ABC

I have been called many things in my life; never, though, an urban myth. But that is what Alan Wurtzel, president of research at NBC Universal, suggested when I told him I got rid of my television set last year and started watching "30 Rock" and "CSI" on my laptop instead.

"I hear about people like you," he said, a hint of skepticism in his voice. Then he hissed what sounded vaguely like an insult.

"You probably read."

Well, yes, I do. But just because I don't have a television set, doesn't mean I don't crave "Gossip Girl."

Americans spent $129 billion on consumer technology last year, but it's a good bet that number could fall in 2008, thanks to the slow economy.

If you're pondering a reduced gadget budget, though, don't despair.

There are many ways to reduce your expenses without going cold turkey on tech.

Whether it's piping free Internet video to your TV rather than paying for cable, selling your old gizmos to retailers for store credit on new gadgets or just shopping smarter on the Web, there are plenty of low-cost ways to keep yourself in the digital life to which you've become accustomed.

This has been the year TV networks finally embraced the Web. As 2008 wraps up, nearly every broadcaster posts its shows online within half a day of first airing them on TV. And the audience for such programming is growing, especially among desirable younger demographics. Twelve percent of teens and 11 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds watch online TV at least once a week, as compared with 4 percent of 35- to 64-year-olds, according to Knowledge Networks.

After Colin Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" last month, the video was published online within minutes. In this case, it wasn't posted on YouTube. Rather, the network's online sister, MSNBC.com, showed the video hours before many television viewers could watch the interview for themselves.

Even the old media, apparently, can learn a few new-media tricks.

The good folks at the "We Can Solve It" campaign are pretty much the biggest influencers that clean technology has. They promote legislation and education that will help America overcome its energy (and yes, economic) crisis.

Hart Seely in Slate:Thursday's nationally televised debate with Democrat Joe Biden could give Palin the chance to cement her reputation as one of the country's most innovative practitioners of what she calls "verbiage."

The poems collected here were compiled verbatim from only three brief interviews. So just imagine the work Sarah Palin could produce over the next four (or eight) years.

Netflix has inked an agreement with Starz Entertainment under which Netflix subscribers will gain unlimited access to 2,500 additional movies and other choices from the Starz Play broadband subscription-movie service.

This latest deal follows on the heels of two recent Netflix agreements with the CBS Television Network and Disney-ABC Television Group, which add current-season episodes of popular CBS and ABC TV shows to the company's growing portfolio of online video content.

Web-savvy viewers routinely catch up with missed TV episodes online, but networks are split on screening them before their premiere.

For the third year, NBC plans an aggressive campaign to make new series widely available a week before their premieres.

Sprint announced new Motorola Renegade v950 and i365 handsets Tuesday for its push-to-talk Nextel service network. The v950 meets military specifications for resistance to shock, dust and moisture, which should cover most industrial and agricultural work.

The Renegade is compatible with other Sprint push-to-talk handsets in one-to-one or one-to-many broadcast mode.

Renegade Feature Set

A major (and somewhat unexpected) obstacle to the hydrogen revolution is the lack of platinum in our world. Prices once peaked at over $2,000 an ounce for the stuff, and they're still up over $1,400.
A true hydrogen economy would certainly see prices spiking much higher than that, triggering invasive mining and exploration.
But the platinum is necessary as a catalyst both at the anode (splitting O2) and the cathode (splitting H2.) At least...it is for now.