IT probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise to learn that while employees in many companies sit in the cafeteria gossiping about work, or the boss, or the competition, at Google they are doing something else.

At Google, employees are encouraged to go online and place bets on a prediction market — an exchange that tries to forecast events based on the money wagered on a particular outcome.

Google’s Lunchtime Betting Game - New York Times

CES has no shortage of displays. And when MAKE offered us some TV-B-Gone clickers to bring to the show, we pretty much couldn't help ourselves. We shut off a TV. And then another. And then a wall of TVs. And we just couldn't stop.

Watch the video -- this is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks!

Confessions: The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES

In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM

If the world were divided into neat groups — say, between users of Tasers and MP3 players — perhaps TASER International would have no reason to unveil their latest invention. But it’s not, and they do.

Ladies and Gentlemen (but mostly ladies), the “TASER® C2 Holster Hard Case w/1GB MP3 Player,” or as Stuart F. dubbed it in the comments, the “iTaze: ”

Taser Toting, Without Missing a Beat - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog

Are movies like “Hannibal” and the remake of “Halloween,” which serve up murder and mutilation as routine fare, actually making the nation safer?

A paper presented by two researchers over the weekend to the annual meeting of the American Economic Association here challenges the conventional wisdom, concluding that violent films prevent violent crime by attracting would-be assailants and keeping them cloistered in darkened, alcohol-free environs.

Economists Say Movie Violence Might Temper the Real Thing - New York Times

OMG -- I've never seen a movie get 0% on Rotten Tomatoes before!

One Missed Call - Rotten Tomatoes

Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment will stop selling DVDs made with Toshiba Corp.'s high-definition technology, bolstering Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray in the battle to become the next home entertainment standard.

Warner Bros. to Sell High-Definition DVDs in Blu-Ray

In a rare Fortune interview several years ago Warren Buffett warned that America was "selling the farm" to live "high on the hog." Forget the hog: that dream's gone, and the farm may not be far behind.

Ten resolutions that will help you survive the coming bear market - MarketWatch

Should you be investing more overseas? That's a big question for America's 95 million Main Street investors. Same goes for professional investors with their retirement money in "Lazy Portfolios," diversified portfolios of index funds. It may be the biggest challenge facing all investors today.

'Lazy portfolios' ride overseas allocations to juicy returns - MarketWatch

H. R. 4837
To authorize the Space Shuttle to be flown from 2010 through 2015, and to authorize appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for this purpose.

*sigh*

HR 4837 Spacefaring Priorities for America's Continued Exploration Act (Full Text) | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens