The Month Formerly Known As December

To help your holiday shopping, I thought it would be nice to put together a list of odd recommendations of gifts for friends and family. Remember to stay away from predictable gifts. A homemade painting and frame (done well, of course) can be a much better gift than a boring fruit basket.

And now as we move further into the shopping frenzy formerly known as December, I offer these gift ideas:

• DiscBlaze 2.1 from Radical Breeze. A $19 application that has all of the major functionality (and none of the bloat) of Roxio Toast.
• Plunger Measuring Cup - Laugh if you want, but this measuring cup is the most practical and useful one I've used.
  
• Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman. I'm embarrased that it took me so long to pick up this book, but I have it now and I'm glad I do. It's more than just fine bathroom literature. Zeldman attacks the history and future of web standards head on. A perfect gift for your relative who still designs websites in FrontPage. Or, then again, maybe not.
  
• Peet's Coffee Tour - Peet's coffee makes Starbucks look like a red-headed stepchild. Too bad the closest store is several hundred miles away from my home (but there's always mail order). No matter, a great gift for the discerning coffee drinker is a pound of freshly (and I mean fresh) roasted beans. I suggest the Major Dickason Blend.
  
• Random Stuff From Your Amazon Gold Box - Fire up the browser and order some random household appliance from your Amazon Gold Box. Your friends and family will thank you!
  
• Use one of the many online printing services and have one your favorite digital photographs printed and framed.
  

What other things are good non-generic gift ideas?

Article Author: Ryan Irelan

Visit Ryan Irelan's author page — Ryan Irelan's Blog