The little USB stick lets you select which of the three annoyances you want turned on (or all of them) as well as allowing you to set how often the random disturbances happen. Pick a sweet spot and your victim will think they have some sort of horrible virus, probably wasting valuable time and money trying to get rid of it. Oh boy, you sure are hilarious! [ThinkGeek]

Such idiotic shipping practices also waste space on trucks and planes, requiring more trips, therefore more fuel used and more pollution. And it's not like this is something that we haven't seen Dell do before. Think about it: how many thumbdrives could fit in a UPS truck in boxes like these? What about if they were in boxes that were sized more appropriately? There would be a huge difference. And with most online retailers shipping like this, it's a problem that could be easily solved.

Let's shame them into changing. Next time you receive a tiny object shipped in a gigantic box, snap a picture of it and send it to me. Nothing helps change harmful policies like a healthy dose of bad press. [Consumerist via Treehugger]

You know, like how when people learned how to tape songs off the radio in the '80s it almost killed the industry. They're trying to avoid another disaster like that. The RIAA is using the proposed XM-Sirius merger to get their anti-consumer message out there, requesting that the whole approval process hinge on their wishes. It's all about you, isn't it RIAA? So selfish.

You've got to love the fact that the RIAA is throwing their weight around to put pressure on a couple of companies that actually get money from music fans. Why work with them when you can send legions of flesh-eating lawyers after anyone who tries to build a successful business model around music? [News.com]

Our first story takes place in a Best Buy in Toronto, Canada. Reader Charles writes:

...Due to the fact that I used to be employed by Future Shop (a Best Buy owned corporation) during the summer, I knew for a fact that it is not possible to reserve one; I thought I'd ask anyway.

Then someone gets ballsy.

I approached an employee standing near the front of the store and I asked if the store was allowing for reservations for the Wii. He leaned in a little closer to me (which I found to be more than a bit awkward) and whispered, "I can reserve one for you...for a price". I was quite surprised at his response, and even though I had no intention of paying him any extra money, I asked him how much he was charging. He replied, "How much are you willing to pay? Don't lowball 'cause I have other offers." I told him to forget it and walked away.

The dickery doesn't stop there. Reader Kristopher adds to the insanity:

I went to my family's house in Palm Desert, CA, for Thanksgiving and found the local Gamestop to check out for Black Friday. I went there at around 2PM when things settled down just to actually test out a Wii. There wasn't many people in there by that time; probably around four people all in line. I patiently waited so others wouldn't think I was cutting in line to buy something. I politely asked the employee if I could use a controller for the Wii demo station, in which I was responded by an abrupt, "NO." I then paused and asked if there was a reason why not, in which I was stopped mid-sentence by another abrupt, "NO!," and this time the exclamation point is critical because I was literally yelled at in-store. Since I'm a sales manager at my current job I understand Black Friday could have been a stressful day for them, so I proceeded to tell him calmly that, "It may have been a stressful day, but any manager will teach you that in customer service, people don't liked to be yelled at in the store and most managers would fire you for something like that." He then looked straight at me and then the next person in line and said, "Next." I was pretty frustrated at that point, so I asked him to see a manager, in which he told me he was the manager and said, "Please get out of the store."

Well, I obviously left at that point to avoid any more confrontation. I definitely think my Gamestop experience was pretty ruthless.

Have your own stories? Send them in to us. Our emails are on the left. – Jason Chen