Dan Gillmor's put together a list of geeky Xmas prezzies that I quite like:
Inexpensive:
# Free software. OK, almost nothing is truly free. But free open-source software comes pretty close. I'm running the Mozilla Firebird Web browser on my everyday personal computer, for example. It's fast, capable and reliable. Isn't that enough these days?
On the Web, meanwhile, are vast numbers of excellent utilities such as the Google Toolbar, which works only with Windows and recent versions of Internet Explorer.
# USB plug-ins. Once entrepreneurs glommed onto the fact that USB ports on computers offer elecrical power in addition to data connectivity, they came up with a raft of cool stuff.
I use the Zip-LINQ retractable cables from Keyspan to charge my phone and make connections with several other devices. They cost $15 to $25 or so, but mean fewer power bricks to lug around. A colleague at Hong Kong University, where I'm teaching part time this month, also just brought to work a USB cable that connects to a sleeve you slide around your coffee cup. I haven't been able to discover if anyone in the U.S. is selling NewMotion's $6 "Cup Warmer" (but I'm planning to bring several home).
