Ah, the Holiday wishlist! As I watch my kids pen their Christmas lists, I remember all the goodies I've longed for over the years. Of course, most of the things I've lusted for over the years have been pure unobtanium. This year, I'm going to be a little more practical. Well, just a little ...

1. Peace and goodwill to all men, women, children, and animals (with the exception of terrorists and groundhogs).

Now that the heavy stuff's out of the way, lets get to the fun stuff, in no particular order:

2. A 42" Gateway plasma screen television, bordered by 3 15" LCD flat screens and piped through a fat little Bose sound system, for a media wall that Gordon Gecko could love (at a price the common geek family could almost afford). With the jumbo Gateway TV hitting the $3000 mark, it won't be long until those jumbo flat screens are affordable for all.

3. A serious MP3 Jukebox for El Rancho Indebto. How about any song you could ever want, in every room, at a moment's notice? The Internet economy was going great guns until they busted Napster. Now I'm surely not advocating unrestricted piracy, but to put it simply the music industry needs to figure it out and give us our music--all of our music--with a reasonable subscription plan.

4. MP3 in my little Honda (and in my wife's Honda, too). I want the real deal--a hard drive equipped MP3 unit--not a CD player that merely plays MP3 CDs. It might turn out to simply be an Apple iPod or perhaps a nifty Kenwood Music Keg, or maybe not. Wouldn't it be cool to have an 802.11 card in the car, to boot? I dream of filling up the MP3 tank wirelessly ... top it off with high-test, check the air in the tires, and download the new Brian Setzer Orchestra Boogie Woogie Christmas album, pppppplplplpluhhhhhlease!

5. A wireless wildlife detection and repellant system. I love to see the deer, bunnies, and groundhogs. I just hate to see them tearing up my garden. If only X-10 would get on the ball and build a system to detect and disperse those critters ... hook it up to some remote-controlled water cannons and it would cross the border from utility into entertainment! Of course, I'd want to control it via PDA.

6. Remote control for the hot tub. Since we're on the topic of remote control, why can't I turn up the temperature on the hot tub via the Internet (with a PDA, natch)?

7. A Handspring Treo 300. I'll admit it, I only picked up the T-Mobile Sidekick (Danger Hiptop) because I didn't want to shell out five bills for the Treo 300. T-Mobile has the right idea with all-you-can-eat data. The mobile Internet will only take off once the hardware and usage plans are affordable, so lets get on with it!

8. An armful of Kyosho MiniZ RC racers. Baby, it's cold outside. Lets race these crazy little RC cars on the carpet in front of the fireplace, instead of out on the frozen driveway. I'll take a Honda S2000, a Mugen NSX, a Subaru WRX, and a few nifty Formula One race cars to start. After all, I need enough to share with my pals ... but wait ... how can I resist Speed Racer's Mach 5?

9. A pair of Ford GT40s. While I can't afford the real thing from Ford, surely someone can swing a couple of the latest 1/32 scale slotcars from Scalextric for my stocking. Think slotcars are too retro? Not techie enough for you? They scream, brother! Now let tell you about the PC timing system on my four lane track ... and check out the crazy cams and live help at Rad Trax. Come to think of it, I don't know if I can live without a Ninco MINI Cooper or two.

10. A tablet PC loaded with the latest painting and drawing software. I've longed for a mobile digital drawing pad since the first time I worked with a drawing tablet (more than a decade ago). I want to paint those sunsets digitally, without wires, and with my feet in the sand.