It's time for another weekly installment of The Scanner, otherwise known as "The NXT Desk goofs off and looks up random stuff on the web instead of writing something better."

Growing up in the '80s, you knew the cartoons and shows you were watching were messed up. Now thanks to the Internets and some reflection, we can see just how insane and mind-warping they were. (Thanks to NXT reader Sean)

The RICKSTER SPEAKS! The L.A. Times Web Scout tracked down Rick Astley to talk about rickrolling. Outstanding. (Thanks to NXT reader and Rickster fan Tim.)

Luke over at RealWorldReally finds strangely good news for young workers:Boomer retirements can be a boon for Gen Y workers. Now you just have to figure out if you are Generation Y or not. Good luck.

IF the Internets say it, it must be TRUE: Another case of someone getting CraigsList looted at random. What's scarier, actual home invasion or people thinking they have a right to your stuff because the Internets told them so? (Hat tip: Boing Boing)

Don't know what to get your favorite blogger who has a obscene bacon
obsession for his birthday? Maple-Bacon Lollipops is what. April 13, mark your calendars. (Thanks to NXT reader Rèal)

How do you follow up Maple-Bacon Lollipops? Candied Bacon Ice Cream. That would be excellent with birthday cake. (Thanks to NXT reader Grace)

"You have to fall back on superior firepower and superior intelligence. And
that's all she wrote." Not this time Mr. Spackler. A couple of Canadian geniuses took the "Caddyshack" groundkeeper's advice and tried to smoke out some gophers. It did not go so well. (Hat tip: Randball)

What would be better than a basketball bracket? An bracket of the most evil robots of all time. I'd gamble on that. (Hat tip: Pop Candy)

Score an odd win for the "Daily Show" and the "Colbert Report." For some reason CNN is creating a half-hour news comedy show. Personally I laugh most times I try to look at Wolf Blitzer.

I came across this on Cinematical, but apparently Ricky Gervais (Of "The Office" and "Extras" fame)is working on a new movie Called "This Side of Truth," and the cast includes: John Hodgman, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor, Louis CK, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. InCREDIBLE.

Turns out that L.A. Times expose connecting P. Diddy to Tupac's murder has some holes. A lot of holes, according to The Smoking Gun, which calls into question source documents used in the story. The Times has come out and owned up to the mistake. Oh Diddy, you win again. (Hat tip: Romenesko)

Corey Doctorow over at Boing Boing links to an interesting new piece he's written on the differences between media that help us multitask and things that just interrupt us. Take a minute, read, and consider how much IM, Google Alerts, texts, phone calls and other things either help or hurt your day.

Score one for Internet Piracy. Comcast and BitTorrent have reached a stalemate. The popular file-sharing protocol for snaking out movies, TV shows and games, was being blocked in some cases by Comcast previously. That humming sound you hear is thousands of hard drives filling with copies of "300," "Semi-Pro" and "Lost." (Hat tip: Machinist)

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