Happy Almost-Halloween, readers! Here at Byte-Sized, we're already lamenting the onset of an early winter -- yesterday's Patriots game as solid evidence.

So, let's all burst out of the doldrums with some tech headlines! We haven't done this for a while ...

-I know you all love those little netbooks -- if they had cheeks, I'd pinch them -- but experts are now questioning the viability of the genre moving forward. Everything's gotta grow up, I guess!

-From suck to blow? No, this isn't a dirty joke; it's the future of our favorite 'never say never, try it 187 times' vacuum maker Dyson. The inventor's next project? A fan with no blades.

-Are you in the market for some ink? No, not printer ink, you geek. I'm talking tattoos! Here are some awesome techy ones for your consideration...

-Hi, Jeff Moss! Remember me? We met once, and it was so cool! Here is the famous hacker talking about the internet's age of innocence and why it's over.

- In today's hugest news that no one is talking about (!!!), Barnes and Noble is reportedly throwing its hat into the e-reader marketplace tomorrow with its 'eBook' -- which boasts a color display (because of, you know, all those normal novels that are printed in color?) and a very Kindle-like design.

Side note: Since Sony refused to send me one of their e-readers to test out vs. my Kindle 2, I strolled into a Sony store to try it the other day -- and it's safe to assume why I never got one in the mail: The thing is awful. Beyond ridiculous. Bad user experience, WAY too many buttons, a wicked delay and a teeny screen -- not to mention the distracting colors and hard-to-carry metal case. Yikes. Aaaaanyways.....

So, back to the BnN eBook: Awesome! I can't wait to see one of them! Hopefully the designers and developers have studied the market and understand what makes the Kindle rock my little reading world and slammed the covers shut on the Sony.

Most importantly, though, you need to understand what's going on here with the Barnes and Noble announcement.

You see, BnN is a brick-and-mortar store that benefits from the sales of REAL BOOKS -- but they also sell the experience of visiting one of their library-like locations: Strolling the shelves while sipping a latte, standing in line at a mid-night release party, curling up in a semi-comfy armchair and deciding which of your stack of browsing books are actually coming home with you.

With the introduction of an e-reader, BnN is lending credence to what amounts to an infantile market (no matter how much I love it and think it's the future) of people carrying thousands of pages of text on a device I could literally stick in my back pocket. Or, a small purse. Either way, this is a HUGE step for a company that makes its living off real paper and hard covers.

Not that I really think the bookstore will ever go away. There is still something to be said for a home library of your fave tomes or a quiet afternoon sipping a latte and perusing the new arrivals.

It's just a distinction and step forward in the world of reading that is worth thinking about!