geek

Buying gifts for geeks can be expensive. They are likely to have things like iPads, Microsoft Surface tables, and working replicas of the TARDIS on their wish lists.

You don't have to drop a bundle to show you care about your geek's nerdy pursuits. For $7.99, you can cross that egghead off your holiday shopping list with a Magic Geek Ball from ThinkGeek.

The Magic Geek Ball is the techie, meme-loving cousin of the Magic 8 Ball. Ask it a yes or no question and it will spit back a response like "404 error," "Fail," or "Can Has."… Read more

OK, I'm ready for the backlash. I'm wearing an iPod Nano on my wrist as a watch. I already own an iPhone. And an iPad. What's wrong with me?

Would you believe me if I said that I'd have done the same thing if there was any watch that could do what this one does? Would you believe me if I said I didn't do this for the iPod?

Let me explain.

I've always been a fan of digital watches and funky watch design, especially tech watches (I even defended them on TV). I'm a watch geek. I wore a retro Casio watch. I just got a cool Diesel one. A long time ago, I tried the Fossil Palm-powered watch, the Fossil Wrist PDA. I still have it in my desk drawer. Microsoft Spot watch? Check.

The iPod Nano-as-watch is a proud successor of that line, a gadget that I believe will stand the test of time for its novelty. Apple may not make a true iWatch, and the iPod's long-term destiny may not inevitably be on my wrist, but for now it's the most innovative use of iPod technology since, well, the first iPod. … Read more

The iPhone 4S' digital personal assistant Siri appears to be heading toward cult classic status. Check out this great little gadget created to enhance your voice control experience.

The Iris 9000 from ThinkGeek is a neat device that lets you control Siri from up to 50 feet away with a micro remote and a built-in mic that picks up your voice at a distance.

But the real draw is the nostalgic design. The module looks like Hal from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and and even has a glowing LED eye that flickers along with Siri's voice.

We just love the below video of the Iris 9000 and Siri together. … Read more

Any parent can use the old "here comes the airplane into the hangar" ruse to get a kid to eat, but why not go one better with "here comes the Enterprise into a wormhole"?

I don't have any kids this young anymore, but ThinkGeek is really making my ovaries tingle with the Star Trek Enterprise Light-Up Feeding System. The bib has motion-activated LEDs on what looks to be a scene from "The Trouble With Tribbles." It doesn't specifically say so, but that looks like Space Station K-7 to me. The spoon is a replica of the old-school Enterprise ("NCC 1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D.") complete with flashing LEDs on the warp nacelles.

The $24.99 bib and spoon set is aimed for ages 12 months and older (insert your own hacky "still living with parents" joke here), and comes with three dishwasher-safe spoon attachments. You supply your own dramatic music. … Read more

Coming this December, they're the perfect touch for you romantic geeks out there: Darth Vader Lightsaber Candlesticks. Unsurprisingly, they're from the folks at ThinkGeek, the geniuses who also gave the world tauntaun sleeping bags.

The candlestick is an 8.5-inch-long metal replica of Darth Vader's lightsaber hilt, and it comes with three no-drip red taper candles. You can, of course, use standard tapers after you burn through those in the event that you have lots of romantic dinners. Now you're free to re-enact Anakin Skywalker's best attempt at romantic talk: "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth."

You can preorder them now; each candlestick will set you back $39.99, but they're worth it if you like your dinner lighting on *cough* the dark side. … Read more

I'm going to take entirely undeserved credit for improving the laser-powered virtual-projection keyboard offered by Celluon and ThinkGeek.

In a pinch to turn my iPad into a fully functional writing tool, I tried out a variety of Bluetooth-capable, iPad-compatible keyboards on deadline. One of them was ThinkGeek's original Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard, which projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface.

It paired. It worked. But it threw me off as a writer because--for whatever neurotic reason--I needed that ole-fashioned keyboard "click" to prevent me from hunting and pecking my way through articles.

Now, Celluon and ThinkGeek are lauding the arrival of the Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard. Not only does it use a prettier, almost liquid interface for its laser projection, but it brings the "click" as the gesture recognition software employs sounds to indicate keystrokes and control gestures. … Read more

If computers can create friends for you, why can't they create ministers?

This was the philosophical question that inspired Miguel Hanson, a Houston-based web developer and IT consultant as he contemplated his wedding.

As the Associated Press tells it, Hanson couldn't find an associate who would officiate at the betrothal to high school teacher Diana Wesley. So he said to himself: "Wait a minute, I am a Web developer and IT consultant. I am a Master of the Universe. One minister, coming up."

The first thought you might have if you were to create a virtual … Read more

Aside from my annual NHL video game head-to-head face-off, there aren't too many times where tech and the greatest sport in the world cross paths--aside from a glowing puck or two.

So it's no surprise that I was ecstatic to learn that a movement to have NHL veteran defenseman Mike Commodore change his number to 64 had been started to pay the classic home computer homage, a piece of electronics that still holds the title of being the best-selling computer of all time.

Commodore--the hockey player--was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 1999 and has spent his career moving around the league playing for teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and, most recently, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

On the first day of the NHL's free agency, the Detroit Red Wings signed Commodore to a one-year deal. Since then, an outpouring of support to have him wear number 64 has been making its rounds on hockey blogs and Twitter, with a significant push coming from Yahoo Sports' fantastic hockey blog, Puck Daddy. The site has totally committed to the cause, raising the eyebrows of local Detroit news outlets and the Red Wings organization as well. Even Mike Commodore himself has also tweeted that he's considering 64.… Read more

Sometimes, gadget reviewers need to turn to their test products in an emergency. I found myself in that very predicament last week when I was on deadline for CNET--just as the hard drive on my MacBook Pro decided to pack it in permanently.

Editors can't print your whining about computer glitches, and you don't get paid much for plaintive cries of "I'm working on it." So when said laptop died on me with only a couple hours left to hand in my commentary on the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's "moon speech," I had to look to my iPad to get the piece written and turned over to the news desk.

You can get any number of word-processing programs for the iPad. For better file swap between my tablet and MacBook Pro, I turn to Pages. Though some say there are better app options, I figured Apple's native program would help me pound out several paragraphs mourning the current state of the American space program. But I can't use that pop-up virtual keyboard the iPad provides for entering text for anything more than an e-mail or a Facebook post. I've tried, and I end up with typed-up pseudo-English that resembles a code pumped out by the Nazi Enigma machine.

You've heard the cliche about an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters eventually creating all of Shakespeare's works? That simian scribble is what comes out of my iPad if I can't hear the comforting "click" of keyboard strokes.

After realizing all of that, I unpacked the five keyboards I had on hand to review and loaded them up for use in this order: the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard from ThinkGeek, Logitech Keyboard Case by Zagg for iPad 2, the Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard, the Omnio Wow-Keys and the ThinkGeek Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad.

These are hardly the only options on the market, and some of them have already been reviewed by the gadget crew here at CNET. But my personal crisis offered an excellent test as to how fast I could get these items out of the box and working with President Kennedy and the Apollo Crew waiting. … Read more