http://you-talking-to-me.com Maybe you shouldn't click this link. more inside

A Special Christmas Message for everyone trying to keep the Holidays Holy
yes, I know I'm going to Hell for this, or at least get permanent placement on Santa's Naughty List

AVclub's The Year In Band Names
Editorializing: among the dozens of 'year end list' rituals, this is one of my favorites.
Previously: 2008 2007 2006

Attention Australians: There's no need to send 'Care Packagee' of Tim Tams to friends and relatives in 'the States'.
Pepperidge Farms (makers of the popular Milano cookies) is now importing them to the US (through March, promising return in October, Chocolate Creme & Caramel in many stores, Classic Dark exclusive to Target). Natalie Imbruglia shows Graham Norton how to do the Tim Tam Slam. And if you want to hide your Tim Tams away, P.Farms provides a Holiday Disguise (pdf).

It's Official... Your Pet Can Catch H1N1 Flu... (even if it's NOT a pot-bellied pig). Well, one cat in Iowa and two ferrets in Oregon and Nebraska, but still zero cases of transmission from pet to human. Common sense advice from the Iowa Department of Public Health here, but is this what will finally start the Swine Flu Panic!!! that we know we're capable of? more inside

All Google Searches Are Now Automatically 'Personalized' even if you're not logged into a Google account (coookeees!). You can opt OUT (not a 'one-click' process, though). more inside

"Refreshing, Existential and Disturbing" That's what Search Engine Watch calls Ask.com's Top 10 Questions of 2009. Considering the site dropped the Question-based format in favor of plain search years ago, they're also way behind the curve. But it's not the worst Top 10 list you'll see before the end of the year (and you'll be seeing a lot more). more inside

Cats For Gold ...a mashup with lumps.

You might call it Flash (in the pan) Friday

Libya's Qaddafi Threatens Switzerland... with a UN Resolution dissolving the country. (1) The UN rejected it immediately (See? They do make SOME sense there.) (2) It apparently is the latest escalation of an incident in which the dictator's son was arrested in Geneva for assaulting his own servants. (3) Hey, it's a lot more civilized than a lot of things he could do... Oh, that Daffy Qaddafi...

The Robin Williams Rollercoaster
(the whole chart, readable-sized, here) more inside

The Complete Guide to TV Sharks You Won't See on "Shark Week" Because Shark Week may have jumped the shark. Plus bonus shark sacrilege.

There has to be an easier way to design a font than hiring a racecar driver to drive the shapes of the letters. But that's how they made the "iQ font" (download).

Starwho? Whatbucks? NOT Transformers, but Starbucks in Disguise.

BEST Response to a C&D Letter EVER more inside

So it seems the Department of Prisons thought books written by Barack Obama contained material "potentially detrimental to national security." Or, they did until after the November election. (Such a well timed move) But if a convicted al-Qaida terrorist and Bush-Assasination-Plotter wanted to read those books, then there really IS an Obama-Osama connection, right? (That's a rhetorical question; a moronic rhetorical question)

InOtherNewsFilter: Man Dies after Falling Into Vat of Chocolate in NJ
He obviously didn't yell "FIRE!" (apologies for crappy sound quality recorded too loud but it was the best version I could find and I love these guys)

Forget about the nuke tests and missile launches. It appears that North Korea has declared CYBER WAR on the U.S.ofA. It's a good thing that Kim Jung VeryIll's minions are too undernourished to be competent, or this might be a serious threat.

Self-Help Hurts ...so says one Canadian Study. My editorial opinion: Duh!

The 15 Dumbest Names for Web 2.0 Startups selected by a "Plugg organizer" so they are all at least WORSE than "Plugg". And some more. And a few more from 6 months ago. And 10 more from last year. And 25 more from 2 years ago. Okay, it's an old meme, but as long as there are startups like oooooc.com...