For the eighth year in a row, we have compiled an alphabetical digest of ideas, from A to Z (almost), that helped make the previous 12 months, for better or worse, what they were.

We've previously covered a few of these ideas here at MemeStreams:

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model revealed

Amid Pan-Canadian outrage, the NHL issued a decree, informally known as the Sean Avery Rule, or the Nitwit Rule: no more doing that, whatever it was.

There are now a growing number of reports of cases of infections caused by gram-negative organisms for which no adequate therapeutic options exist. This return to the preantibiotic era has become a reality in many parts of the world.

We should be lowering our standards, because there is no point in raising standards if standards don’t track with what we care about.

The action bias, or the desire to do something rather than nothing when you have just been through a terrible experience, plays a powerful role in our lives.

Some excerpts from the digest:

When presented with men and women to lead a company that's going down the tubes, people pick the woman.

Do these air bags make me look parachute-y?

"Personal techno-garter": When it detects, via a special power monitor, that electric current levels have exceeded a certain threshold, the wireless device slowly drives six stainless-steel thorns into the flesh of your leg.

The temptation to appear decisive -- particularly when you're being heavily scrutinized -- can be overwhelming.

It's a silly fad, like leg warmers and parachute pants.

Laziness almost always works.

"We can make a catwalk on Mars! Or on Venus! Or on top of two buildings, like Spider-Man. Whatever!"

Al Gore called on young people to engage in "civil disobedience."

Subjects ignored had a larger appetite for hot coffee and hot soup than did players who'd seen more action.

It was the first-ever forensic dog-poop DNA unit. Naturally, the project faced several hurdles.

The survey showed that Predator crews were suffering through "impaired domestic relationships" -- a problem which might possibly have something to do with the proximity of the Vegas strip.

If the measure sounds desperate, that's because it is.

The jump from 10 to 20 m.p.g. saves more gas than the one from 20 to 40 m.p.g. The move from 10 to 11 m.p.g. can save nearly as much as the leap from 33 to 50 m.p.g. Consumers don't get this.

Virtual kidnappings have become alarmingly commonplace in Mexico.

In many circumstances, privacy advocates get the link between discrimination and the availability of personal information precisely backward.

Duffy's look: street urchin with a stylist ...

"It's something we can engineer," Schiller says.

Rather than just killing off a species, why not see if they can do something useful for us?

The real engineering challenges may not be physics but politics.

Hmm, maybe I should just walk.