When I was in junior high, my grandparents got me an alarm clock with AM/FM radio, and that radio made it with me all the way through high school, college, three moves and the first two years of being married. Surely, it was a lot more dingy looking and unimpressive, but when the thing went off - I woke up. That's what it was supposed to do.

This Christmas, when shopping for others at the Apple Store, I picked up something that would immediately obsolete that old thing - the iHome iH5. Forget the name for a second... think of an alarm clock that works with your iPod in the morning, waking you up to any song you have, and then doubles as a soundsystem for the iPod the rest of the day. It's great. And the sound is very good too - Volume 10 is good enough for filling a room, and the sucker goes all the way up to 40 - not that the neighbors would be too happy about that.

If you have an iPod already and haven't given much thought to taking your alarm clock into the digital age, it's time. Check it out.

It's awards season. Kudos to Box Office Mojo, just to remind me what came out when.

This list shows the Top Ten movies that came out in 2005 that I both saw and enjoyed. I admit I haven't seen everything, so just because it makes the list doesn't necessarily make it a world-beater.

1. Munich
2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
3. Wedding Crashers
4. Fantastic Four
5. Fever Pitch
6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
7. Must Love Dogs
8. Fun With Dick and Jane
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
10. 40-Year-Old Virgin

Sometimes, you think you're on a roll, and then after a few bad days, not only have you lost all of the money you made, but you're in the red - even on blue chip stocks you thought made sense. Heck, today's stock market tumble was so bad, even my 401k lost more than a thousand dollars all on its own. Google was down $36 a share in one day. Yikes!

It's enough to make me want to record this loss on last year's results to help with taxes this year. I don't know how well Uncle Sam is going to treat us come April 15th, but we could sure use the money.

It's January 20th - inauguration day. Well, if it wasn't 2006 anyway. We've got three more full years of Bush as our president, barring any unforeseen changes. With the elimination of civil liberties and usurping of power, the Constitution may be amended to allow third terms. Who knows? Just a thought - not a pleasant one.