Technofile: Well, it's two days to Christmas and you're out of time. It's too late to order anything online now and, if your luck is anything like mine, the shops will have already sold out of the presents you wanted to buy.
Your friends and family can no longer benefit from your largesse in physical items - so it's time to go virtual. And I don't mean cheapskate "e-cards".
Here are some of the best Christmas presents you could give this year:
Google Earth: Ok, so this isn't strictly speaking a present, since it's already free for anyone to download (PC only, however). But if your gift recipient hasn't heard of it, they are in for a thrill.
Allowing you to zoom in from space down to street-level pictures taken by satellite, Google Earth will absorb most adults - and teenagers for that matter - for hours on end, and long after the RoboSapien's batteries have run out. You actually feel like you're travelling.
Spin over to North Korea - tough to visit at the best of times - and marvel at their huge power stations in the middle of nowhere. Dial up Washington and drop in on president Bush's driveway.
The images are all still pictures taken in 2003, so coming across a plane in flight is common. But give them time, and no doubt one day all the pictures will be live. And you really will be able to check if the boss's car is still outside that pub or not.
Widgets: Continuing, the free presents theme, Widgets will enhance your computer life. Download from Konfabulator.com (among others) for those handy little desktop currency calculators or Wi-Fi detectors, which just make the techy life that little bit easier.
Flickr.com: This hugely successful online photography service (now owned by Yahoo!) allows you to upload and share your photos with the world or just friends incredibly easily. Buying an annual Pro Account for your friends - a snip at €21 a year - will encourage any budding photographer to explore and share their art. And perhaps get famous for it. Newsworthy pics are often picked up by the major media outlets. At just €21 a year, a Pro Account allows someone to upload to their heart's content.
Skype and Gizmo: You will no doubt have heard about the Skype software that allows you to make free calls to other Skype users. Why not make a gift of a Skype account, which allows calls to real phones anywhere in the world? Alternatively get them to download Gizmo (Gizmoproject.com). This does the same as Skype but is being tipped to take over as the new hot way to connect, not least because it uses open standards, has better sound and some clever features. They may both be free, but with all your friends using them, you'll all save enough money to buy more presents next year.
Garageband or Audacity: Many Apple users will be familiar with Garageband, Apple's own software for creating music easily, simply and turning it into next week's potential number one. Even at €79 it's still pretty good.
Slightly trickier (but free) is Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net), which allows anyone to make and mix recordings. Plug in that guitar, overlay bass, drums and some vocals and call the XFactor today. A perfect present for the budding Bono.
Ecto: Do any of your friends or family run a blog? Then they will kiss you following your canny purchase for them of Ecto (ecto.kung- foo.tv). This software transforms the life of anyone who runs a blog and would like to do more.
What's more, they are offering a 20 per cent Christmas discount on the very good price of €14. Who needs a January sale?
