Five Geeky Ways to Spend Your New Year's Eve

If you're like me, chances are you have things you would rather be doing than watching second-rate pop acts perform between Cathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper bantering back and forth with each other, and listening to people from someplace you don't care about talk about how excited they are to be celebrating he arrival of 2011. In case you know you don't want to be doing that, but also have no idea what to do instead, here are a few ideas.

For the Gamers

What better way is there to ring in the new year than with the sound of headshots? Host a LAN party, and bring your friends together around your shared love for killing digitally rendered avatars of one another. Of course, if you prefer Azeroth to assault rifles, New Year's Eve is a perfect time to run a raid. If you take down the Big Bad at the stroke of midnight, even better.

For Sci-Fi Fans

If sci-fi's your thing, a marathon watching session of good (or bad) sci-fi TV and/or movies could be just the ticket. Standard watching fare includes The Lord of The Rings trilogy (extended editions, of course), Firefly (along with Serenity, if you feel so inclined), Star Wars (which trilogy depends on whether you want to see good movies or bad movies), and Star Trek (again, totally dependent upon whether you want good material or bad). Bonus points for scheduling onscreen events in time with the strike of midnight.

For the Shutterbug

For my fellow photography nerds: Take a camera out to your nearby New Year's celebration, and take some pictures. Here's a tip: read a tutorial on shooting fireworks before you go. Of course, if you are less inclined or unable to leave your house, you can always peruse Flickr to see what other people have been shooting.

For the Science-Inclined folks

It's a time of year when people practically expect other people to set off fireworks. So, if you enjoy blowing stuff up and setting stuff on fire, here's a great chance. Just remember: Be safe, and follow all the laws of your particular jurisdiction.

A DIY New Year

For the hardware hackers out there: get excited and make something. Perhaps a TV-B-Gone would be appropriate, just so that you can spare people the pain of having to watch Snooki get dropped in a ball to ring in 2011. (Note: people may not be appreciative of the service you provide them in this regard. GeekTech is not responsible for any injuries sustained due to the actions of angry friends and/or relatives .)

So there you have it: five ways to get your geek on this New Year's. Have fun, and be safe.

[Photo: *Sally M* on Flickr; used under Creative Commons]

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White Jigsaw is a very minimalistic puzzle -- Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metrodome is a metronome for Google Chrome originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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