Earlier this morning, Al Gore, along with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in dispersing knowledge regarding the connection between human activities and global warming. Along with bragging rights, Gore and Co. will share $1.5 M in prize money, a commemorative gold medal, and a diploma. (Check out MTV’s article for the full story.)

Pardon us, but for an award as major as this the parting gifts seem a little run of the mill. The cash is chump change for Gore, (who will most likely give it Leonardo DiCaprio to ensure his next documentary appears in more than 5 theaters) and we can only imagine the how long the marathon rock-paper-scissors game will take to decide who gets to bring medal home.

For next year however, we strongly recommend including the following items in the kitty. Super cool and super fun, they’re sure to put a competitive fire in bellies of all the contestants.

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Seems like everyone’s playing games these days. So, either the boss is out of town or we’re all suffering an early mid-life crisis. Either way, for most people work is a lot less sucky lately.

We’re going to give a lot of credit on this to shoe and sandal maker Sanuk, who’s been hard at work making life less boring for the masses. (By the way, did you know their name is Thai for “happiness”?) Their indoor bocce ball set is transforming cubical life around the world, and introducing an old world game to a new generation. Who knew the old men in bad hats and too-tight pants were having so much fun?

And as an added bonus the balls can also double as jumbo hacky sacks, so now even the warehouse crew can get a piece of the action.

The music industry was turned on its ear this morning when Radiohead allowed the launch of their fifth album, In Rainbows, to be downloaded for FREE. Recently ending their contract with EMI/Capitol, this marks their first release since Hail to The Thief in 2003.

Fans do have the option of paying/donating any price they deem worthy. But why would they? Because the chance to send major music labels a big F-U is a deal too sweet to pass up. With all proceeds going directly to the band, the launch is not sitting to well with record executives. Especially when powerhouses Oasis and Jamiroquai are rumored to be planning their own free album downloads.

Typically once all marketing and production costs have been paid, bands can expect less than a buck per album sale. But with this revolutionary endeavor all negotiations and middle men are cut out.

Ironically, Raidohead’s public generosity could make Rainbows their most profitable album yet.

Check out Zero Paid.com’s in-depth article on the launch, and take a moment to review the pie chart explaining how many gazillions of dollars record labels are really making. Scary stuff.

Our friends at Dwell.com are always so quick to report on the cool come-ups. Take their recent post on the new iPod Death Clock website for example. Ultra convenient, this site predicts when your little friend will bite it. All you do is enter the serial number, and BAM! You’ll get a readout stating whether it’s all good or a gonner. Think about it, with this information you can appear all-the-more chivalrous to that clingy coworker you had the one-nighter with: “No, you go ahead and keep it. We’ll always have the memories of Taco Tuesday.” Or then again you may want to get it back prior to dumping your latest mistake right before Christmas. We’re just hoping this type of technology really takes off. We’ve been wondering about our Betta fish and Sandra Bullock’s career for a while now.