Last Minute Stocking Stuffers - WRIC Richmond News and Weather -

Last Minute Stocking Stuffers

Bernier’s Bytes

By John Bernier

December 17, 2005

Phew, I have just about finished my Christmas shopping for the year (only some small stocking stuffers are let) and have but two gifts left to ship out to the relatives spread out all over the country.

However, I know that some of you still have a few of those last minute items that you need to sang either for the stocking, or for that “extra something” under the tree.  Well, here, in no special order are a few items that you can think of adding as gifts with a little bit of a computer flair to them.

The first item is one that is perfect for students, especially college students and high school students. Pick up a USB Flash Drive, commonly called a “thumb drive” for them.  The prices for these have fallen tremendously in the past year and an 256mb version can be commonly found for $20 and the 512mb version (which hold almost as much as a CD-R) can often be found on sale for around $30.  Small enough to attach to a keychain, they are prefect for the student who is on the go, yet even the 256mb version will hold tons of documents and presentations.  The best part about these drives is that on any computer running windows XP, they are automatically recognized by the computer and can be put right to use  From the dorm room to the computer lab to the library, and bringing them home (leaves a lot more room for laundry!), it is convenient and easy to use.

Here is another quickie that you actually download and burn to a CD-R or if you want (you can also buy the packaged product too).  These are the Random House Webster’s College Dictionary and the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.  The download versions cost $19.95 and $49.95 (the unabridged version might now be out in time for Christmas) respectively and be gotten at http://www.wordgenius.com/wgrhedu.html

Ok, it is a dictionary.  Boring.  Right.  Well, yes and most definitely no. First up it is fully compatible with the Microsoft Office suite of products, which make it usable for students and adults alike.   It is good for bloggers who don’t want to have their websites filled with misspellings.  Homework, email messages, college applications (scholarship applications!) email messages, and presentations will all benefit.  And for those of you who love to do crossword puzzles, you can use multiple wildcards inside of a word search. 

It may not be as exciting as a video game, but it might have more value in the long run and doesn’t weigh as much as that boat anchor gathering dust on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. 

For those who are into digital photography, you can always supply them with a flash media card or two.  But be careful, as you will need to know the make and model of the camera since there are several different types of flash memory out there.

What might be wise is a “flash memory card reader”.  Some of newer computers already come with these built it, but if you digital photographer’s PC doesn’t have one; this may be a great gift.  About the size of a deck of cards, this attaches to your computer via a USB cable.  And it is pretty hard to go wrong with one since many of them read up to 10 to 15 different versions of the flash card.  With a little luck you’ll be taking car of the camera, the MP3 player and possibly one or two other devices too.

And best of all, none of these need assembly, or batteries!