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Geek Christmas Ideas

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the its-that-time-of-year dept.

Its that time of year again kids, and shopping for geeks is, as any non-geek is happy to tell me, a royal pain in the arse. So Slashdot is here to help. Let's talk Geek Christmas ideas. Post your best gift ideas. Try to include links and prices. And try to moderate the good ones. That way we all send families the URL to this story instead of making a list.

5 of 528 comments (clear)

  1. Books books books... by Uruk · · Score: 5

    Oh sure, it may not be exciting like that vibrating doll you've always wanted, but EVERYBODY wants books. For example:

    W. Richard Steven's networking tomes! (Always classics - puts shakespeare to shame) The cryptonomicon, the "Alvin Maker" series by Orson Scott Card, The Art Of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth, The Camel Book, (well OK insert ALL O'Reilly titles here except those books on NT adminstration) The Dragonbone Chair series by Tad Williams and on and on and on.

    Books are better than candy, (and sweeter) last longer than clothes or geek toys, never get obsoleted by books with faster processors, books get you chicks, (if they don't, then you were looking for the wrong kind of chick anyway :) Books can be cheap or expensive, visit a local used book shop for a great bargain, (for those of us who don't have much money to buy people gifts)

    Do you know any geek that doesn't like to read? Does that person use linux? I don't have any idea how on earth somebody could be using linux without at least not *minding* reading. I shudder to think how many HOWTOs I've read.

    So, let's review. Books are awesome, they can be quite cheap, they last a long time, they get you chicks, they convey righteous knowledge without the associated eye strain from reading too many Gutenberg e-texts, they make you look thin, and if you eat them, they're high in fiber. Geeks love getting them, and some can even be had cheaply! Even new, they're a bargain. Imagine paying a measly $80.00 to get one volume of Donald Knuth. You can bet your ass that the time he spent in getting that information for himself and recording it was worth a lot more than $80.00 by several factors of 10. But you get it for $80.00. What a steal.

    I am geek, and I WANT BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS DAMMIT. I'm also a geek, and I'll be giving quite a few books for christmas. Of course all of this assumes that your'e into that whole christian thing - I'm sure there are quite a few of us who aren't but just go along with the cultural charade. But if that charade gets me books, bring it on!

    Feed your need to read. (Don't I sound like a library commercial now) That's what I want for Christmas, and that's what I'm going to give for christmas. The only crappy thing about books is that it's very hard to give them to people in a package where it's not totally obvious that they're getting a book. :)

    --
    -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
  2. Shopping online, coupon codes (slightly offtopic) by Pyr · · Score: 5

    This is slightly offtopic, but I'm sure very helpful for some of the geeks/geek's families out there.. these are some good coupon codes for different online stores.

    office max.com has a $20 off a purchaseo f$20 deal, click Here and use the code YES1CFNH2H

    Barnes and Nobel (bn.com) has these $10 off $10 codes: CZVRCH7, CBN2222, COSHARE, and CTREATS.
    Amazon.com has these $10 off $25: FIRSTGIFT and AMZNPRESENT2

    CDNow has these $10 off $14.99 codes: here and here

    Last but not lease (see links below for more) Buy.com has $20 off for first time customers. Click Here to get it.

    If you're looking for other coupon sites visit these places:
    My Coupons.com Message board

    Funtasia's Coupons

    Another coupon message board

  3. Geek �ber-toy: Lego Mindstorms! by Enoch+Root · · Score: 5
    There's nothing like remembering how it was, at 10 year-old, when you could shake that big box under the Christmas tree, and know a toy hid in there. When the familiar rattle of Lego bricks was heard, my face always overflowed with joy.

    A safe bet for any toy-lovin' geek remains the Lego Mindstorms kit and accessories. The basic kit is a bit pricey ($219 US), but well worth it. And if your geek has the basic kit already, there are expansion packs ($49.99 US), an upgrade ($24.95 US), additional RCX ($129.99 US), remote controls ($19.99) and touch, light, temperature and rotation sensors ($9.99 - $19.99 US) as well as additional motors ($18.25 US).

    All these elements are available at Lego World Shop.

    If your geek is the kind of geek who has all the Lego Mindstorms stuff already, there's a book from O'Reilly on Mindstorms ($24.95 US), which will provide advanced tips for design and programming. It was reviewed on Slashdot.

    "The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays."

  4. Depends somewhat on what they're into... by coreman · · Score: 5

    Lots of good ideas so far.

    1) I like the Books suggestion but it needs to be a gift certificate. The last thing I want is Aunt Alice getting me the Internet for Dummies guide because I'm "into computers". Besides, none of my gift givers know my technical library and it'll still change between now and Christmas.

    2) Lego Mindstorms. Which part of "some assembly required" don't you understand?

    3) Any hardware that comes with it's own cryogenic cooling. We can deduct the cost off the house heating bill.

    4) any neat hardware toy that only has beta drivers available for it. Open source preferred.

    5) Any hardware that requires opening the case several times for optimum installation. If we break something else in setting it up, we get a free upgrade! 8^)

  5. Dear Santa by billh · · Score: 5

    Dear Santa,

    First of all, thanks for all of the wonderful presents that you gave me last year. They were all appreciated, but I had a few problems:

    1 - Every geek likes more RAM, but you brought me a SIMM instead of a DIMM. It wasn't much use to me, so I traded it for a six-pack and a pizza. Please don't bring me any memory this year.

    2 - The CD full of screen savers was nice, but I don't run Windows 95. Maybe you should skip software this year, also.

    3 - The copy of Windows 98 was broken. When I installed it, it kept crashing. I called Microsoft and they said this was perfectly normal. Steer clear of this company if you don't mind.

    4 - I love video games as much as the next geek, but I had difficulty installing 'Postman III: Stamp This!' under Linux. See #2.

    5 - The 56k modem didn't work. It said 'Winmodem' on the box, but I still feel like I lost.

    6 - Do you have any idea how many promotional mouse pads I already have? I've taken to stuffing them into the walls to sound-proof my house.

    Maybe this year you should pretend I am a normal person, and bring me some socks, or a membership in the beer of the month club, or a book (not computer related!), or a shoe polisher, or just a George Forman grill.

    Merry Christmas, and a Happy Y2K.