On the off chance there are a few Dethroner readers who don’t also read MAKE, don’t miss their great “Open Source Gift Guide,” suggesting a wide variety of DIY projects and homebrew electronics kits that would make fine presents for any tinkering dude. Of course, there are several projects that go beyond the newbie level—I’m looking at you, two-thousand dollar Leaf robot project—but most of the MAKE-branded projects are of modest price and mental prerequisite. It’s pricey, but the $200 Elby Designs AVR Synth Kit [pictured] is on my Xmas list this year. So many delicious knobs!

I’d like to add one suggestion to their otherwise very complete list: Any number of the entry-level BEAM kits from Solarbotics, your friendly, Canadian-neighborhood robotics store.

The Open Source Gift Guide [MakeZine]