Geek Stuff Gift Guide

A friend of ours told us about the Hello World puppet, designed to teach children of all ages about digital media, robotics and programming. They’re on KickStarter.

The Kite patch uses non-toxic compounds to block mosquitos’ ability to track humans for up to 48 hours. NPR says that for $85, you can send a 100 day supply and Kite will send you some for yourself as well.

Leap Motion Controller.
Plugs into a USB port, and keeps you from having to reach over to your mouse, or pick up the stylus. Requires Win 7, Mac OS X Lion or Ubuntu 12, 2 GB RAM. $80.

MWE Lab Emperor 200 Workstation, custom built to your specs. $49,150.

Stamp Shoes “No Place Like Home” GPS Shoes
Originally designed for the Global Footrint Project of the Northamptonshire County Council, these shoes are fitted to order and hand made with an integrated GPS system and LED lights to point you to a pre-programmed destination. No price listed for the GPS-enabled shoes, but Stamps Shoes start at £1,100.

Safeplug
A little box that connects to your wireless router and uses the Tor software to prevent snooping by hiding your IP address from the prying eyes of pretty much everyone and effectively stopping websites from logging where you are. $49.

Procrastinator’s Mug.
There are several styles available, but this one is our favorite. $17.

Facebook Blue Nail Polish.
We don’t know what it costs, or if you can get it anywhere but Facebook’s office, but it’s better than Yahoo Purple.

Giant Wine Bottle Wine Glass holds 750ml, and you can ignore the sexist advertising. $18.

Risk: Walking Dead Survival Edition.
A twist on the Hasbro Risk game. $44-$53, depending. There’s also a Walking Dead version of Monopoly.

Self Stirring Mug.
Not terribly useful if you drink your coffee black. Batteries required, $12.

Dr. Tung’s Tongue Cleaner.
Stainless steel, a measly $7, and counts toward free shipping. But it’s this review that will cause you to put this on your shopping list for someone.

Face Slimmer Exercise Mouthpiece
“The makers recommend you say vowel sounds out loud over and over…” At $62, it’s a lot less expensive than plastic surgery and a lot less likely to turn your face into something out of a Chucky movie; it doubles as the foundation for a Halloween mask.

Ear Shaped iPhone Case.
We found this on a number of sites, curiously, all from Great Britain — maybe it’s a Prince Charles thing. Made from silicone, only available for iPhones, about £10.