Xmas gift for teenager with programming interest?
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My wife's nephew (my...nephew-in-law?) is 13 and shows a lot of interest in programming and likes to make simple text based games, etc. Mostly Javascript. Does anyone have good suggestions for a gift that could help foster that interest? He is really bright and mathematically inclined. When he was ~6 years old, I was witness to him honestly winning a game of Texas Hold 'Em against 5 adults.
I was thinking an Arduino starter kit perhaps? Maybe some good books about programming catered to people of his age and aptitude level? Anything obvious that I am missing?
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Arduino or Raspberry Pi kit.
A copy of Dwarf Fortress?
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Some adverts along those lines that have come to my inbox recently:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/en-US/promo/12DC15/12C507
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Thanks for that. Lots of good possibilities there. I especially like the make your own arcade kit.
http://www.makershed.com/products/haynes-retro-arcade-kit
Not really programming, but something I think he would like.
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Lego Mindstorm.
That's what I wanted to have as a kid.
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Set him up with a good dev environment:
- Nice sized dual monitors
- A good keyboard
- Spend some time with him to set up an IDE, compiler and dev environment in the language of his choice
- Write a Hello World program with him-- or one of those number guessing games (computer picks between 1-100, get input, respond with TOO HIGH, TOO LOW or YOU WIN)
Then he'll be set up to develop without having to spend days on Stack Underwear looking for "how do I setup ID" with a thousand unhelpful responses of "USE DIFFERENT LANGUAGE NEWFAG LOL"
That initial boost is probably worth more than any trinket or book you can find.
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@Lorne_Kates said:
Set him up with a good dev environment:
Nice sized dual monitors
A good keyboardI was not looking to spend $3,000...
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I'm sure you could find a dev setup that costs 3001, 3002, etc.
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@Lorne_Kates said:
Spend some time with him to set up an IDE, compiler and dev environment in the language of his choice
Write a Hello World program with him-- or one of those number guessing games (computer picks between 1-100, get input, respond with TOO HIGH, TOO LOW or YOU WIN)On the other hand, I have already done these things with him. I am looking more for things that might help further that along for the times I cannot be around. His parents have no interest in such things, but think it is great he is showing aptitude so they are supportive, but it may as well be magic to them.
I was thinking Arduino because it is programming related, but you can see tangible results. You can see how things react, how your logic works in real world scenarios, etc.
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I was not looking to spend $3,000...
Welcome to the future, Timepod Traveler. We have all the wonders of FLAT SCREEN MONITORS, at affordable for all!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824146211
$75 refurb is the cheapest 22" Newegg has. Even one of them, in conjunction with whatever monitor he's currently using, will be a gosh-send. Proof: Unplug one of your work monitors. Now try to code.
A keyboard is sub-$20. Here's a version down from the one I use at work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0SX1JM2517&cm_re=microsoft_comfort_keyboard--23-109-245--Product
As long as it has keys meant to be typed on a lot (none of this chicklet bullshit), a distinct numpad, a wrist-rest, easy to find home row, and a few shortcut keys, it's a good programming keyboard.
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A girlfriend.
And before you say that you can't give him that, I tell you: you're not imaginative enough. I'm sure an adult fellow like you can attract some 13 yo teenager to your home and place her in a box. In pieces or not, that's your choice though.
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He has a laptop that he uses. I will gladly give him one of the 23" monitors we have laying around. I have probably 20+ of them on shelves.
I get what you are saying, and you are not wrong, but I think the effort and money would be better spent on something that shows tangible results. Something he can play around with and do things that make him exclaim "Cool! What else can I do?"
If we start out each kid on programming by pointing out that they need to start with an ergonomically correct work environment, multiple monitors, a proper keyboard, blah, blah, blah, they are going to be bored to tears before they get started. That is boring shit. You are not wrong, you are just boring. We need to start by fostering those moments of amazement and wonder that get them to wonder how shit works. Not by boring them with ergonomics and productivity enhancers.
On the subject of amazement and wonder:
Seems like a good option. Plenty of stuff he can do, plus I have other shit from my electronics bench that I can throw in with the gift to allow him to explore more stuff.
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Are you sure you want to curse him with our ways?
I would get him a raspberry pi 2 but get him a book too for projects. Maybe encourage him towards mame and openelec and a torrent box too. They would be more sociable for him.
Really! Don't stunt him like us. I only learned women existed in my late teens!
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And before you say that you can't give him that, I tell you: you're not imaginative enough. I'm sure an adult fellow like you can attract some 13 yo teenager to your home and place her in a box. In pieces or not, that's your choice though.
Filed under:
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I only learned women existed in my late teens!
This is why we need more women in STEM ;)
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Are you sure you want to curse him with our ways?
I would get him a raspberry pi 2 but get him a book too for projects. Maybe encourage him towards mame and openelec and a torrent box too. They would be more sociable for him.
Really! Don't stunt him like us. I only learned women existed in my late teens!
His school used to have a programming group that met twice a week after school. Social programming at work. Then they cancelled it because raisins.
He actually is not that socially awkward. He is one of the stars of the school tennis team and recently got invited to some invitational event in NYC for that. He also has had girlfriends, and really cute ones. He is at that age where shyness is seen as cute by the girls, so that works for him.
Mame is a good idea, but possibly for down the road. I would gladly tackle such a project with him. I have an entire cabinet shop in my garage, we could build a hell of an arcade cabinet.
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Won't help much if they learn men exist only in their late teens, too!
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A gift card for a VPS/web hosting of some sort.
So he can run his code in teh cloud. Make a bot to spam his favorite forum. That sort of stuff.
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Yeah, digital ocean is like 5$ per month. Plenty fast to run a web app. Just make sure to help him with the user authentication stuff, so he doesn't get pwned.
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Let's crawl before we walk.
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Not much of a gift because it's free, but if he has a Xbox One or Windows 8.1+ PC, hook him up with Project Spark from Microsoft.
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Good idea. Thanks. I had not thought of that.
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Arduino or Raspberry Pi kit.
Some adverts along those lines that have come to my inbox recently:
Thanks for that. Lots of good possibilities there. I especially like the make your own arcade kit.
Lego Mindstorm.
I would get him a raspberry pi 2 but get him a book too for projects.
All of that shit is more "robotics" than "programming." Not saying they're bad gifts, but that's not what the OP asked for.
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All of that shit is more "robotics" than "programming." Not saying they're bad gifts, but that's not what the OP asked for.
sigh
They all fit the bill.
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Well ok but it's not what you asked for, that's what I'm sayin'.
For all I know he loves making JavaScript games, but completely hates doing anything with his hands or even touching a power tool.
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A gift card for a VPS/web hosting of some sort.
Amazon has a free tier. You can now run one meagerly specced Windows or Linux server 24/7 for a year for free.
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I was not looking to spend $3,000...
keyboards are not that expensive....
;-)
in all seriouslness, an arduino project kit or a raspi kit is a fantastic idea.
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Well ok but it's not what you asked for, that's what I'm sayin'.
I am not going to argue with you. As conversations progress, qualifiers are typically modified. That is how humans work. Deal with it.
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in all seriouslness, an arduino project kit or a raspi kit is a fantastic idea.
No it's not. @blakeyrat said so.
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No it's not. @blakeyrat said so.
ah.
well then... allow me to correct myself
An arduno (wink wink) "project" "kit" or raspi (nudge nudge) "project" "kit" is a fantastic "idea"
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My wife's nephew (my...nephew-in-law?) is 13 and shows a lot of interest in programming and likes to make simple text based games, etc. Mostly Javascript. Does anyone have good suggestions for a gift that could help foster that interest? He is really bright and mathematically inclined. When he was ~6 years old, I was witness to him honestly winning a game of Texas Hold 'Em against 5 adults.
I was thinking an Arduino starter kit perhaps? Maybe some good books about programming catered to people of his age and aptitude level? Anything obvious that I am missing?
Buy him a domain and a hosting account that he can play with that includes database, etc. Pay for at least a year or more for it. That was the thing I struggled with when I started. I didn't have the resources to try it out for REAL. Couldn't learn as much as I wanted until I could do that. Of course, that was back in the 1990's, when that stuff was much more expensive, and harder to come by for a teen.
God I'm getting old
Get off my lawn! =_=/*
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I wanted something similar for my son and was torn between the Kano and the Edison. He's 7, though, so I picked the Edison as it seemed more fitting for him.
Both of them might be a bit simplistic for your needs.
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I'll just leave this here
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I was thinking an Arduino starter kit perhaps?
Yes. Arduinos are really fun to play around with.
Also, you could save some money by getting a Yourduino RoboRED instead of an actual Arduino. Dunno if it'll arrive in time though.
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Yeah. I have several of my own. Sounds like a winner since no one else has come up with any better options. Well, except @Yamikuronue came up with a few that could be add-ons to the gift.
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I can't find Yami's post (
) but an ethernet adapter and a screen or LED matrix (NeoPixels are really nice) would probably be good addons. Perhaps a couple motors or continuous rotation servos and other stuff to make an arduinomobile. Maybe even a bluetooth adapter to make it phone-controlled.
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Am I the only person to whom none of that makes a fucking bit of sense?
child who is told to "pull their socks up" actually bending down to do so
Never heard that figure of speech.
"pull your finger out"
Never heard it.
Last night, we had strawberries and cream for dessert. When I was cleaning up after the meal, my wife pointed to the strawberries saying that since they are greens they should go in the green bin. "oh.. but they're red", I said, with a wry grin. My wife proceeded to give me a reason why they are considered green, then realized that I was joking.
The trial period for scouts is almost over and I asked my son if he was ready to become a Joey. He said yes but that he wouldn't become a real joey. [for the non-Australian - A joey is like a small kangaroo]
I'm well aware that a joey is
like a smalla young kangaroo. Still,.Makes no damn sense. None of it, not a damn bit of sense. WTF.
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child who is told to "pull their socks up" actually bending down to do so
and"pull your finger out"
Are pretty common expressions in the UK. I have had both of them aimed at me over the years and judging by the spelling on the blog, they are fellow Brits. I'm guessing you aren't from the UK at all if you haven't heard them before?
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Okay, how about strawberries being green and joey having a double meaning that isn't a baby kangaroo, which is the meaning everyone knew already anyway so explaining that was pointless.
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A Boe Bot? https://www.parallax.com/product/28832
Planning to eventually get one for one of my cousins (and, well, his father), but he's a bit too young for it (the cousin, not the father). The webpage says 13+ years of age.
We got to play with this, or perhaps one of the predecessors, at university. Was lots of fun even then. It's possible to combine it with slightly more powerful microcontrollers, IIRC the one that's included is somewhat limited.
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I think the point being that one of the people in the conversation there has aspergers, and doesn't always understand things in the same way as everybody else.
strawberries being green
This is probably a reference to green waste bins some councils have for recycling. Ours does Paper, plastic/tins, glass and green/food waste.
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@Lorne_Kates said:
A keyboard is sub-$20. Here's a version down from the one I use at work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0SX1JM2517&cm_re=microsoft_comfort_keyboard--23-109-245--Product
No wonder you're a cranky-ass grouch, you use a piece of shit keyboard. Get something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4M53N24298&cm_re=cm_storm_quickfire--0GA-004C-00052--Product
or one with a numpad if you're an accounting weenie.
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@anotherusername said:
strawberries being green
Que?
greens, meaning a fruit/vegetable.
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joey having a double meaning that isn't a baby kangaroo
From the context, it sounds like it's a junior level of Scouts. I knew it as Cubs when I was young but it might be a different level.
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@Polygeekery said:
(my...nephew
-in-law?)No.
It gives conflicting information. I've always just called them nieces / nephews, but your link also shows this:
Nephew-in-law – son of one's sister-in-law/brother-in-law; husband of one's niece.
The first one there sounds like it fits the bill.
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I've never heard "greens" mean a fruit/vegetable. When used in the vegetable sense, it always meant a green leafy vegetable.
Amazon.com
Taking things Literally
