8 geeky gifts for Father's Day
This Father's Day, treat the dad in your life to a Lego-inspired mug, geek chic tie, or one of these other charmingly weird gift suggestions.
This Father's Day, treat the dad in your life to a Lego-inspired mug, geek chic tie, or one of these other charmingly weird gift suggestions.
Whether your father wears his geekdom on his official Star Trek command replica tunic sleeve, is a thrills-and-grills kinda guy, or is a hybrid of those styles, technology with a little geek tweak can be his friend this Father鈥檚 Day.
Just for the sake of getting it out of the way, if it鈥檚 got to be a necktie given on Father鈥檚 Day, at least put dad鈥檚 business card on it via QRTie. These neckties include a unique QR code printed on the back. Choose your tie style, and, through the QRTie website, you can choose where the tie鈥檚 code directs people when scanned. Point the code to your father鈥檚 personal website or his virtual business card for a unique, personalized gift.
Another tie option is ThinkGeek's Tactical Necktie with Laser Pointer. The tie has a laser pointer embedded in the end for use during meetings or when he wants to drive the cat berserk. It also includes a military-style MOLLE attachment system, so dad can bring along a set of whiteboard markers, a first aid kit, or clip-on mug.
Are dad and desk synonymous at your house? Here are two unique geek options: the Build-On Brick mug that allows dad to sip and build at the same time. The mug has an exterior building surface compatible with LEGO, PixelBlocks, Mega Bloks, KRE-O, and K'NEX Bricks.
The second desktop solution is for dads who can never locate their cellphones. The Ceramic Hand Cell Phone Holder聽is literally a set of ceramic hands that will hold any size phone. The cost is $14.70 by聽Tech Tools.聽
If you鈥檙e ready to innovate, you can help your father calm his worries about how much electricity your high-tech household is using by getting the automated Wemo Light Switch. It鈥檚 a聽Wi-Fi-enabled light switch that lets you turn lights on and off via your Android or iOS device from anywhere with Web access 鈥 be it the next room or the other side of the country. The switch replaces your standard light switch and works with the existing faceplate.
For a lower-budget geek fix, bake a batch of Dr. Who cookies with a Whovian cookie cutter, $19.99 from This Is Why I鈥檓 Broke.
If your father is a Bob-the-Builder type, he may enjoy a Form Beyond Function digital LED 鈥渉alves and quarters鈥 measuring tape. Warning: this device will not stop your father from giving a math lecture on how to make these measuring calculations, nor will it stop the words: 鈥淢easure twice. Cut once.鈥
In a perfect world where money is no object, you could put your bid in to buy the world鈥檚 largest video game collection, which has recently been put up for online auction. Bidding started at $1聽on Wednesday聽at GameGavel.com, and the price has now topped $750,000.
In an e-mail, game collector Michael Thomasson聽says that it was becoming a father that lead him to sell his precious collection of more than 11,000聽video games聽and more than 100 game consoles.
His daughter 鈥淎nna is 5, turning 6 in a few weeks,鈥 Mr. Thomasson says. 鈥淚'm selling for several reasons, including getting Anna into Catholic school.鈥
Father鈥檚 Day honors dads who, like Thomasson, make sacrifices for the sake of their kids.
So when it comes time to celebrate them on Father鈥檚 Day, we might want to push the tech envelope to stretch beyond a talking Hallmark card with Superman on the cover.