Wi-Fi and USB cufflinks
3D printing pen
Plug-and-play 3D printer
Raspberry Pi 2 Model B sensor kit
Star Trek illuminated model
Beagle Bone Black Starter Pack
LittleBits’ Synth Kit
Ale Beer Brewing Kit
Dad can design his own custom PCBs
Spur the imagination with a good book

Bluetooth Module
Beaglebone Black
FTDI 5” Display
LED Module
Arduino YUN
Jumper Wire Kit
Wavesurfer O-Scope

In this week’s Ask Maggie, CNET consumer advice columnist Marguerite Reardon cautions readers to think twice about giving a smartphone as a gift. Why’s that? It’s the gift that keeps on costing.

Bottom Line: Don’t be tempted by low prices. Buying a smartphone is best left to the person using it. My advice: only give a smartphone as a gift if you’re prepared to pay the service and other fees

Yes it’s the obligatory holiday tech gift list for people who don’t know what to buy an engineer for that special end of year celebration: Christmas, Hannakah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice or what have you. Here’s a list of last-minute suggestions from real engineers.

“Apparently it’s joke although a lame one. All engineers read like little children waiting for a nice surprise only to get a disappointment. Really geeky presents: — hey hon, look at that cool domain name — “electric-melon.org” — easy with that laser pointer, darling, it was upgraded. – a van graaf generator (hey , a spare !) – a sterling engine (Shiny!) Of course these things are mostly useless just like Xmas present should be. If they would be really useful an engineer would already had them.”

Well said, engineer, well said. There’s no fooling an engineer.

Here is our list from engineers about what they want for the holidays, some of which you definitely can whip up into a decent present at the last minute

‘Twas a week before Christmas and all through the stores, gift buyers hunted for open-source goodies their makers and engineers would adore.

Arduino Robot
Beagle Board Black Rev C
LulzBot TAZ 4 3D Printer
FLORA
3DR Iris+
Hexy the Hexapod
Kinoma Create
Raspberry Pi A+