NiftyGifts

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=89342&threshold=5&commentsort=0&tid=105&mode=thread&cid=7725890

I considered a USB coffee cup warmer (cyberguys.com) for my husband until I read that it only keeps coffee lukewarm (cruftbox.com). I also considered the WFS-1 wifi detector, which is far superior to the Kensington model (securityfocus.com), but I nixed that because it doesn't distinguish between open and closed networks (smartid.com.sg).

If we were filling stockings for grown-ups, I'd have gotten a bunch of Cyberguy Power Strip Liberators (cyberguys.com), which double your outlet access and are only $2.39 each. I have some and love them.

I was going to get my puzzle-loving brother-in-law a Shmuzzle Puzzle (shmuzzles.com), but the U.S. rerelease, which had been scheduled for Dec. 3 on QVC (qvc.com) has been postponed indefinitely (shmuzzles.com). Canadians can buy them over the counter (shmuzzles.com). Some of the geekier presents I ordered for my nieces and nephews, all of whom are of course brilliant:

    * Harry Potter Wizard Chess (amazon.com) and Chess for Juniors

(barnesandnoble.com) for 8 year old.

    * Skyrail Suspension Marble Run (mindwareonline.com) for artistic 9yo

and engineering 5yo.

    * Smart the Dog LEGO set (mindwareonline.com) for 9yo (also

considered Motor the Monkey set (mindwareonline.com).

    * Techno Blocks (mindwareonline.com), "the world's only preschool

remote-control construction toy", for my 5yo engineer.

    * Terry Pratchett's delightful Bromeliad (overstock.com) (fun for

ages 5 to adult) to begin reading aloud and then leave behind.

    * Grow-a-Frog (growafrog.com) kit for 8yo naturalist.
    * Geometric and creative Images coloring kit (hearthsong.com) for

artistic 6yo.

    * Cattus Petasatus (barnesandnoble.com) (Cat in the Hat) and a Latin

dictionary for a sister-in-law.

    * 500-in-1 electronic project lab (homeschoolingsupply.com) for grown

sister-in-law because you're never too old to learn. (Note the large discount over the Amazon price (amazon.com).)

    * Disney's Princess Magical Dress Up (amazon.com) software to

encourage my 6yo niece to wrest the family computer from her 8yo brother (although that may be futile, since we're also giving him a Real One Arcade (realonearcade.com) subscription).

Slightly less geeky gifts:

    * Family Classics 50 Movie Mega Pack 12-DVDs (shopnbc.com) at only

$29.99

    * Microwavable Foot Cozys (drugstore.com) for $39.99
    * Screenlife Scene It? DVD game (drugstore.com) for $49.95 (you can

save some money by buying the Mattel version which has the same content but lower quality board and pieces)

    * Indiana Jones DVD boxed set (amazon.com) at $45.49.

While the above links are of course not the only places you can buy the items, they're what I found as the best price-availability point. I saved more (almost $20) by going through ebates.com (ebates.com), a kickback program. FYI, none of the links I've given are affiliate links, but if you sign up with ebates (ebates.com) and give my email address (spertus at-sign mills.edu), I'll get a kickback.

Alert readers will notice I did not write above what I did get my husband. This is because he's a Slashdot reader. I think I found him something really cool, but I trust him not to follow this link (google.com). ( Reply to This )

last edited June 22, 2004 — ( info ) ( diff )