So, TiVo Series2 now has a bunch of Web content from Yahoo, TiVo To Go that works with iPod and PSP, video podcasts, and of course, that cute little easy-to-use TiVo interface. Plus, it's $19.99, according to the News.com Deal of the Day. It's not rude to give a gift that has a monthly fee, is it?

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Per Engadget, Motorola has confirmed that the EV-DO Motorola Q will land with a nuclearlike explosion in the first quarter of next year. Can you tell I'm excited? Can you tell it's time for a fabulous, superskinny, QWERTY-equipped smart phone upgrade that's not a Treo? Bring it on. Bring it ON!

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Just to be clear: we are not talking about the root kit. This is an all new set of Sony BMG CDs whose copy protection causes a security breach on your PC. And this is an all-new patch for the hole that causes yet another security hole and requires yet another patch. Sony can't wait for 2005 to end.

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Almost immediately after the much-heralded November 22 debut of the Xbox 360, the Web was quickly awash in reports and rumors of glitches, breakdowns, and problems that users were said to be experiencing. Three of the main complaints: game lockups, overheating power supplies, and scratched discs.

In the face of at least one lawsuit, Microsoft's official story (as cited at Kotaku) is that the rate of complaints is "below the 3 percent to 5 percent expected with new electronics products." As reported by CNET News.com, Microsoft urges 360 owners experiencing any problems to visit the company's official support page for possible solutions. If that fails, they can call 800/469-9169 (MY XBOX) for return instructions; repaired or replaced models should arrive within a week.

While it's hard to know how widespread the problems are, there are some common-sense precautions you can take to safeguard your Xbox 360. It's our guess that many of the alleged lockups and glitches that users are experiencing are due to overheating issues. You may not need to go to the MacGyver-like box-and-string solution championed by one GameSpot user, but you should be sure to give the console plenty of ventilation; the rear of the console needs to remain unobstructed so that the cooling fan can do its job, and the large outboard power supply should be unhindered as well. While we certainly can confirm that the 360 runs hot, we've experienced only smooth sailing with our review sample (a standard retail unit). That said, it's worth noting that we follow our own advice and keep it out in the open, not wedged into a tight, cramped entertainment unit, and we haven't played any marathon gaming sessions; we rarely have the unit powered on for more than four hours at a time.

The scratched-disc issue, on the other hand, is very real--if you flaunt Microsoft's specific instructions and move the console while it's powered up. We made the mistake of moving the 360 from a vertical to a horizontal orientation while it was running--and proceeded to grind our Madden NFL 06 disc into oblivion. Bottom line: Don't manhandle the Xbox 360 when it's turned on, and you should be fine.

That's the (minor) extent of our Xbox 360 horror story. What about you? Has yours crashed yet?

Assistant Editor Will Greenwald contributed to this report.

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Let me give you a sneak peek at something we've just launched that we're really excited about and hope you'll like and find useful. If you'll peek behind our curtain, you'll see Best Practices: Tips for your small business. It has stories in a bunch of topic areas that our research showed is relevant to small business, such as sales, customer handling (CRM), management and finance, and more.

We want to make CNET's At Work area even more useful for your business, not only giving you the best info about the technology you need to run your company, but also helping you use it to best effect. It's all about solutions, even if the solution is not completely tech-driven. We know technology doesn't exist in a vacuum.

There's more coming. Take a look, give us your feedback, and let us know how we're doing. Your input will help us give you what you want.

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