Google announced this week that they will be launching a new service soon called "Knol" (meaning a unit of knowledge). It's designed to be a source of knowledge similar to Wikipedia. Their aim is to allow experts to write authoritative articles covering their areas of expertise. Sounds a lot like Wikipedia, right? Well, with Knol, Google will allow authors to have profiles so the user can know exactly who wrote what. In addition to the accountability of the sources, Knol will also allow authors to place ads on their created pages, giving them a portion of the revenue generated from the ad clicks.

You can read more about it on Google's official blog.

With Christmas around the corner I have started looking at all the things I don't need but really, really want. A couple of months ago I bought an HD TV and armed it with an HD TiVo. I promised myself (and my wife) that I would stop there but secretly knew that a regular SD DVD player was an embarrassing item to have in my entertainment center. In my search for more HD goodness, I started looking at HD DVD players and Blu-Ray players. I have always hated the idea of using a format created by Sony because of the cost to the consumer (ie, PlayStation Memory Cards) so my searching was more HD DVD oriented. Today I found the one feature that beats Blu-Ray one million times to one.

That's right. Season One of the Original Star Trek in HD. Only available in HD DVD format. What more could you possibly need to convince you that HD DVD is the format to have?

I was one of the brave, or some might say, crazy, folks out shopping on Black Friday. I got a jump start on the game by going to the Midnight shopping extravaganza at the Tanger Outlets.

I shopped at dozens of stores at Tanger. The worst experience was at The Gap. There was a line just to get in the store. I stood there for about 10 minutes before running out of "patience" - the ever diminishing resource of all adults.

My shopping party happened upon a lineless J. Crew. I thought maybe they didn't get the memo about the midnight shopping but I peered in to find employees happily waiting for the rush of customers. My shopping party started a four person line, and within minutes the line at J. Crew began to grow, though not to the likes of the line at The Gap.

I found a few bargains there, and started the register line. With all the different specials, discounts, midnight extra specials, etc. it took forever to check out because of trying to figure out what was on sale, what was not, and so on. But I left with a bag full of great deals.

After wondering through a half dozen more stores I made my way around to Polo. I walked in and glanced through a few sale racks. I made it across the back of the store and was startled by what must have been a line more than 100 people long waiting to check out. What is going on? How could the line be soooo long? Didn't they have enough staff to handle the crowd? I left in a huff, expecting the same in every other store.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Banana Republic with a line that was clear! Banana Republic knows how to do shopping right. Their sale was 40% off across the board - no exclusions. That is the primary reason they had no lines. There were no questions at the counter - the price was 40% off whatever was on the price tag. As a result I made three complete trips to Banana Republic. Had I been in Gap or Polo or any other store, I would have stood in line for an hour or more and left swearing never to return. I spent the majority of my money in Banana Republic as did anyone else who shopped there.

Bravo to the brilliant people behind that sales strategy!

Kindle is a new wireless reading device from Amazon that has a revolutionary electronic-paper display to provide a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. It is simple to use and does not require a computer, cables or synching. Its wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.

Users purchase books directly from the device and they are delivered wirelessly in less than a minute. More than 90,000 books available, including more than 95 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers and prices start at just $9.99 for most books. In addition, Kindle to the top U.S. and foreign newspapers, blogs and is lighter and thinner than a typical paperback. Kindle has a long battery life and holds up to 200 titles.

For more information, visit Amazon.com.