Here’s another edition of ten random items found in the weekly blogjog.

You’re welcome to post ten of your own, and link here if you do!

1. NOT YOUR TYPICAL NAME CHANGE: An Illinois man is petitioning the courts to allow him to change his name to “In God We Trust.” Steve Kreuscher says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him in tough times. I suspect there’s a much better way than this.

2. HAPPY BIRTHDAY…NOT!: Did you celebrate last Friday? One of those famous things we love to hate turned 30. I’m talking about spam…not the mysterious meat product but the annoying email. Believe it or not, the first spam message was sent to a mere 393 users on May 2, 1978. Each of the addresses had to be typed in manually. I suspect if that was still the case, our spam folders would be relatively free of clutter.

3. THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION: In 15 years, says NBC boss Ben Silverman, we won’t be using television for very much except launching new shows or watching “big event” shows like American Idol and the Super Bowl. Over at TV Squad, an excellent point is made about this prophecy: “If NBC wants us to go online to see the final scene of a TV show, then we’re going to change the channel and watch something else. I don’t want to have to work to get my entertainment.” And digging up a show online is still work. Not to mention those evil commercials that you can’t fast forward or skip through to get back to your show. With all the sales of HDTV sets, I don’t think television is on its last legs just yet.

4. VERY DISTURBING: Warning: this is not your usual coatrack. It’s made of doll parts, but still…there’s something just…wrong. See for yourself.

5. FORTY-FIVE QUESTIONS: Carly’s got a new meme over at her blog, Ellipsis…Suddenly Carly. Go forth and answer.

6. HELP THE HUNGRY: This Saturday, May 10th, you can help your local food bank keep its shelves stocked by placing canned goods or other non-perishable food items in your mailbox. Your local letter carrier will collect the food when your mail is delivered. Every can (or other nonperishable item) helps. It’s an easy way to help the less fortunate with almost no effort involved. We all have something in our pantry that we can donate. If you don’t, you have three days to go to the store and buy something.

7. BACKSCATTERING: Lately, particularly at work, I’ve been getting email errors advising me that emails I sent out couldn’t be delivered. Trouble is, the emails identified have subject lines advertising low-cost watches, Viagra and similar messages that indicate the emails in question were clearly spam. I’ve certainly never sent a spam message…so has my account somehow been hacked? No, say the experts: I’ve just received a bit of “backscattering.” Well that explains that, doesn’t it? Here…read more.

8. SOBERING REALIZATION: Have you ever had a moment, right in the middle of a conversation, when a thought hits that just completely derails your entire train of thought? It happened to me earlier, when I was having a brief conversation with an 18-year-old the other day when, without any warning, the thought struck me that at 38, I am more than twice his age. I then remembered what I thought about someone that close to 40 when I was his age. It wasn’t a happy moment in my day.

9. GOOD NEWS FOR KATIE…FINALLY: Don’t get too excited, though. After two weeks in a row of posting its lowest ratings since they were first measured in 1987, viewership of the CBS Evening News edged up slightly. The article also reveals that in a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 46 percent of respondents said Couric should not be replaced. Where are these people when the broadcast is on the air and Nielsen is counting?

10. GOING WITH THE WIND: Something special has happened in the town of Rock Port, Missouri. The small town went from consuming an average of 13 gigawatts hours of electricity to producing 16 gigawatts hours on its own. It is the first 100% wind-powered city in the country, and is living proof that energy efficiency — even energy independence — can be done.

That’s my 10. Do you have 10 of your own?