Welcome back, techies! Time is just flying by -- I'm completely reeling that Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. Crazy. Let's slow down and take a look at some of this week's top stories:

Pres.-elect Barack Obama has confirmed that he will appoint a chief technology officer in his cabinet -- a new position that he'd pitched and promised during campaign speeches. No word on who he will appoint -- but stories abound with possibilities, including some comprehensive ones from our friends at CNet.com. Don't look in Google's direction, though -- CEO Schmidt has confirmed that he isn't interested.

For those of you with little techies at home -- like my 2-year-old who knows how to work a mouse, my Zune, the Mino, the Razr and the complicated universal remote -- here's some news to bite into: Sesame Street officials announced that the classic and always-relevant kids' show will be hitting the internet, with full episodes available for download off iTunes. No more spending $20 for a 30-minute DVD! Yay!

This is a little out there, but stick with me: Ever wonder what really happens right after you die? People with near-death experiences have visions of a white light and flashes of memories -- but what is the brain actually doing? Scientists in the Human Consciousness Project are out to find out by monitoring the brains of patients at participating hospitals by hooking them up to brain machines while they are in cardiac arrest. I know, it sounds totally morbid, like a modern-day remake of Keifer Sutherland's Flatliners (great movie) but the possibilities are awesome!

SFGate has a transcribed interview held between outgoing Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and Silicon Valley's think-tank bloggers about the state of airport security and what these people would do to fix it. More interesting, I think, are the questions they asked him about why we still have to take off our shoes at checkpoints and why official systems are so insecure. Fascinating stuff.

Cool -- see you all Friday!