The holiday season has arrived. Along with shopping, baking and spending time with family, one of the nice parts of December is being on the receiving end of the gift-giving.

Thus we present the gift guide to freelancers. Though most of this site’s readers are themselves freelancers, perhaps readers, you might choose to subtly send friends of family a link here. Or just find inspiration for something to reward yourself after all your shopping and baking for others.

• 

  The Hottest Multi-Function Printer. Ever.

  The Samsung SCX-4500 at Apple

  In case someone wants to buy you a really nice gift this holiday season, then look no further than Samsungs part laser printer, part laser copier, part color scanner, and all sleek elegance. With that high gloss, piano-black finish, you may not be able to figure out how to switch the damn thing on, but who cares!

• 

  Moleskine Notebooks

  Amazon’s Range of Moleskines

  Every freelancer deserves a Moleskine. From the top quality binding, to the elastic that keeps the notebook shut and the pocket in the back that’s perfect for loose papers and business cards, these notebooks are serious business.

  That and you just look cool pulling them out to write something down. Unless you’re at a conference full of geeks where everyone has one. Seriously, it’s happened to me more than once.

  Plus there’s one for you no matter what field you work in. They come with ruled and unruled pages, sketch paper and even water colour paper.

• 

  The Cubes™

  The Cubes’ Website

  Have you escaped from the cubicle life? Or are you still trapped there? Either way, you can create a cubicle farm on your desk with this Lego set for unhappy office workers. Then crush it! Looks like loads of fun to me, anyway.

• 

  USB memory sticks

  Shown: Victorinox SwissMemory 128 MB USB Storage Device
  Amazon’s Range of USB Sticks

  Probably one my favourite gifts to receive. We all need space to store and back up our various projects and these days you can fit like 8 gigabytes on a key chain thanks to these memory sticks. Plus as their popularity has increased, more stylish designs have emerged from the standard black rectangle (even a Swiss Army version - shown). USB drives also make great gifts since even if someone already has one, you can never have too much storage space.

  Plus, there’s a bonus for Windows users at least. U3 enabled drives can run applications right from the memory stick, useful for someone who uses multiple computers.

• 

  Skype-enabled phone

  Usrobotics Cordless Skype Dual Phone
  Netgear Dual Mode Cordless Phone with Skype

  More and more freelancers are cutting their long-distance phone bills by using Skype and other Voice-Over-Internet solutions. But using a headset plugged into a USB port isn’t always as nice as having a regular phone.

  So go with the best of both worlds. There are dual-mode phones available from both Netgear and U.S. Robotics that work with both Skype and a standard land line.

  Or on the cheaper end, there’s the hands-free VOIP speaker phone from ThinkGeek for $9.99.

• 

  Stuff the stocking with office supplies

  OfficeDepot

  Unlike their corporate counterparts, freelancers don’t have the luxury of raiding the supply cabinet when they run out of pens, notepads or post-it notes.

  So, a decent quantity of pens, envelopes and other stationary is always appreciated.

• 

  Ambient Forecasting Umbrella

  See it at ThinkGeek

  Tired of being caught without an umbrella? This intelligent masterpiece of umbrella design will let you know when it’s time to take it for a spin, courtesy of daily weather updates delivered to its wireless receiver. And it doesn’t stop there, your new umbrella will stand up to all sorts of wind, rain and general havoc thanks to the ‘gust buster’ design.

• 

  Pirate vs Ninja

  See it at ThinkGeek

  A gong rings. A cannon fires. Two warriors enter the battle arena: one ninja and one pirate… A bizarre and totally useless concept to be sure, but watch this video and see if you aren’t itching for a fight:

Need More? Visit ThisNext…

There’s plenty more great ideas at ThisNext’s Christmas Gift Guide, a highly recommended tour of what you didn’t know you needed.