Geek Gift Ideas 2001 1055
Once again its time for Slashdot readers to chime in on what they think would make good gift geek christmas presents. Please put approximate prices in the Subject so Santa can more easily decide your gift ;) I'm still stuck for ideas for a few people yet. Of course I'll have to post my ideas anonymously so people don't know what they're getting ;)
iPod! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:iPod! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:iPod! (Score:2, Informative)
Considering the "protection" is making the folder "invisible" I don't think this is going to be a hard thing to do. The harder part will be writing drivers for the PC to mount FireWire drives (not common on that platform from what I understand) and read/write HFS+ formatted volumes (no idea if software to do this exists at all).
Check out iPod Hacks [ipodhacks.com] for a lot more info.
Re:iPod! (Score:3, Informative)
Done that... (Score:3, Informative)
That'd be cool... (Score:2)
paintball supplies (Score:2, Interesting)
CO2 tank - $25
Case O' Balls - $50
Face Mask - $20
Great fun and great exercise. Stay away from speedball and keep it in the woods.
musing (Score:2, Funny)
the iPod (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:the iPod (Score:2, Funny)
Re:the iPod (Score:4, Interesting)
The iPod is a pretty cool little device, but it would be even cooler if it could record sounds on the go. That way, it could be a replacement for those microcasette voice recorders that a lot of people use, or you could just (assuming an input jack, rather than a little built in microphone) plug it into the headphone jack of a soundboard or walkman or whatever. You get the idea.
Don't just think music here: consider that, if paired with moderately decent voice recognition software back on the desktop computer, you could have close to instant transcription of speeches, lectures, meetings, etc. This is really what the PDA was invented to do, but you have to teach yourself how to get data in & out of the device, and even with experience it's a slow process.
Something like the iPod could solve the same problem in a completely novel way. It has more than enough storage capacity to record a lot of audio data, and might [???] have the processing power to do so easily. [If it doesn't have the horsepower, then maybe iPod2 can bulk up on cpu & ram, along with that built-in mic.] No futzing around with graffiti -- just leave it on your desk, recording passively. Later on, it can be rapidly synced with the much more powerful Mac/PC/whatever, where you can do the interesting heavy duty processing on your data -- transcribe it, upload it, burn to cd, whatever. Brilliant.
Having audio out -- where you can record stuff (songs, etc) on your computer & carry it with you on the go -- is cool. Having audio in -- where you can bring sounds from out in the world back to the computer for processing -- would be even better. I want to see someone build such a device.
Gamecube + Rogue Leader (Score:5, Insightful)
Early (Score:2, Offtopic)
CmdrTaco obviously got his gift early this year. It was a spelling and grammer checker.
Re:Early (Score:3, Funny)
here is a popular one.. (Score:5, Funny)
Simple! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Simple! (Score:5, Funny)
#include "nancy_boy.h"
Speak for yourself, duckie.
Hehe (Score:3, Funny)
F-bacher
Geek Gerber... (Score:3, Interesting)
better than a swiss army knife and a leatherman. you can even build your own.
How about.... (Score:2, Funny)
Despair Calendar (Score:2, Interesting)
Art from Recycled Computer Parts (Score:2, Interesting)
I was over at FREE GEEK [freegeek.org] for their open house a couple weeks ago, and they were selling wind chimes made of old hard drive platters and other computer innards. Looked kinda cool for a low budget gift. Maybe they'll mail order. (And it's for a good cause.)
Re:Art from Recycled Computer Parts (Score:4, Interesting)
Handmade presents are the best, and handmade presents with a geek theme are great for geeks.
Why not give your s.o./parents a portrait of yourself made out of your code, like using the Text-Image plug-in for the GIMP [btinternet.com], or my own image to text [blackant.net]. Get a nice hi-res image of yourself and your best perl script/r00t sploit, combine the two and print it out on some photo quality paper, mat and frame it.
use the case of an old monitor as the pot for a large plant.
make a custom keyboard which only has the letters of your s.o.'s name.
get out the dremel, epoxy, spare parts, creativity and go at it.
DSL with fixed IP Address (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DSL with fixed IP Address (Score:5, Informative)
Speakeasy good -- but not flexible. (Score:3, Informative)
We ended up going with Peak To Peak [peakpeak.com] DSL -- their service and prices are good (in the Colorado Front Range area). In the Bay Area, I'd recommend CLIQ [cliq.com] internet service -- they offer high powered "geek-friendly" DSL.
Don't get me wrong, Speakeasy are good -- but I think they shot themselves in the foot by getting rid of their intermediate-level uplink speeds.
Dockers Mobile Pant (Score:2, Interesting)
Just like they say.. "Stowaway seam pockets on each side designed for your Compaq iPaq Pocket PC or Motorola phone" - jeez
Would be useful nonetheless.
Roll Back the Clock (Score:5, Funny)
I want my shiny New Economy back!
$6000: Doll (Score:5, Funny)
And, for you geekchicks out there, they now make a male realdoll! [realdoll.com]
Re:$6000: Doll (Score:5, Funny)
Again?
Re:$6000: Doll (Score:3, Funny)
Why would they want that when they can have me instead? E-mail me [mailto] and save $6000, that's already a point in my favor!
Re:$6000: Doll (Score:3, Interesting)
That's just too funny to see that on
Monty Python's Flying Circus DVD Set (Score:2)
-
Re:Monty Python's Flying Circus DVD Set (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Monty Python's Flying Circus DVD Set (Score:2)
I was somewhat dissapointed, though. It is difficult to locate a specific bit (the episode index is incomplete and there is no 'scene index' available to browse) and there is virtually no supplementary material.
Still, it will make for a great geek NYE party python marathon!
How about an XBox? (Score:5, Funny)
seems [slashdot.org]
to [slashdot.org]
think [slashdot.org]
they're [slashdot.org]
pretty [slashdot.org]
cool [slashdot.org],
maybe [slashdot.org]
they're [slashdot.org]
what I [slashdot.org]
want [slashdot.org]!
Home made cards and company (Score:5, Funny)
However, my sister's kids are getting a Dreamcast with Samba de Amigo that I picked up several months ago. Really, it is more of a family gift (my mom loves that game), but I like to play the rich uncle who shamelessly spoils his niece and nephew (since their mother doesn't).
Re:Home made cards and company (Score:2, Insightful)
while at the same time pisses the mother off because she does not want her kids to have such trinkets
I loved my Uncle !!
Re:Home made cards and company (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing funny about photos. They're among the best presents you can give. I gave framed prints of a b&w photo that I took in high school to my family. To this day, it still hangs on their walls.
The previous two years, I gave my father $150 Amazon certificates. Last time I was home, I opened up the kitchen drawer and found the unused (and expired) certificates under a pile of junk. Perhaps I should go back to making prints this year.
The twelve days.. (Score:5, Funny)
11. Mosix Nodes
10. Thousand dollars
9. Monitors
8. Cases of DVD-Rs
7. OC-3's
6. Cases of beer or caffinated beverage.
5. Golden fingers
4. Dual-Head Matrox g550s
3. Months of rent
2. Mylex raid controllers
1. Copy of Manos!
Re:who the fuck uses SCSI anymore? (Score:3)
80 IDE drives means 80 channels of IDE - or 40 channels of IDE and only 40 drives working at a time...
A Beowulf cluster of iPods... (Score:3, Interesting)
What I like.. (Score:4, Interesting)
For under $100 you can get all the stuff you need to brew and bottle your own beer.
If they are the handy person type, gift cards for your local Home Depot, Loews, Menards, etc. are good.
Bookworms always like gift cards to Barnes-Noble, B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, etc.
Or Lego Mindstorms whan all else fails
Strange ideas... (Score:3, Insightful)
The ultimate geek gift is a computer.
Always.
Ever.
All the time.
If a geek has 1 computer he can always use another one.
If a geek has n computers he can always use n+1 computers.
In fact, the necessary (but no sufficient) condition for being a geek is to have always use for another computer. If someone hasn't he isn't a geek.
A/V R/C Helicopter w/ long range capabilities (Score:5, Funny)
Arm it with a video camera to not only spy on friends or surprise them when they are backing out of the driveway... But also to travel over long distances and see where you are going at the same time
Hook up the A/V and R/C to a high-power transmitter and sit in your equipment van in the park with the dish spinning.
I think it'd be a blast.
orgnine
Sega Dreamcast (Score:5, Interesting)
CowboyNeal Calandar! (Score:2, Funny)
A possible list (Score:2)
RAM (as is RAM)
Gamecube with smash bros and super monkey ball
A digital camera (Canon powershot G2?)
Gigabit router + gigabit ethernet cards (to make NFS faster)
Nice new set of computer speakers
A 24" monitor, or perhaps just another 21"
A nice old clickety IBM keyboard, cleaned (for people who don't want to spend much but can track things down)
One of those CD-MP3 players
plenty of blank CD-Rs
A new computer bag
Re:A possible list (Score:3, Funny)
I could go for a few more inches, but 21 might be a bit extravagant.
shrinky dinks. (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, yes. [shrinkydinks.com]
For the knowledge whore (Score:5, Insightful)
Every article, Every picture, and of course every Cool ass map
Lordbyron
www.wylywade.com
Re:For the knowledge whore (Score:3, Informative)
Ack! I thought you were kidding that such a thing existed for a moment, but a quick check of Google and it's clear that you aren't. [nationalgeographic.com]
Cool. Now I know what I want for Xmas! Thanks!
Re:For the knowledge whore (Score:3, Interesting)
For a geek with everything- maybe the Aibo (Score:2, Interesting)
For the newer ERS-220
75 spoken commands -
wireless navigation
read email and websites (needs $150 addon SW)
If you can put up with the high price, fact that it WONT lick your face, WILL run out of battery power in a couple hours, and sony's practices of shutting down cool attempts at SW for making it better due to supposed copyright infringments... Its pretty cool.
Sluggy Freelance! (Score:2)
Is it not nifty??
Games for Geeks (Score:2)
Playstation 2: Metal Gear Solid 2
XBox: Dead or Alive 3 (High Kicks)
GameCube: Star Wars Rogue Leader
Dreamcast: European Shenmue 2 and an all-country disk (plus, you should probably get him another game system)
PC games are a toughie. I think the geekiest PC gift is a pre-purchased voucher for Neverwinter Nights.
Video Card or several other ideas. (Score:2)
Other ideas:
Diamond Rio CD/MP3 Player
Kodak Digital Camera (Probably windows only for now, but it will eventually get Linux support and they are CHEAP! 1.3 Megapixel=199!)
That's what I would like anyway besides the obvious game things like Xbox, PS/2 and Gamecube.
Geek gift list (Score:3, Interesting)
All under $30 (Score:2, Interesting)
1. Boondock Saints DVD- One of the best movies of all time. Not available from most online DVD stores for some reason, but it is available.
2. Mr. Potato Head- I got a Rubik's cube 2 years ago, a Slinky last year, and this year I want a Mr. Potato Head. Christmas just isn't fun without something that takes you back to your childhood.
3. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Ringworld, and Narnia (Lion-With-Wardrobe, etc) book sets- I'm trying to read more non-technical books.
One thing over $30 that I want... a T1. I don't think Santa will be that nice, though.
Gift ideas that are good... (Score:5, Interesting)
Digital picture frames are cool. The ones that plug into your computer via USB don't require a subscription. Kensington makes a good one (640x480) around $200. People ooh and ahh over it. (For the rich geek, get him 20 and let him make a collage over a wall. Sorry. That's more Martha Stewart than Slashdot.)
TiVo! If you haven't already joined the revolution, join it. You'll thank yourself. It will *completely* change the way in which you use your television. Oh, and for the better, too.
An 80's Arcade Game. One of those real-life 6' stand-up arcade games. Any self-respecting geek wouldn't snub his nose at one... well, unless it was a really bad title. "Oh, wow! Pit Fighter! I've always wanted one of THOSE."
Along with the idea of the RF deadbolts, various places sell mechanisms which are used for opening and closing outside gates ($800?). Would be awfully handy for the geek to fit that on a door. Bringing in the groceries or heavy electronics, having the door swing open on command (wireless or touch-pad) would be really handy. [Insert standard disclaimers about potential for misuse.]
X10 remote control stuff. 'Nuff said.
Satellite radio for car. If you've got a musical geek.
Roller Shoes. If they haven't gone out of style already. Like normal shoes, but at the flip of the button, wheels pop out from below and turn into roller skates. Yes, they make these.
Re:Gift ideas that are good... (Score:5, Insightful)
Or a pinball machine. The best god-damn disposable income purchase I ever made. Lots of fun to play, and lots of geeky TLC needed to keep it in tip top condition.
$50,000 (Score:2)
non-complaining girlfriend (Score:2, Funny)
Re:non-complaining girlfriend (Score:2, Funny)
Junk! (Score:2)
Give your geek what he/she/it really wants: Junk! Go around to reuse and recying centers and scoop up old 486 PCs, dot matrix printers, and mono-chrome monitors. The geek'll love it. This stuff's better than lego for hours of geek enjoyment. If you have an industrial liquidator outfit in your area, poke around and buy a few bags worth of unidentifiable electronic odds and ends. This will entertain both you and the geek as you watch to see what he/she/it will build next. The kind of junk I'm talking about here is things like transformers off of old TVs, insides of microwaves, starter coils, big ass capacitors and so on. The real mad scientist stuff.
Can't go wrong with Tolkien (Score:2, Interesting)
Fellowship Movie Calendar (wall)
Fellowship Movie Calendar (desk)
Fellowship Movie Action Figures
Fellowship Movie Coffee Mugs
Fellowship Movie Companion Book
Gift membership to Fan Club, getting their names listed in the credits of the movie on DVD (60 bucks, I think?)
Unconventional gifts. (Score:5, Insightful)
Every once in a while I pull out a soldering iron and rediscover the fun of building widgetry from the ground up. Project books giving an introduction to electronics and a set of simple but neat building block circuits are still kicking around, and would be a useful addition to the pile as well.
I'll dig out my own pile of each someday. Geek appeal comes from trying to build things that most people would never think of (a working mechanical clock out of Construx was my biggest accomplishment with that medium).
This falls under the "intricate hobbies" category, and so has a good chance of being welcome. I know I'm not the only geek with folded paper critters gracing his cube (a dragon, a Pierson's Puppeteer, and a Federation starship - yes, it can be done!).
At $50-$100 Cdn apiece, one reference book costs as much as a large stack of sci-fi books. Help with getting new ones is always welcome, and I'm sure I'm not the only geek who likes documentation on the nifty tools I'm thinking about using (or am already using, for that matter).
There's no need to stick with hardware that will be obsolete in six months
Caveat with most of these - make sure your recipient is interested in them first. Yes, it ruins the surprise, but it's better than getting a bucketful of transistors when the sight of copper and lead make you cringe.
Re:Unconventional gifts. (Score:2)
Paper critters are indeed cool, but the well-rounded geek also needs to know how make unit origami:
http://www.pro.or.jp/~fuji/origami/unit.star-eng.
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~plank/plank/pics/origami/o
And BTW, I'd love to know how to fold your Pierson's Puppeteer!
--Jim
Origami a Day Calendar (Score:5, Funny)
Only problem I had was that I folded the thank you note in the "baby in a cradle" pattern to commemerate my "new time wasting project" (the origami). She mistook it and thought my wife and I were expecting...
Your very own battlefield (Score:2, Interesting)
IBM 9.2 mega-pel monitor (Score:2)
The Geek Inventory (Score:2)
iPod [apple.com]: $399
Canon s110 Digital Elph [amazon.com]: $399
32 Meg USB Thumbdrive: $40
Nokia 8290 [amazon.com] (or 8260): $99 (with activation)
eTrex GPS [amazon.com]: $99
Of course, if you wait until January, ditch the Nokia for a Treo [handspring.com].
Get a Mac and an iPod (Score:2)
There is a company making software for iPod for Windows [mediafour.com] but you really need a Mac to experience the real power of this amazing MP3 player. So the best gift I think you can give this holiday season is an iBook w/ and iPod. Apple Flavored UNIX and Firewire Music, what a great gift!
P.S. Steve Jobs wants me to say, "Don't Steal Music!".
Almost forgot a special "chick" function (Score:2)
My wish list (Score:2)
Vintage D&D set (Player's Handbook, DM Guide), plus a set of crystal dice and lead figurines.
Anywhere from $1 to $200.
Wireless ethernet setup (base - $200, card $100)
Books ( old calculus texts from 1920's-1950's, science fiction pulp novels from 1950's, reproduction of daVinci's notebooks)
Anywhere from $1 to $1000.
Firearms (Remington 700VS Sendera in
Tickets to a movie (LOTR, Potter, no SW).$20.
Micro-fine pens, 10 pack. Zebra ballpoints. Micro-fine pencil set.
$5-$35.
Dremel kit ($45)
Radio Shack science kit ($25-$200)
Back Massage ($50-$100)
Telescope ($300)
Grin on my face on Christmas morning? Priceless.
B5 and Farscape DVDs (Score:3, Informative)
You do realize that they released these precisely to eat up my disposable income, right?
Broadband that lasts a month (Score:2)
because the other two have gone bankrupt.
Will there ever be stability?
DVDs for Geeks (Score:4, Interesting)
The Matrix/Matrix Revisited Box Set
The Star Trek Box Set (Treks one thru nine)
And not quite as geeky, but with heavy Internet overtones:
Serial Experiments: Lain Box Set
Re:DVDs for Geeks (Score:2)
Robot cockroaches? (Score:3, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
TDK Mojo MP3 Player - $128 (Score:3, Informative)
Best of all, (and unlike the Rio Volt SP250 [riohome.com]), it has a quite usable UI that lets you search your disks for MP3's by Artist, Title, Genre and so on. (On the other hand, the Rio has an FM tuner, and plays WMA files too). The UI is what sold me on this unit, it really is the make-or-break.
$128 at buy.com [buy.com]
For the guy who has everything! (Score:3, Funny)
Osama bin Laden's nuts on a stick planted at ground zero!
~price = $25,000,000
A poster of Natalie Portman: Starfighter (Score:2)
A nice Chess Set (Score:3, Insightful)
VCD Recorder (Score:3, Interesting)
[goterapin.com]
A Terapin Video CD Recorder, $499 is a bit steep, but less than $1499 for the Video DvD Recorder. Works just like a VCR, except you use a CDR disc instead of a tape. It burns the disc as a standard VCD so it is also playable on most DvD players and Computers.
Make a DVD or VideoCD home video for mom&dad (Score:4, Interesting)
Pretty sure it would make me a hero... on the cheap!
Non-Computer Games ($40) (Score:3, Interesting)
If you haven't found them the last two years I've made this post [slashdot.org], you're missing out. Several small time game companies make cheap games often with a delightfully geeky bent:
A self-modifying card game where the rules of the game are the cards played.
No, not the beer. A Unquestionably cool set of plastic pyramids suitable for playing a variety of games, and designing of your own games.
Imagine real-time (as opposed to turn based) blackjack on speed.
All of these games are perfect for sitting in restraunts waiting for food, or other such awkward time slots that normally get wasted.
Don't forget Robo-Rally (Score:3)
However, its a blast, and you get to spend time with your friends to boot.
http://www.wizards.com/RoboRally/Welcome.asp
Beer. (Score:3, Insightful)
Give a geek the greatest gift... (Score:5, Funny)
The editorial staff of Slashdot certainly could use this gift, from what I've seen.
hyacinthus.
A "Buy Nothing Day" gift exemption voucher (Score:5, Interesting)
Quality Books -- $50-500 (Score:4, Informative)
A great gift for youngsters and oldsters alike.
The Harvard Classics [bartleby.com]. You can find them on eBay every now and then [ebay.com].
Next year, you can give them the Shelf of Fiction [bartleby.com] (scroll to the bottom).
The huge variation in price depends on how you acquire the lot. You can buy book-by-book in flea markets (making a charming shelf of odd-sized and colored books), or all in a lot, if you by a collection (making an impressive shelf, appropriate for a lawyer's TV commercial).
This is also a good gift for those who don't get much out of school: if you read through the entire shelf, you've basically acquired a liberal-arts education.
$4000, Remote Controlled WWII Tiger Tank!! (Score:3, Interesting)
Yep, that's what I want....
Listings (Score:5, Interesting)
You log on, create a list of things you like, things you don't like, things you already have, things you like but you're so picky about that anyone buying for you is a bad idea
Anyway, what _I'd_ actually want:
* Sorry if this makes me sound like I'm trying too hard, but I'd be delighted if someone gave money to a charity I support (or one I didn't yet but whose aims I agreed with) as my present. Let's be honest, I make good enough money and there's only me to support, so I don't need generosity particularly and could get pretty much anything below myself if I put my mind to it (and in some cases, not for very long, either). Others need it more than I do.
* Pretty much impossible to give, but I wouldn't say no to a larger circle of friends. If I came out of the Christmas season with nothing listed below (or similar) but having met just one or two people whose company I genuinely enjoyed, I'd consider it a good Christmas. On the same line, I'm single, ladies, fuzzy photo at the out-of-date URL above...
More traditionally:
* Books. Good fiction or several different non-fiction areas.
* Films. Has to be Widescreen, beyond that I'll try most films _once_
* Music. Play it safe and get me rock or metal, play it slightly more adventurous and get me orchestral music, try pushing the boat out by getting me some jazz or blues. Pretty good chance I'll like any, though, in some places
* Chocolate. Pretty difficult to go wrong with a big box full of chocolate
* Model cars. Don't care what size (though bigger is preferrable
* Camera equipment. I'd feel guilty if someone spent a fortune, but if you happen to see some M42 lenses, filters, tripods or gadget bags going cheap...
Less practically...
* Those desktop RC tanks with the laser tag are _too_ cool. 3 of them shipped to the UK and we could have some cool deathmatches at the office...
* My Psion 5 seems to have packed up
* Hovercraft are cool. Either give me a working R/C model hovercraft, or a good set of plans and components. Or, let me know what will make a good liftfan because I can't find one so far when I'm trying to build my own
* No DVD here yet, so, please, a region-switchable DVD with 5.1 out and ideally a Macrovision defeater so it'll work with a video projector. Oh, how about getting me that projector, I've already got a large empty white wall that would make a lovely screen...
* One of these days I'll get round to building a _serious_ video jukebox (thinking 100+ hours of storage here...) to replace large piles of VHS cassettes and just make it all more practical. If anyone sees them ready-made and upgradeable, that'd be cool.
* Left Europe for the first time this October, visiting my sister in Ontario, Canada. Loved it. All offers of trips to interesting parts of the world gratefully recieved, as long as they come at least half board and flights paid
* Over in a recent poll thread (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23631&cid=25
* I need to replace my car at some point...
Mountains and mountains of... (Score:3, Informative)
That, and plenty of cat-5, should make my dream home [userfriendly.org] a reality.
Total cost - $3 mill or so.
Re:A girlfriend -- priceless (Score:3, Funny)
Enjoy it.
Re:A girlfriend -- priceless (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A girlfriend -- priceless (Score:3, Insightful)
Hint for anyone in a serious relationship: if you and the one you love start taking it for granted that you have each other, you'll lose each other. We stopped treating each other as the most precious things in each others lives (instead we just would talk about work, not how we really were) and that was the beginning of the end. Guys, when you're in a place like that listen to your girlfriend and let her know how much you care and respect her. Respect is vital.
Ok, too much off-topic rambling.
Re:A 21-inch monitor... (Score:2)
They don't have any 21" in right now, but the Hitachi 20" are sweet monitors, especially at $139 (and yes, they will do 1600x1200 at 75+Hz). If you absolutely must have 21" though, check back regularly, they are generally $149. Add about $30 for shipping