holiday gift ideas

A few suggestions for holiday gifts, or library upgrades, in the topic of birds. Thinking About Birds Thinking Some very interesting books came out this year that investigate bird brains. Bird Brain: An Exploration of Avian Intelligence by Nathan Emery is the best current book on animal intelligence, and one of the best bird books you'll be able to lay your hands on right now. My review of the book is here. What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon Young is an exploration of nature via the senses (mainly visual and auditory) of birds, and of the…
Here is my selection of the top science books from 2016, excluding those mainly for kids. Also, I don't include climate change related books here either. (These will both be covered in separate posts.) The number of books on this list is not large, and I think this was not the most prolific year ever for top science books. But, the ones on the list are great! For brevity, I'm mostly using the publisher's info below. Where I've reviewed the book, there is a link to that review. Click through to the reviews if you want to read my commentary, but in most cases, you can judge these books by…
Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set [larger view]. Do you know someone who loves chess, art and parrots? If so, you might wish to start saving your money now for a Christmas gift that they would probably love: an Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set. This environmentally-friendly hand-made Chess Set was created by Grant Dawson Collections in the United States from certified sustainable North American hardwoods (walnut and maple) and food safe natural finishes, with recycled glass ball feet, and features 32 lead-free pewter playing pieces finished in 24k gold or sterling silver…
tags: wifi detector shirt, geek wear, gift ideas, holiday gifts What is this? It is a shirt that detects the presence of wifi signals where ever you happen to be, and shows the strength of those signals on an animated emblem on the front of it, as you see here. Not only can you see whether wifi is available where ever you might be located, but everyone else who is nearby can also see it. The only sad thing about this is that it doesn't show whether the wifi signals are secured or free, but otherwise, this is the ultimate geek shirt!