I confess that I was going to list productivity applications today but then I realised that it’s Christmas Eve and nobody should be thinking about work so instead, I’m listing a bunch of geeky toys and gifts that I’d love to find in my stocking on Christmas morning.

1. The “von Slatt Original” Keyboard
   Nothing says evil genius like a bit of steampunk on the desktop.
2. B-Movie Victims – I don’t know why I like these so much, other than the fact that – armed with these little bods – my Flickr account would start to fill up with shots from “Attack of the 50 foot coffee mug” and similar.
3.  Cyber Clean – it sounds more exciting than it is but anything that can get all of the crap out of my keyboard would be worth it.
4.  42 Utility Towel – as a fan of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books since I was at school, I can’t help but like this, I like to think of myself as “a frood who really knows where his towel is”.
5.  USB Podcast Kit – I’ve toyed with the idea of creating a podcast, and done some video podcast stuff at work. So this little set seems like a great starter pack.
6.  BladeRunner 3 – This is one of the many indoor RC helicopters available these days, but very few of them have 3 channel control making it easier to fly in a seemingly controlled manner.
7.  I-Axe USB Guitar – having let my guitar playing skills wither and die over recent years, it would be fun to rekindle the fires of rock and unleash my inner axe-man. However being older than I was and having a couple of young children means that I would need to keep the noise down whilst grinding out face-melting riffs. This USB enabled guitar lets you use your PC as an effects rack and recording studio.
8.  Gorilla Pod – the best little tripod there is, stand it up or wrap it’s flexible little legs around stuff to cling on wherever you need it.
9.  Pogo iPhone Stylus – sometimes I find that my fingers just aren’t up to the job of picking out tiny links in safari on my phone, that combined with the frequent need to wipe the screen clean of greasy fingermarks means that a stylus would be a useful tool to have. Thankfully Pogo have managed to come up with just that.
10.  Selk Bag – Believe it or not, for holidays I quite like to go camping. For that reason the Selk Bag would be great, however I have an alternative reason for wanting one. Come Halloween, a yellow Selk Bag would make the perfect basis for a Gordon Freeman HazMat Suit costume – just add Black Mesa badges!
11.  Khet Laser Game – I like a good board game, and this one comes with lasers, yes actual lasers, could it have any better geek credentials than that?
12.  Mana Energy Potion – I confess that my limited gaming time means that I stopped playing WOW when the beta ended but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think these are cool. Tiny energy drinks disguised as mana potions.
13.  Mind Hacks – This book sounds fascinating, it’s in my nature to try and find out how things work (just ask my parents), and this book contains over 100 experiments, tips and tricks to help you to understand how the brain works.
14.  Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets – I like my food, I like to try new foods but these tablets temporarily re-wire your taste buds so that food you know tastes different. Apparently sour or bitter tastes will be transformed into sweet delicious things.
15.  Mini-Kaoss Touchpad Effects Processor – Sound toys don’t get much better than this, with a hundred effects at your disposal and a neat touchpad interface, it’s just what I need to compliment the Stylophone that i got last Christmas.
16.  Really Tiny Book Light – For me, there’s nothing better than a late night read. However in order to avoid disturbing the other half, this little clip on reading light looks like the business.
17.  I Am Not A Paper Cup – I’m a confessed coffee addict and I’m all for reducing waste, so this thermal porcelain coffee cup is a cool thing indeed. Modelled on the starbucks paper cups in double walled porcelain with a silcone lid, it’s reusable and kinda cool.
18.  Dot Robot – The first novel from technology writer and broadcaster Jason Bradbury, involving robots, gamers and crime fighting, it sounds like a fun read. Unfortunately not published until February, it’s available to pre-order from Amazon.
19.  Lynx 6 Robotic Arm – as a kid, I always wanted one of those programmable robot arm kits that seemed to show up regularly on Tomorrows World. This is exactly the thing I wanted – I don’t know what I’d do with it but I still want one.
20.  Wacom Cintiq 12WX Interactive Pen Display – I often find myself sketching ideas out on paper these days and then either scanning the pages or (when there’s no scanner available) taking a photo of the sketch to import into the computer. I’ve been considering the possibility of getting myself a graphics tablet for a while but this goes a step beyond. A combined screen and graphics tablet, this is like a digital sketchbook – fantastic.
21.  Vuzix iWear VR920 – Virtual Reality is back, Yay! OK so every couple of years a new VR technology comes along and  resolutely fails to set the world alight. Several years ago I had some of those LCD shutter glasses that hooked up to the PC graphics card but the effect was pretty horrible. These new breed are starting to look more like the business. Creating the effect of a 62-inch screen and having built in head tracking and microphone, these Geordie Laforge-alikes could be the FPS players’ dream kit. You will look stupid to anybody who sees you using them but it won’t matter because you won’t know they’re there.
22.  R2D2 DVD Projector – Have your own R2 Droid projecting feature films onto you wall whilst you control it using the Millenium Falcon shaped remote.
23.  Bullet Ice Cube Tray – When serving drinks this christmas and new year, stand out from the crowd, not with any old novelty ice cubes but with ice bullets! cool…literally.
24.  MacBook Pro – Despite having been a Windows user for many years (I used Macs in the mid-nineties) I’m thinking that it’s time to consider getting myself a Mac. The latest MacBook Pro looks lovely and so far I’ve not heard any bad reports about them – that’s not to say there aren’t any – I just haven’t heard any.