Ram & Reason:  In Praise of Slashdot, or, a Techno Geek's Holiday Gifts Guide

        By Rob Rice     December 2004

As someone who has a long and experienced history of wanting stuff, I feel eminently well qualified to write down for you my own holiday gift giving suggestions. Now, I don’t know about you, but every holiday gift guide that I come across these days seems to think that unless I spend $3200 on a plasma big screen TV, $2500 for a laptop computer, or, $8000 for a digital camera then there must not be an once of love in me. Well, I say let’s get back to the good old days, let the kids build their own printers, computers, Segway style scooters, big screen TVs, flame throwers, cyclotrons,  and satellite tracking stations. You think I‘m kidding, right? No! I say instead of capitulating and giving them that big expensive TiVo set for Christmas how about throwing the parts in a box and shoving it under the tree? If you want it, build it! Don’t give them merchandise – give them parts!   Let me explain, one of my favorite Websites for sometime now has been Slashdot (http://slashdot.org/). Their slogan pretty much tells the story, “News for Nerds. Stuff that matters”.  Slashdot is probably the most successful Blog (Short for Web Log) on the Internet. Every day a new series of stories, news events and how-to-articles make their way to the hungry Slashdotters whose enthusiasm has crashed many a server just by their sheer numbers visiting an interesting site. They even have a name for this, it’s called being Slashdotted. It is a true Geek’s Website and one that I hope will continue to proliferate.   Many of the stories at Slashdot are how-to-articles written by guys and gals of all ages who want or need something and do not have the resources to obtain it. It may be a PC, but it could also be a telescope or a cruise missile. Once again, no, I am not kidding! So, what do they do but cobble together the parts and build it. Years ago I was faced with the need for a new computer. Not having $2500 for a new one I decided to see if I could build it. I was only able to find two Websites at the time that related to PC upgrades, one was an Italian site that had links and some help configuring your computer and the other was SysOps, which is still around today, albeit no longer owned by its originator. About a year later, a German  physician named Thomas Pabst opened his Website and called it Tom’s Hardware. From these sites, I was able to get the advice I needed to build my own computer - I think it was 1996. That computer is still in service today and put me onto an enjoyable career path. Not only was it (at the time) economical but extremely rewarding.   Now some of the projects are pretty wild and some are just darn-right dangerous (e.g., Building your own Flame Thrower). Some will require a certain degree of skill while others may attract unwanted attention (e.g., Building your own Cruise Missile, below), but many more require only the tenacity, a set of plans, and the help of an enthusiastic mob called Slashdotters.  So, if your kid asks for a Game Boy, toss him some parts and tell him to build it!   Below is a sample of some of the projects that can be found on the web:   Build your own Spudgun, http://www.spudtech.com Build your own Flamethrower, http://www.engadget.com/entry/7942728849548140/ Build your own Tesla Coil, http://205.243.100.155/frames/build1.html Build your own Rail Gun, http://www.powerlabs.org/railgun.htm Build your own Solid State Can Crusher, http://www.powerlabs.org/pssecc.htm Build your own Linear Accelerator, http://www.powerlabs.org/gaussgun.htm Build your own Gauss Gun, http://www.powerlabs.org/gaussgun.htm Build your own Perfect Home Theater, http://reviews.designtechnica.com/guides.html Build your own BattleMech Tree House, http://www.wizkidsgames.com/mwdarkage/mw_article.asp?cid=36984&frame=news Build your own Cyclotron, http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/cyclotron/ Build your own Macintosh Computer, http://www.macopz.com/buildamac/ Build your own Carnival Ride, http://www.phantasmechanics.com/darkride/index.html Build your own LCD Screen Displaying the Winnipeg Bus Schedule, http://members.shaw.ca/rosensto/bus/ Build your own Submarine, http://www.psubs.org/ Build your own Snow Gun, http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/extra/1887/ Build your own Bar Stool Racer, http://www.barstoolracing.net / Build your own Weather Satellite Station, http://www.hobbyspace.com/Radio/WeatherSatStation/setup1.html Build your own Sherman Tank, http://www.gizmology.net/tanks.htm Build your own Electrocardiograph, http://www.eng.utah.edu/~jnguyen/ecg/ecg_index.html Build your own Boeing 737 Simulator, http://www.737sim.com/737HomePage.htm Build your own Lava Lamp, http://www.oozinggoo.com/howto.html Build your own Bowling Ball Firing Mortar, http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html Build your own Electronic Lock with Key Card, http://www.gideontech.com/guides/electronic_lock/ Build your own Detailed Model Saturn V Rocket, http://www.apogeerockets.com/  Build your own Scanning-Tunneling-Microscope, http://sxm4.uni-muenster.de/stm-en/ Build your own WWII Enigma Coding Machine, http://www.xat.nl/enigma-e/desc/index.htm Build your own Autonomous Biped Robot Conversion for the Mini Cooper r50, http://www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin/ Build your own Steady Cam Rig, http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/ Build your own Pulsejet Engine, http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/ Build your own Wireless Beer Pitcher Monitor, http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ee476/FinalProjects/s2004/mda24/BeverageMonitor.htm  Build your own Stereo from a Hard Drive, http://www.sorgonet.com/trashing/speakerbox/ Build your own Jet Powered Model B-52, http://www.wren-turbines.com/news.htm Build your own Aerial Camera from a Kite, http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/ Build your own Electric Etch-A-Sketch, http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ee476/FinalProjects/s2004/jml66/EAS_final.htm Build your own Solar Powered Vehicle, http://www.solarvehicles.org Build your own Flying Lawn Mower, http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=1159 Build your own A Robot, http://www.robotics.com/arobot/build.html Build your own TiVo-Like Digital Video Recorder http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59088,00.html?tw=wn_story_related Build your own Cruise Missile, http://www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile/ Build your own Telescope, http://www.willbell.com/tm/tm2.htm Build your own Personal Roller Coaster, http://www.jeremyreid.com/ Build your own Cockpit, http://mypage.direct.ca/b/bsimpson/byoc~1a.html Build your own Segway-Like Balancing Scooter, http://www.tlb.org/scooter.html     Rob Rice is a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City and a computer specialist working in Anchorage Alaska. You can email Rob at, articles@isp.com