Most wanted geeky gifts? According to TechRepublic, those would be:

1. Apple iPad

2. Alienware M11x gaming notebook

3. Parrot AR.Drone Wi-Fi quadricopter

4. LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0

5. Roku XDS streaming media player

6. VIZIO M470NV 47-inch 1080p LED LCD HDTV

7. Amazon Kindle Graphite 3G+ Wi-Fi 2010

8. Microsoft Kinect sensor for Xbox 360

9. Cyborg R.A.T. 7 gaming mouse

10. Personal Soundtrack Shirt

You might be thinking you don’t have time to get those shipped before the Big Guy batters down your door Christmas Eve to deliver the stuff that is the due of good girls and boys of all ages. (He will batter down the door quietly, of course, so as not to wreck his rep for great stealth; he comes through the door because he knows those quartz heaters with the fake fire display do not connect to chimneys; and you will have found a better place than the dinky Amish mantel to hang the stockings.)

Well, there still might be time to beat Santa—that is, not to assault him with a piece of firewood, but to take care of gift ordering and delivering before his arrival on or about midnight December 24.

Some places have those goodies cued up (not queued, but ready to play, as a DJ might get a numba set to blast) such that they can be two-dayed or overnighted.

But if not, a downloaded order confirmation, preferably with a tracking number or a delivery date, will make an acceptable present, if you place it in a good-sized box and add a bag or two of dried beans to give it heft, and wrap it in something colorful. Anticipation heightens the joy, right? (Also, dealing with frustration helps people develop strength of character.)

Get your geeks batteries, lots of batteries, for all those gadgets geeks have, and the new ones they get. Get assortments, or get the popular AA and AAA shapes and some rechargeables and a charger.

People with cells (not units of human tissue, but communications devices formerly known as cell phones) need batteries for them. Would the makers of various cells design them to take the same kind of battery? Would battery makers get together and design interchangeable batteries? Did all the manufacturers jumping on the videotape bandwagon, way back when, agree to standardize on Betamax because it was the first out and worked so well?

So by all means get someone with a cell some batteries for it. Don’t you hate when that person is chatting away and there is a funny beep and she is gone? Or he says, “I didn’t have my phone on because my battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore”?

Look in the battery compartment and write down the battery model numbers and get two or three of those batteries from an Amazon or eBay dealer. You might want to check for a direct charger. Most cell users just have a charger that they set the phone into; but if they had a charger for a naked battery, there would always be a fully charged battery, and the cell owner could just swap the tired battery for the all-charged-up one—maybe daily.

Ideally a cell user has a charger to use in a vehicle. And ideally a cell user carries a spare battery, and ideally that spare is charged regularly.

LED flashlights, big ones and little ones, and battery-based LED lanterns for when the power goes out, and battery-based LED trouble lights to use anywhere in the house or outside, are handy to have around. Not high on the geekiness index, but neither is pizza, and most geeks love pizza.

Some geeks are music lovers, but they all have MP3 players coming out of their ears. Or going into their ears. So pfui on geeks. Music lovers deserve to be remembered too. Get a musician a one-year subscription to VirtualSheetmusic. It is a wonderful service, and lets you download all sorts of music in sheet music form—music for various instruments and combinations, of various genres, at various levels of difficulty. In fact, VirtualSheetmusic is so various all the way around, and keeps on adding to its catalog at such a rate, your musical friends will be downloading and printing it until they run out of paper or toner.

I was going to keep writing until somebody gives me some figgy pudding, but the editor says there is early deadline this week, and I’m afraid he might not send my Christmas bonus…

Tech-related comments and questions, and virtual figgy pudding, may be directed to Drymar@gmail.com. Skype lilimartini