Hardware Canucks Christmas Wishlist

Michael's (SKYMTL's) List

For Geeks on a Budget
Product: Dream Cheeky USB Stress Button
Price: $35.00+
Details: USB Stress Button

I am one of those people who has a horrible fetish with everything USB related. I have a USB drink warmer, USB a missile launcher for tormenting the girlfriend’s cat, a small USB powered fridge and the list goes on and on. However, the latest thing on my Christmas list is the Dreamlink USB Stress Button. You can literally beat the shyte out of this thing without it dying on you (or so the advertisement says) but to make matters even better, it carries with it a unique cover-up feature. Basically, you can set the included software to switch your screen to a fake Excel sheet, a nuclear explosion with countdown or a face you can virtually “punch” whenever you press the button. This is great for covering up your flash gaming at work or your other…*ahem* fetishes at home.


For the Hardware Geek
Product: J&W MiniX 780G-SP128MB
Price: Price Compare
Details: J&W MiniX
Well, I am in a bit of an enviable position to have access to nearly everything hardware-related…and yet my main rig currently sports an s939 AMD Athlon X2 3800+. I know it is on the pathetic side of things but this thing has been trucking along for the better part of three years now but currently I find myself wanting something…more. Enter the J&W MiniX 780G-SP128MB mini-ITX motherboard. This little thing supports AM2+ processors, sports HDMI, VGA and DVI ports, has 128MB of Sideport memory and not one but two SO-DIMM slots. All of this comes in a compact package that will fit in any of those sweet looking and compact mini-ITX cases. This motherboard really shows us that performance does not need to be sacrificed if you want to miniaturize your setup. The only thing that will probably hold you back is this baby’s eye-watering price: about $220 here in Canada. Convenience doesn’t come cheap folks.

For the Geek Who Has it All
Product: Suborbital Flight via Virgin Galactic
Price: Deposits from $25,000 - $300,000 CAD
Details: Virgin Galactic Voyages

Yes, this may be a flight of fancy from nearly every one of our readers but when I dream, I dream big. Seriously, if you are a geek like myself and have everything else you could possibly want (unlike me) why wouldn’t you want to spend $300K to take a flight on Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipTwo? Granted, the price of admission is a bit much for us land lubbers but the possibilities of this adventure are definitely enticing even for those of us without the necessary financial backing. If you are fine with being at the end of the “let us fly” a $25,000 deposit is all you need…with the rest of the money being paid at a later date. Considering most of us will never set foot on these flights, the precedent they set is breath-taking. Flights for Canadians can be booked via TTI Canada’s Robert Kershaw.