We have another gift idea, in fact if the wife is reading this maybe I’ll be lucky enough to receive it!

A few weeks ago on Nov 4 2008, The Wild Wild West TV Series on DVD was released as a complete series in a single package and Amazon has it on sale for $90. That’s all four seasons on 27 disks / 104 episodes, including the 2 television movies with original cast that aired in 1979 and 1980.

The Wild Wild West TV series aired on CBS from 1965-69. If you’re not familiar with it, it can be described as “James Bond on horseback”. The show incorporated classic Western elements with an espionage thriller, as well as science fiction/alternate history ideas and plenty of comedy.

James West and Artemus Gordon are two agents of President Grant who take their splendidly appointed private train through the west to fight evil. Half science fiction and half western, Artemus designs a series of interesting gadgets for James that would make Inspector Gadget proud. A light hearted adventure series that is still a fan favorite today.

     Interaction Eve, talk to her, watch her light up with expressive features, and works best when communicating with Interaction Wall-E (sold separately). Eve is available on Amazon for US$30, and her interactive companion Wall-E is US$45. 

The first wall climbing car. This gravity defying Super Climber Remote Control Mini Car climbs wall, for real. It drives anywhere - Floors, Walls or Upside Down! This RC car comes with working headlights and tail lights, and an infrared remote controller which allows the car to move forward, reverse, left and right. It’s only US9 .

The Book of Games Volume 2: The Ultimate Reference on PC & Video Games (Book of Games series)6 this is a good value .

It’s 448 pages of game geek reference, at US$16 this is a good value if you’re tightening the belt this Christmas.

This second volume is a compendium of video game synopses as well as a feast for the eyes with literally thousands of vivid, high-resolution screen shots; it provides a comprehensive visual tour through the world of PC and video gaming. Sorted by genre, more than 100 of the latest, most exciting software titles are reviewed with information of interest to players, parents, and industry professionals.

Andrea from Gizmodo clued me into a new post on their site this morning while I was at work. I set it aside figuring I’ll check it out in the evening and blog it. By the time I get to it at the end of the day digg has already done its thing and made it quite popular, so once again I’m late to the party

Gizmodo posted a list of 50 life skills every geek must have. Examples:

5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable

18. Fix your parents’ computer over the phone without looking at a computer

48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system

Go read and rate yourself, report back here on how you fared. What’s missing from the list? I propose we add the following :

1. Roll up a pen and paper RPG character in under 3 minutes

2. Coded at least one program as a teenager

3. Teach black hole theory to your science challenged spouse

Cellphones.org is a geeky site. They’ve recently assembled the top 25 geek blogs using data from GOOG’s pagerank, Alexa traffic and Technorati authority.

I’m pleased to see that Geeknews.net is 12th on the list.

One thing I like about this list is that it’s introduced me to a couple of sites I didn’t know about.

This map of the 2008 electoral vote above is old and busted, the new hotness are these cartograms that provide more detail in how the USA voted.

This explanation of the cartograms by Mark Newman is well worth a read. The software he uses to render the maps is also available here for free. Lastly, check out his book: The Atlas of the Real World.