Secret Santa 2016! Pairings sent! Shipping early November, e.g. NOW!

y11971alex · 18 Oct 2016, 17:03

XMIT wrote:
y11971alex wrote:
mike52787 wrote: Unfortunately Im not going to join, international shipping is such a pain. Ill just do the santa on geekhack, because the majority of people are in the US.
I have not noticed this thread on GH.
This is why there is the international shipping *choice*. I'm in the US and want to include people in the US.

There will likely be the US-group and the Euro-group for gift exchanges. If we get enough people who are willing to send gifts overseas I may be able to link the two groups.

No, there is no GH link because, well, I guess I'm more active here.

To be clear - I'm not making up for anyone. If something gets lost in the mail that's just sad, and I recommend shipping insured, but I'm not really planning on filling in the gaps. (I may, we'll see.) If someone flakes out I recommend flaming them publicly. Backing out with notice is fine! Backing out without notice is being a jerk.

If someone becomes unresponsive around shipping time I may just remove them from the list.

I'm not sure. I'm in Canada, and shipping to Europe would cost around $100 in my money if it is to arrive before the end of December. Shipping to the USA would arrive sooner, but a whole keyboard could still cost $40 to ship. I'd have to think of something that doesn't take up quite as much room.

XMIT · 18 Oct 2016, 17:06

y11971alex wrote: I'm not sure. I'm in Canada, and shipping to Europe would cost around $100 in my money if it is to arrive before the end of December. Shipping to the USA would arrive sooner, but a whole keyboard could still cost $40 to ship. I'd have to think of something that doesn't take up quite as much room.

I'm pretty sensitive to shipping costs myself since I've shipped a bunch of stuff internationally. I think, sign up anyway, and if there are enough Canadians for an exchange I can make life easier for all of you. Also, maybe think of a larger item that you might ship domestically, and a smaller item for overseas. There is always andrewjoy's suggestion of letting Amazon ship something for you (only applies if you can buy it off Amazon).

In the worst case you just back out if there is no good option.

XMIT · 18 Oct 2016, 17:07

...also, there is this option for inexpensive shipping to/from the UK:

http://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/

If that makes it easier, I can keep that in mind.

y11971alex · 18 Oct 2016, 17:08

XMIT wrote:
y11971alex wrote: I'm not sure. I'm in Canada, and shipping to Europe would cost around $100 in my money if it is to arrive before the end of December. Shipping to the USA would arrive sooner, but a whole keyboard could still cost $40 to ship. I'd have to think of something that doesn't take up quite as much room.
I'm pretty sensitive to shipping costs myself since I've shipped a bunch of stuff internationally. I think, sign up anyway, and if there are enough Canadians for an exchange I can make life easier for all of you. Also, maybe think of a larger item that you might ship domestically, and a smaller item for overseas. There is always andrewjoy's suggestion of letting Amazon ship something for you (only applies if you can buy it off Amazon).

In the worst case you just back out if there is no good option.

Ah yes, but I assume that the gift would need to be keyboard-related, right? Amazon has a fairly restricted selection, and nothing there seems to be of the vintage that would arouse interest here.

I do have a gift in mind, though.

XMIT · 18 Oct 2016, 17:27

There are always options. You can buy something off eBay and have it delivered within the US. Not just eBay, any US seller - including XMIT Keyboards if I ever get my act together and start selling off some boards.

y11971alex · 18 Oct 2016, 17:29

XMIT wrote: There are always options. You can buy something off eBay and have it delivered within the US. Not just eBay, any US seller - including XMIT Keyboards if I ever get my act together and start selling off some boards.

I think I'll buy something off the eBay local to my pairing, then.

chuckdee · 18 Oct 2016, 17:41

XMIT wrote: No, there is no GH link because, well, I guess I'm more active here.

Think what was meant is that they didn't see any Santa thread on GH. And that's because there isn't one currently.

XMIT · 18 Oct 2016, 17:46

chuckdee wrote:
XMIT wrote: No, there is no GH link because, well, I guess I'm more active here.
Think what was meant is that they didn't see any Santa thread on GH. And that's because there isn't one currently.

GH folks who have DT usernames are more than welcome here. We do have a vintage keyboard lean here on DT but are also hard on work on all sorts of new projects like MF, high profile PBT dye-subs, and my own Hall effect group buy.

kbdfr · 18 Oct 2016, 18:15

XMIT wrote: […] If someone flakes out I recommend flaming them publicly. […]

You bet!

I still think geographical clustering is a really bad idea.

In the end it will result in those ready to ship overseas having to do so in any case because all others will be paired together and only "international shippers/giftees" will remain.
At the same time, the gifts intended for them will tend to be of less value precisely because of the higher shipping costs their "international" Secret Santas will have to incur.
And because of that, people will tend to not ship overseas, which will reinforce the impact described in my first point above.

Nonetheless, I’m in because I deeply believe in Santa Claus

XMIT · 18 Oct 2016, 18:21

Given the recommend spending amount, international shipping is a compromise. As I've billed it, you have the option of getting a more interesting item, and having to spend more on shipping to get it.

It's not a guarantee: you must be willing to both send and receive international packages to be eligible. Not everyone who ships internationally will receive something from overseas, and not every receiver of a foreign package will need to ship across a border.

With this (slight) relaxation, the international folks aren't clustered together per se, but can be part of a larger cycle. (I'm also including "Euro Zone" as "not International" for shipping purposes.)

Consider the cycle below, where I've marked with a * which folks have agreed to send/receive internationally:

US > US* > CA* > UK*> FR > DE > IT > ES > PT > NL* > UK > UK* > US

My pairings will be decidedly non random to try to maximize "cycling", meaning, make sure there are no small cycles.

Scarpia · 19 Oct 2016, 10:13

I am not a Club member, mostly because I am a cheapskate and a renowned flake (kidding), but for me the best thing about Christmas is always the giving, so could there be an option for a nonmember to join as a giving Santa only?

Basically, if you send me 2 random (EU) addresses I'll ship a couple of less-than-50-euros-worth gifts. Sidenote: my girlfriend would love to see me send something without receiving something else, so you'd be doing me a favor

XMIT · 19 Oct 2016, 12:18

Hmm. Scarpia, I'll keep you in mind as a potential backup in case there is some issue somewhere else. Please fill out the sign-up form and mention this preference in the notes. Thanks!

Scarpia · 19 Oct 2016, 13:06

Done

XMIT · 19 Oct 2016, 18:13

Fifteen (15) responses so far! Signup closes in a week, on 2016-10-26, at 23:59 Texas time.

Sign up here:
https://goo.gl/forms/k95VPD6EmnVzgnuB2

Thumper · 19 Oct 2016, 19:36

Here we go.

XMIT · 19 Oct 2016, 20:14

Thanks!

To be clear: in the survey, "international" for mailing purposes really means "overseas" in most cases, but it also means "across the US/Canada border" for folks in North America.

So far everyone who has signed up is in the US, the UK, or the EU.

For folks in Germany with addresses containing 'ß' - some mailing services will not accept this character so I would replace it with 'ss'. A separate address label with the 'ß' might be a good idea.

Nuum · 19 Oct 2016, 20:31

You don't need a separate label with the address just for the ß, ss as replacement is perfectly fine.

kbdfr · 19 Oct 2016, 20:47

Most Germans don't even know the rule governing whether to write "ß" or "ss" anyway.
That was quite normal with the "old" orthography, where the rule was very complicated,
but the reform of 1996 made it very easy:

long vowel or diphthong = ß
short vowel = ss

So you write Preußen (diphthong, i.e. double vowel in one syllable), Straße (long a) and Klasse (short a).
(The only exception is when writing in capital letters, because there is no capital ß: Straße, but STRASSE.)

One advantage of the new rule is for people learning German:
the way the word is written reveals how it is spoken.
Except, of course, if it has been written by an ignorant

XMIT · 19 Oct 2016, 20:54

Between you fine folks and some other friends from current and former day jobs, I'll learn German yet!

kbdfr · 19 Oct 2016, 21:09

XMIT wrote: Between you fine folks and some other friends from current and former day jobs, I'll learn German yet!

Na hoffentlich

The more so as due to Brexit English could well lose its status as an official language of the EU.

The official language of each EU member State is at the same time an official language of the EU.
There are three EU member States where English is an official language: the UK, Ireland and Malta.
But as Irish and Maltese, as primary national official languages, are also official languages of the EU,
the UK is the only EU member State where English is the only official language.
So after Brexit, there will be no EU member State having English as its only official language,
which logically would result in English not being entitled to the status of official language of the EU.

Spannend, nicht?

mecano · 19 Oct 2016, 23:54

Hallucinant, kbdfr !
I'm in so you can put a star to the FR chain

alh84001 · 20 Oct 2016, 00:01

@kbdfr brexit could also make English a perfect neutral official language of the EU, because I don't believe folks on one side of the Rhine would let those on the other to come on top. Exhibit A - Belgium

Rimrul · 20 Oct 2016, 00:06

You can also replace ä/ö/ü with ae/oe/ue if your mailing service doesn't accept those.

kbdfr · 20 Oct 2016, 00:27

alh84001 wrote: @kbdfr brexit could also make English a perfect neutral official language of the EU, because I don't believe folks on one side of the Rhine would let those on the other to come on top. Exhibit A - Belgium

Neutral official language? The European treaties do not provide for anything of the kind.
Each European citizen has a right to EU legislation being issued in the primary official language of his or her country, and not in a "neutral" official language.
That right, and not a highly hypothetical lingua franca, is the fundament of the language regulations in the treaties.
No UK, no English, that's as simple as that.
After all, it would be rather awkward to use a language which is not a native language to any EU citizen.
And if it were to be so, I would advocate Esperanto or Volapük instead of English

andrewjoy · 20 Oct 2016, 11:08

I just don't see them switching , English is used the world over beacuse its so widespread and used as a common language between people as they are both most likely to learn English than each others language, take deskthroity for example

.

I mean its possible sure , but its too much effort to change. Its like the switch from qwerty to dvorak, or form base 10 to base 12 counting , both are superior but its just too much of a pain to change.

Shihatsu · 20 Oct 2016, 11:28

I am not meeting the requirements, but I will have a close look on it, already waiting for next year

XMIT · 20 Oct 2016, 12:42

Shihatsu wrote: I am not meeting the requirements, but I will have a close look on it, already waiting for next year

You may as well sign up. As long as you have a good idea of what you might want to give as a gift, and are responsive (over PMs and/or e-mail) through the whole process, it shouldn't be a problem.

Nuum · 20 Oct 2016, 15:13

andrewjoy wrote: [...]

I mean its possible sure , but its too much effort to change. Its like the switch from qwerty to dvorak, or form base 10 to base 12 counting , both are superior but its just too much of a pain to change.

You have mentioned several times now that you think that the duodecimal system is superior to our normal decimal system. Just out of interest: why?

alh84001 · 20 Oct 2016, 15:54

I'd wager because it's easy to divide by 2, 3, 4 and as a consequence 6. That's opposed to 10 which is divisible by 2 and 5 only. That's why some ancient civilisations had a system based on 60, which is the least number evenly divisible by both 10 and 12.

kbdfr wrote: Neutral official language? The European treaties do not provide for anything of the kind.

I know. I was saying that more than half-jokingly. But it illustrates that there's more often than not, at least two sides to looking at an issue

andrewjoy · 20 Oct 2016, 16:05

alh84001 wrote: I'd wager because it's easy to divide by 2, 3, 4 and as a consequence 6. That's opposed to 10 which is divisible by 2 and 5 only. That's why some ancient civilisations had a system based on 60, which is the least number evenly divisible by both 10 and 12.

exactly that , it would make day to day on the fly calculation very simple.

For real maths it would make no difference