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Ask Slashdot: Gifts For a 90-Year-Old, Tech-Savvy Dad?
First time accepted submitter Bearhouse writes "My Dad amazes me with (a) his longevity & energy, and (b) his continued ability to mess around with electronics stuff. Since he already has things ranging from valve amps made from war-surplus, via an original IBM PC kit to an Android tablet, I was going to buy him a Raspberry Pi for Christmas. Turns out he's already got one. I saw nothing that really got me excited here, so your ideas would be appreciated."
Get him a Camera Axe. Utterly cool things being done with that toy.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Anything non techy.
http://www.indiegogo.com/misfitshine
This is like the Fitbit but new and more durable, longer battery life etc. They don't ship until March but they're leading the CES Last Gadget Standing Contest right now. I got one for my mom and one for myself
Oooh, even better... get him the plans and parts for a nixie-tube clock!
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4396235/Microchip-s-Nixie-Tubes-light-up-Design-East
Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
What about a networked weather station? Nearly everyone's interested in the weather, and from direct experience I can tell you it's really cool to be able to connect to your station from your smart phone, tablet, or any web browser, and observe current conditions. There are relatively inexpensive complete systems available now, such as from the likes of AcuRite. I have a Rainwise MK-III LR, myself, but those are probably more expensive than most would wish to spend.
Well wishes to your dad-- If I make it to that age I hope to exhibit the same energy and curiosity he still engages. This is great to hear about!
Spinning off the breadboard idea, a friend of mine built a light-sensitive theramin on a cheap Radio Shack proto board. Normally theramins are played with movement of your hands around an antenna, but the light sensitive one plays different notes as you cover the photo resistors. Here's a great source of info: http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Theremin/. He'll probable have more fun building it, but the fun of having one may not be apparent until he sees it in action.
Has he converted his home/laptop computer to an SSD? Get him an Intel 160 to 256 gig SSD, with the install kit. It makes a large difference - but, only if he does not have one.
This is probably half the reason he's still alive/sane. I find that a lot of people die/deteriorate shortly after they stop working, or doing whatever it is they love. Sure a lot of the stories are anecdotal but I wonder if any serious studies have been done. I just read a story the other day about a 103 year old that rides his bike (now an adult tricycle) every day. He's still in great shape, at least for his age. If you look at most of the people to live past 90, most of them have some activity they are still actively engaged in. It's my theory that very soon after one loses the lust for life, their life goes downhill, and fast. My step-dad died at 55, shortly after his mother died. She had a stroke, and for about 10 years visited almost every day and spent a lot of time taking care of her. He had health problems for a while, but he stayed alive until shortly after she died. It almost seemed that he was holding out until she was gone.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.