It is crunch time for all those people (mostly guys, as many of the shop assistants will tell you) who have left all of their Christmas shopping down to the last minute.

Well we are here to help you make those decisions if your choice is a tech gift, or at least guide you to the sites offering you a plethora of advice depending on your tastes and the size of your wallet. Many of the technology sites have a holiday gift guide, but the best I have found is the semi-interactive one created by ThinkGeek (www.thinkgeek.com), whose slogan is "Stuff for smart masses". Some might ridicule the slogan for having one "m" too many due to the site's Christmas welcome "Season's Geekings", but the holiday gift centre is on solid ground with its gift finder application.

You start by choosing one or two gift types you want to get for your target receiver. The categories include gadget, toy, stocking stuffer, games, kids, and so on. Next you choose a price range with a two-ended slider. In the next step, you choose among several interests you think the person might have. The categories include zombies, Star Wars, sysadmis, monkeys and mad scientist. Depending on the price range you input you should get a page full of what I found to be varied and interesting gift ideas.

Wired magazine also has an online gift suggestion guide, but it is based on pre-set price categories. The guide is available here: http://www.wired.com/reviews/package/wishlist2009 PC Magazine (www.pcmag.com) has taken a different tack by publishing a gift idea every day. It really is not very useful. PC World (www.pcworld.com) has a more traditional guide. CNet.com is a must visit for a wide choice. CNet also has a section on the "Top 5 Worst Holiday Tech", warning you away from making an expensive mistake. CNet is known for really testing the technologies it recommends as "Editors'Choice".

Other tech sites which might be useful are blogs such as CrunchGear (www.crunchgear .com), Boy Genius Report (www.boygeniusreport.com) and Engadget (www.engadget .com). These sites list a lot of good and offbeat technologies, but they are hard work to scroll through and do not contain reviews. Good luck in the annual hunt.

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Why aren't there more women geeks? That question is the focus of a new study by the University of Washington. The answer is "environment" when it comes to why girls and women shy away from careers in computer science, says Sapna Cheryan, a University of Washington assistant professor of psychology and the study's lead author.

"The stereotype of computer scientists as nerds who stay up all night coding and have no social life may be driving women away from the field," she says. "This stereotype can be brought to mind based only on the appearance of the environment in a classroom or an office."

Cheryan bases her study on a theory of "ambient belonging", or the feeling that you fit or don't fit in somewhere. She describes it as the sense you get right away when you walk into a room. You look at the objects and make an instant appraisal of how you would fit with the objects and the people who are typically found in that environment. You also make a judgment that you belong or do not belong in the environment.

Cheryan based her conclusion on four experiments involving about 250 female and male students who were not studying computer science.

She was investigating the possible reasons why the proportion of women in computer science is dropping while the proportion of women in such disciplines as biology, mathematics and chemistry is increasing.

The experiments seem to be "thought" experiments that may explain part of the reason for the decline, if they even achieve that aim. In one experiment, students entered a small classroom that either contained objects stereotypically associated with computer science such as Star Trek posters, video game boxes and Coke cans, or non-stereotypical items such as nature posters, art, a dictionary and coffee mugs. The students were told to ignore the objects because the room was being shared with another class. After spending several moments in the classroom, the students filled out questionnaires that asked about their attitude toward computer science.

Women exposed to the stereotypical setup expressed less interest in computer science than those who saw the non-stereotypical objects.

Men placed in the same situations did not show a similar drop in interest in computer science.

Cheryan said this study suggests that a student's choice of classes or a major can be influenced by the appearance of classrooms, halls and offices. Excuse me? If you are attracted to machines, coding and 1s and 0s such appearances may actually be appealing (of course I am speaking as a non-researcher).

Remember, the students used in the study were not studying computer science.

The other three experiments asked students to imagine stereotypical and non-stereotypical objects in various working environments, including a Web design company.

I skip to one of the conclusions: "The more women perceived the stereotypical environment as masculine, the less interested they were in that company."

I think part of the answer to the original question lies in this conclusion, rather than the "appearance" of a place or classroom, especially if "environment" means a much larger concept - mental environment. One can say it is the chicken and egg syndrome. The tech field has historically been overwhelmingly male oriented, as has science, mathematics and the military. I remember that there were no women in the computer science class I took in high school.

They instead opted, or were channelled by peers and teachers, into home economics.

Perhaps what is needed is not a change in scenery, but more women mentors or examples of female computer scientists during college recruiting days. Then perhaps we can get a Billie Gates.

Send any comments to elamin.ahmedgmail.com