Recession, XM-Siruis Merge, Cable Ripoff, South Park Free, and PSP Turns 3

21% Plan to Spend Rebate - According to a CNN poll, only 21% of Americans plan to spend their government rebate checks. The majority are either going to add to savings or use it to pay off bills, which pretty much aligns with my predictions. I have a feeling this so called stimulus plan will be a big whopping bust.

XM-Sirius Merger Approved - The Department of Justice finally approved the merger of Sirius and XM. It only took a year for the government to finally decide that the merged company wasn't a monopoly. Ironic considering the government doesn't seem to care about any telecom or cable monopolies that already exist. At least XM/Sirius is competing with every radio station in the country along with MP3 players, CDs, and the internet.

$300 Cables Really Worth $15 - More proof that if you pay a lot of money for "premium" cables, you are just asking to be ripped off. Unless you plan on needing a signal to go a great distance (say dozens of yards), there is simply no reason to drop a lot of money for Monster Cables and their ilk.

South Park for Free - Every episode of South Park is now available to view on the internet. There are three slight commercial delays per ep, but everyone knows that even "free" usually has a price. Seems worth it to me. Of course I already dropped a good chunk of change for the DVD sets so I feel kind of screwed.

Three Years of PSP - The PSP is three years old and now just getting worth using again. I recently got God of War of thoroughly enjoyed the game but now that I beat it once again trying to figure out what to do with it. Don't get me wrong, it’s an excellent portable gaming system and worth $200, the library just doesn't do a whole lot for me. Anyway, click the link above for 50 slides that summarize the last three years of PSP history.