10 online tools that guarantee you’ll have a great festive season

Tis the Season to be jolly, they tell me, and as lots of us pack up for an end of year holiday, here are some ways your computer can be part of your holiday fun.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

1. These days, it’s not just the kids sending Santa letters, Santa sends them videos too. Create a personalised message for a child (or adult) in your life quickly and easily with Portable North Pole. And they’re now even more portable, as you can download the app for your iphone or Android. My only question is, who sends their kids a “you’ve been naughty” video?

2. For those of us gripped by the Christmas spirit but stuck to our computers, why not download some Christmas lights to brighten your day? With the number of themes and options available, you might find these highly addictive. I mean highly, highly addictive.

3. I’ve always loved the gaudy “holiday sweaters” you see in the movies, but living in a climate where the beach is more likely as a Christmas destination than the snowslopes, We Love Holiday Sweaters. We Hate Sheep is the closest I’m ever going to get to a Christmas sweater.

Give a little love

4. Do your holiday shopping online and avoid the fun and hilarity of crowded malls. Whether it’s grabbing bargains on Bid or Buy, books and gifts at Kalahari, or just the pleasure of doing your grocery shopping without having to face the madness of the masses, it’s a time to be grateful for online shopping.

5. If you’ve got something a little naughtier than groceries on your mind, why not send some virtual mistletoe? It’s the perfect geeky way of expressing your lust.

6. Make it easier for friends and relatives to give and receive by creating wishlists for yourself and your kids, or asking your family to do so, bringing the best of “surprise” present and gift voucher together, and ensuring there are no misgivings when presents are unwrapped.

We’re all going on a Summer Holiday

7. If the whole holiday vibe is all too much, and you’re in desperate need of a break and haven’t found time so far to plan one, check out travelstart for last minute impulsive holiday planning and escaping.

8. Or, if you’re the kind that plans everything down to the teeniest tiniest detail, then make windguru, the ultimate in weather predicting fabulosity, your assistant for the minutiae holiday planning.

9. If you’re travelling, or just live far away from the ones you love, why not have a google+ hangout end of year party? Or at least make sure you get some skype time in.

And Happy Hannukah too
10. Don’t forget, you can always visit the Virtual Menorah to celebrate — but bear in mind the warning on the site: “Note! Rabbinic authorities agree: you can’t fulfill the Mitzvah by looking at a computer screen.”