Well, Christmas is right around the corner and it’s time for my top tech gift picks. I’m sure others will have their own. I tried to find some really unique geek gifts. The geek in your life will love you for it. No, I’m going to skip right over iPod, Playstation, Xbox360, etc. You can read about those everywhere.
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The Duct Tape Wallet - look no further my friends. Duct Tape has a billion uses (actually, it may be in the trillions by now) for any ardent geek. You can hang your baby sister up on a wall, make a duct tape rose for your honey, or shoot action videos with a duct taped camera on your car. But what life would be complete without a duct tape wallet? Just be warned. This may be the last wallet you ever buy!
OQO 01 Computer - Nah, we’re not talking some dumbed down PDA here. Nope, this is the have it all - Windows XP in a super compact computer. This little package of ridiculousness (is that a word?) is only 14.1 oz. It has a 800×480 VGA screen. And it carries a 1Ghz processor, 30 GB hard drive, and 512 MB RAM. And it doesn’t slouch in the video department. It has an integrated 8MB 3D accelerated video RAM. Want to go wireless? No problem - 802.11b wireless comes included. It also carries bluetooth, firewire, and USB 2.0. My word, can this clean my car too?
Abacus Caller ID Watch - Don’t you hate fumbling around to find your cell phone? Or, better yet, you put on those super tight pants. You’re driving along and you will have to become a contortionist to get that phone out. Well, the Abacus watch is here to help. Now you can simply look at your watch to see who’s calling. Let me see, try to get your phone out of your pocket while driving in a car and end up in a fiery crash OR get the Abacus watch. Decisions…decisions…
TrendNet Wifi Detector - How would you like to find hotspots without even turning on your computer? Impossible you say. Come close my friend and behold the TrendNet HotSpot Magical Bling Bling. Okay, so I added that last part. This little doo hickey will allow you to detect G and B wireless networks in your vicinity. It will also tell you the encryption type of the network and the signal strength before you fire up your laptop. Now, can we make it any easier to find an open network?
TrackStick GPS Logger - And what geek wouldn’t want a way to track just about anything? Are you suspicious about where your teenager is driving? This little stick could be easily inserted into compartment and retrieved later. And with 1GB of memory, this stick can track months of GPS information. And the data can be exported in the following formats: iRTF (Detailed text file with .html map links) XLS (Microsoft Excel spread sheets) HTML (Webpage with graphics and maps), and KML (Proprietary Google Earth file). Track fishing expeditions, hunting trips, walking, running, biking - you name it!
Virtual Laser Keyboard - In the stone ages, cave people used to cramp their hands on a super small keyboard. The endless hours of trying to hit “F” instead of “D” left their hands disfigured and unable to hunt mammoths. It’s a wonder that they survived at all. But maybe that’s because they discovered the virtual laser keyboard. Yes, now they could plug their PDA into this obilisk and have the comfort of a full sized keyboard. Suddenly their hunting efforts were successful. Unfortunately, many of them started worshipping the little black obilisk and were soon blinded by the laser when falling prostrate.
Flying Screaming Monkeys - Does this really need an introduction? What family gathering would be complete without flying screaming monkeys? I mean how could grandma go on without being rudely awakened by a flying screaming monkey? These ridiculous gifts can fly up to 50 ft. Just put their hands on your two fingers, pull back on their feet, and let go. Get ready to annoy someone!
1/5th Scale Sherman Tank - And this is the gift that will cause any young boy to instantly dream of world domination. Yes folks, it’s the 1/5th scale Sherman tank. And not only is it to scale, but it also works! Your young tike can mow over neighborhood kids as the battery powered motors crank up the wooden tank tracks. And when their parents come running to exact retribution, your young tot can fire potatoes from the integrated potato cannon. Man, my eyes are getting teary just thinking about it.
Spyder Wicked Green Laser - Yes, you have to be extremely careful with this one. But isn’t that what makes it so enticing? The 300mW Spyder Laser has an incredible 120 mile range. So, you could light up your Uncle Bob’s living room from your house. Use it sparingly, as it only has a 2 hour battery life span at that power level. You can light matches with this laser, cut through electrical tape, and light cigarettes. But be forewarned - do not point it at aircraft or you will have men in black suits showing up at your door. Also, don’t point it in your eyes - that might hurt…a bit.
KeyCatcher Keylogger - If you have ever wanted to do some James Bond style spying, KeyCatcher will let you. It is a super easy keylogger. Simply plug keycatcher in between the keyboard and the PS/2 connection port and it will catch all keys. It can capture emails, web site visits, keystrokes, chat sessions, etc. The KeyCatcher can capture up to 162 pages of full text. All you have to do is unplug the KeyCatcher, plug it in to your computer, and enter a password. Then you have all the information you wanted.
TV B Gone - Have you ever been in a public space and the TV was just intolerably loud? That’s when you go into fantasy land. A land where you have the power to do anything you want. A land where you can turn off annoying TVs with a snap of your fingers. TV B Gone gives you that power. This simple little device contains 209 turn off codes for televisions in US, Canada, Mexico, and many Asian countries. Muhaha, can you feel the power?
The “Dude” Rocket - Well, as one catalog put it, it’s “positively Freudian.” Egad. In any case, this thing is massive. The Dude is a 7 foot high inflatable rocket. I can see it now. Every able bodied boy in the entire county standing in wait. As the 7 foot inflatable beauty rises from the ground, every mouth slowly opens as eyeballs bulge. And as the rocket hurtles toward its 300 foot maximum altitude, every boy wipes the drool off of his chin. Better yet, launch it near a conspiracy theorist’s house and see how many shot gun holes it gets in it.
SeaBreacher Personal Dolphin Craft - This summer I went on vacation to the ocean. While there I saw numerous dolphins swimming along the coast. Those animals are unbelievably graceful and fast. Innespace wants to give you that same experience. They have created a dolphin craft that achieves unparalleled freestyle capability. Their first version (seen here) was great but it could only hold one passenger and the engine size was limited. Their newest model allows for dual occupancy and a supercharged 240hp engine. It also sports an ingenious snorkel for airflow. This keeps the air coming in when you rise to the surface, but keeps water out when you descend. Bilge pumps keep the interior dry just in case water should enter the cabin if you have the canopy open on top water. The cost has yet to be determined.
ZVEX Tiny Tube Guitar Amp - Once in a while, a geek likes to climb out of his basement, stop living on Mt. Dew, and rock it out. In fact, geeks can sometimes be seen traveling the countryside with a Fender Strat and the ZVEX guitar amp. What is the ZVEX guitar amp? Funny you should ask. It’s a super small tube guitar amp that can produce surprisingly large sound. Just plug it in to any 8-16 ohm speaker and you’re ready to rock. So, next time you see a blood shot eyed geek carrying one around - you will know what it is. The amp I mean.
Heated Rechargeable Ice Scraper - About 10 years ago I lived further west of Cincinnati. At that time I didn’t have a garage. And, of course, we had about 6 major ice storms. Can I tell you how bad that stunk having to scrape all that ice off? It took me forever. And invariably I was late when I went out to the car. And then I would step outside and grind my teeth. If you live in a wintery climate, and you know a geek who doesn’t have a garage. They will love you for the rechargeable heated ice scraper.
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[…] Well, Christmas is right around the corner and its time for my top tech gift picks. Im sure others will have their own. I tried to find some really unique geek gifts. The geek in your life will love you for it. …Read more: here […]
These are some interesting picks. Thanks to you I’ve got my eye on that WiFi detector now - no more flipping open the PowerBook and starting up iStumbler. That little gizmo could turn out to be a very interesting walk mate.
I’m not even going to touch on the “Flying Screaming Monkeys”, though…