

Ask HN: Gift ideas for hacker types? - lacker

I'm trying to come up with gift ideas for people who are generally interested in computers and technology but tend to already have plenty of "stuff". I figured a lot of other HN readers were probably in the same situation. Any recommendations?
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yan
Books? My gf usually picks something from my Amazon wishlist when she has no
other ideas..

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sidsavara
I own "How to get rich" from Felix Dennis (suggested by someone else). I was a
little disappointed in it.

Instead, if you DO want to buy them a book, I recommend Tim Ferris - The Four
Hour Work Week or Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Both those books are enjoyable for their content and suggestions, and also for
a relatively scientific approach to showing why their methodologies work -
which I think is why they both resonated so much with me.

I agree with the wishlist comment as well. For me personally, I have told my
friends to stop giving me gifts and do likewise. I imagine I am losing some
manner of social lubrication due to this decision, and compensate by sending
personal emails and spending more time keeping in touch via facebook etc.

I also like to send postcards when I travel, for similar purposes.

I'm not saying that gift giving is selfish - but I am saying if you opt NOT to
give gifts, as I do, then you need to be aware of the social ramifications and
adjust accordingly. I do not have a perfect solution to this problem yet
however.

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hs
"How to get rich" from Felix Dennis

one of his article is in the ycombinator library (good sign as hacker types
like this book)

<http://ycombinator.com/lib.html> -> If You Want to be Rich, First Stop Being
So Frightened. Fear of failing in the eyes of the world is the single biggest
impediment.

<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2291061,00.html>

[http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Rich-Greatest-
Entrepreneurs/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Rich-Greatest-
Entrepreneurs/dp/1591842050/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228520374&sr=8-1)

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p858snake
Although there a tad old you could look at
[http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/12/04/5-gifts-for-the-
techie-i...](http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/12/04/5-gifts-for-the-techie-in-
your-life) and [http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/12/17/stammys-
holiday-2007-gif...](http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/12/17/stammys-
holiday-2007-gift-picks) and use them as a basic guide. Although i do like the
idea of the Nalgene bottles <[http://www.nalgene-
outdoor.com/store/SearchResult.aspx?Categ...](http://www.nalgene-
outdoor.com/store/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=61>);

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Shamiq
Can you give us an idea in terms of budget?

Though not necessarily targeted at the HN crowd, <http://www.uncrate.com> has
some neat stuff.

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IsaacSchlueter
Lots of good stuff here:

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/1AC761X0H14R9?tag=foohack-...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/1AC761X0H14R9?tag=foohack-20)

:)

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bsaunder
Sometimes thinkgeek.com has interesting stuff.

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mdolon
Newzbin subscription (or renewal)

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vaksel
iPhone or some porn

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paul9290
Money

