I’ve sorta been sat here thinking about how amazing the sensation of Christmas is. The connectivity. And while I’ve not seen it so much lately this year, it’s certainly true that everyone’s still getting Christmass in their own little ways. For example, Art community DeviantART have a festive logo, and pixel-art world Habbo Hotel have completely redone with a blanket of snow covering the virtual landscape.

But still, few websites have done it. I know this is hypocrasy, as we haven’t either, but I really think that more websites should! The internet is amazing loads of people team together and celebrate Christmas and decorate themselves for Christmas. It’s harder for smaller blogs but the larger websites really should join in.

Christmas has been hard this year, with large financial losses. But what I’m saying is, explore, have a look around. See what sites you like.

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Have you got a neighboring Sci-Fi fanatic? Does he/she follow the Jedi Faith? Or are they a Sith? Here are some great gift suggestions to keep their intergalactic minds whizzing.

#5: ForceFX Lightsabre

What is Star Wars memorabilia without Lightsabres? It's not Star Wars. The ultimate gift for any Star Wars geek is definitely a proper lightsabre. But there's loads to choose from – and this one is probably the best. With many features such as contact sound effects and whizzing effects, as well as the light moving up the tube when ignited, it's the most realistic lightsabre out there.

It's kinda costly, but we'd recommend it to appease the simplest fanatic. Check they don't have it before.

Oh and make sure they're not a Trek Fan.

Details

Price: $119.99/£75
Type: Light-up Toy
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/collectibles/b72c/

#4: Darth Vader Mug

The Darth Vader mug. What could possible be more enjoyable than sipping out of Darth Vader's mask? Get this classic addition to a breakfast. Taste the true power of the Dark Side of the force.

Details

Price: $29.90/£24
Type: Mug
Retailer: Amazon
Buy Mug: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Darth-Ceramic-Figural/dp/B000VOTNOO

#3: Lego Star Wars

"Rawwwwwwwwwwarwarwraraghrar" – Chewie

Lego Star Wars is another of the ultimate gifts for the young and old geeks alike. Not much to say, but it comes in various shapes and forms.

Details

Price: $0.99-$200, with occasionally more expensive models
Type: Self-assembly models
Retailer: LEGO
Buy: In-store, Amazon. I can't possibly link, there's several hundred models.

#2: Tauntaun Sleeping Bag

It's beautiful. Sleep inside a Tauntaun – and if you use it enough, it sure will smell worse on the inside. Whatever, this is a classic idea of when you make something as a joke and it becomes mainstream. The attention to detail is amazing – the lightsaber zip made me chuckle. It comes with saddle, printed internal intestines, proper head and plush lighsaber pull.

Details

Price: $99.99/£79
Type: Sleeping Bag
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/bb2e/
 

#1: Darth Vader Toaster

It's a toaster. It prints Vader's face on your toast. What more do you want, really? This is perhaps the most forceful of all toasters, delivering slice after slice of toasted goodness from the Sith. Mmm, just taste those midichlorians.

Details

Price: $30
Type: Hard-to-find Mug
Retailer: Forbidden Planet
Buy: http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=51991

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Still stuck on what to get for Christmas? Time running out? Here’s a collection of devices we feel are irreplaceably ingenious.

#6: USBCELL

Probably one of the most amazingly simple yet somewhat complicated and yet still easy-to-use devices I’ve seen this end of the decade. USBCELL is a USB-powered battery – that is, the battery recharges when it is connected to a computer or laptop, connected in the same way you shove memory sticks inside your machines.

I really feel these are probably some of the most amazing gifts you can get for someone who uses batteries a lot – XBOX/PS3 gamers, TV channel hoppers, etc. Or, they’re pretty awesome for the novelty of charging a battery through a computer. Yeah, that too.

Details

Price: £10.99 (Estimate $18)
Type:  Rechargeable AA Battery/USB Device
Retailer: USBCELL
Buy: http://www.usbcell.com/product/1

#5: Apple’s Magic Mouse

Hell, this is probably the best mouse I’ve ever seen – ever. It’s actually something that’s impressive and easy to use, and it’s multi-touch. I’ll explain. You can click anywhere on the mouse to generate a click, and it has a right click button, too – it detects whether the click was on the right-hand side of the mouse. Moving one finger down anywhere on the mouse scrolls downward, and swiping two fingers goes back and forth in Firefox and Safari Mac, flicks through photos in iPhoto and does various other tasks in Windows and Mac, too.

Details

Price: $69/£55
Type: Multi-touch Wireless Tracking Device
Retailer: Apple
Buy: http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

#4: All Edges Brownie Pan

Scientifically perfect brownies can be created with this clever pan – it’s an ingenious way of making sure that nearly all the brownie is touching the edge of the pan. Each square of brownie is guaranteed 2 sides of edge and 2 of chewyness – perfect! No more burnt outsides and raw gooey centers. As ThinkGeek says, it conducts heat better than an average baking pan, resulting in even cooking and perfect brownies.

The world will be at rest with delicious brownies.

Details

Price: $34.99/~£30
Type: Baking Pan
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/a1aa

#3: The Power Shelf

A shelf to store devices, or even laptops – American outlets only, sorry others – is another one of the more ingenious things I’ve seen. Basically, it clips just above your plug, and you can wrap cables around it to store the cables – meaning that you have limited space wasted by thousands of cables that tangle with each other, much like the setup at my house, where everything is everywhere. Well, anyway. This is pretty amazing, and there’s a laptop case add-on – and it clips right around your plugs.

Here’s some promo pics:

Details

Price: Hook: $11.99 Laptop: $39.99
Type: Cable Holder
Retailer: ThinkGeek
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/bf46/

#2: The iPhone Stylus by Pogo

The iPhone has a remarkable feature that’s also a hindrance – it’s the fact that it requires a finger to activate the screen – and most people’s fingers are thick and clumsy, and can’t write well or click ultra-tiny items. That’s why an ingenious invention that mimics the electron transfer in digits – no idea how, but it’s still genius. Great for writing stuff on your iPhone, too – like signatures, I guess. Whatever.

Details

Price: $15/£11
Type: Stylus
Retailer: Pogo
Buy: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/a31f/

#1: Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Okay, first things first: You probably can’t afford this or won’t buy this because it costs too much. Second thing – it’s amazing. I want it. Yet I can’t really have it. It’s a bloody expensive contraption – and it’s basically a keyboard with high-definition screens instead of keys – meaning you can change keyboard styles for different keyboard layouts, and have different keyboard styles for different functions – like a Photoshop key, or a Firefox key – and the icon changes automatically for each time you reassign the key – and you can have different layouts for different programs, which works very well for gamers.

Details

Price: $1700/£1050
Type: Keyboard
Retailer: Art Lebedev
Buy: http://store.artlebedev.com/computer_add-ons/optimus-maximus/

More soon.

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Have you got a friend or family member who’s simply passionate about technology? (a closet geek?) Or are you, yourself, interested in some great gadgetry to ask for on Christmas? Look no further, we’ve compiled some of the hottest stuff. We’ll start with the ridiculous one, first.

#5: Microsoft Surface

These things are nifty, and at a punchline of $7-8,000, you can’t go too wrong with one of these. A multi-touch computer that could pack more of a wham on the power and graphics side, it’s very interesting – especially with Windows mobiles that can connect through the surface. Not too mention nifty party tricks such as bubbles appearing around glasses or the unique ability to order from your table.

Details

Price: Between £5,500 and £7,500 ($7,000 and $9,000)
Type: Multi-touch Computer and Table
Retailer: Microsoft
Buy: You can’t actually buy it yet. You can apply for a commercial order to Microsoft.

#4: Apple’s iPhone

These, are also nifty, being another multi-touch smartphone that runs with the self-assigned reputation of being the smartphone all the others copy. These things aren’t too shabby, either – they have some of the best functions and well over 100,000 downloadable applications (programs) to run on the machine. Also functions as an 8, 16 or 32GB iPod, with space to store all your songs.

Details

Price: Varies
Type: Smartphone
Retailer: US: AT&T, UK: Orange/O2
Buy: http://www.apple.com/iphone/

#3: Motorola Droid

A powerful competitor to the iPhone, these are some of the first smart phones that make a good serious use out of Google’s Android OS. They’re an attempting at making the OS more popular and interesting, although a little too much like the iPhone. The only drawbacks with these is occasional lack of response when using, as with the iPhone. Motorola droid has a large app store that is constantly growing, as well – with more free software.

Details

Price: Depends on Contract
Type: Smartphone
Retailer: Various Networks
Buy: http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/

#2: Apple MacBook Pro

When considering a new laptop, many people – especially college students – have been making the decision to switch to an Apple laptop. And I can’t blame them – the OS is good, but the hardware is simply dreamy – the displays, mostly, are vibrant as nothing else. The software available is good and many good games run very smoothly on them. Not to mention the amazing look of the machine. Not to mention a 7-hour full-brightness battery life, equating to around 9 hours of low-power-usage use.

Details

Price: £899-£1799;/$999-$1999
Type: Laptop
Retailer: Apple
Buy: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

#1: Dell Latitude Z

For those of you who still want to stick to a Windows computer, then the Dell Latitude Z is amazing. A machine which charges through the surface of an electric plate means to charge you simply place it on the stand and it’ll charge through conduction. Take it off the plate and move about with a long 4-hour battery. The perfect laptop for an on-the-go constant mover, who doesn’t have time to faff around with cables.

Details

Price: $1799 / £1450
Type: Laptop
Retailer: Dell
Buy: http://bit.ly/1S1icD

Related Posts:

• TekMas List 3: Gifts for a Star Wars Geek
• Tech for Christmas 2: Ingenious Devices
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