Twelve Geeks of Christmas
There is no shortage of lists of gadgets that geeks want to receive for Christmas (or to be more inclusive, Chrismahannakwanzakuh). Gizmos for Geeks, Geekfoolery’s parent site, is just one of many that review and highlight the many shiny electronic objects that we geeks desire, which in the interest of time, can be summarized as “all of them.” So this post is not about what to get for a geek on your list, but rather, some suggestions on what you as a geek can give your non-geek friends and family. Gifts that will not only appeal to your nerdliness, but will also be received with more joy by your non-techie Aunt than she expressed last year when you gave her an HDMI cable (which, seriously dude, was completely thoughtless of you. What she needed was the HDMI to DVI adapter, not the cable).
Pictures
If your giftee has kids, or possibly pets, and you have pictures of them, then you’re in luck because it has never been easier to turn a JPEG into a custom gift. Of course there are T-shirts and mousepads and coffee mugs available at Cafepress, and through partner sites associated with Flickr, QOOP and Zazzle. I like the options at QOOP to print custom coffee table books with your own pictures, something I have also done through Apple’s iPhoto software several times, including this year. QOOP and Zazzle’s offerings push the envelope (ahem) with photo stamps and even photo neckties.
But no matter how many varieties and styles of coffee mugs and calendars and mousepads there are, you still might need to go a little further to up the geek ante a bit. My suggestion is a custom Paint-by-Number set. Yes, you remember them… a little plastic grapevine of numbered paints, and white posterboard with light blue lines and numbers, and a box with a picture of a horse. It’s exactly the same idea, except instead of a horse, you send in your own picture via email, and your giftee gets a one-of-a-kind portrait, which when complete might be suitable for framing, or taping up to the fridge. I’ve ordered sets twice from 123EasyArt.com, and they’ve done a great job. It’s a great gift for families with kids, and here’s a handy tip–usually you will get a picture Christmas card of the two or three or five little rugrats, all cleaned up, right around the beginning of December. Scan the pic, your friends get back the paint-by-number kit of their own Christmas card. It’s also the gift that keeps on giving–you can drop subtle pressure on the giftee for years afterwards. “Say, when are you going to do that paint-by-number set, anyway?”
OK, so in some respects, a paint-by-number set might be a little evil. Another fun picture gift that you won’t see every day is a photo stamp. Upload a JPEG to Stampics.com, and they’ll make you a custom rubber stamp with a surprising level of detail. I had one made and the results were very nice (ignoring the subject matter, that is):
Finally, and this is more of a wish-list item than something you can run to the mall and get, there is 3-D scanning and printing. Currently, the tech is too expensive and is used for mostly engineering applications and CAD/CAM design of jet engine parts and an oscillation overthruster or two. Give it a few years though… I am sure that we will be able to step into a booth and get scanned and to have a 3-D bust or statue pop out a few minutes later. Just don’t blink when the scanner is running.
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[…] Twelve Geeks of ChristmasBy Mr. AlexYes, you remember them… a little plastic grapevine of numbered paints, and white posterboard with light blue lines and numbers, and a box with a picture of a horse. It’s exactly the same idea, except instead of a horse, you send in your …Geekfoolery - http://www.geekfoolery.com […]