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Christmas Cheer

Your Holiday Present Wish List 548

Posted by CmdrTaco from the submit-a-link-get-your-name-in-lights dept.
Paul Boutin from Wired approached me to help them do a Holiday Present list for last-minute shoppers ... but I'm lazy, so I figured I'd ask you guys to help (in exchange for your services, the $750 writers fee will be donated to the EFF to help make sure that the net is still free next Thursday). Anyway, this is part one: The Call For Recommendations. Read on to see what we're looking for. Part 2 will come in December, and it will run both on Slashdot and in the print version of Wired, in time for your last-minute shopping. (Yeah, that's months away, but print moves a little slower then us ;) )
We're looking for suggestions in 3 different price tiers.
  • Cheaper Then a Playstation 2 ($300 or less)
  • Cheaper Then a Playstation 2's rumored eBay sale value ($301-$1500)
  • Unlimited (Mommy, can I have a stealth bomber for Christmas?)

The suggestions posted in this discussion will be milked for ideas for creating "The List". If you post an idea, you run the risk of seeing your name show up in Wired and Slashdot (Santa reads at least one of them right?) and helping distribute Christmas (or fill-in-the-blank with whatever excuse for presents you can come up with in december... Merry Yaksmas! ) cheer to good little boys and girls.

Try to include a URL to a site where more information can be found on your Present Proposal. And try to include helpful information like price, and just why this is a good present idea.

And we'll pick this up in December.
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Your Holiday Present Wish List More

Your Holiday Present Wish List

Comments Filter:
  • After Mae Ling lost her job at the LWE Blowjob Booth, she became a drifter, taking up various odd jobs (jail bait, surly diner waitress, cheap whore) as she traveled across the country with her pathetic laptop, Lal. (Lal is a Pentium 133 with 16MB RAM, proudly running Red Hat 5.2, and covered in Marilyn Manson stickers.) After wandering for two years, Ms. Mak found her calling as a trailer-trash stoner in California's scenic Orange County. Her time is mostly spent hitching rides to San Francisco, where she scores dope from old hippies in exchange for dirty buttsex. This month, she'll be hanging out around BSDCon, showcasing a magic-marker Tux drawing on her not-inconsiderable belly, and physically assaulting McCusick whilst screaming "BSD sux!!" and "Lunix roolz!". Mae Ling Mak isn't much to look at these days, and her tale is a sad one; the Linux community left her behind once the movement's momentum went mainstream, but she'll always hold a special place in the hearts and pants of GNU/Linux hackers everywhere, for they remember a time (before Stile's Linux Loving Sluts) when she was the only thing within ten miles of a Linux users' group sporting a vagina.

    Mae Ling Mak, we salute you.

    ---------///----------
    All generalizations are false.

  • Actually, they're the same system now. May have been different before, but last time I checked the same company owned both brandnames and marketted the same product as both, depending on where.

    A heck of a lot of parts - even of the old stuff - were interchangeable, though.
  • Not the same. You're still stuck with a 160*160 screen for one thing, while I get 640*240. Also, it don't exactly look stable. I can hold in one hand and type in the other without any problems at all.

    Seriously, the keyboard isn't the only issue. The whole system is just better. It feels like a proper computer, while the Palm feels like a jumped up personal organiser. And no, that doesn't cause problems by being too complicated, it works beautifully.
  • Be generous this Christmas. Spend as little as ten bucks to help a third-world family.

    http://catalog.heifer.org/index.cfm

    These guys have phenomenally low administration overhead costs compared to the big-name charities. And they appear to not be evangelising/converting their recipients.

    There are almost certainly people in your family/gift-giving circle who you don't trust to get you something you'll like, or who can't afford to get you something useful or fun.

    Have them purchase a rabbit in your name. It'll make a world of difference.

    Thanks. [And Taco, thanks especially to *you* if you can slip this into your WiReD article!]

    --
  • Why do hackers always confuse Christmas and Halloween?

    Because OCT 31 == DEC 25

    - Joe

  • The reason is (Score:5)

    by OlympicSponsor ( 236309 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:20AM (#739066)
    "...print moves a little slower then us."

    That's because print takes time to proofread.
    --
  • 1) Microsoft Windows 2000
    2) :Cue:Cat by DC
    3) CD's from my favorite music authors (including Metallica & Dr. Dre)
    4) Internet Filtering software (ie. Net Nanny)
    5) A DVD Player approved by the MPAA
    Lessee, that was

    1) Red Hat Linux 7.0 downloaded over my DSL connection
    2) :Cue:Cat free from Radio Slack
    3) MP3's from MP3.com
    4) Internet Junkbuster
    5) WinAmp with DeCSS

    Grand total: Free-nintey-free.

    Isn't life grand?

  • hahaha
    Look kid, before you start coming down on people why the hell dont you actually open your mind.
    You little disciples are absolutely horrid. (not a religious reference for anyone curious)
    Not only can you not hold a real conversation about Linux or GNU - but you can't even hold a conversation in relation to anthropology and philosphy and trying to identify with other people.
    And I'm not trolling for anything.
    Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. It's kids like you that are ruining all of the old school games, message boards, online games.. all of it. It's sad, but it's inevitable. Everything goes away, but why can it never be useless sacks of flesh like yourself (until you prove a benefit to society otherwise; that is how I perceive you) instead of things passionate people care about?
    Another nuance of the world.
  • Actually, that's exactly why I bought mine when I did - to replace a Palm III which failed when I accidentally conducted that test. Cracked the glass over the screen, which rendered the digitiser useless.

    Whichever twit stuck glass in there and made it inseparable from the screen should lose their job. That little incident made it a non-economic repair. Why they couldn't jsut use perspex. Wouldn't even scratch - there was a screen protector over the glass, too.
  • Yummy. A SCART version for us Europeans would be peachy. Please, someone make one. My console cables are getting terribly worn from all that plugging and unplugging.
    --
  • I'm asking santa for the desktop refigerator - $75 from thinkgeek

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/bazaar/mart/cart. cgi?action=view&type=item&itemid=3619&at=c olor

  • In the 'Under PlayStation 2' category, I've got to go with the wierd non-computer games from Looney Labs [looneylabs.com] . Specifically they're all under the $40 mark.

    You'll find more information on their site, but here's a quick rundown:

    Fluxx [wunderland.com] $10
    A card game where the rules to the game are the cards you play. Very recursive, hence very geeky. Simple to learn, pointless to master. (It's partially luck based...)
    Icehouse [wunderland.com] $35
    A unique set of translucent stacking plastic pyramids you can use to play
    all sorts of neat games [wunderland.com]. The signature one is so geeky there's even a graphical version for X windows [cmu.edu].

    Chrononauts [wunderland.com] $20
    A card game based around time travel. How cool is that? The official release date isn't until October 31st, but I can tell you from first hand experience that
    the cards are beautiful [wunderland.com] and the gameplay is solid. [wunderland.com]

    --

  • Oh, pustules. I thought this was for me! I only got as far as Holiday Present Wish List

    Ok, here goes...

    Cheaper Then a Playstation 2 ($300 or less)

    Ok, that buys 3, maybe 4 Swisstools, which is Victorinox's take on the Leatherman. Way cool and you can pretty much do everything to a PC (or housecat) with it, including saw in half! The extras make good backups (I have 2) and we all know you can never have enough backups ;)

    Cheaper Then a Playstation 2's rumored eBay sale value ($301-$1500)
    As many Legos as $1,500 will buy, next.

    Unlimited (Mommy, can I have a stealth bomber for Christmas?)

    100 luscious lolly pops and a big red balloon!
    Oh, and a BMW 323 Sportwagon, leather interior, 5 Spd, CD changer, Foglamps, sportwheels and a get out of Jail Free card.


    --
    Chief Frog Inspector

  • Given the open source nature of the proposed beastie, that would definately be in the "cheaper than a PS2" category, no? *grin*
    --
  • Well, as we all know, readers of Wired are a very special, elite group. They won't be satisfied with ordinary Xmas gifts, like silk ties, foot massagers, or cheese impalers. They have, shall we say, special needs met only by the very latest in high-tech internet-enabled gadgets. Here are a few items I've noticed for sale recently at trendy places such as The Sharper Image, Brookstone, and Computers R Us which might do for the Wired subscriber in your life, or anyone crazy enough to be his S.O.:
    • Later this week, Nokia [nokia.com] will be introducing a new mobile phone that not only has the now-standard built-in Tetris game and GPS receiver, but also wireless voice-over-IP support and a built-in webcam for videoconferencing! (A friend of mine works on this project, which is how I know about it.)
    • Also this week (I know, funny coincidence, but everyone's trying to get their new products out in time for the Xmas shopping season), Oster [oster.com] will be introducing new microwave ovens, toasters, and blenders with built-in Ethernet interfaces and firmware support for the new Linux Open-Source Kitchen Automation project (I forget the URL, but it's hosted at SourceForge). These devices will allow you to program and monitor your kitchen devices over your home LAN. They also have built-in webcams so you can watch your kitchen in action, from a much more intimate viewpoint than has ever before been possible (in the case of the blender, the cam actually views up from beneath the whirling blades).
    • And speaking of intimate viewpoints, Symbian [symbian.com] will shortly be introducing a new vibrator with a webcam built into the tip. Configure it with an URL to upload images to, and watch it go in and out, in and out...
    • Lastly, Web monitoring company Keynote [keynote.com] will be entering the consumer hardware business with a new PCI add-in board for better DIY monitoring of your own website. Just plug it in and the onboard webcam shows you the packets going in and out through your network interface.
    Hope this helps!

    --

  • Comment removed (Score:4)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:38AM (#739121)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • One word..."Broadband" (Score:3)

    by YuppieScum ( 1096 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:38AM (#739124) Journal
    Thats all.

    I'd like just one vendor to actually commit to providing me with a >56k connection.

    Not much to ask...I'll even pay for it.
  • That's for the really fun topic, CmdrTaco, it's the best!


    --
    Chief Frog Inspector
  • We're looking for suggestions in 3 different price tiers.
    • Cheaper Then a Playstation 2 ($300 or less)
    • Cheaper Then a Playstation 2's rumored eBay sale value ($301-$1500)
    • Unlimited (Mommy, can I have a stealth bomber for Christmas?)

    Well, what I'd like most is:

    1) things in the unlimited price category to be in the $300-$1500 category
    2) things in the $300-$1500 group to cost in the under $300 dolar group
    3) things in the under $300 dollar group to be all under $20.

    But I know, we're supposed to wish for objects and not events (if we didn't wish for objects then what would happen to the economy? And if we were wishing for events, we'd wish for the dismantling of the WTO, WIPO, MPAA, RIAA, and several other TLAs).

    So as for objects:

    A Kurzweil k2000/2500 series synth, with all the trimmings. Or something equivalent, though I doubt it exists. About $1000 used to $4000 new, these are the deepest sound-producing boxes I have ever played with -- and yet it doesn't take long to start making music with them. And music making is a pleasant break from coding.

    You can also throw in a full Digidesign setup.
  • One thing geeks like to get. Non-geek stuff. Unless it's given by a fellow geek. Here's the problem:

    geek's mother: "Now, *geek's name*, i know you'll REALLY love this, the guy at the computer store said you would."
    geek: thinking, "oh boy..." opens package *sounds of tearing* Pulls out a 20MB (says type 2 on the drive) IDE hard drive, mutters "Hmmm, must've been his last day"
    geek's mother (a little hard of hearing *thank god*): "What was that?"
    geek: "I said that I love it, mom, It'll go good next to my AOL CD collection!"
    geek's mother: smiles
    geek: wanted diablo II

    Generic things to get a geek that they may need:
    Clothes. Buy them stuff that they already wear. They don't want to dress like you want to dress, they like to dress how they dress.
    Widgets. Really cool mechanical widgets, like mag-lev spacemen, and whatnot. Really interesting clocks are also cool.
    Gift certificates. To bookstores (not Amazon or unless you want a nice holiday argument), software stores (not m$), etc.
    Books. Look through their bookcase. You will see at least ONE book that isn't a programming book. Get new, popular books of that genre. It might take them a few years to get to reading it, but when they do, they will enjoy it

    But, the #1 way to figure out what to get your geek:
    Ask, and listen for hints!
  • 1. Aiwa car mp3 player. My wife got one and they are pretty nice. 2. 18.1" Flat Panel Monitor 3. More Nerf weapons for the office. 4. Gift Certificate to ThinkGeek and/or Copyleft 5. Wireless Network Cards for the notebook.
  • I have my xmas list with links to order online on my webpage. visit it http://cro.wox.org/things.i.want.html [wox.org]
    ---
  • Palm Vx - 359 dollars

    Linux - 0 dollars

    G4 Cube - 3000 dollars

    GeForce2 GTS - $300 dollars

    CmdrTaco not displaying Alzheimer symtoms when posting new articles - priceless.

  • Fun (Score:3)

    by troyboy ( 9890 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @08:04AM (#739151)
    Try a Christmas holiday without consumerism. Your electronic appliances work just fine without replacing them. Spend some time with friends and family. Save some money. Enjoy yourself.

    Check out The Center for a New American Dream [newdream.org].
  • By flat screen, do you mean FD Trinitron (~$1200-1500 for a 21") or a LCD panel... 22" runs quite a bit more (~$3k)...

    Why not put that SGI 40"+ LCD display up there? What was that $26k or something
    --
  • Looks like someone spraypainted it and poured on Bon-Ami. Is that the ghetto method of trimming a christmas tree?
    • Cheaper than a Playstation: If the "free" in "free time" equates to "free (as in beer)," I'd like some more of that. That is to say, End the Culture of ultraproductivity in the US.
    • Cheaper than a PlayStation2 on Ebay: A maid, or at least a helper to come once a week and help me get my house in order, so I can do all the things that a homeowner is supposed to get done in the course of normal life that I don't have time to do (see above).
    • Unlimited:My own lobbyist. Or a patrol of them. Not to badger pols into legislation that only benefits me, but to nudge the government into a lane of common sense (Patents on hyperlinks? *Bzzzt* Oil prospecting in National Parks? *Are you nuts?* Solving social problem with unenforcable laws and empty talk on TV? *C'mon guys. This is the real world.* And what happened to the 40-hour work week? huh? HUH? I *like* life outside of work.
    Or something like that.

    -O

  • Well, I figured since we're on the subject of what to buy as a gift for someone else, I figured I'd hint as to some things you may want to avoid putting in a gift box.

    First of all, if you're going to buy someone a new set of tires for christmas, don't buy Firestones. I think that goes without saying.

    Secondly, a free membership to Bally's or Weight Watchers may have you sleeping in the basement until New Year's

    Cleaning tools are likely to be thrown back at you (or exchanged for expensive perfume). Never buy someone vacuum cleaner or a mop.

    Although we're very tempted to. I'd advice you NOT to buy him/her something that you want yourself. Explaining how much she needs a new 3HP cordless drill will leave your relationship on a tightrope.

    No name perfume which costs you $1.99, such as Eu de Toilet, which actually smells like the bathroom, a $10 whore, or your dirty socks. If you are going to buy her perfume, spring for the brand names.

    NO CLOTHES! I repeat, NO CLOTHES! Oh, and let me reiterate,... NO CLOTHES! If they're too big, you'll be in trouble,... and if they're too small, you'll be in even MORE trouble. Just trust me,... don't buy her clothes!

    And people,... no more Chia Pets.

  • Ummm. They GPL'd all of MySQL a while back. It's completely free in all ways for all platforms now. Really. Go check. I'll wait. See?

    LetterJ
  • No name perfume which costs you $1.99, such as Eu de Toilet, which actually smells like ... a $10 whore

    My wife doesn't know what a $10 whore smells like. If yours does, ask her how she knows.

  • Not sure what category they'd fall under, but I would like a bunch of politicians so I can repeal crap like DMCA and the like. While I'm at it, I'd get rid of patents on mathematical formulae, and deem programs as mathematical formulae. Oh, mommy, can I also get Mr. Bezo to get rid of Amazon.com's 1-Click patent too?


    --
  • It's here [slashdot.org].
  • I bought one of these puppies on Friday:

    Quick rundown:

    USB connection (500kb/s)
    headphone and 2 line out (4 speaker-surround sound), 1 line in.
    6 "GB" drive (5700MB avail)
    8 rechargable AA batteries, only 4 needed
    8MB buffer, hard drive only spins up every 5-6 minutes and at the beginning of a song.

    Pros:

    Small - the size of a portable CD player.
    Backlighting of the good-sized LCD screen
    Line in port in case you want to record a lecture or something (need a powered mic tho)
    Arranged nicely - select songs by artist, genre, album, or pre-made playlist, all read from the MP3 ID

    Cons:

    Batteries last only 4 hrs. But with 8 batteries, you can run for about 8 hrs. (charge time is 4 hrs)
    Can't copy music from jukebox to PC. Doesn't matter to me, except for the fact that there's already about 1GB of music on the jukebox when you get it. I'd like to offload it and listen to it later, but I can't. Oh well.
    Sometimes the screen flutters, like it's lost power. Might just be the CPU busy decoding music, as I encode at 160kbps.
    Windows only software (right now)
    Hard drive spins up at the beginning of a song. This causes a bit of a delay (1-2 seconds) between songs. I wish the software would buffer up the next song before the present one ends. 8MB should be enough space to do this.

    Future plans (according to Creative):

    There's an IR receive port, I guess to handle a remote.
    Car adapter with (woo!) RF transmitter. Sounds like no need for a cassette adapter.

    In all, I'm pretty happy with it. Worth the $500.
  • http://www.zorb.com/ [zorb.com]

    Definitely on my list.
  • Anything faster than a 26400-28800 modem connections! No cable modem service and DSL here. Satellite services, IDSL, and ISDN are way too expensive for my budget. :(

    That is all I asked for. :(

  • Shoot, accidentally hit enter.

    Anyway, nobody asked for world peace! What's wrong with you people?

    This would go in the 'unlimited' category. You could just pay off everybody to be peaceful.
  • But there is a finite number of fruit cakes in the universe.p> They last longer than twinkies, so the same ones are given every Christmas.

    I'd like a trip to Mir, and that Jet pack that they had on slash dot last year.

  • My list (Score:2)

    by booch ( 4157 )
    TiVo (some people may prefer ReplayTV)
    Playstation 2
    portable MP3 player (Diamond Rio or others)
    MP3/CD player for car
    X10 remote control devices for home automation
    Aibo
    Lego Mindstorms
    DV video camera and FireWare card to hook it to a PC
    USB radio device
    TV receiver card for PC
    latest PC video card (with nVidia GTS2 or MX chip)
    Yopy (ifit ever comes out) or iPaq handheld

  • Forget all the electronic stuff. What I really want for Xmas is a Leatherman. (No, not a sweaty guy in leather. Look here. [leatherman.com]) Every geek should own one, and do a hobby away from the keyboard for a while.

    Failing that, I'd like free unlimited bandwidth website hosting for a year, and a puppy.

  • "and it will run both on Slashdot and in the print version of Wired, in time for your last-minute shopping. (Yeah, that's months away, but print moves a little slower then us ;) )

    Will WIRED include a de-clawed Cue:Cat with a UPC scanning driver? That'd be the right thing to do, after what they did as an accomplice to D:C's scam.

  • MySQL is the backend for slash, scoop and many other really innovative weblog/moderation systems. I've wanted to try using these for several months now for nonprofit experiments, but the only machines I have are Win32 (Win2K) machines which I use in my employer's work.

    MySQL is 'free as in beer' for any Linux taker, but they charge money if you want to use it on a Win32 system. Without flaming anyone in particular, to me this smacks of the same elitist crap that Linux bigots accuse Wintel-bound developers of.

    If there was no MySQL for Win32, I wouldn't gripe. There is, but only at a premium. Apache and gcc and other quality OSS are offered on both platforms at the same price.

    Before someone goes and marks me -1, Retard or offers the ever-so-helpful advice of "just set up a Linux box on the side or dual-boot," the point is, I don't have budget to have another machine around, and it's kinda hard to run a webservice from one boot partition while getting my employer's work done on another boot partition.

    So, back on topic: fair platform-agnostic pricing for MySQL. Think of it as a stocking-stuffer.

  • Under $300:
    Games, of course - Grandia II, Final Fantasy IX, Majora's Mask -
    But you're probably looking at gadgits. So I'll say a GameBoy Advanced (yes, I know the US version is a year away, but I can dream), or a Wonderswan (same deal - but I want to play Final Fantasy I-III (the real I - III, not "we'll call IV FFII and VI FFIII! Bwahahaha!").

    The other item would be a Playstation One (small footprint) with the LCD panel and a car adapter so I could take it on trips.

    $300 - $1500:
    One of two things:
    A Voodoo 6000 (128 MB RAM, 4 processors, needs its own external power source - can you say Unreal Tournament at 1024x768 4x AA at 100 frames a second? Oh, yes. Check it at http://www.3dfx.com/prod/vood oo/ v5-6000-overv.html [3dfx.com]
    Creative Labs Jukebox http://www.nomadworld.com/products/j uke box/ [nomadworld.com] - 6 gigs of MP3 storage from a name I trust.

    $1500+
    It took me a little bit, but I'd want one of those Honda gas-electric cars http://arstechnica.com/ rev iews/3q00/honda/insight-1.html [arstechnica.com] - save gas $, save the planet, and stick it to OPEC all at the same time. (Now, if only they'd make an ethenol version so I could help out Kansas farms at the same time...)
    John "Dark Paladin" Hummel

  • Niemen Marcus is offering personal submarines at a price anyone can afford: http://www.neimanmar cus.com /prod.jhtml?id=102397&cid=1180 [neimanmarcus.com]

    Call 1-877-9NM-GIFT to order this underwater fantasy. It's a 118-foot luxury submarine that sleeps 11, displacing 380 tons, with an operating depth of 1,000 feet, submerged range of 160 nautical miles, and speed of 15 knots. Cruising range: 3,000+ nautical miles (sufficient for transatlantic crossings).

  • There are way too many zeros in that price. It should be in scientific notation or Mega. Or they should at least add the appropriate commas. 2e07 dollars, or 20M$, or $20,000,000. But 20000000.00? You'd think for 20 million bucks they could buy a comma for the ad. And a JPEG of the whole thing. ;-)>

    I also disagree that this is what every geek girl and boy needs. It's actually what every drug-running girl and boy needs. Which raises the interesting question of what Federal laws you might be violating cruising around in a submarine. I can't imagine that you could sail up the Potomic with this without raising some sort of ruckus.
  • A deHavilland Beaver on floats.

    Yeah, we all need a little Beaver every now and then, don't we... ;)

    --K
    (And yes, I do know what a deHaviland Beaver is...)
    ---

  • Seems like anyone who learned BASIC in Jr. High School (or Pascal, or Java, etc.) has forgotten that there's two different words here.

    IF situation, THEN consequences.

    argument LESS THAN argument [or GREATER THAN, or SLOWER THAN, etc.]

    Is that a suitable geek-format HOWTO? :)

  • Noble effort, but have you considered that the rest of the year is pretty much what you ask? And if likeminded people felt no obligation, at least once a year, to get together with family and friends and exchange goodies, eat fruitcake, listen to holiday music and ...ahem... have Natalie Portman [natalieportman.com] corner me under the mistletoe, that would make for a better world? Seems kinda cold, dark and lonely.

    Parting shot: You don't have to shop at any mall, buy any thing online, or chop down any trees to give. Why not buy a blanket and a sandwich for a someone less fortunate.


    --
    Chief Frog Inspector
  • Until the DVD-CCA stops trying to control [opendvd.org] who can and cannot play DVDs they have purchased, I suggest not purchasing a DVD player.

    Instead, go to the CopyLeft [copyleft.net] store and purchase a DeCSS [copyleft.net] t-shirt ($15). $4.00 per T-shirt is donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation [eff.org].

    --

  • Apple's Cinema Display [apple.com]

    Unlimited Category, great display. Would be nice if the computer it came with were faster.

  • Or Mars, Venus or Io?
    The Lunar Embassy [lunarembassy.com] is selling off plots of land on the Moon , Mars, Venus and Io.

    Surely these would make a great geek gift in the sub playstation2 category. And who knows, maybe your descendents will even be able to make use of the gift :-)

    --

  • Cheaper than $300: Kernel 2.4.0, 'nuff said More expensive than $300: Be, Inc., the company. I hear their stock was in negative value recently; they should go for about $500. Priceless: Bill Gates chained to a dungeon wall.

  • O'Reilly is overrated (Score:3)

    by NYC ( 10100 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @08:59AM (#739248)
    Most O'Reilly books are overrated. Their current releases have been hit or miss, and most of the misses are bombs.

    My preference for computer books is anything by Addison Wesley. *All* their books are top-notch and most are classics: Design Patterns by the Gang of Four, Networking series by Stevens, Computer Graphics by Foley et.al., C++ books by Lippman and Sudstroup(sp?).

    O'Reilly does have the edge in terms of timing, especially books on Java API like Servlets, but you can see that they are too quick. O'Reilly made it big with the Perl series, but most of their reputation comes from those old books.

    --weenie NT4 user: bite me!

  • Do they make O'Reilly Gift Certificates? (Score:3)

    by dragonfly_blue ( 101697 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:20AM (#739251) Homepage
    If they don't make O'Reilly gift certificates, they should, because I have about a baker's dozen worth of O'Reilly books on my current wish list. As the premier high-status geek-book publisher, one would think O'Reilly would have 'em by now... are ya listenin', Tim?
  • Here is the perfect solution for the digital camera fan in your circle, the digital wallet. This is basically a portable harddrive with a pcmcia card slot that will allow you to save the snaps on your camera media (e.g., compact flash) to less expensive media. Great for lightweight travelling, when you are intentionally leaving your notebook computer far, far behind. http://www.mindsatwork.net
  • Stop being selfish -- think about giving as well. What better gift for grandma than the internet? I have found the Cieva [cieva.com] to be a fabulous, cheap($300) and easy way to bring the Internet to people still initimidated by remote controls. Here [macslash.com] is one of my success stories.

  • You realize, of course, that these star naming outfits are basically a scam, right? The only place your "star name" can be found is in the book published by a given star-name registry. There are at least 3 of these registry companies, and none of them are recognized by any legitimate scientific organization.
  • In the cheap category, the set of shot glasses [thinkgeek.com] from Think Geek [thinkgeek.com]. Cute and practical.

    For less than the price of an eBay PS2, we have the Sony WEGA TV. One of the 27 inch [sony.com] models would be very nice. They're not big, but the picture quality is impeccable.

    And slash appears to be eating those URL's. That's

    • http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/bazaar/mart/cart. cgi?action=view&ty pe=item&itemid=2 8d1
    • http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/home/te levision/trinitronrtmfdtrinitron wegatm tv27inch/kv-27fv16.shtml
    Ignore spaces inserted by stupid web browser and/or slashcode
  • as seen on ebay:
    http://cgi. ebay.co m/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=449122943 [ebay.com]

    description:
    I have won over $10,000 in cash and prizes with this GIANT Bong costume!!! Hand made of construction materials, this lifelike Bong costume has a bowlpiece that lights and glows, and "smoke" that pours out of the top! Bright pink in color, garanteed to get attention! Be the life of the costume party! Almost garanteed to win! I will deliver in New England, others pay truck freight. Personal checks accepted, shipment when cleared. Good luck!

  • Eco-Spheres (Score:5)

    by Viking Coder ( 102287 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:21AM (#739261)
    For Christmas, I would love an http://www.eco-sphere.com/ [eco-sphere.com]. It's one of those self-contained glass globes with shrimp, algae and bacteria inside. All you have to do is add light and they should last for a few years. Very cool. Price ranges from $79 to $489, depending on the size (from 3.25" diameter sphere to 9" diameter sphere).
  • The VisorPhone would be a great gift for any Visor owner. The downside is that it costs $299 with activation. Another great gift for the Visor owner would be the SoundsGood audio player module [palmgear.com]. It also is a little steep at $269 though.
  • 1. Uh, a Playstation 2...?

    2. A Playstation 2 and a few games?

    3. A Playstation 2 and tons of games?
  • I think CmdrTaco needs an editor for christmas (you know, one like those print guys have). :)

    rLowe
  • Why not just get a Bn or amazon or fatbrain gift certificate. Personally, I like the Wrox books, but I use (gasp!) Windows. Although I have the O'reily Javascript book and it's pretty damn good.
    ---
  • As a personal policy, I don't accept gifts for the holidays. I have enough stuff. Here are a few suggestions for people who wanna give me something. If you're interested, email me for a bunch of other worthy organizations!

    Donation to ORT (http://www.ort.org/ort/wou/wou.htm). ORT is a Jewish organization that builds vocational schools around the world. Instead of giving people food or money, ORT teaches people high-tech skills like writing code, repairing computers, and other jobs that'll allow them to bring themselves out of poverty.

    Donation to MDRC (http://www.mdrc.org). The MDRC is an organization that researches the best ways of improving the lives of low-income people, ranging from literacy programs to vocational training. (More US-centric than ORT).

    Donation to EFF (http://www.eff.org). The Electronic Frontier Foundation is one of the few political organizations that understands high-tech issues, and lobbies for, litigates for, and generally supports electronic freedom (via U.S. legal system).

    Donation to Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org). In some places, organizations like the EFF are not sufficient; you say the wrong thing, you're thrown in jail. Amnesty tries to pressure governments to follow the Geneva Convention and respect human rights.

    Donation to PeaceFire (http://www.peacefire.org). An organization that fights censorship of the web, and points out the incompetence and hypocrisy of the would-be censors.


    -
    bukra fil mish mish
    -
    Monitor the Web, or Track your site!
  • Yeah, but the consumer-binge aspect *was* invented by corporations. For example, that big fat Santa in a red suit that we all associate with Christmas...who invented that? Oh, yeah, the Coca-Cola corporation!

    Ours is a corporate fabricated culture...just witness such phenomena as BackStreet Boys and Pokemon.

  • Lego Mindstorms (Score:3)

    by KirTakat ( 110620 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:23AM (#739299)
    Obviously Lego Mindstorms would be high on the list of any geek (even if you have them, you need more to do the really cool stuff you've been planning to do...)
  • The Internet phonejack [quicknet.com] is a card (available in ISA or PCI versions) which lets you hook up a regular phone to your PC; the card then routes your calls over your internet connection to net2phone or similar services, so you can bypass your local phone company altogether for outgoing calls (incoming calls, however, are another issue). Get a two-line phone, hook one line to the internet phonejack, the other to your regular phone line and you're set.

    $159


    --

  • My present list... (Score:5)

    by Mike1024 ( 184871 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @09:10AM (#739302)
    Hey,

    Here's my present list:

    Mobile phone: Ideally the 9110 [nokia.com] or 9110i [nokia.com]. If that's not availiable, I'll take a Matrix-esque 7110 [nokia.com].

    I wouldn't mind a Creative DAP Jukebox [nomadworld.com]. Storage for 100 hours of MP3s (But only enough power to play them for about 5 hours).

    I'll also take a Kawasaki Ultra 150 [thegadgetshop.co.uk] Jet Ski (Only £7,245!).

    I wouldn't mind a BURN-proof 12x10x32 CD-RW drive [creative.com].

    Every slashdotter I know yould use one of These [thegadgetshop.co.uk].

    Leatherman Wave [leatherman.com] Multi-tools are nice, if I didn't already have one.

    Want a rack for all your CDs? I'll have a Rolodisc [thegadgetshop.co.uk] rack. Cool!

    If we're allowed whole new systems, I'll take an SGI 550 [sgi.com] workstation, with the dual 866 MHz Pentium III Xeon processors and 2 gigs or ram, please.

    I'll also have an Ergoview Task chair with headrest.

    Since CmdrTaco's paying, I'll have a Panasonic Portable DVD player [panasonic.com] (Massive 7" widescreen LCD screen!).

    If you have any spage change after that, $13,999.95 will get you (Well, me actually. We do GET this stuff, don't we?) a 16:9 Wide, 42" Diagonal Flat-Panel Plasma SDTV-Compatible Monitor [panasonic.com]. Cool!

    A Radio Deadbolt [thinkgeek.com] would be cool (US only though :-( )

    Head-mount Night-vision goggles [spymaster.co.uk] would be nice.

    This summer, I will mainly be avoiding traffic jams in my Armoured Hummer [spymaster.co.uk]. I'll take the Scorpion III as well - it's cool.

    $3,199 is enough for a nice Sony Digital video camera [sony.com].

    An SP9004 [goldmann.com] spud gun is on my list too, and a cair of Glasstron [sony.com] goggles. Nice!

    Well, I'm going out now. If any karma whores would like to check out my links and use thier 1337 copy and paste skills in case there are errors, you can go right ahead.

    Michael

    ...another comment from Michael Tandy.

  • The site name-a-star.net [name-a-star.net] lets you name a star anything you wish for a mere $50. It's a nice novelty, at least.

    Of course, there's always the possibility of scientists finding life on the named star. Perhaps you can include a SETI@Home client disk with the certificate?
  • A year's supply of Penguin Mints [thinkgeek.org].

    (One tin per week, $3 per tin: $156)

  • okay, I know they've gotten the crap beaten out of them and the PR on the Cube has been awful, but damnit jim, those are the most stylin' computers around. throw on some OSX server, you're just rarin' to go.

    so that would be...
    the Cube [apple.com] and
    Darwin [apple.com]

  • I'm hoping for something from the list of (mostly vapourware) appliances that are pretty much stereos that can take input from streaming audio (like realaudio and its ilk). Some of them have other (primary) functions like playing MP3 CDs or "normal" CDs.

    the list includes:


    I imagine that one big feature that I'd like is that I'd like it to exist in time for the holidays. Other than that, I just want something that takes ethernet in one side, sits in my kitchen, bathroom, study, garage, or wherever, and dumps music out.
    I believe that most of these will fall in the "under $300" category, unless I have to use my iMac for this purpose.
  • 100 GIG 15,000 RPM RAID-5 Array, 1.1 GHz Tbird, uh, lots and lots of DDRAM, cruise missile aimed at Rambux, DVD, uh.. new propeller beanie.., games for the pc that don't suck, uh, first^H^H^H^H^Hmeaningful post on /., new porsche 5speed turbo, uh... oh, heck

    just gimme lots money and I'll figure it out later =)


    --
    Chief Frog Inspector
  • is that no one makes what I really want, a wireless X display terminal in the $300 dollar range.

    Otherwise, will this list be comprised of anything other than the latest electronic gee-gaw from the mega-corps?

  • TiVo (Score:5)

    by kbyrd ( 68962 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:24AM (#739323)
    Steps to the perfect gift. 1) Buy a TiVo ( http://www.tivo.com [tivo.com] ) 2) Upgrade it with the instructios at http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/faq.html [tivofaq.com]; 3) Buy the parts for the upgrade at http://www.9thtee.com/TiVoUpgrades.htm [9thtee.com]
  • I've seen him post with this mistake frequently which leads me to believe we have a grammar problem on our hands and not just a typo. Maybe someone wasn't paying attention to their 7th grade English teacher? See this [slashdot.org] article for another example of Taco's trouble with "than." Same day, even...


    --------
  • Jesus, one tin a week? When I get a case, I usually go through 1-2 tins a day. My kidneys hate me so very, very much.

  • (OT) Spelling (Score:4)

    by skoda ( 211470 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @09:15AM (#739335) Homepage
    This and recent discussions on moderation [slashdot.org] make me think /. could use a new moderation factor:

    -1, Bad Spelling
    -2, "Then" != "Than"
    +5, Correct usage of "they're" and "their"

    Or maybe just Open Source Spelling (tm) -- users could change one character of any post in each article. The community could then correct spelling errors: "then" => "than", etc.

    :)
    -----
    D. Fischer
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • "EAX is not like A3D. EAX is reverb. A3D was a proprietary API and hardware for 3D positional audio."

    My point exactly. Trouble is, now Creative's trying to hype EAX as a 3d positional audio API, which it's not. And the only ones to oppose them in this are the knowledgeable consumers, like you and me.

  • This is the age of information age and the new economy. How is a gear head supposed to know now what toys he or she desires in three months time?

    The only solution is to go for the tried and true classics.

    The best of which are Penguin [peppermints.com] brand caffeinated peppermints and Jolt [joltcola.com] cola.

    have a day,

    -l

    have a day,

    -l

  • What I'd like for Christmas (Score:3)

    by samael ( 12612 ) <Andrew@Ducker.org.uk> on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:25AM (#739356) Homepage
    Cheap Option: An Nvidia MX Card. Speedy, but cheap. Then I could play UT at a reasonable speed.

    Medium option: A Tivo - theoretically launched in the UK, damned if I can get my hands on one.

    Expensive option: Terabit optical connection to my house. then I could play UT online at a reasonable speed. And download porn at the same time!
    _____
  • VMware under win2k doesn't run X (3.3.6), at least without using the X-server they provide, which won't necessarily work very well when I actually boot to linux. It does boot to the text login just fine, and works excellently there, however.

    VMware under linux (RH7, pretty stock config) doesn't run win2k (it complains that it doesn't support certain power management features, and therefore can't boot...?!?). If you've already got the stability of linux, why would you want to run anything *other* than win2k when you need a bit of evil?

  • Quality Stuff! (Score:3)

    by Smitty825 ( 114634 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:25AM (#739360) Homepage Journal
    Hmmm...Let's see what I want:

    1) Microsoft Windows 2000
    2) :Cue:Cat by DC
    3) CD's from my favorite music authors (including Metallica & Dr. Dre)
    4) Internet Filtering software (ie. Net Nanny)
    5) A DVD Player approved by the MPAA

    =-)
  • Actually, if you look at the history of Christmas (and the 'giving' season) you will notice that it is not invented-by-and-for-retailers
    The history of christmas isn't even a religious one, way back in the days of cavemen (well, post then but I just like to think of cavemen giving each other rocks.. it's funny.) when the days got shorter and shorter the tribes thought it was because of the sun god getting angry at them for their short comings. So long about December 25th (Keep in mind, the solstice changes - now it is 21st but waaaaay back then it was the 24th I believe) they would celebrate the return of the sun god. They believed it was because of their giving and their charity - not only amongst themselves but through sacrifices to the sun god.
    This is how the tradition of christmas got started.. the spirit of being nice to each other to appease the gods to bring longer days..
    The religious aspect got started when early christians celebrated the birth of Jesus got whacked by romans or whatever - they had to hide their celebration -- and what better celebration to mask their own tribute to their Lord then the season of giving.
    Neat little story. You may go now.
  • UPS power system. You can get some nice ones from Belkin [belkin.com] for example, many of which support Linux.

    Baldur's Gate 2 [bioware.com], that is pretty much a given.

    Rio 500 MP3 player, which you can pick up for cheap at Audible.com [audible.com], last time I checked.

    A subscription to Wired [wired.com].

    VMWare [vmware.com] for the geek in all of us.

    A new video card, though I don't know specifics.

  • Visor (Score:5)

    by kirn_malinus ( 159763 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:26AM (#739374) Homepage

    I love my Handspring Visor. Everyone college student should have one, or at least sort of PDA for keeping track of your schedule and assignments.

    Handspring [handspring.com]


    ________________________________________________ _______
  • Great, another of those morons blindly filling Creative's coffers. Can't you see that EAX is not the answer? If it was implemented better, A3D could have taken Creative by storm. The problem, as usual, was in funding.

    Anything software that Creative releases is utter and total crap. Their hardware is always outsourced nowadays, so that's the only reliable piece which falls under their damned name. IMHO, the only reliable Creative product is an Annihilator running the NVidia reference drivers.

    Do you disagree with my position on Creative? Send a message to their tech support and try to get a reply within 6 aeons.

  • You know you want it ^_^
    --
    Peace,
    Lord Omlette
    ICQ# 77863057
  • Santa - I'm trying real hard to be good this year so this list doesn't seem too unreasonable. What I'd like to have is 1) a Night Vision Monocular [edmundscientific.com], a Pinball Machine [thetzsite.com] and a house in the Blue Ridge Mountains [blueridgeproperty.com]. Oh, and maybe a Swiss bank account with maybe 5 million in it for upkeep of the house would be a good 'stocking stuffer'. Ok?

  • Entertainment Anywhere (Score:5)

    by konala ( 224113 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:26AM (#739399)
    Entertainment Anywhere by X10 (http://www.x10.com/products/x10_vk57a. htm [x10.com]) is awesome! You can control everything through this remote, and anywhere in your house. Want to listen to your MP3s in your living room? Watch DVD in your bathroom? This thing is IT! You can also control your lights if you get extra modules. AND it's only $69.99. I'm starting to sound like a comercial, but this is pretty sweet.

    Just a few cents...or maybe more

    ~KONala

  • Re:Eco-Spheres Kewl - but easily murdered (Score:5)

    by CosmicOne ( 135533 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @09:27AM (#739408) Homepage
    We used to sell these things in our telescope store. They are extremely cool and fun to have around. BUT - careless holiday shoppers can kill them. So can the Fed-Ex guy. The original "Bio Spheres" (the fresh water version) are pretty resilient and can take some handling and some temperature swings. The populations of little animals running around in these are diverse and their numbers change constantly.

    The new offering is the "Beach World". These are salt water and have little red shrimp in them. The shrimp are bigger than the critters in the original sphere and the red color is truly striking - when they aren't being hassled! To avoid predators - and dickheads shaking the sphere - they turn clear when disturbed. It takes about an hour for the red color to come back, and you can bug them to death if this happens too often.

    The other issue is temperature change. Both spheres can live in a about a 20 degree (F) range between 60 and 80. You need to keep the temp as constant as possible to keep them happy. Sudden or frequent changes can mean death. You can't leave these things in a window where they can get direct sunlight for even 10 minutes. The volume of water is very small - and in direct sunlight - it's only a few short minutes to micro boiled shrimp.

    Sooooo......what this means is: I love these things and I have a couple. They are great pets for semi-responsible people and outstanding converstation starters.

    BUT..... We quit selling them in the store because too many people were killing them. No matter what we said - they seemed to treat these things like paperweights instead of living animals. If you are going to give one of these as a gift, make sure the person you are giving it to is capable of keeping a dog or a plant alive. Also, keep these things in mind:

    You MUST make sure they get enough light - you can't walk off and turn the lights off for a week - they will die.

    You can't let it sit in your car while you finish your holiday shopping. 20 minutes in your 40 degree car is death - and not the manufacturer's fault.

    It's better to give them a gift certificate for this and wait until April to actually send the sphere if they live in a cold climate. These things have to be shipped overnight Fed-Ex to live through the ordeal. Shipping gravely stresses them and they must recover - that means they must be removed immeditately on arrival. If grandma waits 3 weeks to open this at Christmas, she will get a nice ball of dead green slime to stare at while she cuts you out of the will.

    You CAN NOT treat these things like a "snow sphere". Shake it and watch it snow dead shrimp on the minature beach.

    Enjoy your Bio Sphere!

  • All I want for christmas... (Score:3)

    by bravehamster ( 44836 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:27AM (#739409) Homepage Journal
    ($300 or less) - Lego Mindstorms (still one of the coolest geek toys around)
    ($301-$1500) - 22in Flat-Screen monitor
    Unlimited - A trip on Mir (need I say more?)

  • Dear Santa... (Score:5)

    by zpengo ( 99887 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:27AM (#739411) Homepage

    Dear Santa,

    This Christmas, I'm not going to ask for anything myself. I've not been as good as I could have, after all. But I do have a very special favor to ask.

    I don't know if this is something you carry in your magic bag or not, but if it is at all possible, please could you give Rob his ".dot" TLD?

    Sincerely,
    Little Timmy

  • I want to work in style... (Score:3)

    by !Xabbu ( 1769 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @10:33AM (#739421) Homepage

    I sit at my computer most of my waking hours. I stare endlessly at a flickering screen whether I am actually working or just geeking out.

    Since this is the way it goes... I may as well do it in style with the Aura [poetictech.com], kindly supplied by Poetic Technologies [poetictech.com].

    At the impressive price of $7,769.00 USD (or for the economically challenged (me) $11,340.00 CDN Funds (Don't forget the GST)) this puppy will obviously fall under the Unlimited catagory.

    A nice comfortable catheder and a bowel bag and I won't have to function as a human again.



    - Xabbu

  • Awesome Portable Headphones $300 (Score:3)

    by burris ( 122191 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @12:27PM (#739458)
    These headphones are the BOMB. They are some of the best sounding heaphones available but they will coil up and fit in your pocket. They are basically earplugs with a high performance sound transducer in the center. In fact, they are made by a [headphone.com]hearing aid manufacturer [etymoticresearch.com].

    You can hear NOTHING outside when you are using them. They block outside noise by 23dB (that's more than two orders of magnitude). Because they block out so much sound, you don't have to turn them up so much to hear it, so they actually protect your hearing.

    Absolutely nothing can touch them for listening to tunes in a noisy office, on a plane, or a train. You can also walk down the street with them and nobody knows you are wearing a $300 pair of headphones. Sonic bliss anywhere. Despite their small size they have amazing bass response due to the seal they produce in your ear canal.

    Very highly recommended. You won't be able to listen to the Sony headphones anymore after getting used to these (the Sony's will sound like shit by comparison).

    Dr. Burris T. Ewell

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:30AM (#739464)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • How about nothing? (Score:4)

    by Jeffrey Baker ( 6191 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:32AM (#739506)
    A gift I would really appreciate is nothing. I don't want anyoe I care about to throw money down the drain to get me something I don't need, just because the invented-by-and-for-retailers "gift-giving season" is at hand.

    I'll be handing out some of these Christmas Gift Exemption Vouchers [adbusters.org] during the weeks leading up to Buy Nothing Day [adbusters.org].

  • Comment removed (Score:4)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday October 02, 2000 @07:34AM (#739545)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

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