Hasta La Gadget!

Want to feel better gifting electronics this holiday season? Well, Best Buy finally announced that it would stop charging stocking fees, for returned items (except special orders). So if the products that you gift aren’t exactly what the recipients wanted, they can return them without being slapped with a hefty restocking fee, which was previously 15% for most items (pricey).

Best Buy recently announced on its website:

Best Buy continually listens to our customers, and they told us they want to give confidently this holiday season and every other day of the year — and with that comes easier returns. Effective Saturday, December 18, Best Buy is improving its return policy by removing restocking fees for all products except special orders. Customers can visit BestBuy.com for further information.

To elaborate, The Consumerist reported that in an e-mail sent from Best Buy HQ to stores across the country, the company stated that the new policy would go into effect December 18th and would apply to computers (including notebooks, tablets and iPads), projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS navigation, in-car video systems, DJ equipment and lighting, Pro-Audio equipment, and iPhones. They also said that customers who were charged a restocking fee between Nov. 17 and Dec. 17 can come into the store and get the fee refunded.

Happy Holiday’s Best Buy Shoppers!

Via The Consumerist

A nation-wide pornography block? That’s what one UK politician is gunning for. Ed Vaizey, conservative parliament member and communications minister, is looking to block access to legal pornography, making access to the stuff an opt-in–rather than opt-out–model.

Those interested in looking at adult content will have to contact their Internet providers. Doing so will add them to a “porn surfing whitelist”–a lot more work than the average Internet surfer is currently used to undergoing in order to see naked people.

The move is being pushed as an attempt to block children from seeing adult content. According to a recent study, one in three kids in the UK under the age of ten has seen pornography on the Internet (which, for those of you non-techy folks out there, means that one in three kids in the UK under the age of ten has seen the Internet).

How possible is such a country-wide block? Not very, according to pretty much every ISP in the country. Here’s an example, quoted by the BBC, “Unfortunately, It’s technically not possible to completely block this stuff.

And here’s something from the Internet Watch Foundation, “You end up with a system that’s either hugely expensive and a losing battle because there are millions of these sites or it’s just not effective. The cost of putting these systems in place outweigh the benefits, to my mind.”

We’re sure you’ve been busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off with all the last-minute holiday shopping. If you’ve been too busy to check Twitter this week, we’ve got you covered. We rounded up some of the most talked about topics on Twitter this week so you don’t have to feel out of the loop.

Check out the top trending topics on Twitter for the week ending in December 17:

1. Mazembe
Mazembe, the African soccer team from the Democratic Republic of Congo, defeated the South American team, Internacional, by 2-0. For the first time, an African team goes to the finals of the FIFA Club World Cup. #Mazembe

2. Metrodome
The roof of the Metrodome, home to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, deflated and collapsed, dumping snow on the field below, which forced games to be postponed. #Metrodome

3. Scarlett Johansson / Ryan Reynolds
Scarlett Johansson and the Sexiest Man of the Year, Ryan Reynolds, are getting a divorce. #ScarlettJohansson

4. Text You Get From a Stalker
One of the creepiest hashtags we’ve seen in a while. People are tweeting texts you might get from a stalker. For example, “The view from this tree is good enough for me to see what you’re tweeting right now.” #TextYouGetFromAStalker

5. In High School
People are explaining what they do or did when in they were in high school. If you want to combine two trends from this week, you can use this tweet: “I’ve been following you since we were #inhighschool.

Check out the rest of Twitter’s trending topics of the week after the jump!

Retailers are giving the holiday shopping season one final push today with yet another retail holiday. It’s free shipping day. Some 1,500 stores across the country are participating in the event.

The event was created two years ago by Luke Knowles. It has more than double since last year, when 750 companies participated. According to a recent poll, 37 percent of shoppers plan to buy online today thanks to the holiday. A list of eligible stores can be found over at the easy-to-remember FreeShippingDay.com.

And while you’ve got shipping on the mind, keep in mind these cutoffs for getting those presents delivered by Christmas Day:

FedEx Ground: December 17

UPS 3-Day Select: December 21, Next Day Air: December 23

Priority Mail: December 21

Express Mail: December 22