I was glad to see that the iTunes Music Store has recently added two new genres to their growing catalog of downloadable music.

The first one that caught my eye was the long needed addition of a Reggae genre. I’m sure fans of the music will be glad to know that initial searches for Burning Spear and Lee “Scratch” Perry came up very successful (over 20 albums each!) and there appear to be a wide variety of artists and albums ready for discovery. The front page of the section has the artists broken out into four main categories: Roots; Ska, Rocksteady & Lovers’ Rock; Dub; and Deejay and Dancehall. I was very impressed by the organization and variety presented and anticipate spending a lot of time here in the future.

The second new addition is a Comedy genre. Here you can find the comedic stylings of stand-up comedians like Dane Cook and Chris Rock alongside musical comedy legends like “Weird Al” Yankovic (fun fact, Weird Al was the first live show I ever went to). Also ripe for the picking are a variety of audiobooks. Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin are all here as well as one of my all-time favorites David Sedaris.

I’m glad to see the iTunes Music Store branching out to other genres and musical styles. Those “World” and “Vocal” categories were getting a little long in the tooth if you ask me.

If you’re into computers, you’ve probably heard of Newegg. Basically the de-facto standard of online parts suppliers, Newegg has played an integral role in building the foundation of the computer hobbyist’s art: whether you’re building from scratch, or pimping your box to look like a Japanese Dojo, Newegg is going to have the parts you need.

It’s understandable then, that when enthusiasts hear that one of the best sites to find great deals on computer gear, Anandtech, has posted a write up of their tour of Newegg, excitement abounds. Beyond just the sheer geek factor though, this is a great look at the way internet retailers operate.

At first glance, the images look incredibly complex, but when you consider how organized and efficient their operation is, you can really see how online stores have become so profitable and dominant. Now, I wonder if I can win one of those AMD CPUs…

Here’s an awesome comment spam that popped up on our about page, of all places:

Heh. How it goes? Buy it all. ASAP. Last discount in your live (AAAAA!!!!!). Take a rest.

I certainly would need to take a rest after the last discount in my live!

News on the Xbox 360 front blew my mind this weekend. Microsoft quietly released Crystal Quest for Xbox Live Arcade!

Now, I’m sure it’s no stretch to believe that a full 0% of you have ever heard of this 1987 classic. As it happens, Crystal Quest occupies a special place in my heart, as I came across this little pile of code back before the dawn of broadband and the Internet. Indeed, it with a Mac LC and a 1300 baud modem that I pulled down a copy of the original black and white version of Crystal Quest from a local BBS, the stone age equivalent of the internet.

So it was with shocked disbelief that I downloaded the trial version of Crystal Quest for my Xbox, the 360’s triple core cpu chuckling like an older brother watching a sibling struggle to walk. Upon firing up ‘Quest, I can see it’s all still there. Crystals, of course, are in ample supply. Then there are the little things that float around and make noise. And of course there’s the little thing that I fly around, and make noise in, as I collect said delicious crystals. Yup, that’s the Crystal Quest I know and love! As if releasing an updated version of this gem (pun so very much intended) wasn’t cool enough, the fellows that created this port of ‘Quest did easily the coolest thing possible:

They included the original version in its ridiculously archaic state.

Yes. And with that I sit back and bask in the glow of 4 colors, confident in the fact that just like the old days, I’m going to play their game as a trial version. After all, I haven’t paid for it for all these years: why would I start now?