Top Members Secret Santa - Unwrapped

I don't know if everyone's aware, but there's a private section of the element14 Community for the Top Members, who are brought in by invite (as decided upon by the existing Top Members and the element14 team), where they discuss matters around the direction of the Community, where they help out with beta testing Community updates, and even test out new products, RoadTests & Reviews-style. But mostly they just go waaaaaay off-topic and descend into rants and raves about which Minion avatar is the strangest, or who has the biggest... soldering iron.

Anyway, in December the Top Members all gathered together around the eggnog tree to exchange techno-gifts, which we (The Management) facilitated to some degree by way of distribution. Now, I know the Christmas season won't get into full swing again until late August, but their Secret Santa gifts are now arriving upon their workshop doorsteps.

So I'd like to invite those Top Members to give us all a big unveiling of what they got, who their Secret Santa was and why they chose the gifts they did, and for the whole Community to join in with a few ideas on what these insane elite engineering eccentrics ("improved" meaning for IEEE?) can do with their hot tech gifts.

Merry Christmas!

Hmm? Oh, to become a Top Member is simple, but not easy. All you have to do is make a fantastic contribution to the element14 Community by way of great projects, insightful blogs, helpful suggestions (in Feedback and Support particularly) and generally spending all your free time on here enjoying yourself Trust me, these guys see everything that happens, so your efforts aren't going unnoticed Keep it up, and you'll be a Top Member in time for this year's Secret Santa!

spannerspencer over 9 years ago in reply to mcb1

That'll be useful as a Christmas outfit too.
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mcb1 over 9 years ago in reply to spannerspencer

I can be pretty careless when it comes to anti-static efforts
keep wearing your steampunk outfit and drag a chain around behind you ...
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spannerspencer over 9 years ago in reply to COMPACT

I was talking to John about this very subject, in fact -- I have to admit I can be pretty careless when it comes to anti-static efforts! Seeing the stuff you got John inspired me to make a better effort, though
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shabaz over 9 years ago in reply to spannerspencer

I still have to do an unboxing (one part is still to be shipped as I understand) but will take a video of it regardless this week!
I was secret santa for Enrico, so I wanted to choose a blend of mechanical and electronic, perhaps useful for art or robotics projects.
Hence the motors and a bunch of diverse sensors (I tried to pick what I hope were interesting ones, including some that could be attached to motors/mechanics too).
And the microcontroller boards as suitable controllers for any such project!
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COMPACT over 9 years ago

Except Spanner - who is a conductor that does not induce electrostatic charge.
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COMPACT over 9 years ago

For those who don't know.
TRIBOELECTRIC - The Static Electricity created from the friction of e14 Top Members tribe rubbing their heads with each other and then pulling them apart.
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mcb1 over 9 years ago in reply to spannerspencer

Is it just me or do we not know who our Secret Santa was ??

I do know who spannerspencer suggested I should buy a gift for.

I had the pleasure of sending something to an Australian fella by the name of COMPACT

My first thought was one of these
However he might have claimed citizenship ...so the next best idea was some tools that we've discussed before and found very useful.
He also hinted that he really liked the STM32 F7 Discovery so it was a lot easier.

Cheers and once again thanks to element14 for facilitating making it easier for us.

Mark
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COMPACT over 9 years ago

Spanner - Your bolded sentence doesn't make any sense to me.

I was the S.S for John Alexander and chose something that everyone with an electronics work area needs - An Electrostatic Dissipative Bench Mat with accessories.
ESD is often ignored and is the cause of many supposedly unexplainable problems and unreliability with electronic equipment over time.
It horrifies me to see persons handling RAM DIMMS, CPUS and any electric/electronic equipment without the proper precautions (and then blame the equipment for being faulty).
I would never rely upon the inbuilt protection diodes to perform a job that you can do yourself.

ESD damage can be like shooting a shotgun at a car. The car might work "for now" until the damage caused by the shotgun takes hold like a leaking oil sump or fuel line.
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ipv1 over 9 years ago in reply to spannerspencer

Cool. So I was given the opportunity to chose for DAB and the STM32 DISCO board was selected because I've seen his profile with so many review and work on microcontroller boards, that I though that he would like an updated STM32 board with necessary peripherals for basic to advanced projects. I also saw that he had a weller station that we review so I though hey why not give him some solder and the tips were spannerspencer 's idea.
Hope it was something useful.
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spannerspencer over 9 years ago

So, now most gifts have arrived, how about a sound off?

Tell us who your Secret Santa was, and why you chose their gifts for them!
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