Geek Dads Will Love These Gifts

Father’s Day Gifts For Geeky Dads

The Star Wars BB-8 Droid USB Charger ($29.95) features two charging ports, each capable of delivering 2.1 amps. That’s enough juice to charge two tablets simultaneously! It is shaped to fit a standard car cupholder, and plugs into your car’s 12v power adapter (formerly known as a “cigarette lighter socket.”) An officially licensed Star Wars product, the BB-8 Droid Charger is manufactured by ThinkGeek.com and available exclusively through that site.

We have a ThinkGeek store in the local mall, and they also sell the miniature (4.5-inch) BB-8 Droid ($149.95), which I think is really cool. You can guide this rolling robot with an app on your smartphone or tablet. The BB-8 will also respond to your voice commands, and can record or send holographic videos. BB-8 has an adaptive personality, which means it learns as you interact with it. Your dog may become jealous for lack of attention.

Also from ThinkGeek: The Bag of Holding might be mistaken for Hermione Grainger’s mysterious bag that was bigger on the inside than on the outside. Constructed of sturdy canvas, brass zippers, and pop-rivets, The Bag of Holding is big enough to take a 17-inch laptop in its foam-cushioned main compartment (16" x 13.5" x 1.5"). The unpadded second compartment measures 16" x 13.5" x 3". A third compartment spans 13" x 10" x 1". The velcro-closure compartment is 12" x 7" x 1". A front zippered pocket measures 13” x 5” and the rear document compartment is 16” x 10”. It comes in grey only and costs $39.95.

The iPhone’s camera is awesome, but it can be greatly improved by an Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens System. This clip-on lens system features Fisheye, Wide-Angle, Macro 10x & 15x lenses that snap into place instantly. The precision coated glass optics are crystal clear and laser sharp in their focus. Unfortunately, this $80 geek toy is available only for iPhones, but they do have a variety of other snap-on lenses that fit the iPad, iPod Touch, and Samsung Galaxy S4/S5 devices.

The Blue Screen Of Death T-shirt ($19.95 on Amazon) faithfully reproduces the colors, font, and sentences of the famous BSOD found on every Windows computer ever booted. It will take a bit of panache to wear this gag nonchalantly; but your Dad can do it.

Sticking With a Theme...

The Grip Strip, formerly known as the Grippy Pad, is an elegantly simple and highly effective way to stick nearly any kind of device to any hard, reasonably smooth surface, Made from super-sticky polymer, the Grip Strip clings like a gecko to walls, woodwork, ceilings, dashboards and more places than you may think. It grips plastic or metal device shells with equal tenacity. Three Grip Strips in black, red, or a combination of colors will cost you $26.19. I've had something like this on my car's dashboard for years.

And here's one for Dads who like to keep their gadgets sparkling. Cyber Clean ($8.81 on Amazon) is a high tech cleaning compound that looks like green goop. Just press it into your keyboard, remote control, phone, ring, watch, or wherever dust, crumbs or grime gathers. It will pull out the dirt and leave a fresh lime scent. It can even be used to clean the icky insides of a brief case or back pack. Cyber Clean can be reused, and changes color as it reaches its maximum absorption capability.

The Retro Flip-Down Clock is really old-school. ($35.89 at Amazon) The stripped-down minimalist chassis lets you see the slowly turning gears and watch the mechanism that releases the top leaf of each numeral, allowing it to fall and reveal the next one. Somehow, accurate time is always shown. ‘Tis a geeky mystery.

Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. If you have any geek-dad gift ideas, post your comment below...