As Christmas will shortly be upon us here's a round-up of awesome things
that are on my Christmas present wish-list.
Moleskine notebooks
Moleskines are the de facto standard notebook of choice for designers
and hackers alike. Best thing is if you like using a notebook you'll
always need more of them which makes them the ideal gift for Christmas.
£5.24 from Amazon and available in all good stationers.
Palomino Blackwing Pencils
You've probably seen plenty of talk about how awesome the original (and
discontinued since 1998) Eberhardt-Faber Blackwing 602 pencils wer,. so
much so that they often fetch around $20 per pencil on Ebay. Luckily
California Cedar Products took over the rights to the Blackwing
trademark and have started produced their own version. Whilst they might
not be 100% the same as the Eberhardt-Faber pencils the general
consensus is they're pretty good albeit that they wear a bit quicker
than the originals. 12 of these little fellas are $19.99 from
pencils.com.
Big Trak
In the 80's my brother and I were given a Big Trak as a joint present
complete with trailer. We had it for about 2 weeks and it broke so my
parents took it back to the shop and didn't get a replacement.
Big Trak has a keypad that allows you to program up to 16 command
sequences; e.g. go forward x 6, turn left etc. Go forward x6 would
translate to the Big Trak moving forwards 6 times it's own length. The
trailer is not currently available, but is due to be coming out in
January 2011.. Available from Amazon for £26. It's ok you can pretend
it's for your children.
Amazon Kindle
Most Geeks I know definitely like their books. The most recent edition
of the Kindle is pretty nice, and is worth taking a look at if you're
looking for a solid ebook reader. At £109 it's a bit of a bargain
really. The only downside is if you've already got lots of books you'll
need to buy the ebook versions. Available from Amazon for £109.
Threadless
Always a favorite, Threadless have had some pretty good deals on their
great t-shirt designs recently. Check out Threadless.com for more
info.
Coffee
If you know someone who likes good coffee then here's two of the best UK
coffee roasters to take a look at.
- Hasbean Coffee - Stocks excellent coffees as whole beans and
ground for specific machines. - Square Mile Coffee Roasters - Fantastic coffees, though bear in
mind they only provide whole beans.
Even if not for a present, definitely get an order in for some fine
coffee to enjoy after your Christmas Dinner.