Friday, December 2, 2011

Geeky Gifts from Alan Boyle of MSNBC



In last Saturday's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Thanksgiving weekend 2011 edition) on Daily Kos, I included these excerpts from two of Alan Boyle's Cosmic Log posts dealing with geeky gift ideas. I recycled them over as Geeky gifts, including books at fandom_lounge on JournalFen, which I'm now reusing here at Crazy Eddie's Motie News. Yes, I'm an environmentalist. Why do you ask?

MSNBC: Cast your vote for the geekiest gift
By Alan Boyle
How about a dinosaur skull for the holidays? Or a handful of glow-in-the-dark uranium marbles? Cast your vote and help us crown the geekiest gift for the holiday season.

The gift suggestions for this year's Science Geek Guide are in line with a proud tradition here at msnbc.com. You can always find guides to Black Friday tech deals, or the top 20 toys of 2011, or the hottest holiday hostess gifts. But where else can get a line on a nuclear-powered plaything, or a six-dimensional paperweight, or brains to fit your budget?

Even better, this is a geek gift guide created by geeks for geeks, with some geeky prizes thrown into the bargain. Last week I put out the call for suggestions, and it'll be up to you to select the coolest, most offbeat prize from the top 10. The geek who made the top-rated suggestion will be eligible to receive a pile of books, including "Science Ink," "The Cult of Lego," "The Physics Book" and "The Case for Pluto" (autographed by yours truly).

Here are this year's 10 finalists:
  • Uranium marbles
  • Dinosaur skulls
  • Elements Vault
  • Magnifying glasses
  • Mars lunchbox
  • USB microscope
  • Plush microbes
  • Wi-Fi T-shirt
  • Star Trek pizza cutter
  • Pi plate
In Get into geeky gifts that glow, Alan Boyle announced uranium marbles as the winner, beating out the Star Trek pizza cutter by less than 50 votes out of 3,000 cast.

Also from MSNBC: Scientific tales come alive in ink
By Alan Boyle
Ready to crack open some inky tales of scientific lore and levity? Check out our holiday science book roundup — and add your own selections to the list.
A geeky holiday season to all of you!

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