So, after a wonderful Christmas with the family – time well spent with kids, my wife, and in-laws, I find myself reflecting back over the last day and realizing how much of a geek I really am. Here are some of the Geek Christmas gifts seen around the Stay household this Christmas:
Scooba floor sweeper/Cleaner – This was a gift from myself to my wife – I got a super deal off Woot.com for this, and I’m quite proud of it. We’re still trying to decide if I’m enjoying this more, the kids are enjoying it more, or my wife is enjoying it more. For me, it’s just fun watching it almost go down the stairs, then at the last minute realize it’s stairs and turn around – this thing is so smart! For my wife, it gets dirt off her floor she never even knew was there! For my kids, it’s just another pet, even seems to have a personality. We’ve named it “Lionel”, our new indentured servant.
Nintendo DS – We finally got one of these for the kids, along with the game, “Nintendogs”, and “Brain Age Academy”. I tell you – Brain Age Academy will put you in your place if you think you’re already smart. Overall I really like this gift (the DS) – it has built-in Wifi that allows you to play with your friends over the internet and download your own games, a microphone, and the games for it are really cheap! The only thing I hate about it is now I want another one for myself!
Lego Star Wars – the Complete Saga for the Xbox 360 – I love this series. It allows you to play more than one player at a time, which is great for my kids. There is no blood – the worst that ever happens is you chop off an occasional lego head, but it ensures to make fun of the fact that you’re just dealing with Lego figures. It’s also a lot of fun for adults, and you can play with your kids!
Rock Band for the Xbox 360 – This is my favorite gift. I like it for the drums. You can customize your own character, and tour the world, or get your whole family or friends together and form your own band. My kids are a bit too young to be effective at it, but they still have a lot of fun. The great thing about the Xbox 360 version (I can’t vouch for the others) is you can download new songs straight from Xbox Live Marketplace.
Tamagotchi – This was my daughter’s gift. She has two of them, and essentially they are little digital animals you can put on a key chain, backpack, or necklace. You take care of them, pet them, feed them, play with them, and you can even put them together and they can play with each other. I’m told that when you put the boys and girls together they even make babies! This is a great toy if you want to teach your child how to take care of an animal or pet.
Ben Casnocha’s “My Startup Life” – I’ve only started reading this, but thus far I really enjoy it. It goes over how Ben Casnocha started his own dot-com business at age 12, and the successes and failures he experienced while doing it. He shares what to do and what not to do when starting your own business, and goes over the things every startup should consider. It is very inspiring, being the entrepreneur that I am. Every Geek needs to learn the principles taught in this book to best monetize the skills they have.
Beyond the gifts, my Christmas Eve started with my kids tracking Santa on Google Earth at NoradSanta.com (that was a huge hit!), followed by many Tweets from all over the world about the experiences others were having on Christmas. While we had many other great geeky toys, from the traditional Star Wars figurines, to a digital microscope that hooks up to the TV, the above gifts were my favorite that I think all my readers should check out.
Stay N' Alive 
It goes over how Ben Casnocha started his own dot-com business at age 12, and the successes and failures he experienced while doing it. He shares what to do and what not to do when starting your own business, and goes over the things every startup should consider.
It goes over how Ben Casnocha started his own dot-com business at age 12, and the successes and failures he experienced while doing it. He shares what to do and what not to do when starting your own business, and goes over the things every startup should consider.