Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wishlist

Gifts of an "Adult" Nature

Diagonalize — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:40:26 -0800

What kind of stuff does a 20-something "grown-up" not know he needs/wants? No surprise, my boyfriend's birthday is coming up. He's turning 27, and his parents have been needling him to add things to his wishlist. Gifts are a big deal in his family, and the Amazon wishlist has been a crucial part of that for years. In the past, his list was populated almost exclusively by video games and the occasional movie, but lately, he's been trying to move towards a more grown-up selection. Well, that's super, but when he sits down to try to add "grown-up" stuff to his wishlist, he gets this panicked, "deer in the headlights" expression. I know there are plenty of things he likes/wants, but he has no idea where to start.

Him: scruffy, quiet, socially-capable, 27-ish, physicist

Likes: adventure/RPG video games, reading political and science blogs, puzzles (a la MIT Mystery Hunt), food (eating, not cooking), and Philip Seymour Hoffman films

Dislikes: mushrooms, Will Ferrell movies

Mostly clueless about: fashion, cars, power tools, professional sports, fine wine/booze, and any music other than classical or showtunes

Clearly, he's not a guy's guy, and I've had little luck finding a "manly, but not too manly" guide that wasn't just all gadgets. We'd love to point his family in the right direction, but with the lone exception of an iPhone, his wishlist looks about the same as when he was 14 (video games and Star Trek). He doesn't want to be viewed as the eternal teenager, so what do you want/need when you're "all growed up"?

What's the coolest thing you've gotten in the last half-year?

davebug — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:02:53 -0800

I'm looking to update my birthday wishlist and need some specific inspiration from a broad spectrum of people-types. What's the coolest thing you have bought or been given in the last 6 months that cost between $10 and $200?

Pimp my house: Let's renovate my house to Awesomenessosity!

unixrat — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:55:15 -0800

Pimp My House: We bought a house, but we're not moving into it for another month. It's currently empty. What cool projects should I undertake before we move in? Right, so I'm going to be retopping the driveway, fixing the garage floor, shampooing all the carpets, tearing down some wallpaper, and remodeling one bedroom. These are all necessary, but dull things to do.

What sort of things would you do to your house if it were empty? All suggestions open from practical ("Installing that shower head that pours water straight down") to wildly impractical ("recessed disco-balls in every room!") wanted.

House is in Minnesota, so some climate-base consideration are necessary. We've been saving for some time for this, so we have a fairly large budget. Tiered gardens? X10? Escalators instead of stairs? Trash compactor? Permanent soap dispensers? Robot maid?

I want to track books I've read and books I want to read.

CwgrlUp — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:58:06 -0800

Where can I keep track, online, of my current list of books read/owned and books I want to read? I'm a sci-fi/fantasy reader and I run into problems remembering where I am at in a series, especially since I use the public library whenever possible. But they usually only have the first couple books of a series and I end up needing to track down the rest. So I end up with handfuls of post-its with names of books I want to read all over the house.

I've googled my face off, on AskMe and google itself but I can't seem to find a good site for this. I would prefer something free and online. I want to keep track of books I've read/own and a list of books I want to read. Together if possible.

Save me, avid readers of MeFi! I'll be forever grateful.

[forex filter] Who knows how many euros one dollar will buy next summer? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller??

deejay jaydee — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:36:08 -0800

What do currency speculators think the euro-dollar exchange rate will be in June 2008? Are there online sources that currency speculators use to project or predict exchange futures? Can non-traders see these sources? Am I asking for something that just doesn't exist??? I've seen at least a couple of folks here on the green express some expertise in foreign exchange and currency trading. And I'm not interested in engaging in such trades, but I do have a professional opportunity to travel to Europe next summer, and in order to put together the most iron-clad proposal for funding from my boss, I kind of need to know what currency traders *think* the dollar-euro exchange rate is likely to be in June 2008. (I work at a well-funded, but appropriately tight-fisted NFP.)

Now, I know that the actual, honest answer is "who in the f@ck knows?! (and now geddoff my lawn!!)" But at the same time, I can't believe that currency speculators simply guess at this stuff . . . they must base their predictions on some sort of data. (Mustn't they? Eek.) Is this data privately held? Does it result from ungodly derivatives and financial models only slightly less complex than your average Rube Goldberg machine? Or is there some sort of secret website run by the Trilateral Commission? (Who, of course, must preordain these sorts of things [responsibly, of course]. Oh, and btw, if there is such a TLC site, can you send me an invite via MeFi Mail? We'll be BFF! I promise!!!)

But to return to the serious side of my question, I found lots of discussion on how to make/lose a ton of money in forex by searching the green (and the internets) . . . but I didn't see anybody talking about sources for the data that trader and speculators base their assumptions or predictions on. Can a simple, honest, international traveler get a bead on where the euro is likely to be in June 2008?

I'm sure this is one of these impossible questions . . . but it can't be most stupidly impossible question asked here today . . . can it?? I mean, I know if there were an ironclad site for this stuff, then everybody in the world would be using it and making jillions of dollars trading currencies. And I also know that YANMFA, and that MMWV, and all of the other acronyms that we use here in lieu of "watch your six." But at the same time, is it really the case that currency speculators base all of their models simply by following financial headlines? There isn't some sort of predictive market for this field? One that I can peek at??

Bonus points for anyone who can explain currency futures to a total financial numbskull (like myself).

The perfect iPhone headset?

logovisual — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:50:13 -0800

Does the perfect iPhone headset exist yet? Has it been announced? Specific definition of "perfect" inside the thread. Obviously this is a "Waaah, I want everything to be just right" post, so be prepared to play along. Sometimes I feel guilty putting this much effort into the search for what is essentially a frivolous luxury product, but whatevs.

I use Shure e2c earbuds, and my pair were going on the fritz and near death. I'm completely spoiled for their sound quality, though, so since this pair was already about to conk out, I sliced the plastic around the jack off so that they'll plug into the stupid, stupid recessed headphone port. Problem solved, for the three further weeks they lasted before dying. (I find the Shures wear out after a little over a year of use, but I can deal with that, since I use them hard -- I wear them to the gym, running, outdoors in NYC winters, etc. -- not the kinds of things that carefully engineered earbuds are expected to live through.)

So. Time to replace them. But in a perfect world, I wouldn't give up the iPhone headset's microphone and music/call controls in order to get dramatically improved sound. Shure makes headsets for the Treo, but they haven't released an iPhone version that I know about -- just an adapter, which doubles the length of the headphone cord and is therefore not even close to acceptable for my purposes. The V-Moda duo hypes its iPhone compatibility, but it doesn't have call-answering functions. Has any manufacturer of high-quality in-ear headphones (it's the in-ear that's key, I can't stand the amount of sound that leaks in around Apple's buds) announced a full-featured iPhone headset yet? Is there even (gasp) one already for sale somewhere? I'm willing to pay around $150 for this, since Shure e2cs alone cost a little under a hundred.

Sexy Web Based Wishlist Services

JPowers — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:24:23 -0800

I'm looking for a slick, web 2.0-esque, well designed wishlist site. The best I've found so far is MetaWishlist, which I'm not all that impressed with.

My chief concern is design. I want a sexy looking site.

Also, I want a site designed speically for wishlists. Not a work-around like using Ta-Da List or Delicious.

(Oh, and as much of a greasy fan boy I am for Google, the Froogle wishlist is fugly.)

How can I create a personalized honeymoon gift registry?

bjennings — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 10:16:21 -0800

I'd like to set up a honeymoon registry (aka vacation wishlist) for my 07/07/07 wedding, but none of the online ones that I've seen are to my taste. Is there any easy way to create my own, perhaps with a tool similar to DropCash? My fiancé and I would like to ask our guests, if they feel like getting us gifts, to help us attend our honeymoon to Spain and Italy.

I found a format that I like: the gifts are actually descriptions of things that the couple would like to do on the trip. This allows guests to sponsor specific aspects of the trip, even down to subsidizing the airfare. Unfortunately, the sites I've seen have all been travel agencies which require you to book travel through them. We'll be booking our own travel.

DropCash allows you to create a campaign and receive donations via Paypal. I'd love to create something similar that is simple and personalized. I'd need the ability to receive and track payments. I'd also need to be able to display a list of gifts requested, gift prices, the number requested, and the number received.

If there's a great website that already does this, I'd love to hear about it.

web-based want lists

kenko — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 14:24:35 -0800

What web-based services for tracking want lists (or really arbitrary lists of things, though I'd probably use it most for books and bands) are there? I don't want something tied to a particular vendor. Simplicity and ease of use are paramount.

I'm considering writing a metawishlist program.

hansbleep — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 11:10:11 -0800

I'm considering writing a metawishlist program that would allow you to save items, descriptions and price information from a bookmarklet and add metadata/tags ala del.icio.us to your items. I find that I have a lot of things I run across that I want, and so I have wishlists scattered from Amazon to ThinkGeek, and lots of other items on sites that don't have wishlist functionality that I lose track of... I think that a central repository would be cool, and the social aspect might have possibilities also. What do you guys think? What other features should something like this have to make it a good app?

Wishlist strategies

renyoj — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:06:11 -0800

Has anyone been following the American Express My Wishlist?I have tried to buy 4 items and still haven't otten any of them. Has anyone won something that can share strategies? That should be gotten.

Gift ideas for the holidays

dabitch — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 10:36:12 -0800

Holidays are coming. Gifts need to be bought, for friends, colleagues and family. Care to share good ideas in a long wishlist thread here? inspired by this metatalk To kick this one off; For a pal who likes to read I'm getting this neat box set of Maisonneuve mag. For my SO, I'm hunting desperatly for cool cufflinks - ideas? (web buying would be neat but not req.)
If I'm breaking any rules here, sorry. Am I? I really think this is a good idea, to share gift-ideas I mean.

Linking to Amazon Wishlists

Grod — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:33:12 -0800

Amazon question. I once read the Amazon Hacks book but I don't remember if it covers this one, or how to do it. I'd like to be able to link to specific items in my wishlist. I've found one trick but it relies on the item number. Since this number changes each time the wishlist is updated, any link made this way won't last long. SMI

Aggregated Wish Lists

nramsey — Tue, 18 May 2004 10:31:32 -0800

Is there a way to collect all your different site wishlists into one place OR into one list that you can then keep on your own site? Am I imagining the future or is this already out there? It seems like I've seen it before, but I can't for the life of me remember where.

Universal Wish Lists

stbalbach — Thu, 22 Jan 2004 08:28:53 -0800

What is the best Universal Wish List? I have found these 3, what do you recommend?