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What To Do With 78 USB Drives Next Christmas?

ArfBrookwood writes "Every year, I write a Christmas Letter and send it to about 50 people, and every year, it's different. One year it was just the word blah blah blah over and over with keywords, one year I made papercraft wallets with full color cards and money in them, another year I created a Christmas Letter writing contest that instructed the recipients to create our Christmas Letter for us and we awarded prizes to winners, last year, I took a fake retro photo of my family, Inkscaped/GIMPed in a chemistry set and some wall art, printed it onto CD covers, and burned retro Christmas songs onto digital vinyl and sent everyone in the family what looked like a miniature Christmas album. Last week, I came into the possession of 78 2GB USB drives. I have already taken the time to wipe them clean and reflash the memory so they are blank slates." Now, Arf's looking for suggestions for how to best use all these drives; read on for more.
"My first inclination was to remove the USB drives from their careful packaging and plastic enclosures, dump them into a slurry of glue and rock dust, sandpaper the USB port to make it look ancient, and then make some videos or include some oddly formatted numbered/whatever text files to make them look like they cam from some dystopian wasteland fallout-3 type future and then package them in envelopes that looked like they were from some central futuristic government post office. The idea would be that in the future, incidents that happened this year would have had a profound affect on the future. I never tell anyone what the Christmas Letter will look like, and I have only one rule — I have to outdo whatever I did the last year."

267 of 381 comments (clear)

  1. Send them to me. by NervousNerd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Send them to me.

    1. Re:Send them to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      Porn is always just assumed. For example, in all those posts that go:
      1. ...
      2. ...
      3. ????
      4. Profit!

      the ???? stands for porn. Which makes me wonder why anyone bothers with the first two items, but that's another topic.

    2. Re:Send them to me. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Informative

      You make some sense. Christmas letters are obnoxious.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Send them to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's why I've been saying for years that Slashdot needs a -1, Internet Spiders Track Down and Devour Poster Alive mod.

    4. Re:Send them to me. by Stuart+Gibson · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I see. Strangely enough, I like getting Christmas letters from my friends who I don't often see, just to let me know a bit about what's been happening in their lives. Sure, it's a bit impersonal and we should probably make an effort to stay in better contact through the year, but when you have a busy work life and kids, sometimes it's difficult to find the time.

      I guess I'm just strange, enjoying hearing from friends.

      --
      It's all fun and games until a 200' robot dinosaur shows up and trashes Neo-Tokyo... Again
    5. Re:Send them to me. by Stuart+Gibson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not at all, I have plenty of actual friends from whom I don't get letters because I see them every week. This is from people I was at uni with eight years ago, we're all busy workers with families and kids and, apart from an occasional IM chat, we don't see each other or get to spend proper lengths of time talking about the kids etc. Doesn't mean I no longer regard these people as friends, they are just distant these days but I'm interested in hearing how their lives are going.

      --
      It's all fun and games until a 200' robot dinosaur shows up and trashes Neo-Tokyo... Again
    6. Re:Send them to me. by GF678 · · Score: 1, Informative

      I guess I'm just strange, enjoying hearing from friends.

      Then use Facebook, and it becomes such a part of daily life you won't have to wait for Christmas to find out about how your distant friends are doing. That's what it's for.

    7. Re:Send them to me. by t2000kw · · Score: 1

      Send them to me.

      I agree, but you should send them to both me and him, a 50-50 split. We'll put them to good use on eBay. Er, I mean, we'll give them a good home. :-)

    8. Re:Send them to me. by Enlightenment · · Score: 1

      Implementation was tricky, it never made it out of alpha...

    9. Re:Send them to me. by highonv8splash · · Score: 1

      1. DOS Emulator 2. Santa's Christmas Caper 3. ??? 4. Profit!

  2. The world's best christmas cards? by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you're such a prodigy maybe you can come up with your own ideas.

    1. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He sounds like the kind of person the rest of his family hates to be around. What a clown! "Hey, I wonder the retard will come up with this Christmas."

      --
      Global warming is really caused by gay sex.

    2. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by h4rm0ny · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No kidding, this guy sounds like a douche bag. I also sense some condescension in this one. Perhaps he's feeling inadequate, like all that outlandish shit in the past has earned him a unanimous silent treatment and everyone thinks he's off his fucking rocker so he comes here to reffirm his efforts and brag shamelessly. In fact, I have seen this very same style of gloating and request shit on MMORPG forums.

      And people that gain satisfaction from anonymously judging people on the Internet and saying the "sense some condescension" fall into which category? :D

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    3. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by sznupi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, then it sounds to me like what he's doing is a GREAT way to discourage some members of his family from hanging out with him; those which might don't have, for him, many qualities worthy of hanging around with anyway, for example. (kinda like I almost encourage gossips about me - they are a GREAT tool, thanks to which, often, people I wouldn't really like hanging around with select themselves out of my sphere of friends/etc. ...meaning I don't have to do that work)

      Why, exactly, do we have to like/hang out with most of family in a manner that you think is appriopriate? Just because they share relatively large portion of our DNA? Might have been a factor in times when staying alife was difficult without every bit of effort and cooperation possible (and our DNA-relatives were best for that because of highest chance of reciprocity).

      Furthermore lines determining with what portion of DNA-relatives we're willing/have to hang out change with times, cultures and...individuals (and you DO draw them; we all have quite recent common ancestors, not even getting into Y-Adam or mitochondrial Eve). And he actually seems to dedicate a bit of memory and effort for his relatives, which seems a lot more worthy than cultivation of old models, which today are mostly for show, mostly for hanging out for the sake of hanging out.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    4. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1, Interesting

      So what if they're passive aggressive, snobby nerds? This is /. for crissakes, make a Beowulf Cluster joke.

      Beowulf killed my mother, you insensitve clod!

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    5. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by Nazlfrag · · Score: 1

      Just whatever you do everyone, don't make your ideas too good or he'll never be able to be better than himself again next year.

    6. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by DRACO- · · Score: 1

      Grendel? I thought you were gone.

      --
      Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.
    7. Re:The world's best christmas cards? by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


      It was only a flesh wound.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  3. Easy by XPeter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rick Roll on every one.

    --
    "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
    1. Re:Easy by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 5, Funny

      Rick Roll on every one.

      Winner winner chicken dinner!

      For extra points, do a "12 days of Christmas" thing with 6 people (or get 6 more and do it to 7 people). Send them variants on rickroll every day themed to the song. Each day after the first, the card should swear it's not a rickroll. But, of course, it is.

      "...on the 11th day of christmas, this crazy guy gave to me, 11 pipers piping NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP!..."

      Can you imagine a Rickroll on bagpipes? That would be one awesome 11th day of Christmas. And then, for the grand finale, a 20-minute rickroll drum solo on the 12th day.

      You might have no friends left, but damn. Funny.

    2. Re:Easy by bertoelcon · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You might have no friends left, but damn. Funny.

      No friends = easier to top next year, less letters to send out

      --
      Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
    3. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      push them all up your ass. Take a movie of yourself pulling them out, and put the movie on the sticks and give them out as christmass presents.

    4. Re:Easy by wisty · · Score: 1

      Rickroll with bagpipes? Everything sounds better with bagpipes.

    5. Re:Easy by jo42 · · Score: 1

      I was going to suggest that he see how many of them he could stuff up his bung hole...

    6. Re:Easy by V!NCENT · · Score: 2, Funny

      So how's that new Eminem album working out for you?

      --
      Here be signatures
    7. Re:Easy by TarrVetus · · Score: 1

      I laughed for a solid ten minutes at this. It's too bad scores stop at 5.

    8. Re:Easy by johndmartiniii · · Score: 1

      Ditto on this. Do what you mentioned above but include a Rick Roll as the apocalyptic catalyst. Just be careful to weigh whether or not it will actually be an apocalyptic catalyst.

      --
      If you don't know what you're doing, you can't make mistakes.
    9. Re:Easy by rossz · · Score: 1

      What makes you think he has friends now?

      --
      -- Will program for bandwidth
    10. Re:Easy by ZirconCode · · Score: 1

      That last sentence makes roflmao every time I think of it =D

    11. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Of course, every family member will just wonder why you like Rick Astley so much. I don't know about you, but my mother hasn't been keeping up with 4chan memes lately.

      The nerd sending it will then explain why it's funny to the family members. In his mind, he will still think that he is being amusing.

      I hate nerds.

    12. Re:Easy by crafty.munchkin · · Score: 1

      Rick Roll on every one.

      Not only a Rick Roll, but put an autoexec script on each one that changes their browser homepage to a Rick Roll, and a Rick Roll in their windows startup folder!

      --
      ... wait, what?
  4. Targets! by maz2331 · · Score: 5, Funny

    They are just the right size to make excellent 200-yard rifle targets.

    Or you could build an array out of them or something productive.

    Shooting at them with a .308 would be more fun though.

    1. Re:Targets! by marciot · · Score: 2, Funny

      Since when are 2 GB Flash drives considered small enough to shoot at? Mine is still 512MBs

    2. Re:Targets! by Norsefire · · Score: 5, Funny

      512MB is too small, would too hard to hit.

    3. Re:Targets! by Enderandrew · · Score: 5, Funny

      I used to hit womprats in my T-16, and they aren't much bigger than 512MB!

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    4. Re:Targets! by James+Skarzinskas · · Score: 4, Funny

      Christ, what would you do with extra servers? Howitzer practice?

    5. Re:Targets! by Xiterion · · Score: 1

      To quote Team America - f**k yeah!

    6. Re:Targets! by isny · · Score: 4, Funny

      I hit womprats in my TI-99/4A, which had only 32K.

    7. Re:Targets! by overcaffein8d · · Score: 3, Funny

      [insert 640k joke here]

      --
      Those of us who think they know everything annoy those of us who do.
    8. Re:Targets! by failedlogic · · Score: 1

      No. That's what a low-yield cruise missle is for. Seesh!

    9. Re:Targets! by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 5, Funny

      I hit womprats in my TI-99/4A, which had only 32K.

      Those were wumpus, not womprats.

    10. Re:Targets! by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Christ, what would you do with extra servers? Howitzer practice?

      Naw, don't be ridiculous. You'd find your buddy with the NFA tax stamp and use a fully automatic weapon on them ;) The howitzer would just be a waste of a perfectly good machine gun target.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    11. Re:Targets! by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      I hit womprats in my Tandy Model I, which only had 4K.

    12. Re:Targets! by icannotthinkofaname · · Score: 1

      I used to bull's-eye womprats in my T-16, and they aren't much bigger than 512MB!

      FTFY, if I've got the quote right.

      --
      Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
    13. Re:Targets! by FragHARD · · Score: 1

      ya' don't need a tax stamp to bump fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC6cAmoWCZQ

      --
      FragHARD or don't frag at all
    14. Re:Targets! by CarpetShark · · Score: 3, Funny

      Those were wumpus, not womprats.

      Whatever. They were good practice for hitting Gungans later.

    15. Re:Targets! by notarockstar1979 · · Score: 1

      I threw womprats at my TI-99/4A.

    16. Re:Targets! by coaxial · · Score: 1

      Dude. What are you doing? Why did you have to show me up like that in front of everyone?

    17. Re:Targets! by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      Or you could sell them on ebay and buy more than 78 targets from the profit.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    18. Re:Targets! by Baricom · · Score: 5, Funny

      Meesa think yousa have muy more funsa shootinin da oosa bee drives.

    19. Re:Targets! by notmebug · · Score: 1

      I hit womprats in my TI-99/4A, which had only 32K.

      My TI-99/4A could play Parsec in less than twelve Kessel Runs.

    20. Re:Targets! by Excaliburszone · · Score: 3, Funny

      I hit womprats in my TI-36 SOLAR which had only 1 memory and 2 operand registers...But I could only hit womprats during the day...

      --
      Enjoy! -Excalibur
    21. Re:Targets! by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      640k is never enough

      --
      Here be signatures
    22. Re:Targets! by Dr.+Zim · · Score: 1

      I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants back home.

      --
      (name withheld by request)
    23. Re:Targets! by jeffreymsmith · · Score: 3, Funny

      I womprats hit my HP-15C in.

      --
      Insert 120 characters of wittiness here.
    24. Re:Targets! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      OK, I give up. I'm posting AC because, well, I'm embarrassed. Check Mate on the womprat roundabout.

      That said, I think there should be a new law. We'll call it the Gungan Law. It's similar to Godwin's law.

      When someone posts to a thread and it brings even a hint sympathy for the Gungans (no matter how funny), the thread is over and said poster should be subject to re-education in the form of an unmodified original 1977 cut of Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange style.

      That is all.

    25. Re:Targets! by phorwich · · Score: 1

      I used to hit 'em with my Timex Sinclair - 1K

      --
      Wait. Stop scrolling for a sec. O.K. Thanks. - P
    26. Re:Targets! by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "They are just the right size to make excellent 200-yard rifle targets."

      So are some of the folks on my Christmas list.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  5. Give away the secret by AnonGCB · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, whatever you do, it's going to get out now, I'm sure at least one of these people read /.

    --
    http://CryoLANparty.com/ A lan I'm staff on!
  6. Fill Them With Random Data by russlar · · Score: 1

    dd if=/dev/urandom of=(usb sticks)

    --
    Anybody want my mod points?
    1. Re:Fill Them With Random Data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh GOD, the horror!

      And send them to a police department too (one that specialises in tech), that will sure give them a reason to scratch their heads.

      OH WHAT COULD IT BE?! But you should genuinely put some really hard file in it, so that after 10 years or so trying to crack it, make it one thing and one thing only: the extremely over-used Rick-roll, which by then will have become a cult.
      Praise be to Rick.

    2. Re:Fill Them With Random Data by supernova_hq · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Since most flash devices cycle the sectors to reduce wear, would this really work very well?

      I'm also wondering if "dd if=/dev/zero of=(usb sticks)" could be trusted...

    3. Re:Fill Them With Random Data by wisty · · Score: 1

      Can you get Ubuntu on a stick?

    4. Re:Fill Them With Random Data by alexofoslo · · Score: 1, Informative

      Indeed you can. Two of my USB sticks have Ubuntu on them. 8.04 on one, and 9.04 on another.

  7. Two things. by maeka · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1 - I would put a personalized "virtual advent calendar" (ha! the hard part is answering what that means) on them.
    and
    2 - I would decorate them as a Christmas ornament (if not put them inside an actual glass ornament with only the plug exposed) so they have a use beyond the first year.

    1. Re:Two things. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Virtual advent calendar: Pictures of your family for Christmas, home movies, etc, each encrypted with a different key you send to your recipients on each day in December leading to Christmas Day.

    2. Re:Two things. by SpottedKuh · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Pictures of your family for Christmas, home movies, etc, each encrypted with a different key you send to your recipients on each day in December [...]

      I would use password-based cryptography, instead of sending them actual cryptographic keys by e-mail. Not only is it easier for the recipients, but you could choose fairly weak, Christmas-themed passwords (e.g., "snowflake," "cookie," "Santa," etc.). That way, the "peekers" in the family could try to guess the passwords in advance!

      And I agree whole-heartily with the GP: make the USB drives into some sort of ornament. You could even use coloured pipe cleaners and those goofy stick-on eyes to make the USB keys look like reindeer. That way, the drives don't go to waste.

    3. Re:Two things. by maino82 · · Score: 1

      Yes, yes, yes... everyones suggestions on this thread are all well and good, but you're forgetting the most important part of advent calendars. The candy! Sadly, I think the technology for turning USB sticks into chocolate is a few years off. I'll never give up hope though. Every man has to have a dream.

    4. Re:Two things. by cheftw · · Score: 1

      Personally, I enjoy the presents and parties, but YMMV.

      --
      Always back up, never back down. ---- Think you're cool 'cos your uid is prime? Take mine, modulo the one digit integers
    5. Re:Two things. by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      Dude, without Christ we wouldn't be having free days off....

      --
      Here be signatures
    6. Re:Two things. by jacksonj04 · · Score: 1

      Especially given that in all probability He was born in March in 6BC, and in some Orthodox churches Christmas is celebrated on January 6th. It's all a bit of a cock-up really.

      The 25th December date runs back to the Winter solstice in 274AD, when the Roman Emperor Aurelian decided it would be the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. It was repurposed to be the birth of Christ in 320AD by Pope Julius I. So in fact Christmas on the 25th is a pagan event which the Romans decided to capitalise on one year and which was later stolen by the Catholics, who conveniently missed the mark by 3 months.

      As it stands it's best to treat it as a time of goodwill to all, an exchange of gifts, and a good piss-up.

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
  8. Album, eh by zippthorne · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You paid for the rights to those songs, right? Using the relevant authority for licensing in question?

    re: the USB dealies:

    Trade them up until you get a house (like the craigslist guy a while back), then write a regular letter with cryptic clues (but not too cryptic) to find the place, the first person who reaches it gets the deed.

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  9. If you're looking for something useful ... by Nerdfest · · Score: 4, Insightful
    rather than out-doing last year, some people could probably use a set of software tools, etc:

    Thing Drive Tricks

    Give-away Drives

  10. cloverfield style christmas video. by TinBromide · · Score: 5, Funny

    Send out something like a video where you're recording your family and make like a UFO or monster attack. Since you have no problem with copyright, steal scenes from a cloverfield or war of the worlds dvd. Melt the cases a little and put in a manila envelope along with a letter from a fake law firm "In case of death".

    At the end of the video, show your dead bodies, laying in christmas sweaters on the ground with bits of fire all around and superimpose the text "Merry Christmas 2009!"

    --
    Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
    1. Re:cloverfield style christmas video. by mgblst · · Score: 3, Funny

      At-the-end of death mail outs don't usually contain the actual scene of the death, unless it was the actual lawyer who did it. And even they are smart enough not to send out incriminating evidence.

      Great idea though.

    2. Re:cloverfield style christmas video. by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1

      Great idea. This is why I posted this to Slashdot. The Fake your own death Christmas letter is way better than the Nigerian scam Christmas letter idea where the USb stick would contain information from a Nigerian consulate government with video of the would be spammers engaging in illicit activity, and much easer to create. Getting the wifes approval though-- tricky.

    3. Re:cloverfield style christmas video. by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      Wow! I want to be in your Christmas letter list!

                -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
  11. Put a by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Put a customized Linux distro on each one with people's names as login names, etc.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    1. Re:Put a by gbarules2999 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hardcore - make it install Ubuntu via Wubi from the flash drive on Windows, but also have it delete the Windows option from the bootloader.

    2. Re:Put a by nametaken · · Score: 1

      You're kidding, right? ...Funny, not Interesting.

  12. USB Christmas Tree! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Do the USB drives have usage lights?

    1.Remove them from their casing, exposing their green PCB organs.
    2.Buy a stack of USB hubs, and chain them together. Plug your usb drives into the hubs.
    3.Arrange the usb drives in the form of a chrismas tree.
    4.Set up a program to access the flash drives at random, causing their usage lights to flash.

    Et Voila, flashing usb christmas tree!

    1. Re:USB Christmas Tree! by deepershade · · Score: 1

      Wow, Amazing. Seriously. At first I thought it was a silly idea, but thinking about it, i actually think you've passed through the barrier of silliness into genius. I'd love to see if someone could actually do that :)

    2. Re:USB Christmas Tree! by AnRkey · · Score: 1

      That's a friggen awesome idea! I have loads of 32, 64 and 128s here in a box somewhere. I think This Christmas is going to be a laugh... :)

  13. Planning in advance by Norsefire · · Score: 5, Funny

    This year, add an autorun file that uploads everything on their harddrive to your FTP server and then formats their filesystem. Next year, send them USB drives containing everything that was deleted, or since you won't be on speaking terms with anyone after that you not bother and save a lot of time making cards. Win-win situation really.

    1. Re:Planning in advance by anlprb · · Score: 1

      You can always pull a best buy on them. Especially great when you have freaks as friends.

      --

      One Token Ring to Rule them All, One Search Engine to Find Them, One WAN to bring them in, and TCP/IP Bind them...
    2. Re:Planning in advance by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      Bonus points if, after autorun has done its work, it pops up a window saying they can have their data back right now if they saw off their own legs...

  14. Viruses! by RedWizzard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Teach them all a lesson about attaching strange USB drives to their machines: fill the drives with viruses!

    Christmas. Bah humbug.

    1. Re:Viruses! by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 5, Funny

      Merry Confickering Christmas!

    2. Re:Viruses! by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      I had the same idea, but I would save on postage and just scatter the drives around a food hall or university campus.

      What would be a laugh is if you filled the casing with gunpowder leaving just the USB plug and the necessary wires for a spark, all the other crap can go.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    3. Re:Viruses! by dna_(c)(tm)(r) · · Score: 1

      3. 2. 1. and

      Knock knock, Mr Dan? Dan 541? This is the FBI

    4. Re:Viruses! by Dan541 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't put a "Property of:" sticker on them then.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    5. Re:Viruses! by pregister · · Score: 1

      I was working in Iowa a few years ago and drove through a tiny town after dark in late December. Driving down Main Street all the houses were decorated with Christmas lights and candles in the window. It was gorgeous. Near the end of Main Street was one house that was conspicuously dark. No decorations. A large piece of plywood was leaning against a tree in the front yard. Painted in black spraypaint: "Bah, Humbug!".

      That guy is my hero.

  15. Books by goldaryn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Maybe put some books on them?

    I checked, Dickens' A Christmas Carol is on there ;-)

    I'm sure they'd appreciate a donation if you do. They do a great job.

    1. Re:Books by DenaliPrime · · Score: 1

      Best idea yet. I'd rate it up if it wasn't 5 already.

      --
      I! Tego Arcana Dei.
    2. Re:Books by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      With 2Gb to play with, you could even go audio-book.

      http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_Audio_Books_Project

    3. Re:Books by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Make sure you point out that they're legally available for distribution.

      The 'sharing is stealing' propaganda is widespread enough that some of the people may assume they're receiving illegal stuff.

    4. Re:Books by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Also some of the ISOs from here: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

      There's a fair bit of duplication between the ISO images, so maybe you could extract the individual book HTML directories and dump them right onto the USB stick.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    5. Re:Books by nametaken · · Score: 1

      Uhg... Scrooge.

  16. Kill yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Put the USB drives in an industrial shredder then eat them all. Die from heavy metal poisoning and internal hemmoraging. Then have someone send pictures of the experience to all these people who you send Christmas cards to, saying "Sorry for being such a gigantic, insecure shitlord and sending you gimmicky Christmas shit every year for no damn reason. As a token of the sincerity of my apology, here are pictures of me killing myself by ingesting metal scraps. It was extremely painful. I hope you will remember me in death as the attention-whoring sycophant I am, and tell your children about the dangers of mercury poisoning. God bless."

    1. Re:Kill yourself by broen · · Score: 3, Informative

      Seconded. I came here hoping to read everyone rant about how his link to "fake retro photos" is an invitation-only private blog. Unfortunately, it looks like nobody cares enough to even follow the link.

    2. Re:Kill yourself by againjj · · Score: 1

      And here I thought that I was being lazy not RingTFA. Really, I was just psychic!

  17. Re:Holy Fucking Gay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    And a Merry Christmas to you too!

  18. Install your favorite minimalist distro.. by Hillview · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Puppy? Tinyme would probably be easier.. It comes with a PDF viewer. Write your Christmas letter, print it to a pdf, and stick it in the "startup" on the installed distro? dunno, too much work maybe.. but it'd be cool.

    --
    -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
    1. Re:Install your favorite minimalist distro.. by moosesocks · · Score: 2, Funny

      Puppy? Tinyme would probably be easier..

      Why the hell would you give a linux distribution a name that could easily be confused with Windows ME!

      Just reading that name gives me horrific flashbacks of the worst operating system ever created.

      (Of course, if you hate your friends/relatives, I've just given you a deviously evil plan. Create an elaborate autorun.inf script that replaces their operating system with WinME)

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    2. Re:Install your favorite minimalist distro.. by Hillview · · Score: 1

      Hah. Never thought of Tinyme in that light. It's a pretty slick distribution though. ;)

      --
      -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
  19. Unetbootin by Goyuix · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, I guess I am kind of boring that way. Hooray for utility over aesthetics!

    http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

  20. Think about the future... by RobVB · · Score: 1

    I foresee bankruptcy in late December 2010.

    --
    I'd rather you rationally disagree than irrationally agree.
  21. Christmas flash game + pendrivelinux Distro by Myrcutio · · Score: 1

    put a bootable linux distro on it, add a startup script that opens a fun christmas flash game, maybe something from http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ , i recommend winterbells.

    It fits a christmas theme, but i'm not sure how ya could fit it into the post-apocalyptic fallout3 story. Maybe santa became disgruntled and delivered a tiny thermonuclear device in everyone's stocking?

  22. Original and Useful by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    I would also suggest a few personal pix of folks on there, but now is the time to help move ppl to e-books. Personally, IMHO, you have hit the nail on the head.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:Original and Useful by WTF+Chuck · · Score: 1

      Do use books from gutenberg.org. Inkscape/Gimp the photos to make them look antique, and steampunk the drive cases.

      --
      Note - Liberal use of <sarcasm> tags may or may not need to be applied.
  23. Altered for the Slashdot audience by Jamie's+Nightmare · · Score: 4, Informative

    On the link to the blog talking about the Christmas album, it says the cover was "Photoshopped". Here on Slashdot, to appease the FOSS freaks this slang gets changed to "GIMPed". That's real classy.

    --
    "When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving, kick him out of the door." - Xah Lee
    1. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by Magic5Ball · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Photoshop, like Google, is well on its way to becoming a common verb. One should be able to photoshop with any competent raster image editing program.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    2. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1

      True. But if I had say they were "Gimped" it would have only raised more questions about my sanity...:-)

    3. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by supernova_hq · · Score: 1

      If you have said you "Gimped" your relatives, we would have questioned a lot more than your sanity...

    4. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by fishbowl · · Score: 1

      Why not help dilute the trademark? I "Tivo" shows even on my mythTV. I still say "Frigidaire" and "RadarRange" and I use
      "Xerox" as a verb. I use Gimp to do my "Photoshopping."

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    5. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      Uh, but that still just means that you would use GIMP to photoshop your images, and not "GIMP" them.

              -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    6. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by rpillala · · Score: 1

      This is weird to me because there was already a verb: retouched. I realize that this happens sometimes like with Kleenex but it seems weirder in this case.

      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
    7. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by Magic5Ball · · Score: 1

      In some important senses, "to Photoshop" implies using a broader set of capabilities and a different context than "to retouch" since Photoshop allows the user to create, illustrate and transform images in ways not possible with an airbrush and a darkroom. "*To Adobe" would not have worked well in this case since Adobe is already known to be a building material/technique unrelated to images. "*To Gimp" wouldn't work in this case since it already means "to lose physical or mental capability or functionality" via (a backformation of?) the noun "gimp" which is a pejorative for "one with a disability". "*To Gimp" in the context of the software application and images could then be easily taken to mean "to break or harm the image using the Gimp software".

      Adobe rants about use of "Photoshop" as a verb and as a noun here: http://www.adobe.com/misc/trade.html

      The transition from brand or product name to a verb seems weird because despite all of our advances in technology, it's still rare to develop new tools that provide fundamental new kinds of capabilities. "To laser", though not a trademark, has followed a similar path to "to Photoshop" in that the name of the tool becomes a verb for the application of the tool, regardless of the specific desired outcome or context (compare: "to hammer", "to pen", and "to root").

      "To Google" is in the same area (starting as a brand for a single product, but grew to include related and unrelated products) in that we've had the verb "to search" for a long time, but not a verb for "to search on the Internet". Even though there are many search engines, "to Google" has a clear meaning about any of them since searching the web is qualitatively the same action on any search engine for most users and purposes. Near "to Google", the verb "to Fusker" has appeared in some circles to mean specifically "to search the web for images", via a perl script and (now defunct) website of the same name.

      Prior to Google, "to gopher" had a similar meaning, roughly "to search for on-line content via the Gopher protocol". That verb sounded like "to go for" which resonated in context. It's unclear if "*to archie" (to search FTP archives using the Archie tool), "*to Jughead" (to Gopher via the Jughead tool), or "*to Veronica" (to Gpher via the Veronica tool) ever gained wide acceptance.

      In other areas of the Internet, we have other formations such as "to IM" (or "to instant messenge" from "instant messenger") which seems to be being displaced by "to MSN", "to Digg", "to Facebook" etc. (although strangely not "*to MySpace" or "*to Friendster") which all mean to employ those websites/services for their intended functionality. I've also heard the imperative "*MSN me on Facebook!" which semantically distinguishes the applied roles and functions of those services.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    8. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by socsoc · · Score: 1

      I still say "Frigidaire" and "RadarRange"

      What the hell is wrong with you? Panasonic me while I go Phillips my Pioneer.

    9. Re:Altered for the Slashdot audience by rpillala · · Score: 1

      That's probably the funniest thing I've ever seen on a corporate web site.

      Always capitalize and use trademarks in their correct form.

      CORRECT: The image was enhanced with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements software.
      INCORRECT: The image was photoshopped.
      INCORRECT: The image was Photoshopped.
      INCORRECT: The image was Adobe® Photoshopped.

      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
  24. USB Christmas Tree Lights? by kendoka · · Score: 1

    Has anyone ever tried to string 78 usb drives (presumably with active lights) into a christmas tree light to decorate with? Might be interesting...

  25. Puppy Linux by duncan+bayne · · Score: 1

    I reckon you should install them with Puppy Linux, perhaps modified with a Christmas-themed desktop and a short Christmas message and introduction to GNU / Linux that is displayed at login time.

    I mean, when was the last time you received a gift of a better operating system for Christmas? :-)

  26. Use some Social Engineering by Nitewing98 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd label each one "Do Not Use This Drive." I'd put a program on it labelled, "Do Not Open This Program." Create the program so that it causes their mail client to email you from their email account. See how many emails you get. This would be a good opportunity to teach them how they can protect themselves from data theft, trojans, etc.

    --

    Nitewing '98

    Everything works...in theory.

    1. Re:Use some Social Engineering by Gulthek · · Score: 1

      What, real viruses and trojans are called things like DontRunMe.exe?

    2. Re:Use some Social Engineering by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      This would be a good opportunity to teach them how they can protect themselves from data theft, trojans, etc.

      I had a girlfriend who did that to me. Social engineering works because you trust the wrong person/blanket authority.

      That said, teaching people about "social engineering" by being a dick is being a dick. I give my root password to friends/install programs they tell me are interesting. Why? Because they asked, and I know them, and they're not asses.

      Obviously, your milage is different.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    3. Re:Use some Social Engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Create the program so that it causes their mail client to email you from their email account.

      That's actually not such a bad idea. Not the "teach them about computer security" bullshit. Rather, use it to actually find out how many of the people bother to look at your Christmas card, and how many trash your card on receipt, saying "Oh, God. Not another "creative" Christmas card from that asshole ArfBrookwood. Remember when that idiot sent us the card with nothing but "blah blah blah" repeated? What a douchebag."

      Because they're not going to say it to your face. If you ask them "What did you think of my Christmas card this year?" they're going to reply "Oh, yes, very ... inventive. I bet it took you a while to come up with that," all while laughing at your harebrained idea with the other 49 people on the list.

         

    4. Re:Use some Social Engineering by freedom_india · · Score: 1

      ...better yet to get unimpeachable proof of comcast's throttling distribute a file sharing program that randomly tries to download a specific torrent.
      First it confirms if the ISP is comcast then starts the torrent.
      Next it sends you statistics of such download each hour.
      Once you realize that comcast is throttling the torrent, make 78 different calls to comcast and record each conf.
      Send all of them to your congressman and the FCC stating the issue and call the local TV station when you do so.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    5. Re:Use some Social Engineering by dna_(c)(tm)(r) · · Score: 1

      I give my root password to friends/install programs they tell me are interesting.

      I don't even trust myself with a root password.

      I'm sure they are out to get me, I can tell, so do these voices. Can anyone loosen up this straightjacket?

    6. Re:Use some Social Engineering by dzfoo · · Score: 2, Funny

      I had a girlfriend who did that to me.

      Dude, when your girlfriend tells you "do not touch that" she really means "NO".

              -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    7. Re:Use some Social Engineering by KefabiMe · · Score: 1

      Most people would think your an ass to try to teach them a computer lesson for Christmas. That this comment reached "Score:5, Interesting" shows how nerdy (and I mean that in the socially awkward way) much of /. members are. I only reply because I am a huge introvert, and little realizations like this have made big differences in my social life.

    8. Re:Use some Social Engineering by KefabiMe · · Score: 1

      /facepalm

      your != you're

      Maybe I should head over to Digg... >.<

    9. Re:Use some Social Engineering by that+IT+girl · · Score: 1

      Well, somebody didn't get enough hugs as a child...

      --
      10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
      20 DRINK COFFEE
      30 GOTO 10
  27. Where's the fun ideas? by Rastl · · Score: 1

    Linux distro. Virus to teach them not to trust strange* USB devices. Where's the fun ideas that the OP was asking for?

    You already did the retro photo. Kind of a dup but more of an extension to do that with each of your family members in a different situation. Take the iconic Christmas pictures and 'Shop them into the appropriate places.

    Slideshow of lovely Christmas scenes and you reading something like 'The Night Before Christmas'?

    Make a set of relatively easy puzzles for them to solve before getting to the message?

    Create a mocumentary of the history of the holiday. I recommend Terry Pratchett's 'Hogsfather' as a starting point for that one.

    * How is it a strange drive when it's sent to you by someone you trust?

    1. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by Magic5Ball · · Score: 2, Interesting

      There's a project that already does most of that:
      http://sam.zoy.org/lmos/
      although be sure to change the default included placeholder media.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    2. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You "the birds and the bees" fail.

    3. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Virus to teach them not to trust strange* USB devices.
      * How is it a strange drive when it's sent to you by someone you trust?

      Then teach them not to trust any portable media. That's the real lesson that needs taught, since most people infect themselves with their own USB drives.

    4. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      Do you also give away poisoned gingerbread cookies and put little bits of metal filings in the fruit-cake you send your grandma? I'd bet kids stay away from your house on Halloween, too!

              -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    5. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by TheLink · · Score: 1

      No his mom actually locked him in the basement for everyone's safety (and sanity).

      But he hasn't actually noticed yet.

      Maybe the neighbours might complain about the smell after a while (even though he's not dead...).

      --
    6. Re:Where's the fun ideas? by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Mom, is this true?
      P.S. Pls throw down more Pizza and Mtn.Dew. Kthx

  28. Put a calendar in them... by Zapotek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...then read it and realize that it's still June (well almost).

  29. Two Words: by Bieeanda · · Score: 2, Informative

    Christmas Botnet. Not only are worms the gifts that keep on giving, but you'll always be that much closer to everyone you give them to!

    1. Re:Two Words: by cerberusss · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Last Christmas" by Wham

      Last christmas
      you rooted my box
      and the very next day
      't was spamming away

      This year
      I give you a stick
      A botnet for someone special

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
  30. RAID by EdZ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stripe a 158GB drive across all 78, then distribute them such that drive can only be read when all 78 are assembled together. Of course, the contents would be a rickroll or similar.

    1. Re:RAID by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That would be kind of hard since 78*2=156!=158, but if you figure out a way to do it, let me know.

    2. Re:RAID by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      RAID5! (x-1)*size, where x is number of devices. :P

    3. Re:RAID by Liket · · Score: 1

      Right, so a RAID5 drive of 78 2gb drives would be 154GB, not 158.

    4. Re:RAID by Bitmanhome · · Score: 1

      PAR2 will let you create a set of files where any N of them are sufficient to reconstruct the original content.

      You would create roughly 2GB of content, split it into 40 parts, then have PAR2 generate another 38 parts. Put one part on each stick, leaving enough room so that everyone can trade parts and keep them all on their sticks until they have 40. Might want to put the PAR2 program on there as well.

      Connecting with people is what the holidays are about .. and this forces them to connect with each other. For whatever that's worth.

      --
      Not that this wasn't entirely predictable.
    5. Re:RAID by monovitae · · Score: 1

      One Drive to rule them all, One Drive to find them, One Drive to bring them all and in the darkness mount them.

  31. A movie? by plover · · Score: 1

    With that much space, you could deliver an HD version of Miracle on 37th Street NW, or a claymation version of Owen the Red-Nosed Reindeer with your family's faces on the characters.

    --
    John
  32. Secret Government OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If you're a programmer, I would suggest putting a bootable Linux distro on the OS, but change the entire environment so that it looks like a secret government operating system with secret data on it. Some of this data could point to a secret website that you could set up and make people feel like they're stumbling onto something they shouldn't have.

    1. Re:Secret Government OS by supernova_hq · · Score: 1

      Then have the website eventually redirect to a cruise-missile following santa!

  33. Be useful. by stego · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Do something actually useful. Donate'em to an inner city middle school.

    1. Re:Be useful. by jgordon510 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We'll take them. Elementary school with 80% free/reduced lunch. We tried to buy flash drives for all our fifth graders so they could work on their state reports at home and the public library. We found a vendor selling 1gig drives for $3.00 each, ordered 75 of them, and were told that they only had 3 available at that price. Anyway, if you send them to us, I'll have the kids write your christmas cards for you. How's that?

    2. Re:Be useful. by altinos.com · · Score: 1

      Did you try Deal Extreme?

    3. Re:Be useful. by jgordon510 · · Score: 1

      No I hadn't. There are good deals. Looks like some of the ~$6 ones would work. Our budget situation is pretty terrible right now (California budget cuts). The district has laid off about 75 teachers.

    4. Re:Be useful. by Hillview · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Now this sounds like a winner. If I got a Christmas card saying a 5th grader is using a flash drive donated in my name, I'd be damned proud.

      --
      -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
    5. Re:Be useful. by bdo19 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Where are my mod points when I need them? This is probably the only actually "insightful" reply on this post. You have 78 of something useful that you don't need, and you're asking what you should do with them for Christmas? (And most of the other replies suggest, in one way or another, that you send them to 78 people who don't need them and won't appreciate them.)

    6. Re:Be useful. by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you send me your contact information I would seriously consider it. This would save me LOTS of time.

    7. Re:Be useful. by cam312 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is a winner. Last Christmas, I put "spend $25 doing something nice for a complete stranger" on my Christmas list. Best Christmas gift I ever got. A couple stories of people who had something done for them for no reason at all. The stories were priceless, and made the turkey taste all the more better. If the poster doesn't send you his contact info, prove your geekness by tracking him down yourself.

    8. Re:Be useful. by jgordon510 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Cool. I emailed you from my school email address.

    9. Re:Be useful. by Falstius · · Score: 1

      I bought these when they had 5x2GB for the same price, but it is still a decent deal. They're not fancy, but they do work well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820326009 100 1GB flash drives delivered to your door for $412.

    10. Re:Be useful. by ratnerstar · · Score: 1

      This is getting a bit off-topic, but have you considered submitting a project funding request to DonorsChoose.org? Your goal seems worthwhile, and the money required wouldn't be huge; you'd be a good candidate, I think.

      --
      Just because you sold your soul to the devil that needn't make you a teetotaler. --The Devil and Daniel Webster
    11. Re:Be useful. by RJFerret · · Score: 1

      This is my favorite idea too. I don't usually go for the "whatever has been donated in your name" things but this one, let's face it, whatever you do with drives you give to them is probably a one-off use. USB drives have become a bit of disposable commodity. However kids' education? That's forever. Totally in spirit of the season too.

      The only question is, if this is the ultimate, how to top it next year?

    12. Re:Be useful. by djrok212 · · Score: 1

      This is the best idea of them all! You do a good deed and you might be able to take a right off on your taxes.

    13. Re:Be useful. by Nitewing98 · · Score: 1

      I agree, this is the best idea I've seen in this thread. Now, about next year....?

      --

      Nitewing '98

      Everything works...in theory.

    14. Re:Be useful. by Tomfrh · · Score: 1

      You have no right to waste the time of your students by getting them to produce this guy's latest Christmas Card Project.

    15. Re:Be useful. by Hillview · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You have no right to waste the time of your students by getting them to produce this guy's latest Christmas Card Project.

      Let's see. Fifth graders. Recieving an educational tool at no cost, and learning the value of writing "thank you" notes.. something that is all too often lost on us. It's a school. They're learning something valuable. I don't see the waste here.

      --
      -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
    16. Re:Be useful. by Hillview · · Score: 1

      This got me thinking.. The Author couldn't be the only one in the U.S. with unused flash drives, and the above poster is unlikely to be the only teacher in the U.S. who could use flash drives to hand out to the kids. So, maybe I'm getting over my head here, but I can't help myself.. I get a wild hair up my ass on occasion and do something really stupid. I'd like to start a project to receive donated flash drives and forward them to teachers in funding-troubled schools. http://www.yonderfinn.com/. Yes, it's my blog, and I wondered what I was going to do with it. If this gives it a purpose, my hosting fee was money well spent. I'd like to hear your comments on it.

      --
      -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
    17. Re:Be useful. by stego · · Score: 1

      Thanks for taking my one-liner and making it substantial.

    18. Re:Be useful. by flibuste · · Score: 1

      You have no right to waste the time of your students by getting them to produce this guy's latest Christmas Card Project.

      And you sir probably should have limited rights when it'll be time to educate your own kids, or should have the right to subscribe to free parenting lessons.

      What the poster suggests is actually a very nice and educative thing to do for a Christmas. It teaches the kids to give without waiting anything in return and to say thank you when they're being given something.

      I've been reading Slashdot forever now, and I think THIS idea probably ranks top 5 in every post I've read here so far.

    19. Re:Be useful. by Hillview · · Score: 1

      And you'd deny them the opportunity because... why?

      --
      -Troll, Flamebait, and Offtopic are NOT equivalent to disagreement.
    20. Re:Be useful. by Tomfrh · · Score: 1

      I see, because I wouldn't want my kids spending class time on Arf's Christmas project in order for Arf to "..save LOTS of time...", that makes me a a bad parent...

    21. Re:Be useful. by rts008 · · Score: 1

      I think you have a cool idea. Positively Admirable!
      Also, I imagine I'm not the only one that would donate some funds to help with shipping costs if you had a way to implement it on your blog.

      P.S. I've bookmarked your site to keep up with this project. :-)

      --
      Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
    22. Re:Be useful. by flibuste · · Score: 1

      No, I have never said you are a bad parent. What I am saying is that it makes you someone who doesn't see the benefits of hitting multiple targets with a single stone.

  34. Spread holiday cheer by Enderandrew · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fill all of them with porn and the recipe for free beer.

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    1. Re:Spread holiday cheer by dzfoo · · Score: 1

      I followed the link to free beer, nice. However, you forgot to put the link to the porn.

              -dZ.

      --
      Carol vs. Ghost
      ...Can you save Christmas?
    2. Re:Spread holiday cheer by vlm · · Score: 1

      I followed the link to free beer, nice. However, you forgot to put the link to the porn.

      http://127.0.0.1/index.html works for me

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  35. One word: keylogger by wintermute000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    And wait for the $$$ to roll in.

    I jest, of course (but it would work a treat).

  36. Hmm. by The+Living+Fractal · · Score: 1

    This would probably be fairly tricky to do, but I would wire the drives so that they "burn up" when they are plugged in -- so that they emit red and green smoke. Bonus points if they still work after they emit the smoke.

    --
    I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
  37. Unusual Christmas Cards by hack++slash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I never tell anyone what the Christmas Letter will look like, and I have only one rule â" I have to outdo whatever I did the last year.

    I fear I've fallen into that trap too, last year I made some edge lit christmas cards but instead of using coin batteries I included twisted white wire with a soldered USB plug so the card will never run out of power (unless you switch your PC off). Just about everyone who received one loved it.

    This year I'm planning on doing another edge lit card but with several layers, powered by a SMD PICAXE chip embedded into the card for animation, flashing, sequencing or whatever I decide.

    The year after next I may do yet another USB powered edge lit card but include a flash drive for a christmas video or something *shrug* hopefully I'll get some good ideas from this topic :)

    --
    To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    1. Re:Unusual Christmas Cards by pcolaman · · Score: 1

      Damn, you have a lot of time on your hands.

    2. Re:Unusual Christmas Cards by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

      You really shouldn't send out that simple throwie type device to your loved ones. It's not safe and you risk the batteries popping their guts on someone or something with bad results. The fix is to put in an appropriate sized resistor to limit the current so you're not relying on the internal resistance of the battery to control the current to the LED.

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    3. Re:Unusual Christmas Cards by socsoc · · Score: 1

      Why not volunteer somewhere with all this extra time you have?

    4. Re:Unusual Christmas Cards by hack++slash · · Score: 1

      That'll be an implausable christmas considering I don't live in the US and I hand delivered all the cards I made.

      --
      To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    5. Re:Unusual Christmas Cards by hack++slash · · Score: 1

      Make a few christmas cards and suddenly everyone thinks you have oodles and oodles of free time...

      FFS!

      --
      To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
  38. Remastersys by operator_error · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Along those lines, let me add these tips:

    1. Take an unused PC (or virtual machine) and install Ubuntu on it just the way you want to send it out.

    2. You must decide if your distribution will include any home directories, or otherwise will be a 'proper distribution'. You need to know this to continue your setup. If you include a home directory, you can setup themes, firefox extensions, everything in-advance really.

    3. Install and use Remastersys, which will create a large .iso file for the next step. : http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/remastersystool.html

    4. In Ubuntu, select System > Adminsitration > Create a USB startup stick

    5, you need to allocate how much space to to give this new USB PC. Slide it MOST of the way to the right (to create space for the user files) but not all the way (to leave some space for the OS, patches and new application installs in the future, etc.); I *think* this is technically accurate, YMMV.

    6. Answer as per your setup decisions made on Step 2.

    7. Send a whole bunch of free software out on USB sticks using some postal services.

    8. Profit!!!!

    - - - - -

    Now having done this, I wonder how severe the implications are of breaking whatever laws cover the following:

    Applications like Google Earth 5.0 require a user to agree to Google's non-transferable licensing terms, (although I can install Google earth 4.3 without entering into an agreement during the install, but never-mind). It SEEMS like I could setup apps like Google Earth 5 in advance for my mother and not risk too much trouble with the law, even though she lives in the US, while I'm now in Europe. But what about doing the same thing for a relatively small Christmas card list of close personal friends who I trust not to rat me out to Google? What about sending them Skype also? (But note that SIP-based Ekiga still gets my strong support over Skype wherever possible)

    1. Re:Remastersys by Liquidrage · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, what grandma really wants for Xmas is an pre-loaded Linux thumb drive. I'm a dork and I don't even want that. It's Christmas. Give a gift that means something, not your ideology about FOSS.

  39. The question is the answer by T+Murphy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just put a .txt on them with the URL to this story.

  40. Some ideas by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Fill the USB drives with DOSBox and some DOS Shareware games so they can remember what gaming was like in the 1980's when PC clones running MS-DOS were all the craze.

    Put in some family videos in AVI files on the USB drives, make them Christmas themed or if you recorded prior Christmas days of kids opening up presents you can use those videos.

    Fill it full of PNG and JPEG Christmas photos.

    That CD you made, convert the songs to MP3 format and put them on the USB drive so they can load them onto their iPods, Zunes, iPhones, Blackberries, etc.

    Don't listen to the people telling you to put viruses and email programs on the USB drives, that is not what Christmas is all about.

    --
    Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
    1. Re:Some ideas by sootman · · Score: 1

      Don't listen to the people telling you to put viruses and email programs on the USB drives, that is not what Christmas is all about.

      Yeah. That's more of an Easter thing.

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    2. Re:Some ideas by otopico · · Score: 1

      This deserves far more mod points than it has garnered thus far.

      Comedy gold, my friend, gold.

  41. Make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl! by wrencherd · · Score: 1

    For more ideas check here:

    http://www.marthastewart.com/crafts

    1. Re:Make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl! by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1

      It is also possible to make Pterodactyls with used pizza boxes...

  42. Send them to people you hate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...filled with pirated movies and music, then place 78 anonymous calls to the RIAA and MPAA.

  43. Make a huge USB RAID! by erroneus · · Score: 1

    Collect and link up a wide array of USB hubs and plug all the drives in. Then string them together using your favorite form of RAID or JBOD.

  44. mod parent up by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's an awesome suggestion.

    Add to that the fact that the guy made me think about Xmas in May.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  45. A Family Treasure Chest by SpottedKuh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One possibility would be to create a family "treasure chest" of sorts. Well in advance of the holiday season, ask everyone in the family to contribute something (according to a theme). Then, you collect all the submissions and put them (along with your letter) on each USB drive.

    As a concrete example of a theme, one year an aunt of mine asked everyone in the family to contribute their favourite recipe. Then, she typed all of them up and sent everyone a collected-effort recipe book. It was such a simple thing, but everyone in the family loved it.

    You could do this with any number of themes: recipes, old photographs, favourite stories from the past, etc. Then, put your Christmas letter along with this treasure chest on the USB drives.

  46. Mystery by 75th+Trombone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Create a puzzle that will require the cooperation of all the recipients to complete. The contents of each drive should be tailored to the individual. Computer-savvy people could have an encrypted document or image on their drive; computer dunces could have a simple text file that says "Call Joe at 870-555-1234 and tell him to give the password on his drive to Mark at 901-555-4567." Put hints on some drives, and images, and text files, and passwords, and instructions that, if all are followed, will result in the final unveiling of something cool.

    The "something cool"? I don't know. If you have some money laying around, it could result in uncovering a bunch of $10 iTunes gift certificate codes on some web site somewhere. (But it'd have to be done in such a way that each person involved can claim exactly one certificate.)

    Ideally, build some redundancy into the puzzle so that even if 10 or 20 people don't participate, the remainder can still get something cool in the end.

    If you choose to do this (and I must say I think my idea is pretty awesome), keep me posted on what you do. My contact info is on my /. profile.

    --
    The United States of America: We do what we must because we can.
  47. Regarding your original idea... by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 1
  48. Video of the Family - Together by failedlogic · · Score: 1

    If anything, I think the best idea is to have - as gifts for family members - a video or videos of the family celebrating together. I have vague recollections and pictures as a kid. They always bring back great memories (even if I was acting silly). My family mostly has developed Kodak and polaroids photos. I only wish we had a video cam in the early 80's.

    For friends - keep them all to yourself. After all, what are friends for?

    And if you have a wife, no family or friends and you want to use these drives all for yourself, I spare humanity to find out what you will do with them.

  49. goatse by timmarhy · · Score: 5, Funny

    can't believe it hasn't been brought up yet. shame on you all.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    1. Re:goatse by sagematt · · Score: 1

      Dang, I thought I was the only one who thought of this...

    2. Re:goatse by senorpoco · · Score: 1

      Autoload.

  50. We have a use for them by gkearney · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We would be happy to have USB drives as a donation. We use them to send out digital talking books to the blind and print disabled. Please feel free to contact me.

    Gregory Kearney
    Manager - Accessible Media
    Association for the Blind of Western Australia
    61 Kitchener Avenue, PO Box 101
    Victoria Park 6979, WA Australia

    Telephone: +61 (08) 9311 8202
    Telephone: +1 (307) 224 4022 (North America)
    Fax: +61 (08) 9361 8696
    Toll free: 1800 658 388 (Australia only)
    Email: gkearney@gmail.com

  51. Sell them... Buy beer... by jaz013 · · Score: 1

    Sell the USB drives. Buy some crap dodgy 5c xmas cards to send to your family (send them blank). Use the left over money to buy beer...

  52. Just plug them In and start singing by HollyMolly-1122 · · Score: 1

    I guess, many of slashdot readers have collection of old socks. What to do with it ?

  53. Rocking Idea! by banffbug · · Score: 1
    The scalability on your idea is huge. How about a timeline where events don't occur until a given date?

    Congrats. You have won a USB drive. Now wait until Jan 31 or later and check back.

    2GB is a lot of space to fill, unless video is involved - but you don't have fill it. Some of the 50 receivers may not have USB sticks and may appreciate one.

    and most importantly, how do I create empty lines with HTML enabled?

    1. Re:Rocking Idea! by andy.ruddock · · Score: 1

      and most importantly, how do I create empty lines with HTML enabled?

      like<br>
      <br>
      this

      --
      God: An invisible friend for grown-ups.
  54. Yay spread the love/viruses! by thatkid_2002 · · Score: 1

    USB drives are great for spreading viruses so give them to all your friends and family. You should be proud if they use it because then your gift will spread to millions of people! Free Viagra emails and automatic bank logins for everyone!

    Make sure you prepare the content on the USB sticks using un-patched Windows XP with no firewall or anti-virus. Perhaps some cracked games would be nice to include. The best cracks come the dodgiest looking crack sites.

  55. Botnet by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1

    Put a good AutoRun virus on them and build your own botnet.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  56. Re:Wait... You know 50 people? by supernova_hq · · Score: 1

    my girlfriend

    I think you just proved yourself wrong...

  57. Cooperate by Rafke · · Score: 1

    Make them autoboot (e.g. Linux). But when it boots up, tell them that they need to get the USB drive from another family member (or several) to get the 'secret' message.

    Or it could be some kind of competition, how many other family members can you 'link' with.

  58. Super Cool Story Bro by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

    Send a Christmas card with a picture of your dog in a Santa hat. I heard on radio that people love it.

    --
    You just got troll'd!
  59. Oh yeah? by Tanman · · Score: 1

    Well my dad can kick your dad's ass!

  60. Put them in microwave and feel like a brainiac by HollyMolly-1122 · · Score: 1

    Don't do this at home !

  61. Re:Donate them by Falstius · · Score: 1

    For the homeless to use on their shiny laptops? Libraries already have those materials, and are warm.

  62. Idiot by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't link your blog on Slashdot, then make it invitation only to read. Stupidest thing I ever saw.

    --
    Stasis is death. Embrace change.
    1. Re:Idiot by hack++slash · · Score: 1

      It was viewable earlier, strange they changed it to invite only.

      --
      To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    2. Re:Idiot by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 1

      He probably got 100,000 troll comments, but what did he expect?

      --
      Stasis is death. Embrace change.
  63. Two words- by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

    Two words-irritating frog. Put an autorun that launches VLC portable or another portable media player set to play irritating frog on an endless loop. Think of it as a valuable lesson on security. You could even write a batch file that will drop the folder with the player and the damned frog into a hidden folder somewhere and sets them to run on startup.

    Its the gift that keeps on giving! And it guarantees that the gift recipients will call to "thank you" for such a lovely gift. Ahhh....I can hear them now...."How do you get that ^%#^$#% frog to shut the fuck up!!!!". They will be so happy that you have taught them the valuable lesson on just sticking flash drives into their PC with autorun enabled. Just think, with this gift you can be educational AND entertaining! Now that's value!

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  64. raid with extreme cpu over head will suck! by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

    raid with extreme cpu over head will suck! and that is just the with the usb bus part only adding software raid to that will slow stuff down even more.

  65. Get a frickin job by Itninja · · Score: 1

    Since you clearly have some aptitude and massive amounts of free time I would recommend you go out find a job. Or at the very least write a book. Do something constructive.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
  66. RAID them all together... by wzinc · · Score: 1

    as JBOD and tell each recipient that to get a priceless treasure from you they all have to get together at the same location with their drives (and a lot of USB hubs), reassemble the RAID and then, they'll be able to read the instructions on how to get the priceless treasure. Of course, the message needs to say something like, "your family is priceless" or something disappointing like that...

  67. ^- Mod up OP -^ by Toe,+The · · Score: 1

    Weird. As I was reading through this thread, just before I came to your post, I had the (almost exact) same idea.

  68. Fun, then donate... by richardtallent · · Score: 1

    The nice thing about USB drives is that they *can* be reused (like you're doing now).

    So, do your Christmas thing, but included with each card, send a list of the charities above who could also use the cards, and instructions on how to format and send the drives.

    After all, Christmas is all above giving, and if they want to re-read your card, they can just copy the drive to their computer.

    That way, you still get to send a spiffy card, and the blind kids in Australia still get to listen to a book (though, realistically, postage would be more expensive than sending a donation to buy a new drive in some cases).

    To the charities above: try contacting companies who make trash-n-trinkets for conventions, etc. They probably have gobs of extras that can't be resold because of being already customized, or having outdated sizes (32MB is still plenty for a kid to write a few school papers on).

  69. In the same spirit ... by bigsteve@dstc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Giving the USB drives to a worthy cause (like the Association for the Blind) that can use them is the best idea. But if you couldn't find a worthy cause that needs them, consider selling them on eBay and giving the money raised to a worthy cause. Hey, you could even buy one of those OxFam / World Vision / etc gift cards and send that to your mother in lieu of an Xmas present. (Depending on your mother of course ...)

  70. What a good friend would do... by MrWin2kMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Install a good PortableApp AntiVirus and Anti-Malware program, along with a nice HTML or Flash message with some links to some other good driver update, etc scanner programs...Do yourself and your Christmas Card list a favor - help them help themselves!

    --
    Nothing to see here but us trolls...move along...
  71. Isn't it obvious? by Franklin+Brauner · · Score: 2, Funny

    Load them with porn.

    1. Re:Isn't it obvious? by confused+one · · Score: 2, Funny

      It amazes me that here on /. it took 6 hours for someone to post this idea.

    2. Re:Isn't it obvious? by KingAlanI · · Score: 1
      --
      I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
    3. Re:Isn't it obvious? by confused+one · · Score: 1

      oops, I only saw the beer (clearly indicates where my mind is)

  72. Wedding invitations by ro_coyote · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Okay, not a serious suggestion... just something to share.

    My (now) wife and I wanted to be a little different with our wedding invitations, to do something a little nerdy (got married in December too, so practically last Christmas). We ended up getting something like 40 512MB USB drives for cheap from Overstock.com, put leather cording and metal heart charms on them, and put our wedding invitations on those (done in Flash CS3 with Atari 2600-ish graphics and animation, fakey scan lines, animated blocky snow, Commodore 64-ish music, etc. ...never mind the inaccuracies of the mix). Sent everyone the traditional card/envelope invite, along with a USB drive to each household.

    Definitely got better responses than what I'd imagine we'd get doing mail-in cards alone, and helped further identify all the geeks in our families. Made a social gathering all the more entertaining for a couple who otherwise loathes social gatherings on a pseudo-grand scale. =P

    1. Re:Wedding invitations by that+IT+girl · · Score: 1

      Now THAT is a cool idea :D

      --
      10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
      20 DRINK COFFEE
      30 GOTO 10
  73. Re:autorun by Dan541 · · Score: 1

    Of all the malevolent things you could do with autorun, why the hell would you choose an xmas card?

    I would be thinking along the lines of remote access, or steal everything in the documents folder. Hell even sending 200 black pages to the printer would be better than doing an xmas card.

    --
    An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  74. Build a christmas tree out of them by waveformwafflehouse · · Score: 1

    Make a nice tree-looking sculpture out of the drives, usb cables and glue, then put one wave file on each drive. Each wave file should be one note of the holiday song of your choice. Then write a script to play each note in sequence so the flashdrive leds blink as each note is accessed. Put the video on youtube and proceed to think of anything other than giving someone a low-capacity flashdrive as a gift containing something you could just as easily have emailed.

    Or make them all get together to hear the "secret message" (ultimate weapon?), sending one person a pile of usb hubs and cable and the script.

  75. autorun.exe Sequencer/Orchestra? by itomato · · Score: 1

    Average PC has 2-3 USB ports available.

    I'm assuming these will be distributed to Windows or Mac types, and each has their method of automatically accessing/activating content upon insertion.

    How about loading each of them with a loopable sample that plays on impact?

    "Farmer in the Dell"

  76. Copyrighted Material by n3v · · Score: 1

    Fill each one with copyrighted material..

    The real question is should you put the same information on all of them or make specific selections.

  77. Re:A beowulf cluster of these! by brentonboy · · Score: 1

    ha!

  78. You're not funny and you're not clever. by SurlyToad · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Really, I completely despise folk like you who have nothing better to do with your time than craft delusional "Christmas Greetings" to send to your less artistic/creative/self-important acquaintances. Of course, in times past the cretinous, badly photocopied "Christmas Letter" or "Roundrobin" was equally abhorrent, but at least that could be seen for what it was and disposed of accordingly.

    Do you really think your recipients are going to wade through 512Mb of computer dross, just because you sent it? Or that it'd get more than one play before getting reformatted and used for something more useful?

    Here's a suggestion that would generate a bit more seasonal cheer.

    Buy a big bundle of high quality Christmas cards supporting the charity (or charities) of your choice. Write an individual, unique heart-felt greeting in each one and post them in time for the last week before Christmas. Then the recipients can pin them up and have a colourful reminder of your regards throughout the Christmas season, rather than a few minutes of irritation.

    As for the USB sticks, why not enclose them as an unencumbered gift to those who might have a use for them. Or donate then to a worthy cause.

  79. Too Big by Jerry+Smith · · Score: 1

    2 gig is too big for a Christmas card, plain and simple. If it were 128 meg sticks it would've been funny and people would perhaps keep it as they received it, because there's nothing else to do with. Now people will erase them and forget about the Christmas thingie. Anyway, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agfV_CFnfg4 because why not?

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
  80. What to do with the usb drives? by eiapoce · · Score: 1

    First label them with random labels such as "Child Porn", "Gangbang Demo", "My michael Jackson music collection", "Best of Metallica", "Old Napster", "NewContryLawyer incriminating evidence" and then put some random material downloaded from the Pirate Bay and some porn of your choice of course.

    Then it comes the brilliant suggestion: Load and install on them the nastiest malware you can find on the web,don't install the same malware on all disks, be creative and be sure that it's current. It should go undetected by the average computer user in a corporate environment: a idiot, word-excel monkey, 35-70 Years Old with absolutely no idea nor interest in how computer works.

    Finally head to this address and leave some of the disks in the starbucks most visided by lawyers, make sure they look like forgotten. Places like toilets and the water dispenser are a must.

    For additional fun label part of the disks as "PAYBACK" and leave them at starbucks at this address.

    Good Fun, your family wouldn't be happy this chrismast but we will be much gratefull !

  81. Porn by senorpoco · · Score: 1

    Christmas Porn.

  82. Next time by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Next time you post a story, put links that actually work without a fucking password, mmmkay?

    ArfBrookwood? More like Arfwit.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  83. Re:Pi, of course. by otopico · · Score: 1

    OOPS! you transposed that 4 after the 6,

    I Fixed that for you!

  84. How would you feel ? by freaker_TuC · · Score: 3, Informative

    How would you feel with x-mas to be lectured about security ? ...

    The post was about a X-MAS PRESENT, not a X-MAS bomb ...

    --
    --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  85. Re:Not bad, but... by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

    Handing out Buray versions of a Live Rick Roll concert?

    --
    Here be signatures
  86. pr0n by TiggertheMad · · Score: 1

    Give them pr0n. Everybody likes pr0n. EVERYBODY. They might pretend to be shocked or aghast, but they like it.

    Now, the real social blunder to watch for is the type of pr0n you give people. You have to watch them very closely and get in their head to get this one right. You don't want to give grandma donkey pr0n when she is really into GILF on GILF action. If in doubt, get some orgy pr0n, since there is likely to be something in there that....titilates.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  87. Donate them to archive.org or schools by Ilgaz · · Score: 1

    They need space right? They got new datacenter too. I bet those guys somehow make use of it, in a good way.

    Or, find every public school in a poor area of town and donate to them for setting up backup drives.

  88. Re:Pi, of course. by Dan541 · · Score: 1

    What you expect me to type a million digits by hand!?

    --
    An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  89. What to REALLY do by KingAlanI · · Score: 1

    LABEL it "Best of Metallica", but put on bazillion-kbps full copies of Load and St. Anger

    PUNK'D!

    --
    I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
  90. Merry Christmas from the '90s. by argent · · Score: 1

    Install a Linux boot, but configure it with GNUstep and Windowmaker so it boots up looking like an old NeXT box.

  91. "With keywords?" by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

    One year it was just the word blah blah blah over and over with keywords,

    What the hell does that even mean?

    1. Re:"With keywords?" by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1

      Just take a typical Christmas letter, and then replace all words, except for key phrases like "new house" "new job" "new cat" with blah blah blah. This assumes you have a house, a job, and a cat though. You can't write about having a new cat if you don't have one.

  92. zsnes and a rom (or 300)! by crhylove · · Score: 1

    Give the gift of retro gaming!

    --
    I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
  93. headline? by socsoc · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't Next Christmas be 2010? I think the submitter is more interested about this Christmas, in 2009.

  94. EASY! by RancidPeanutOil · · Score: 1

    well, the windows 7 release candidate is like 2.4 GB - how about sending them 5/6 of a windows RC x86 install dvd?

  95. A little early by BlueNovember · · Score: 1

    ...it's June. Little early, no?

  96. A real conundrum by algoa456 · · Score: 1

    Gosh what a puzzle: GM is going bust, North Korea has become a nuclear power, Africa is hungry, Imadinnerjacket of Iran is threatening to destroy Israel, unemployment is at a 25 year high in the US, Ireland and Iceland are almost bankrupt, AIDS is still spreading in the world and some claim the planet is warming..... And you are wondering what to do with 78 USB drives for Christmas. You should get out more: the air in your parents basement is obviously affecting your brain. Sorry I must concur with another poster, you are a fucking ArfWit. .

    1. Re:A real conundrum by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1
      Algoa456,

      I am so glad to read that you realize how many major problems exist on our planet. Children ARE starving in Africa, unemployment is high, and Iceland (which I can personally attest is a beautiful and vibrant country) is experiencing an economic crisis. The AIDS plaque is taking mothers away from their babies and yes, thousands of scientists, not just Mr. Gore whom you have denigrated elsewhere on the web, have agreed that global warming threatens us all. I know those things but unfortunately, I cannot solve ANY of those issues with $1000 worth of computer hardware. What I can and did do, however, is make an arrangement to send the drives to a school in California that needed them. And I would have not known about that need without Slashdot.

      I forgive you for your insulting comments above. Obviously SOMEONE didn't watch enough Mr. Rogers when they were younger. Too much Barney maybe?

    2. Re:A real conundrum by algoa456 · · Score: 1

      Don't confuse the issue with bluster: your posting was corny, adolescent and a bit 'show off'. Surely you could have worked out that the drives could be useful to a school without having to get advice from /. I mean your donation is not the biggest charity event I've ever come across.

  97. Do them all a mizvah by LandGator · · Score: 1

    Put a recovery file set (such as USB editions of Knoppix, Puppy, or Damn Small Linux) on the stick with instructions on how to recover from a Windows system crash. In the remaining space, an e-book reader, the Baen Free Library and other free e-books worth their salt.

    --
    There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
  98. One man's coal is another man's moondust... by scorpivs · · Score: 1

    Ha, ha, ha! Mp3re: X-Files.

    --
    There is nothing to FEAR but NOTHING itself; and I fear there is a whole lot of nothing going on. --scorpivs
  99. Rootkit by uglyduckling · · Score: 1
    OK, here's the plan:
    1. rootkits on each USB key, autorun, covering all the major operating systems
    2. create a zombie network with all of your friends'/family's computers
    3. it then expands to all of their family/friends
    4. becomes sentient
    5. unleashes a zombie robot army to destroy humanity

    They'll never forget next Christmas.

  100. MEMEMEMEME by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    I find your ideas intriguing and would like to be added to your Christmas list.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  101. 78 flash drives for Christmas by jollymoon · · Score: 1

    Gutten Tag, Two gigs of memory is plenty enough for several "Christmas Carol" movies in different versions ! You could also add retro 1880's Christmas cards that you could research on the net. Maybe select a couple of really nice ones and GIMP them to include faces of your family, or maybe go slightly goofy and do a spoof. You have lots of time and most of these movies are virtually free, or maybe $5... Enjoy, Uuh, could I be on your Christmas list? Ed Parton, 967 Sourwood Circle, Marietta, GA 30008 . . . (its all over the internet anyway) Oh, Feliz Navidad. www.edparton.com

    1. Re:78 flash drives for Christmas by ArfBrookwood · · Score: 1

      I will put you on my Christmas list, Ed.