A lot of ridiculous convergence products will be rejected by consumers before manufacturers stop converging them. Still, some of them are going to stick, and I think one idea that will is Net radio-enabled stereo systems — like the Philips FW-i1000. It’s a mini-system like you’d find in any dorm room, but with a network port that allows it to access hundreds of Internet-based radio stations. Heck, if the combination of television and the Internet seems inevitable, then radio and the Internet is practically a done deal.

Just back from California. On the flight out, I devoured Michael Lewis’s “Next: The Future Just Happened,” the follow-up to his wildly popular “The New New Thing.” Though not as epic as its predecessor, “Next” was terrific, a keen survey of social change in the post-Net age. Lewis convinced me that he is a truly gifted chronicler of eras, and while in San Francisco, I eagerly hunted down a copy of his first book, “Liar’s Poker,” a less polished yet thoroughly engaging recreation of the bond trading business during the heady Eighties.

I’m off to the Golden State today to visit some family and friends. It’s my first post-September 11th flight, and though the threat of terrorism doesn’t worry me so much, the thought of long and complicated security procedures —lots of ground time—makes me not really anxious to fly at all.

The Onion’s A.V. Club has a great interview with Frank Miller, who just yesterday released his much-anticipated “The Dark Knight Strikes Back.”

Happy birthday to IT, which debuted today, Behavior LLC, which incorporated today, and me, who turned, er, thirty today.

This take on the “Secret Santa” concept is an idea almost too cute to be taken seriously, but maybe harder to be cynical about. Happy holidays.