http://www.osnews.com/story/399/Geek_Toys_to_Pick_Up_for_the_Holidays Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:00:36 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The majority of us use Windows XP for getting on the 'net & everyday use? Really?

No one I know uses it. Where does this "fact" come from? Tue, 11 Dec 2001 18:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The author probably meant (if everyone already had XP, the author would not propose XP as a gift in the first place):

"majority of you use Windows" and not "Windows XP".

It is true that Microsoft has, give or take, ~90% of the desktop market, so as long you replace the word 'WindowsXP' with 'Windows' in the above context, the author is right. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? lol ya, can you fix that for me Eugenia?
Jon Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Done. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? how many geeks want 1/3 of their christmas presents to support microsoft and their evil conquest of the world? not me

gates is the government. gates is more powerful than the government. all hail president gates.

--jason Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? 1. Console: Interesting that you made a religious choice, and yet didn't really justify it. I think it would be safer to recommend the Xbox, or the Gamecube, and let ppl choose their own poison. Of course, you can have your own preference, but your recommending something, and ppl may take you seriously

2. "the majority of you still use windows XP to get on the net and for everyday use." on that note, i think it would be interesting to get some stats on what OSes ppl who read osnews use. maybe eugenia can post those. but some of the linux-mozilla's in the freebsd column for me.

3. HP DVD-Writer DVD100i drive: this drive actually supports dvd+rw, not dvd-rw (yeah, these fools can't come up with more differentiated names). again here you're making a choice and not really explaining it. why choose dvd+rw over other dvd formats?

4. PC60 Case: you should give Lian Li credit for their case; it's a Lian Li PC60 case.

I write all this in [constructive mode], i don't mean to be dick. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? 2. "the majority of you still use windows XP to get on the net and for everyday use." on that note...

Please read the already posted comments before posting any new comment. This was just a mistake of the author which has been corrected since. It is discussed in the first 4 comments.

> maybe eugenia can post those.

OS statistics for today's OSNews. Most of our readers are actually surfing with versions of Windows.

Individual web page views (per day) so far (11,000 page views so far, 22,000 estimated for today). Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? To elaborate a bit more on the OSNews statistics: While most of our readers are alternativeOS-friendly, are actually surfing over here and use extensively, Windows. No matter if a vast majority of these readers actually whine about Windows all the time in our forums, they do come here with Windows.
And that reminds me another Greek saying:

"Spank me, no matter if I cry!"

Haha Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? There was a time when OSNews.com was about alternative computing. I see a LOT of Microsoft in there. Hmph.

I'm not impressed with this list of geek toys, either. In fact, I don't really consider it a good list of geek toys at all. Why suggest XP and the iPod in the same xmas list? Unless you already have a Mac, the iPod won't do you any good. A good list of geek toys would be things like a Dreamcast which is super cheap and has already been almost completely hacked open. Or a copy of OpenBSD 3.0! Or perhaps a good book on low-level OS programming. This list isn't even as insightful as a bland ZDNet toys list. I suppose this would be a good gift list for the average tech-savvy consumer, or maybe someone who is a "poweruser". But for real geeks? No way.

Real geeks are asking for real geek toys, like books and electronics and obscure pieces of software and hardware. This is nothing more than a wish list for the average BestBuy junkie. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Hmm, personally, I like the ps2 better than the xbox... i really don't see why the xbox was picked, but whatever...

Overall, I enjoyed that article. I wished there was a PDA in the list of gift picks... it would be intersting to see which one is choosen. I really like the Top of the line Sony Clie... I want one of thoese! Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? One comment about the nexGear website, to doesn't seem to work in Netscape 6.2! Arg! Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? > There was a time when OSNews.com was about alternative computing. I see a LOT of Microsoft in there. Hmph.

I think you are not very objective. You are most probably one of those readers who do not want to read anything Microsoft in the web sites they surf. The most news stories on OSNews is about Linux, in fact. You can count them on our archives if you want. Windows will have to get some of our news space on OSNews, naturally, because it serves 90% of the desktop computing. Not reporting on it, it would be a serious omission and it would contradict with the OSNews goal, which is to report on ALL OSes.

I will not go into more depth on the matter here, because we talked about this subject just 2 days ago. Just go over there and read about it. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 21:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Interesting statistics there, Eugenia ... but "Dildo compatible" ... wassat? Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? > Dildo compatible" ... wassat?

I have no idea! :o
I first noticed it some 2-3 months ago in our stats. It seems to be pretty popular. It may very well be something like Galleon or a modified Konqueror or something. But I don't know more about this specific browser and OS string. I searched google some days ago about it, but I did not find anything to give me a clue what it is. Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If you check the details, you'll see it reporting "Mozilla on Dildo Compatible"

I wonder if that's in the CVS tree yet?

Eugenia - thanx for clearing up the XP thing. I believe it was a mistake, although mistakes like that can really damage the credibility of one's opinion. (Of course, that would be Jon's, not yours - I did read the byline!) Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have a suspision, after talking to the person who runs our stats, that "Dildo Compatible" is actually either Netscape 3.01 on Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.11 or WindowsCE with Netscape 3.
No matter what, it seems that the Netscape employees were having some fun! :o
And if the Windows3.1x is true (as opposed to WinCE), it is amazing that are still users with Windows 3.1x visiting OSNews! :o) Tue, 11 Dec 2001 22:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? that is not geek list, this is list for ordinary technology educated human.

where is:
the amateur radio station kit
the 2 HP 12 phase motor
the microcontroler kit
the 20$ amiga 1000 that you still miss in your collection
the gift certificate for Digikey product
etc... Tue, 11 Dec 2001 23:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I was wondering about the Dildo too... Wow, one person using the Amiga

Someone said stuff about a PDA, I recomend the Psion Revo Plus. Well, thats bound to start a religous war... Come on you WinCE and Palm users, I'll take ya all on...

mlk Tue, 11 Dec 2001 23:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? eak. Someone forgot to end the a, sorry
Also "Windows NT on Win2000", thats an intersting browser/OS config Tue, 11 Dec 2001 23:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Is a q-drive! you know, thoese little usb keyring harddrives?
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/qdrive-review.html

Except they are way too small and exensive! 70 dollars for 16 MBs?! Ouch. I heard somewhere that they wll be coming out with ones that have around a gigabyte soon... that would be awesome. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The Revo, eh? Intersting... i like the hardware, I jsut wish it ran the Palm OS! Heh. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I had a PDA catergory but then i would get into another religious war regarding Pocket PC's and Palms. If i was choosing a Palm handheld it would be the Clie, and the for Pocket PC it would be a high end iPaq. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? why run Palm OS, EPOC(SymbianOS) is much better[1]. (The new Be-PalmOS might be 'even better' but it's not out yet).

mlk (defending his dying Psion). Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Jon-

Hmm... yeah good point. I agree with you about your picks for the PDAs, I liek them both alot!

mlk-

I disagree, I like the PalmOS alot better, plus there are more apps for it... Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? the symbian/psion handhelds were nice, especially theyre small size for a handheld with a built in keyboard and large screen. But the os and handhelds are basically dead now. Palm's other advantage over symbian OS is its compatability with macs. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Palm OS does have more apps true, but PalmOS is outdated(hence why they are buying Be), where as Symbian's is not, if you are refuring to UI i've only really played with the Palm, but use a Revo daily and I like the Revo a lot more (with the exception of the tool bar which is just a big chunky waist of space, but you can turn it off in most apps).
Psion have pulled out of the PDA market(boo!), but the OS is alive and kicking, all the new funky Nokia's, they are based on Symbain (the 9110 and the 7560), as are the Ericsons. Psion has moved away from the PDA market(boo again), to the PhoneOS market.
Psion has also release a new bit of hardware (alas it's $1000+, and not a PDA)

As for Mac compatablity I belive Psion has it, plus it works on BeOS (fan based extra).

mlk Wed, 12 Dec 2001 01:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? MY friend has a Psion Series 5 and he couldnt connect it to his mac. He got his new Titanium iBoook and he couldnt find any software anywhere to sync the two.
Jon Wed, 12 Dec 2001 02:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Hmm, yeah... I really like the key board. That was nice. There was an old PDA a long time ago that had the smae general shape as the Psion and actually ran dos! lol... Wed, 12 Dec 2001 02:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? well...
There is suppost to be a app called MacConnect (which I can't find anything but updates for
But a Java solusion exists http://website.lineone.net/~john.montgomery/psionlink/index.html Wed, 12 Dec 2001 03:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? we found macConnect also but couldnt find a place to buy it here in Canada, or even the US(if my memory serves me correctly).

I will take a look at that java site. Thanks,
Jon Wed, 12 Dec 2001 03:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Aside from my opinions, i mentioned that the HP DVD writer supports dvd+rw media (not dvd-rw) and that the PC60 case is by Lian Li. You might wanna fix these, as you did with the xp comment -- which wasn't even that important, i only wanted to know the usage stats. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 06:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If you're considering a PDA, checkout an iPAQ running SavaJe XE. (No Windows CE inside!) SavaJe XE is a Java based OS running on small ARM based devices. The version of Java supported is 1.3.1. Not personal java, not Java ME but Java 2 SE. One of our beta testers was running JBoss. That's a J2EE server on an iPAQ. That's a geek toy! http://www.savaje.com

B-)

Here's the rest of my geek toy list

I agree with the iPOD. It's definitly geek, but I'd like a PowerBook Titanium to go with it.

A set of Titleist 990B golf clubs. (Not particularly geek, but hey, it's my list.)

A nice telescope. It doesn't matter what kind. Just a decent scope. (We have so much light pollution up here in the Boston area that really good scope would be a waste.)

Real net connectivity. (We live in a town without cable or DSL access. Every town around us has one or the other. Just not our town. Arrrggghh!!!!)

Analysis Patterns by Martin Fowler. It's a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. I just haven't gotten around to it.

Galactic Astronomy and Galactic Dynamics. (Books.) I really like cosomolgy. I just wish I wasn't such a math dummy so I could understand it a bit better. Hmmm... add in Stephen Hawking's "Universe in a Nutshell" It's a bit pricey. I'll probably wait until it goes into the discount bin.

PlayStation. Not a PS/2. Just a plain ole' PlayStation. The games are cheaper and I'm just looking for a toy to waste a few hours here and there. Gaming is one area where I'm not leading edge.

Juggling clubs

Maybe some throwing knives.

Oh, one last thing. The source to the BeOS so I can clean it up, release it, and keep it from disappearing completely.


geoff Wed, 12 Dec 2001 13:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Never thought geeks would purchase such stuff! XP? XBox? Aluminum case? That ain't no geek stuff at all! The only thing that is the IPod on the list.

Anyway, maybe I was looking more for hacker stuff than geek stuff. Wed, 12 Dec 2001 14:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? i think it would be cool to have qnx on my ipaq (if i had one)

http://www.eugeneteo.net/files/sites/ipaq/ Wed, 12 Dec 2001 14:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? All geeks should be killed and wiped off the face of the earth. So i would get them some rope to go and hang themselves Wed, 12 Dec 2001 17:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? For my list...

- a Crusoe-based laptop with 15-20 hrs of battery time, so I can run QNX.
- an iPaq, so I can run QNX.
- time off so I can do some coding.
- Lord of the Rings on DVD :-)
- some more QNX stuff.
- a large collection of old Amigas and game consoles, along with a nice collection of games.

As for the games console, try a RealityStation.

Damien Wed, 12 Dec 2001 18:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? > All geeks should be killed and wiped off the face of the earth. So i would get them some rope to go and hang themselves.

Haha... how old are you kid? 10, 11?
Your IP address shows that you are a kid browsing from a school (Brunswick School). Wed, 12 Dec 2001 18:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Brunswick school? isn't that in connecticut? So... you parents are paying how much to send you to an expensive boys school so you can talk like a moron? Wed, 12 Dec 2001 21:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? SavaJe XE looks pritty funky. But it's a tad, err, big (12Mb for it + 32Mb to run). But can you buy a iPAQ without buying WinCE? Woo... Naked iPAQs, grrr. I'm tempted to pick up a cheep netbook from the local second hand shop thou. How to hide it from my g/f... Hmmm.... Thu, 13 Dec 2001 00:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "To elaborate a bit more on the OSNews statistics: While most of our
readers are alternativeOS-friendly, are actually surfing over here and
use extensively, Windows. No matter if a vast majority of these
readers actually whine about Windows all the time in our forums, they
do come here with Windows."

How do you know that?

I always browse with spoofing enabled, as so many sites check to see
if you are using IE. So how would you know that I am actually using
Voyager on Amiga? Thu, 13 Dec 2001 12:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If you look at the requirements for J2SE 1.3.1 on Windows. It needs 32 Megs to run anything. 48 if you run an applet in a browser. We've run small swing apps in as little as 12 Meg. In 32 meg you can run just about all the apps we ship, all at the same time, with reasonable performance. iPAQs come in 16, 32, and 64 meg sizes. We specify 32 since 16 is a bit tight.

We are talking with resellers so you should be able to buy an iPAQ with SavaJe XE instead of Windows CE eventually.


geoff Thu, 13 Dec 2001 13:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? 48Mb is still a lot of memory for a PDA, but hey, maybe I'm just old.

But woot, any iPAQ's with keyboards and 128 Mb of RAM Hmm... Must go find JavaQuake... Fri, 14 Dec 2001 03:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments