Are you literate? Do you have a job that pays money? Then this deal may be for you. Even if you do not read that much, twenty percent off is always a good deal, and the holidays are almost around the corner too.

Ask and ye shall receive goes the old saying. I have not yet been hit by it, but it appears that blog comment-spam has begun to creep on the radar recently. This article details the effects that this latest Internet scourge have had on some blogs. It is really sad to see the depths to which these people are willing to sink and imagine the effects it can have in diluting free speech and open discourse on one of the greatest public forums ever known. If you have been affected by this, the good news is that tools to battle this spam are already popping up.

Who was the weaseliest of the weasely this year? Find out in this completely unscientific poll over at Dilbert.com. Plenty of expected winners, but it is interesting to note that although we have the Weaseliest Individual over here in America, we were not the winner of the Weaseliest Country award. This honor belonged to that individual's arch-nemesis. Draw all the inferences you like (please do, it's nice to talk to someone besides myself around here), but the weasely winner here seems to be politics, which should not surprise you.

Christmas is just around the corner and so are all the hot, new gadgets. Need a way to remotely control your hot, new media player? Need a way to sync your hot, new camera phone? Logitech has got your back covered with the diNovo Media Desktop. Now it is not to often that I find myself smitten by irresistable gadget envy (especially $250 gadgets), but there is something about this setup that has me drooling. Hopefully they start selling these all over the place, so I can at least get a good look at one in person.

According to Apple, "Hell froze over." Today is the official release of iTunes for Windows. I have been drooling over those pretty little iPods for a couple years now, and if iTunes is as great as the hype says, then this could finally push me to buy one. Apple has always excelled at innovating, but tends to falter on mass marketing, where PC makers are more than happy to pick up. With the iPod and a cheap, user friendly music service, Apple may have finally found their elusive killer app. I will be trying iTunes out soon, but beware early adopters because early reports are indicating that a fairly beefy computer may be required to run it smoothly.

Oh joy of joys, I actually get to prove how much of a geek I am. You may remember my mention of the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings movies coming to select theaters. Well, the list of lucky theaters has finally been released! A local theater in my area is releasing them, so go ahead and see if one in your area is releasing them in all of their extended glory. Hopefully, I can actually escape work on time, and I will be able to try to endure the 11 hour marathon.

Sometimes little things happen in life that make you stop and think. For me, it was a three day loss of my precious Internet connection. I never really realized how much of my life is spent online until I woke up Saturday morning to a dead cable modem. My mornings usually consist of rolling out of bed and glancing through the morning paper (online edition), some forums I frequent, a few other tech related news sites, and the day's weather forecast.

Without these luxuries, I really did not know what to do with myself. I could not check up on world events, I could not research random thoughts that pop into my head, I could not play a quick round of my new multiplayer-online game, and I could not even print out a recipe for dinner. The advent of the Internet really is a revolution, and it makes me realize how lucky I am to be a part of it. It also amazes me to think about how many countless volumes of information are available just a few mouse-clicks away and how much I already take that fact for granted.

On the other hand, I was a TV kid growing up. A lot of my days were spent parked in front of the TV. Maybe even a few too many days (don't even ask what my daily average was). Over the past few years, I was rather proud of myself because I have been watching less and less TV. Although I still will credit some of that to actually doing more, I now realize that a good chunk of that was simply shifted over to the Internet. As soon as that connection was gone, my mind was racing (after the first few hours of shock), and I actually got quite a bit accomplished.

Anyway, before I start rambling, I still think that the Internet is a boon to myself and the rest of the planet, but just maybe, I could afford to cut back a few hours of surfing. It would give me some extra free time to devote to one of my many hobbies and could hopefully prevent it from becoming just another wonderful, time-sucking box in my house.

If only I was still a nerdy little boy. Looks like the local museum is getting some very cool additions in the next few years. I still have many fond memories of one of my favorite places to visit growing up. The sketches of the additions look very cool, and I am curious to see how a 26 foot, hot wax-erupting volcano looks.

On a side note and only related because of its nerdy undertones, there are new trailers making the rounds! First and most importantly, the first, high-quality Return of the King trailer has been released! Needless to say, I was quite excited to see it. Just beware if you have not read the books because it is high on the spoiler-meter. And next, a short little clip of the new Clone Wars cartoon has shown up. It is pretty brief, but still gives you a good idea of what it will look like. It is made by the creator of Samurai Jack, Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, so if you like his style, go check it out.