PC TOOLKIT
When people think of tools, the staff
of our sister magazine PC Gamer
usually comes to mind. But there
are other tools actually quite valu-
able to geeks, and hardcore geeks
like us need hardcore toolkits like
this one. The handsome black carry-
ing case includes everything from a
lost screw picker-upper, to a solder-
ing iron, to a wire stripper.
$37, www.crazypc.com
USB CAFE PAD
After the USB Lava Lamp and
the USB Smokeless Ashtray,
this USB-connected cup
warmer doesn’t seem so
strange. In fact, it seems like a
darned fine idea. The warmer
keeps tea and coffee at a
toasty-yet-comfortable tem-
perature, can be used to melt
Cadbury Eggs into dessert top-
ping, and even converted into
a mosquito torture chamber
with an overturned shot glass.
$22, www.thinkgeek.com
WI-FI FINDER & USB
ADAPTER
It scans for 802.11b/g/a
hotspots, then reports their
SSID and encryption status,
among other details. Pop it
into your USB port, and it
becomes an 802.11b/g/a USB
Wi-Fi adapter. And if you’re
feeling generous with some-
one else’s broadband, it can
even turn your laptop into an
access point. Holy frijole, did
Wi-Fi just become sexy
?
$100, http://us.zyxel.com
FRETLIGHT GUITAR
Everything’s made better with LEDs, including a
guitar. Simply connect this axe to your PC and the
126 LEDs will display virtually every chord and scale,
illuminating the path to geek-rock stardom. Your fin-
gers have better places to be than in your ears, and
the Fretlight shows you exactly where to put them.
$600, www.optekmusic.com
20Q
All the accumulated
knowledge of the human
race has been digitized
and condensed into a
yoyo-size ball called the
20Q. Well at least enough
info for this mysteri-
ous artifact to correctly
answer “naked mole rat,”
“bazooka,” and “slime
mold” based on our
“yes” or “no” answers
to 20 questions each.
And we used to think the
Magic 8-Ball was cool.
$15, www.radicagames.
com
G ifts for
G eeks
52 MAXIMUMPC HOLIDAY 2005
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