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For talented security engineers, hardware and software hackers and researchers, there was no cooler place to work in the early part of this decade than @stake. The seminal security consulting firm at one time or another employed just about every top researcher in the field.

Although everything is online in the Web 2.0 world, there are still a few brick-and-mortar places in Silicon Valley where you can walk in and experience the kind of last-minute gratification that I typically require for the holidays. So, I wondered, what's hot this year with the technorati, what should I go check out at the stores, and where?

Some of the most fascinating works of art come as a result of experimentation and endeavors in non-fine-arts related fields. Electrical engineer and “hardware hacker” Joe Grand has been dabbling with electronics for years, tweaking archaic computer systems and breathing new life into obsolete equipment.

Hardware hacker Joe Grand has never really thought of himself as an artist, but he's having his first gallery opening with the show 'When Electronics Become Art' at the 20 goto 10 gallery in San Francisco.