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AI:SS 2020 2020 has been an incredibly disruptive year for almost every single person around the globe. Money will certainly be tight for a lot of people but I’d like to try and find a way to continue the great AI Secret Santa tradition. Last year I felt participation was down on previous years, certainly some of that was due to it being my first year running the show and not being as organised as I’d like. I aim to be better organised and more active promoting AI:SS this year. How can we improve? --------------------------------------- At this point, I am soliciting ideas for how we can improve the format. I’m open to hearing any criticism or suggestions. - Would you like a list of approved tools/vouchers/t-shirts/stickers that people can nominate from as a preference for what to recieve? This may help to make shopping easier. Part of what has made AI:SS so great in the past is the creativity and generosity shown by the community, and I really don’t want to stifle that. - Would you like an AI:SS:2020 gang tag like the Chickencheese one under my avatar? - IF the forum has changed ownership, I’m happy to pay for avatar changes etc as enticements. - In order to make it easier to pick gifts that suit your santee, I am considering having a more comprehensive “template” for people to use, it might look like the following: slothrop My vehicles: 2002 Corolla Hatchback The tool I most commonly use/wish I had: A good pick/hook set Something small I would really like: your dick, exotic snacks Hobbies: bad jokes, cooking Shirt size: no more shirts thank you, I have enough Food Allergies: none Comments: Love things that are local to your area, food or snack/shot glasses/novelty teaspoons and postcards Again, I am very open to hearing ideas about how this “template” could be modified/added to to make life as easy as possible for everybody. Participation and Enticements ------------------------------------------------ Last year our participants were limited to Five Eyes nations, while this makes some sense given the demographics of the forum, I’d like to try and encourage Goons from other countries to get involved. We had a total of 32 participants in 2019, all but 5 were from North America. I'd like to get this number up over 50 and throw a few other countries into the mix. As a way to encourage more participation outside of North America, I am offering the following enticements: - The first six Australians to send me a confirmation of their gift being shipped to their santee will receive a high quality 700ml bottle of Single Malt Scotch, an ~AU$80 value per bottle. I am not loving around. - The first two New Zealanders to send me a confirmation of their present being shipped will receive a care package from Griffins. If anyone is able to help in other parts of the world with something along these lines, that would be wonderful. I'm happy to contribute some money to cover the cost of items & shipping, or if your work/a business you know is able donate goods that would be great. I’d also like to increase the total number of participants. As a way to encourage people to get involved, I’m happy to offer up a AU$5 donation per AI’er who participates. This will be given to a charity that can be decided by AI. If anyone is interested in contributing to this donation, please feel free to contact me at slothrop.ai@gmail.com with the subject line: Donation At this stage, I am going to suggest something mental health related. I have had some extensive struggles with mental health this year and I know there have been others in AI who have also. I’m very happy to entertain other ideas. I’d also like to solicit for donations of gift vouchers or other easily posted items to offer as prizes. I’d like to offer prizes for the following the first participant to send their shipping confirmation to me the best homemade gift the first person to post a quality walkthrough of their gift when it is recieved at least one to a random participant perhaps other categories? If anyone can help with vouchers etc please email to slothrop.ai@gmail.com with the subject line: Prizes I’m also looking for some expertise in gathering registrants info in a secure and useful manner. I am thinking of using google forms rather than trying to copy/paste out of 50 separate emails into a spreadsheet. Once I have the info in a spreadsheet I can fairly quickly and easily assign santas to santees. I know there are a lot of clever IT folks here, let me know if this is a terrible idea and what better options I might have. Sorry for the big wall of text! I’d just like to make this a great AI:SS and bring a little joy into the lives of the wonderful folks here in AI. Shipping is likely to be delayed this year due to COVID. I'd like to have the registration thread up in the last week of October and be able to email matches out in mid November to ensure eveboy has a Merry AI:XMAS. (USER WAS AUTOBANNED FOR THIS POST)
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Oct 5, 2020 05:19
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Note, If anyone but a mod/admin uses the attention tag, it autobans you. 
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Oct 5, 2020 05:31
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Elmnt80 posted:Note, If anyone but a mod/admin uses the attention tag, it autobans you. I am off to a great start!
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Oct 5, 2020 05:42
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I'm down for all of it. Not sure if a "best" award is gonna be easy, but maybe a "people's choice". Google forms is the way to go, so long as people don't abuse it. You might want to have a weed-out question like "Who is the AI mod" which can be used to sort out any would-be trouble makers. Let's get this party started! We could all use some holiday cheer, this year more than usual.
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Oct 5, 2020 12:48
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Considering possible shipping restrictions this year and the lack of participants outside last year's pool of countries, might I suggest participants have the option of sharing an Amazon shopping list or something similar? That way a Santa can just click a link and actually guarantee a present for their santee. It takes a lot of the fun out of the game, but it still ensures international participation as well as a possibly much needed gift for the santee.
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Oct 5, 2020 14:35
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gently caress it, you won me over (between that  haircut and this post). I'm back in this year after sitting out last year.I'd suggest modifying the template to include what countries, continents, planets, etc someone is willing to ship to. I also like Charlie's idea.
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Oct 5, 2020 16:12
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GnarlyCharlie4u posted:Considering possible shipping restrictions this year and the lack of participants outside last year's pool of countries, might I suggest participants have the option of sharing an Amazon shopping list or something similar? That way a Santa can just click a link and actually guarantee a present for their santee. It takes a lot of the fun out of the game, but it still ensures international participation as well as a possibly much needed gift for the santee. A hybrid option with this might be worth it. If at least one component is from a store in the santee's country then at least there's a guarantee they won't be going empty handed should the more "creative" component(s) get stuck in shipping purgatory. I also like the template slothrop.
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Oct 6, 2020 14:04
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McTinkerson posted:A hybrid option with this might be worth it. If at least one component is from a store in the santee's country then at least there's a guarantee they won't be going empty handed should the more "creative" component(s) get stuck in shipping purgatory. Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking. Just having it as an option to order from Amazon or wherever directly so avoid shipping internationally. Also that way it guarantees that the recipient gets it in a reasonable amount of time as well. I mean you don't HAVE to go with amazon. You could be clever and find a purveyor of goods that resides within the santee's country anyway, regardless of whether or not it's specifically requested.
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Oct 6, 2020 17:16
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McTinkerson posted:A hybrid option with this might be worth it. If at least one component is from a store in the santee's country then at least there's a guarantee they won't be going empty handed should the more "creative" component(s) get stuck in shipping purgatory. This is what I have done last couple of times I've done this. Shipping to US from New Zealand is crazy expensive so I've bought gifts from Amazon then posted a letter with a few bits and pieces. Worked well for me.
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Oct 6, 2020 21:46
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McTinkerson posted:A hybrid option with this might be worth it. If at least one component is from a store in the santee's country then at least there's a guarantee they won't be going empty handed should the more "creative" component(s) get stuck in shipping purgatory. I usually liked shipping a thing from Amazon first to make sure I cant be a deatbeat then send something else from the scrap pile later. Exception was the year I could drop off personally as Slothrop at the time was only up the hill and that made it easy
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Oct 6, 2020 23:19
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I sat out the last two years, partly because I feared I wouldn't have the time to put forward a proper effort, but mainly due to high shipping costs. It was either shipping as a trackable package, which is crazy expensive, or as a letter, which is merely expensive and then you have a month of nailbiting before it makes it there. Or not, which was the case for me a few years ago. I think a hybrid/optional version like you guys describe could work very well.
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Oct 7, 2020 06:59
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I have some crap I want to throw out but I could box it up and disappoint some goon with it if we can have a I’m shipping crap and expect crap category. Yes they are new shocks no they will never fit anything you will ever own.
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Oct 8, 2020 18:50
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Elephanthead posted:I have some crap I want to throw out but I could box it up and disappoint some goon with it if we can have a I’m shipping crap and expect crap category. Yes they are new shocks no they will never fit anything you will ever own. Have you seen the poo poo we've sent each other? I sent someone my dead clutch and flywheel from a volvo. I've gotten a timing chain and a giant wrench.
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Oct 8, 2020 20:23
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toplitzin posted:Have you seen the poo poo we've sent each other? I sent someone a travel urinal, and got old bus marker lights. It ain't crap, it's treasure.
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Oct 8, 2020 22:41
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sharkytm posted:I sent someone a travel urinal, and got old bus marker lights. It ain't crap, it's treasure. I still have my bottle of emergency whisky in it's cage.
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Oct 10, 2020 01:59
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My hubcap with LED lights has been hanging in my shop.
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Oct 10, 2020 03:29
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sharkytm posted:I sent someone a travel urinal, and got old bus marker lights. It ain't crap, it's treasure. toplitzin posted:Have you seen the poo poo we've sent each other? Elephanthead posted:I have some crap I want to throw out but I could box it up and disappoint some goon with it if we can have a I’m shipping crap and expect crap category. Yes they are new shocks no they will never fit anything you will ever own. With our powers combined I could make a really gnarly lamp.
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Oct 10, 2020 03:37
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toplitzin posted:Have you seen the poo poo we've sent each other? I got a pinion gear from a blowed the gently caress up race car rear. Supposedly it still kept giving power, just got noisy as hell? ... I also still have plates from a now-permabanned goon's car. I don't have anything interesting to send except for license plates at the moment, though.  (not sending those, just some of my old ones)I guess if shipping isn't HORRIBLE, I could make some wall art out of the leaky taillights (center part across the hatch anyway) from my car? I replaced them because they were cracked and kept filling up with water. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Oct 10, 2020 |
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Oct 10, 2020 16:36
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I got the broken crank from a twin-piston aircraft engine. It sits proudly in a glass cupboard at the top of my stairs alongside a vw cv bearing.
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Oct 12, 2020 01:32
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I got an actually warped brake rotor and a blown headgasket from an EJ25. If I get someone close by again I have been saving a broken VW steering gearbox.
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Oct 12, 2020 02:10
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So regarding the “one mans junk is another mans treasure”, I think I’ll include this as an optional “check box” in the template. It appears this is something that resonates as fun with a lot of people, but I understand others may love a more minimalist lifestyle. I think the “junk” is a great fun add-on to whatever else you may choose for your Santee. By having it as a “tickbox” you can see if your Santee is amenable to receiving 16 gearboxes welded into the best sex robot hillbilly engineering can achieve. Does this sound reasonable? Can we also start getting some suggestions for good quality/very useful tools etc that are commonly available around the $20US price range?
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Oct 12, 2020 03:30
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I mean, I live a pretty minimalist lifestyle but I still love getting junk. I've got a piston from ct that I still haven't found a spot to display but it's followed me through a move. The checkbox sounds like a good idea. Ratchet screwdrivers and little driver bits are always useful/can be found around that price point. Magnetic work lights as well.
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Oct 12, 2020 04:44
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slothrop posted:Can we also start getting some suggestions for good quality/very useful tools etc that are commonly available around the $20US price range? I like this idea, some of my favourite tools have been goon recommended
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Oct 12, 2020 04:49
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Ephphatha posted:I mean, I live a pretty minimalist lifestyle but I still love getting junk. I've got a piston from ct that I still haven't found a spot to display but it's followed me through a move. The checkbox sounds like a good idea. I lost mine in my move away from the Mountains 
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Oct 12, 2020 04:51
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Neji-saurus pliers from Engineer, or Vampliers, which are just a rebrand, are really great pliers and available in a few different sizes and configurations. They're a fairly inexpensive tool and a great AISS gift imo.
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Oct 12, 2020 05:09
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slothrop posted:Can we also start getting some suggestions for good quality/very useful tools etc that are commonly available around the $20US price range? Engineering pliers - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NBSVYOY Locking adjustable wrench - https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00009OYGZ WERA screwdriver set - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HSNHM2 Anything WERA is nice, if there's time you can usually get it cheaper via Amazon UK/Germany if you have free prime shipping edit:sorry looks like these are all around the $30 mark
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Oct 12, 2020 14:18
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I use both vampliers and Wera ratcheting drivers at work, and they're great.
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Oct 13, 2020 09:21
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I'm in this year. Last year was crazy and I did not realize I missed the registration. Also - love the junk check box. I have SO much random stuff I could dump, I mean gift someone.
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Oct 13, 2020 23:58
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I've got some good tool recomendations from here & the AI tool thread. What else would you like to see included on the list of suggested gifts? Perhaps an AI toys category? Lego & Hot Wheels etc. In order to avoid giving noted poor Jeff Bezos any more money, how about asking people to nominate good local/national businesses in their area that have a web store? I'm happy to leave this as an optional thing but it might help for the people trying to get a gift for Kiwis/Aussies.
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Oct 14, 2020 01:35
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A vote for Harry Epstein here in the US. They're family owned, clear about COA, and do awesome box art. Prices are reasonable, although shipping isn't free (or cheap). https://www.harryepstein.com/
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Oct 14, 2020 02:40
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Any luck coming up with a registration system besides us all emailing you again?  toplitzin fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Oct 29, 2020 |
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Oct 29, 2020 12:53
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Si, any sight of a registration thread? I'm actually feeling motivated this year.
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Oct 29, 2020 13:07
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Sorry, I’ve been dealing with some end of relationship bullshit. I’ll try to get this all sorted by Nov 1st
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Oct 29, 2020 14:36
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