Author: Tracy Smith

Linux Geek Shopping List Continued

Well, it’s less than a week to go and your Linux geek is still gift-less. Here are some more ideas to wrap up the year for your very special geek, with love.

1. A great place to look for some unusual but sure-to-please Linux related gifts is CafePress. How about a customized Christmas stocking. This clever item reads: “There are 10 kinds of people: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” Don’t think about that one too long. $12.

2. Is your FOSS friend a fan of Android? Then a real cute Android robot doll might be just the ticket. Get it from Etsy for $20.

3. I hope I am not giving away too much by saying that this gift is my personal favorite: “Computer Engineer Barbie.” Yes, she knows the code, punches it out despite her non-ergonomic arms and impossibly long legs that reach into the office next door. She even has a fashionable binary-coded t-shirt, a Bluetooth, smart phone, and a hot pink laptop. Only $13. Grab one before Barbie goes to law school.

Geek Giving Made Easy

GeekNeed a gift for a Linux geek? This special breed of people who are enamored of ‘free and open-source software’ (FOSS) can be a little bit harder to please. Here are some cool ideas for that ‘special’ computer maven still on your shopping list:

1. Have you ever visited the Linux store at linux.com? Begin your FOSS-filled shopping travels here, and pick up their elegant Tux Mug for only $9.
2. How about the Linux Cheat Shirt? This nifty bit of clothing, seen at ThinkGeek, is scrawled with an assortment of Linux commands, but upside down for more convenient viewing by the wearer of said shirt. We are talking serious geek here. Useful for job interviews where knowledge of the commands might be put to the test. Only $15.
3. Here’s one that will catch the eye of your geek’s co-workers. It’s a button which reads, “The box said ‘Requires Windows Vista or better.’ So I installed LINUX.” Only a true geek would express himself thus. Worth every penny of the $4 it will set you back.

Word Lens “Stunning” But Not That Useful

iphone3Word lens is an app for iPhone which is meant to translate words immediately as you scan your iPhone over the problematic word or words. The app uses the iPhone’s camera to read the word, and while the app itself is free, the translation features at the moment only include Spanish to English and vice versa, and each translated set will cost you $4.99.

The app comes with a demo to show you how it works. The demo takes English words, and immediately reverses them, accurately and fast. The translation mode however is equally fast, but its accuracy was hard to measure because of the tendency of the app to jump between possible translations of the words as it struggled to read the text.

Google Pulls the Plug on Launch of TV Sets

Google-TVGoogle is on the verge of introducing internet surfing directly from television sets, only not just yet. Google Inc. has requested that some manufacturers delay the planned launch of these TV sets which are based on their company’s software, until they do some tweaking on said software.

The Wall Street Journal reported the delay, quoting people who are knowledgeable about Google’s plans. According to the report, Google sent out word to a portion, but not all, of the hardware manufacturers not to announce the release of any new products yet, allowing them to make some necessary improvements in the software.

Despite this announcement Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will not be delaying release of their version of the Google TV at the Consumer Electronics Trade Show scheduled for early January in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jobs Doll Deal on EBay

Remember that cute Steve Jobs look-alike in plastic which was produced in China without the permission or even the knowledge of Apple’s main man? Recall his dapper jeans, iPhone, removable trademark eyeglasses and sport shoes?

In case you don’t remember, M.I.C. Gadget, headquartered in China, managed to manufacture and sell 300 of the delightful action figures for $99 each before Apple sent a formal complaint to them insisting that the creation of the toy was an “unauthorized use of a person’s name or likeness, subject to a lawsuit under California Civil Code Section 3344.”

Unwilling to go the lawsuit route, G.I.C. halted their manufacture. Now the plastic Jobs doll is a collector’s item, and was recently purchased on eBay at 25 times cost, for $2,500. There are rumors that the sale was bogus, however, something that is not beyond eBay possibilities. Suspicions were aroused due to the fact that there was only one bid on this item, and was sold immediately for the full asking price. Then a few days later another Jobs doll appeared, ready for auction, at the same asking price.