It's a slow news day - and so we're seeing a lot of Gift guides posted on other sites..
But we're not going to give you a gift guide - We'll leave this for everyone to discuss here.
So what are you giving, or what would like to give out this holiday season?
(if you want to gift SoylentNews you can Subscribe here or get some swag at The Soylent News Swag store
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Ask Soylent : The Gift Guide 2014
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snow on Tuesday December 16 2014, @11:27PM
I was so happy when my brother suggested that we just do donations to charity! I have too much stuff already, and this way we can help other people AND not have to get presents. Okay, okay, I still have to get a few presents, but maybe 1/3 the amount that I normally do.
(Score: -1) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @11:38PM
https://archive.org/ [archive.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:51AM
There's a difference between thoughtful, meaningful gifting and thoughtless, Amazon 1-Click gifting. Too many people express their love purely in dollar amounts.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday December 17 2014, @04:24AM
Speaking of Amazon, I'd like to suggest a gift you can find on Amazon, a gift that keep on giving to your significant other as well as yourself.
That gift is the Cyberskin Transformer [amazon.com] penis-extender. It's like driving a monster truck instead of a hatchback, to include the exciting yelps and plooks and noises that come from both her smiles horizontal and vertical!
I have both the 2-inch and 4-inch, as you can see from this pic. [postimg.org] (Note: the white powder on them is the included cornstarch which keeps them from decomposing)
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Friday December 26 2014, @01:28AM
I recommend Growler Wereable http://www.primalhardwere.com/gallery/WG/1 [primalhardwere.com] to really get her howling. :-D
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday December 17 2014, @05:00AM
I was really worried that my family would see an imbalance ... they all went shopping for me and instead they got this letter, but actually they loved it and I got one of the best phone calls I've ever had in my life!
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:04PM
We too have a "no presents" policy. I buy myself gifts of what I want, and then donate an equal cash amount to the local homeless shelter and food kitchen.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:13PM
I have too much stuff already
Consumables work in that situation. Whiskey/scotch, airshipped Kobe beef, european ("real") chocolate, high quality fruit, weird imported candies and snacks from Japan, exotic pastries... This discussion is making me hungry.
We've also moved toward feasting. Like thanksgiving but with food you'd actually want to eat, instead of icky traditional thanksgiving food.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 16 2014, @11:40PM
and donations to a reputable charity for the adults.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by The Archon V2.0 on Tuesday December 16 2014, @11:57PM
Let's see....
For family.
Chocolates for one, alcohol for another, and chocolates and alcohol for the third.
For friends, who boardgame religiously.
The Tales of the Arabian Nights boardgame, great fun: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34119/tales-of-the-arabian-nights [boardgamegeek.com]
A few expansion decks for Pathfinder Skull & Shackles for the D&D-minded gamer: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/151007/pathfinder-adventure-card-game-skull-shackles-base [boardgamegeek.com]
Some go-first dice, with a D12 of Christmas for good measure: http://www.ericharshbarger.org/dice/ [ericharshbarger.org]
For the federal government.
A modest donation to a minor political party; I'll get most back on my taxes. Ah, the warm feeling of taking money from the government using the system they so badly slanted in their own favor.
For charity.
I know of a children's hospital that needs a few more toys for the little ones. http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ [childsplaycharity.org]
For me.
I need some more storage. I'll pick up two HDDs and call it a present.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @02:36PM
Can you expand on this? I recently started having enough disposable income to consider something like this, but I have no idea how.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday December 17 2014, @04:27PM
Well, I'm in Canada, so it might be different for you. Also, IANAAccountant/Tax Expert/Anything but a jerk on the internet.
But up here if you give up to $400 to a registered political party (one of the ones listed on the Elections Canada site, IIRC), you get 75% back on your taxes. (If you give more the cut drops to 50% for everything over $400 I think.) If it's a federal party, from your federal taxes; if it's provincial, from your provincial taxes.
So I give to a smaller political party (so not one of the ones that has seats). People tell me I'm throwing away my money, but honestly if you told me throwing $100 out my window would magically deprive the feds of $300, I might still do it. Besides, we aren't going to effect political change by giving cash to goddamn Harper.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday December 17 2014, @05:18PM
I don't have disposable income for this (feeding my autistic 15 year old son is 'eating' all my income), but i def. agree with
My Christmas present to him is cheap, though:
1 middle finger and a partridge in an imaginary tree.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @12:03AM
What's wrong with less news? When there isn't something interesting there isn't something interesting. It evens out the busy news days.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Wednesday December 17 2014, @12:23AM
A nice shiney new NEXUS for the IRC community, a heartfelt letter for my father, a decent new dumbphone for my best friend, and a hungry undead gerbil swarm for everyone else.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Wednesday December 17 2014, @12:30AM
New from William Gibson [theguardian.com] (aka @greatdismal [twitter.com]). Another stunning book. Lots of fun, and makes your brain work harder than is usually the case.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by goodie on Wednesday December 17 2014, @12:55AM
For me, it's 3 brothers, a wife, kids, and parents. So here goes:
- Wife: charms for a bracelet she has. This year we agreed on a limit for the gifts which takes some of the pressure off (I'd be lying if I didn't think so...)
- Kids: toys, nothing huge and nothing with batteries, sounds or noises. Games we can play together that can be used for other purposes as well (stacking cups etc.)
- Brothers: one's getting a book from Hipgnosis, looks like a nice coffee table book. Another is getting a book about Tesla (he lives in the West Coast ;-) and the third... I dunno yet, he doesn't want anything. The charity thing might be a good idea actually!
- Parents: slippers and robes with their names on them. Lame I know but they are getting older and always complain about being cold so we're hoping to help with that.
Personally, there's nothing I want more than health for everybody around me, especially the kids. After that, I already have a bunch of books, guitar and computer gear I haven't had a chance to play with over the past year so... yeah, I'm good ;-).
Overall this year we're trying to buy gifts people will really like rather than spend money on stuff. I like the approach even though I think the charity ideas people have mentioned are terrific and will keep them in mind for next year!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @07:03AM
When the queue is low with nothing good/suitable, post an open thread on a topic that you editors find timely - much better than posting crap just because that's all there is in the queue.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @07:47AM
My monkey has been very naughty, you see, therefore deserves a good spanking.
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Wednesday December 17 2014, @12:59PM
I realised that my gamer friends and I don't have any kind of Munchkin set between us, so I picked up Star Munchkin for the couple that don't have kids. My nephew is getting the book "Darth Vader and Son", the head of my World of Tanks clan (and next-door neighbour) is getting the full series of the "Girls und Panzer" anime. My girlfriend is looking over my shoulder right now, so I can't tell you what I got her ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:36PM
I bought my wife a new diamond wedding band. My daughter is 9 months old so she really doesn't need anything and my family doesn't do the gift thing. We were disheartened when we saw how people are gong to toy drives, getting toys and then taking them to Walmart to "return them " for store credit. In one day the return department had 7 carts full of toys with no receipts and it just happens the toy drives were the day before.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:42PM
If people are doing that then they probably need the money so don't feel too disheartened.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17 2014, @01:38PM
I recently got an immersion circulator and made the best short ribs I have ever had. You basically use the circulator to make a precisely controlled water bath for low temperature cooking in bags of marinade.
Another idea is to replace lower-quality cookware with high-quality things and donate the old to Goodwill. This cuts back on clutter and makes cooking more efficient.
Links:
http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-cheap-sous-vide-gear/ [thesweethome.com]
http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/sous-vide/purdy-pictures-the-charts/ [cookingissues.com]
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/129/Chefs-Knives-Rated [cookingforengineers.com]
http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-home-kettle/ [thesweethome.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 17 2014, @02:54PM
For about the fifth year in a row, I asked my family what they wanted for Christmas and they all said, "nothing." The first year I chose joke presents, Ballz for my brother's VW Golf, Snuggees for everyone else. The second year, third and fourth, I gave them Pepperidge Farm and Omaha Steaks. Now, I'm thinking of adopting a tradition from the family of a rich Flemish girl I dated once: they played Secret Santa where they got one other family member they had to make a present for. No one got more than one gift but it was an exceptionally personal and well-thought out one. It didn't have the wow factor of the reveal on an American Christmas morning, with the sea of presents, but it seemed more meaningful.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by TK on Wednesday December 17 2014, @06:53PM
For the past five years or so, my immediate family has been doing secret Santa where everyone gets one person (the pool of people is siblings, parents and spouses), and we're all pretty blatant about what we want. No one is excluded from getting additional gifts for their spouses, cousins, grand kids, or other siblings if they have a particularly good idea. It seems to work out pretty well because even if someone gets more presents than someone else, everyone gets something they really wanted anyway.
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
(Score: 3, Interesting) by halcyon1234 on Wednesday December 17 2014, @07:09PM
Go out and get yourself an autoclave. Or as the mundanes call it, a pressure canner.
You can make a lot of amazing canned goods. Make a huge batch of homemade pasta sauce (controlling the sodium and sugar). Can 500ml and 1L depending on who you're giving it to. Include some fancy dried pasta.
Make a whole bunch of homemade chicken soup. Can them! Add those to the basket too
Now your friends and family get meals made with care and love for the cold winter to come.
And you get to play with a steel can full of 240 degree water under 15 psi... =)
Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Wednesday December 17 2014, @08:16PM
I agree, I just finished shipping out jars of chili made w/ tomatoes and peppers from my garden this year. My family really enjoys it.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday December 17 2014, @07:09PM
This is why I hate holidays. Some years I do pretty good, but this year my gifts are crap. Oh well.
For my dad I'm getting a Black Friday special Blu-Ray player. He's big on movies and music, nice stereo setup and I'm the only one who knows how the hell it's all wired together (and how to program the Logitech remote!) I figured Blu-ray is finally starting to overtake DVDs, and since I'll be the one hooking it up regardless, I might as well be the one to buy it for him...
My mom is just getting some tea from a local shop. That and an extended trip home -- she told me she'd rather have my help with some remodeling instead of a gift this year.
And the girlfriend is getting a bunch of random crap. She's been wanting Cards Against Humanity for a while so I'm getting her that with some additional Doctor Who themed cards, plus some of her favorite teas and a few other random items. We haven't been together that long so I decided to go with the shotgun approach.
My brother would usually get something random from Sparkfun or Thinkgeek, but he's not gonna be home this year so we aren't doing gifts. He's the one person I find easy to shop for -- he's one of those west-coast nerd hippies that runs around with LED hula hoops and fire gloves. I'm an east-coast nerd hippie who builds open source Raspberry Pi home automation systems and such. So to get him a gift I just look for shit that I think looks really cool but completely useless ;)
(Score: 2) by cosurgi on Thursday December 18 2014, @12:04AM
My wife and I are tired of searching for nice gifts. So this year we sort of "gave up" and decided to give all my relatives (whole families) the same gift - we are buying three copies of http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor [boardgamegeek.com] the easiest game of 2014. 9th place in family game rank http://boardgamegeek.com/familygames/browse/boardgame?sort=rank&rankobjecttype=family&rankobjectid=5499 [boardgamegeek.com] , and quickly going up. Also winner of several best game awards this year.
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