In the last few weeks, I have seen lists of “Top 10 Gifts for Geeks” everywhere. So I have decided to create a list for IT consultants, people who’ll be on the road a lot, and work 60-70+ hours a week. For IT consultants, coding at the airport is given. Here is my top 5 list:

• ZUCA Pro – A hand-carry suitcase where you can sit on without breaking. You don’t have to worry about sitting on the floor closer to the power outlet at the airport anymore. Here is a video.
• Amazon Kindle – if you don’t want to bring all those tech books with you, this may be a solution. Save the battery at the airport.
• Mino and MinoHD – you will never know when you like to take pictures or video with your coworkers. It has built-in USB plug as well. In this economy, corporate parties are mostly cancelled, but it doesn’t stop us celebrating the holiday over a beer or two. (Link to Amazon)
• Maxtor BlackArmor – Hardware based encryption – “Prohibits access without a password, no exceptions-not even a professional data recovery service can access the data without the password.”. So basically, you have the power of data backup, and yet secure the data if you lose it by accident. Then if you pick your birthday as the password, then no one can help you there.
• Powerful laptop – Alienware Area-51 m15x or ThinkPad W500 – a powerful laptop goes a long way. And for home – HP TouchSmart. Now if they have a lightweight dual screens laptop, that would be sweet.

Honorable mentions:

• GPS like TomTom. Seriously, just because we are consultants or in IT, it doesn’t mean we have good senses of direction.
• Laptop stands – check out this DIY article from Lifehacker first before spending too much money.
• Portable electronics charger station – like this one.

Charity:

• Kiva.org – See this video about how they do it.
• Well Wishes $2 You by Pistachio – want to make a difference this holiday?  Check out this site.