magnet. The primary geek source are old hard drives, but there are many places to buy them online.
guru in training
Have you looked at a cold soldering iron? I find it a little annoying to work with, but I keep one in my woodshop, because one thing you don't want to have in a room filled with wood shavings is something with a temperature of over 500 degrees that takes more than a second to cool down. Might be just the thing for child. ThinkGeek stocks them.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsunder20/69d3/
Then get them started in reloading. Lots more science.
Passionately Indifferent
I second the rifle motion. I'm still amazed at the differential equations that are involved with external ballistics. Did you know that scientists have yet to develop 'closed form' equations for bullet flight? They have excellent approximations, but the formulas rely on empirical measurements of the bullet flight to derive so-called 'ballistic coefficients' for different velocity subranges for each bullet weight and shape. Sierra Bullets has a wonderful section of the equations of flight in their reloading manual that they have released on the web. I recommend it highly to anyone with a mathematics background - check out the 4th edition information starting with section 6.0
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Yeah... good discipline is important. The subtle failures are even more annoying. For example, the base-emitter junction of a normal NPN transistor (2N3904, 2N2222, etc) makes a fine zener diode for voltage regulation circuits. But, as soon as you do that, you've permanently degraded the hfe of the transistor. Debugging that is a right pain.
In which case you're not using spring terminals either...
And yeah, I don't much like trying to prototype with SMT either. Fortunately, prototype PCBs aren't too expensive. I've recently been looking into Stencils Unlimited for their prototype SMT products. I especially like the idea of their toaster oven reflow controller. I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to soon.
Check out United Nuclear for insanely powerful magnets. Some of them are rather over the top in that they can break bones if you're not careful about moving them, but they also have lots of the small ones.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Nobody said anything about hating anyone. I also think the post was funny.