Release Notes: This Column is Brought to You by the Letter T

In the spirit of trying new and exciting things in the year ahead, this month I decided to upend my column-writing strategy: Instead of writing about whatever’s stuck in my craw, I asked the folks following my Twitter stream to tell me what I should write about—a contest of sorts. The responses of my fellow Twitterinos ranged from mildly kooky to wildly off-topic, and while there’s absolutely no way to write about everything suggested, I’m going to give it the ol’ Maximum PC try. Here we go.

• The first respondent, @terryrobinson, wanted to know, “What’s next after we win the battle against DRM and GNU becomes the standard software license?” Well, while I love your optimism, Terry, I think it’s much too early to dream of a post-DRM world. We’ve made good progress against DRM in music, but there’s a long road in front of us with respect to movie and game content. And no one’s even talking about electronic books, like the Kindle and its proprietary locked format. So while I’m sure we’ll one day live in a magical Internet wonderland filled with open content, free software, and unicorns, for now at least, it remains a long way off.
• Fellow Rock Band aficionado @strngwys wanted a column about how excited I am to unleash my inner Eddie Vedder when Ten is released this spring. No column required, stranger, just three words: REALLY, REALLY EXCITED.
• I can tell @wunderbar that I’ve never met a cupcake I didn’t like, but I recently learned that Sprinkles cupcakes are worth a 90-minute drive—especially if that’s what your wife wants for her birthday. I’m partial to the peanut butter ones; they’re best enjoyed with a tall glass of milk.
• One of my coworkers, JT, wanted me to write about one of three subjects I’m wildly unqualified to offer my opinion on: piracy off the coast of Sudan, the International Monetary Fund’s role in diplomacy, or popcorn-eating hamsters on pianos. The hamsters are awesome, JT. AWESOME.
• Finally, @johntr wanted me to write about Twitter. While I might not know much about any of the aforementioned subjects in this column, I think I can safely say that I managed to knock this one out of the park. See you guys next month.

P.S.: People who sign up for my Twitter feed will have the only chance of winning in our Win a Tsotchke Trivia Contest. That’s right, I’m giving away all the cool vendor swag that’s sent to me, ranging from mouse pads to T-shirts to netbooks. The contest starts on January 20, so sign up soon!