Inspired by Lifehacker's Zeitgeist, I took a trip down Google Analytics lane to compute Gizmodo's top 10 most popular stories of 2006.
10. USB Powered BBQ—WTF?
Note to George Foreman: There is a huge and untapped market for in-office grilling solutions. At least judging from the popularity of this mod, which uses 30 USB ports spread out over five USB PCI cards to power a grill that cooks 1 ounce of steak (or bacon—it's hard to tell from the photo). The YouTube video of the USB BBQ is, sadly, no longer available.
9. Exclusive Microsoft Zune Details
The first grope of the Zune music player, as leaked to Gizmodo's Jason Chen, revealed all kinds of juicy details about the buttons, the interface, the FM transmitter and that magnetic headphone thingy on the back. Second base.
8. Zune: First Full Review
A little feel just wasn't enough for you, was it? So Jason had to go all the way and slide the Zune down his pants. We also lear...

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio
It's a long way from a portable Xbox (others' best efforts notwithstanding) but it looks like Microsoft has at least one form of portable gaming in mind if this latest word from the company's European Chief Chris Lewis is any indication. Commenting on the Zune's potential game playing abilities in an interview with TotalVideoGames.com, he says that "gaming is certainly something we're considering for the device." Unfortunately, that's about all he said on the subject, although if we had to guess, we'd expect the games to be more in line with the iPod's offerings than a shrunken-down version of Gears of War. Some form of Xbox 360 connectivity would seem to be a definite possibility, however, given that it's already able to share other content with the console. It also seems likely that this won't be the full extent of Microsoft's foray into portable gaming, in light of some of the earlier indications we've heard.

[Via Joystiq]...

A Chicago mom finds nearly two hours of explicit footage on what was going to be her daughter's Christmas present. In Gear Factor.

Some of you guys love reading Giz as much as we love writing it. But sometimes, that ain't enough to fight off the haters. After the dust settled on the Internort, we ended up scoring as runner ups for the weblog tech awards. Congratulations to Ryan Block and Engadget, our rivals, who are doing a good job over there.
Having said that, I'm proud of what we've done in the last six months, too. We were the first to give you in obsessively in depth reports on the Zune, PS3, Wii, including the first dual unboxings and unpantsings. Our photos are beautiful, and although our grammar and spelling suck, well, Firefox 2.0 has that spellchecker built in, so we should be ok with at least 50% of that problem by the next award poll.
Maybe next year, the underdogs will be victorious.– Brian Lam

P.S. Speaking of underdogs, that skinny guy in the photo is friend Josh Davis, and thats really him sumo wrestling in the US open.

Chanell Martin thought she was being a cool mom when she gave her 12-year old daughter a shiny new Zune for the Holidays. But as it turns out, her daughter's "welcome to the social" was anything but innocent. Apparently the Zune, which Martin purchased at a local Walmart, came with a 1-hour and 44-minute homemade porn video. We're talking guy-on-guy action here. Walmart's response? After blaming MS for the porn, they refunded the Martins and gave them a $25-dollar gift certificate. Here's hoping it wasn't a gift certificate to their new movie service, who knows what else the poor girl will find there. – Louis Ramirez
Gift Was Not What They Expected (Video) [My Fox Chicago]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

It's not the first time, nor the last, that people will find porn on (supposedly) new or recycled consumer electronics. This time it happened to a family in Southside Chicago who purchased Microsoft's Zune from the local Walmart for their 12 year-old daughter. The daughter, who says the box looked like it had been opened (hint: the charger was missing) discovered that her player contained porn. When confronted, the Walmart store manager initially blamed Microsoft for the pre-load. Later, a Walmart spokesman said they would investigate the matter and provide the couple with a full refund plus a $25 gift card -- presumably to pick up a copy of "My Two Daddies" to help the mother explain to her daughter why the "5 men were having sex with each other." Uh, "join the social" Microsoft?

[Thanks Justin, and everyone who sent this in]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FU...

I have been getting a few emails of people asking where they can get a Zune if they are like me and live in Australia. Even though its not out in Aus yet (should be by early to mid 2007) you can purchase one from Mwave.com.au for $379 AU. Depending on what colour, it will [...]

Picture this, you get a loved one a Zune for Christmas, in this case a 12 year old girl. Its opened up and then you are asked “What is this?” and it turns out to be some happy snaps of a gay orgy going on. Thats exactly what happened to a couple and their daughter in [...]

Leo Laporte, former host of The Screen Savers and currently of G4TechTV Canada's Call for Help, offers his, um, impassioned take on the Zune. The Zune doesn't just sit there taking the heat, however, as it strikes back and "frosts his man-parts." And apparently you don't send songs to other users, you "squirt" them. Right. Ew. Bad puns, more screaming, the end of DRM and other weirdness inside. – Matt Buchanan
[via Digg]
Thanks Slacker

Here's a cheap and easy way to extend your Zune's battery life. If you're not going to be using the player for a few hours, turn it off by holding down on the directional pad and the back button at the same time. After three seconds, the Zune will power down into a sort of hibernation mode.
By using this instead of just holding down the play/pause button, you'll lose the ability to start up again exactly where you left off, plus you'll have to watch the Zune startup logo again, but you save some battery life. – Jason Chen
A simple trick for extending Zune battery life [Zunerama]