Everyone will tell you what the best gift is for that special geek in your life, but there are also some horrendous ones out there that you shouldn’t buy for them. If you have to buy a gift for a tech nerd in your life, avoid these five guaranteed failures.

5) iTunes Gift Card

Regardless of the type of Apple product they have, you have no idea how this person fills it with content. If they have an iPod, they may download their music from LimeWire or FrostWire. If they have an iPhone/iPod touch, it may be jailbroken which means that all apps are free. Don’t assume that they spend money on iTunes. If you get them an iTunes gift card, it could definitely wind up on eBay. Just be sure they actually make purchases from iTunes before you buy them an iTunes gift card.

4) How-To or ‘For Dummies’ Books

You can find how to books for basically anything tech related. Microsoft Office, Windows, computer programming, etc. However, buying these books is a complete waste. There is an incredible amount of information online that you can Google instead of dropping $20 on a gimmick book. Don’t waste money on these things.

3) DVDs

If there is a geek in your life that likes a specific movie, chances are they’ve already downloaded it on BitTorrent or through some other methods. No geek is going to wait around for someone to buy them the DVD. They probably already have their own copy, so don’t be that person who gives useless gifts.

2) XBox 360 Games

This one pretty much goes hand-in-hand with the DVDs and iTunes gift card. many geeks have modded their XBox 360s to play backup games. Unless you know for sure that they buy all their games, don’t bother buying them an XBox 360 game. And, even if they do buy their games, make sure they actually will like the one you buy them. Everyone loves their grandma, but it really sucks when a 16-year-old male opens up the latest copy of Karaoke Revolution. Be careful if you’re trying to buy them a 360 game. Consider a GameStop gift card as an alternative.

1) Alarm Clock

It may just be me, but I’m averaging at least 1 alarm clock every 2 Christmas seasons. How many do you need? Despite the fact that there is a free Alarm application for Windows and an alarm clock on my iPhone, I still seem to get the coolest new alarm clock every other Christmas. Cross alarm clocks off your holiday list.

Some ideas for good gifts (varies from geek to geek): World of Warcraft game time, wireless 360 controller, a new gaming mouse (no keyboards please), blank CD, DVD, or DVD+R DL discs, gas gift cards, extended cell notebook battery, NES/SNES/Sega Genesis console, anything from woot.com, 2GB Sansa MP3 player (incredibly portable and only $20, great for working out), radar detector (nothing from Cobra).

After having the iPhone for awhile, I really don’t have much excitement for ‘apps’ anymore. Sure, the idea is nice in theory, but when things like tethering are restricted, the number of apps I want goes down. Most things I care about can be found/done in Safari.

However, I do use a few apps. I only have one full page, but regardless get use out of them.

So, here they are. Five iPhone apps that I actually use and have value. Read the rest of this entry »

Has your computer ever had a high temperature? Did it get the chills or possibly have a bad cough? If so, you probably need to stop taking acid.

But have you ever been infected with a virus? No matter the source, most viruses can easily be taken care of. Instead of paying Geek Squad about $200 to remove it, you can do it yourself for free by taking the following steps. None of this costs money, and your computer will be virus-free afterwards.

You may want to print this (or at least read through the whole thing) before you begin. Read the rest of this entry »