The Giftee: It's ok that you've got a name for your car. It's ok that you talk it up hills and shed a tear when it get a scratch. It's even ok that you're willing to spend more money on a present for your car than you will on your mother. Well, it's not *that* ok, but it's understandable.

Best site:Halfords Going into Halfords the shop? Not so much fun. Dodging the Sunday afternoon arguing couples, the children nagging for bikes and the not-so-with it sales assistance does not a happy shopping experience maketh. Having access to all the same stuff online? It's the stuff dreams are made of.

Best product: Parking sensors. You may not have been able to shell out the extra for the parking sensors when you originally bought the car, but that's no reason not to now. And think of it as an investment - you'll be saving money on paint retouching since you'll no longer be scraping against walls.

All my holiday festivals have arrived at once. The joy that is the Christmas light has swept into town, bringing my favourite classic game with it. Yes, Pac-Man has been imbued with the Christmas spirit, thanks to this amazing pyramid gaming tree construction in Madrid.

[via technabob]

Don't forget to check out Shiny Media's gaming blogs for more games goodness.

Like that? Read this: Pacman and his mates can join you on your couch in Plush Pillow form | Nothing screams romance like Pac-Man and beer | Geek Chic of the Week: Ms Pacman ring

Giftee: Staying friends with ex-boyfriends. How grown-up. How mature. How sorted. Of course your gift now has to convey "I know you well, so have been able to get you something you'll really like" as well as "But I haven't got you anything you'd like *too* much, for fear of looking like I'm still into you" as well as "I also haven't got you anything that will make you appear too attractive to the opposite sex, because as much as I don't want to date you anymore, I also don't want anyone else to". It's a complicated buying decision.

Best site: Commonwealth Stacks Conversation EditionsA goldmine of interesting and unique design pieces, the store came about as a collaboration between people who wanted to use cultural influences to produce pieces that would become talking points or even precious souvenirs. Yes, even the t-shirts. Especially the t-shirts.

Best product: Whilst the t-shirts are awesome, we've already established you won't be buying anything that makes the ex look attractive. So, try out the Stacks x Marc Jacobs x Arkitip Playing Cards, which come with 54 different images. And at $9.50, you can get a set for all your ex-boyfriends.

Alternatively: You can't go wrong with TopMan. They've got loads of Christmas gift appropriate stuff, and it won't break the bank.

Not a whole lot of use for hanging on your door, as is the tradition (unless, of course, you happen to have a USB port in your door, in which case, you win), this USB Christmas wreath will, nevertheless, brighten up the area around your PC, giving your life a festive flavour, with six LEDs and seven different colours. Add a few USB Christmas trees and other decorations and you'll have all the ingredients for the perfect, geek Christmas. You'll probably also have a headache from all those flashing lights, but hey, it's Christmas!

Product Page | [via Akihabara News]

Like that? Read this: Make your own Christmas scene with a snow machine | How to make a Christmas LED wreath | Chritsmas tree geek chic with Treetopia

When I was younger the idea of a wedding list was one of the most attractive things about marriage. I loved the idea you could go around a store picking out items you desired, shoving them on a list and then sitting back and waiting till they arrived in the post..from other people. Then I realized you had to put sensible (read boring) items down, like microwaves and plates rather than Chloe bags and lingerie and I got less excited about the whole wedding shebang.

The Go Goblin wishlist however slightly restores my faith in the premise of presents, allowing kids (or adults) to pick and choose their favourite toys from a variety of sites and compile it into a natty list with click through buy options. You can then email it to all you friends/relatives/person who owes you their life, and they'll have no excuse turning up with Body Shop gift sets come Christmas day. There's even a handy gift finding tool, in case you're struggling to find items you want.

Like that? Read this: Start Advent by hanging recycled tech Christmas decorations I Gerwiiatrics: Get grandma her own Wii this Christmas

It's only two and a half weeks away, so you must have your hopes pinned on what's going to be under your tree this year. What's it to be? Is it an iPhone? Is it a laptop? Or is it something completely different? Drop us a comment on the contents of your list. It'll be worth it - I hear Father Christmas has this site on his RSS reader.

Giftee: He's not your boyfriend. He's your sister's, but somehow he's going to be gathered round *your* family tree, adding another barrier to unwrapping all *your* presents. Still, in the spirit of Christmas (and the spirit of mutual gift giving) you're going to have to get him something. And it can't be too personal, for fear of out shining your sister, natch.

Best site: Mankind. It's chock full of cosmetics for... yep, men. Because as much as they pretend that their body functions to such a perfect degree that there's no need to add moisturiser, cleansers or anything remotely cosmeticy, that's not the case. And this site knows that.

Best Product: The Anthony Logistics Body Kit has everything he'll ever need to recapture the skin of his youth. And not only will he be thrilled, your sister's bound to thank you (although you don't want to be thinking about that... urgh.... gross....yuck).

Alternatively:Diesel Sweeties do a lovely line in pixel socks. Yes, they're socks, but at least they're cool socks.

For more man-goodies, check out our fab boysite, Brandish.

Giftee: You've been friends since primary school. You've been through everything together - first kisses, first boyfriends, first fights with said first boyfriends, first swearing off men forever... A gift box from The Body Shop isn't going to cut it. Your gift has to be thoughtful, original and personal.

Best Site: Blurb. It turns you into a professional book publisher, and makes it dead easy for you to create a masterpiece. There are simple templates for you to drop in your photos, pictures and texts, as well as room to be extra creative should you desire. You could create a cookbook, a photo book, a book of poems, or indeed a book of your favourite Shiny Shiny posts (you'd probably have to ask us first... but we'd probably say yes). The end result is a swanky bound book, perfect for charting the history of your priceless friendship. I'm welling up just thinking about it.

Best product: Get a standard portrait or landscape book, which gives you up to 40 pages customisable by you. And you can decide how many copies to have printed, so you could get one for all your friends. Awww. (You could even sell it!).

Want a chance to win one of these books? We've got three books to give away, which if the winners get their skates on, could arrive in time for Christmas. To enter to win this fantastic prize, click over the jump.

Giftee: Organic vegetable box delivery man. You've hit *that age* where the guilt your mother instilled in you regarding your daily intake of vegetables has resulted in you spending an obscene amount of money on having a weekly box delivered.

They arrive on a Monday. On a Tuesday you make plans to eat them throughout the week. On a Friday you panic because you've only used the potatoes. On a Sunday you make another vat of vegetable soup. Rinse. Repeat. Still, he's your vegetable box man and he deserves a Christmas present.

Best site: Cocoa Loco. It's the online embodiment of Juliette Binoche's chocolatier from Chocolat, right down to the chilli/chocolate concoctions. It's all organic, so it's (practically) guilt-free chocolate eating.

Best product: Jar of hand-dipped chocolate mango. Beautiful to look at, and no doubt beautiful to eat, nothing says "you're single handedly maintaining my health, thanks very much" like a jar of these.

Alternatively: Thortons. Old school chocolate, but online you can create your own chocolate box, leaving out the coffee cremes and doubling up on the caramel cups.

In celebration of all things Christmassy, we're going to be supplying you with the alternative Christmas shopping guide here at Shiny Shiny. So, whether you've got an emo nephew or the founder of your local bookgroup to buy for, you'll find the perfect online shopping site here.

Giftee: Your sister. She's recently left her job in accounting to move to South America, where she is currently living in the deepest jungle cataloguing the number of orang-utans in the Amazon.

Best site: Oxfam. It's ethical, and the type of gifts mean that you're not spending a fortune on postage and packaging. The Oxfam Unwrapped service allows you to buy anything from fertiliser to a toilet for people in need across the world.

Best product: For £24 you can get male and female condoms sent to those in need, along with educational materials to make sure they're used in the right way (when condoms were first sent to parts of Cambodia, they thought they were for hanging at the shrine of the Buddha). Give the gift of safe sex this Christmas.

Alternatively:
Etsy - A marketplace of one-off handmade pieces from people across the world.

Check out our ethical shopping blog, Hippyshopper, for more ideas.

Dear Santa,

What else? It had to be the Wii. I didn't get one when they first went on sale. I didn't get given one for services to the gaming community. I didn't even manage to intercept a Parcelforce man his way to some clever pre-ordering fiend. You, Santa, are my last hope. I promise to be good for 2007 in its entirety.

Dear Santa,

Please try and concentrate. I realise that it is slightly distracting having Carlos demonstrate the DS Lite. Just imagine how distracting it was trying to film with him there. Poor us.

Dear Santa,

When I was a child I wasn't allowed a pet. And now I'm a grown up, and my flatmates will now not let me have a pet. It seems I'm never old enough to be responsible for another thing. Who am I kidding - I kill plants just by looking at them.

Still, this is way cuter, and way more practical. The second generation of Nabaztags reads all your emails/weather reports/SMS stuff, can 'marry' another rabbit, and the makers have promised more to come (since he updates himself).

Related posts: Robopup|This is not a rabbit

Dear Santa,

It's specially designed to be good in 'low light conditions' aka the pub, and is small enough to make just a tiny little dent in my hopelessly overfilled bag. It comes with 5 megapixel, 3x optical zoom and a 2.5 inch LCD. And should I decide not to go girly, you could always look into getting it for me in blue or silver. Surprise me.

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Santa baby, stick a Core 2 Duo processor under the tree for me, I don't ask for a lot, Santa baby, just hurry a C1 laptop for me.

Because: it's fast. It comes in different colours. It's got a swanky X-black screen. It's light. It's only £999. Which compared to Marilyn Monroe's diamonds, is a veritable bargain.

Related posts: C1 video review|MacBook Pro

Dear Santa,

It's pink, it plays films, I can now get some old-skool Sonic games - what's not to love? Love this shade or hate it, you can pretty much guarantee that your boyfriend won't be stealing it. And after the Christmas dinner is done, I'm going to want something to amuse me whilst I'm hiding from the washing up.

Related stories: PSP case with speakers|Retro PSP case

Dear Santa,

BT have promised us TV on demand, so no matter what god for saken hour I get in, I can still catch up with my favourite crap TV shows. Their set top box has got 80 hours worth of space for recordings of my own. It's HD Ready, and they reckon there will be HD content on Freeview pretty soon, so it's like a preparing ahead of time.

So, how about it? Can I have one? Please?

Related posts: More on BT Vision|HD projector

Dear Santa,

Susi may want one Santa, but If there's one gadget I don't like, it's the iPod. As far as I'm concerned, it's technologically inferior, has a rubbish battery life and it lacks durability. Not to mention the scourge that is iTunes. My beloved Creative Zen, on the other hand, will survive countless knocks and even severe drops on the floor.

So while I may already own the best MP3 player in the whole world ever (maybe I'm a little bit biased, but I do love my baby), I want more. More. More! In fact, I want the Creative Vision W that even my iPod-owning fellow Shinies liked the look of back in September. Because as good as my current player is, it's got no visuals. None. Just a mesmerising blue glow, and that won't show me films and pictures, no matter how hard I try.

Dear Santa,

It pains me to say it, but Apple seem to still be making the best MP3 players. And whilst I want 80GB for everything I have ever owned or are likely to own, I also want a Nano, because they are so damn cute. Because I want the colours, well, pink, I have to go for the 4GB version. But you know what? I'm still happy. Because it's Christmas.

Related posts: The latest launches from Apple

Dear Santa (baby),

You may remember that way back in the dark days of February, we enthused about the LaCie portable hard drive collection. Well, as the year slipped by, the space on my laptop diminished, and now it's overflowing like your Christmas sack.

So that I can preserve my Christmas memories for years to come, be they audio, video, or photo, could you please add the LaCie Skwarim 60GB drive in blue to my ever-growing list? It's plug and play via USB 2.0, is dinky enough to fit in the palm of my hand, and rugged enough to carry in my bag.

Thanks Santa, you're the best.