Gifts for the Geek Home

A home should be an expression of who you are. Sure, when you're young and broke, your room or apartment might be an expression of who your parents or the people who donate to Goodwill are, but gradually you collect items that express your personality, whether you receive them as gifts or purchase them yourself. If you are a technologically oriented geek, there are plenty of manufacturers and vendors catering to your tastes in home decor.

Interactive LED Dining Table

Windell Oksay of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories built a dining room table with 448 LEDs inside. The lights respond to movement on and above the table surface! No, not a motion sensor, but light sensors that detect shadows and respond appropriately by activating LEDs in those areas. This is a one-of-a-kind project, but if you are handy you can make your own with the extensive documentation of the project as your guide. Take a shortcut by buying the LED panel kit.

Motherboard Picture Frame

Recycling is not only environmentally-friendly, it can make a statement. The Motherboard Picture Frame states that you know what motherboards are all about -even if you don't! Buying one is much easier than recycling your own, but the motherboards are recycled from somewhere.

Geek Clock

This geeky clock was posted all over as "the clock only geeks can read." That's not quite true, as those of us of a certain age learned to read an analog clock by its angles, so no numerals are necessary. However, the formulas used in place of numerals on this clock face will display your geekiness for the world to see.

A Clock that Spells

Here's a clock that is easy for anyone to read, but the mechanism that displays it is something else. Christiaan Postma designed it to mechanically spell out the time.

I put together more than 150 individual clockworks and made them work together to become one clock.  I show the progress of time by letting the numbers be written in words by the clockworks. Reading clockwise,  the time being is visible through a word and readable by the completeness of the word, 12 words from "one" to "twelve".

Watch how the clock face changes here. Unfortunately, it's an artwork that is not available to purchase.

Galactic Hitchhiker's Towel

Never be caught without your towel! Express your inner hitchhiker with this utility towel, complete with the number 42. No need to explain to science fiction fans.

CRT Light Fixture

As you move from cathode ray tubes to LEDs, recycle your CRTs into light fixtures!

Fractal Art Quilt

Rose Rushbrooke makes gorgeous art quilts with intricate designs, including a collection of fractal patterns she designs and hand quilts. I was particularly taken with this quilt displaying a pattern based on the Mandelbrot set. A quilt like this will impress everyone, but particularly anyone who recognizes how the intricate pattern came about.

Enter Doormat

What do you do at someone's doorstep? Enter! This doormat says just that, but it looks like a huge computer key. Another available doormat resembles the "home" key.

Icon Pillows

If you're going to have throw pillows around, make them conversation starters, like pillows in the shape of familiar computer button icons, such as RSS, Mac OSX, subscribe, iTunes, and even chat balloons.

Social Networking Pillows

Display your loyalty to your favorite social networking site with a throw pillow your friends will recognize -or if you have no loyalty, use them all! Etsy seller Craftsquatch makes them in Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and other flavors, including a generic email pillow.

Mini Disc Pillows

Your geeky life isn't restricted to the internet, however. This pillow comes in the form of a floppy disc, which you might find fun to explain to younger visitors.

Elemental Refrigerator Magnets

Teach your kids about the periodic table as you hang their artwork on the refrigerator, or just show off with the Periodic Table Magnet Set. Use as a complete table, or detach individual magnets as you please.

Temperature Sensitive Tiles

Line your bathroom with tiles that react to heat like a mood ring! These temperature sensitive glass tiles go wild in a hot shower or when washing dishes. They even make awesome floor tiles that respond to bare feet.

See also: Video Game Furnishings for Your Home.