Where else but the NXT Podcast would you get a discussion on the economy, jobs, winter festivals and topless doughnut shops?

While you were still recovering from New Kids on the Block and the complete dissolution of your NCAA bracket, there was plenty going on under the radar online this weekend.

Let's take a look at what you may have missed.

How am I going to spend my weekend? More than likely dedicating more hours to a TV somewhere watching college basketball. Especially since Mizzou keeps advancing. But for everyone else, there's plenty of action...minus that Digable Planets show. Looks like that's dead. But I do have some details...

It's not all basketball, Facebook and bacon around here this week. Oh no. Thanks to the Scanner that list now includes robots taking care of your grandparents and quitting your job via a tasty cake.

And canned bacon.

With week 2 of the NCAA Men's hoops tournament about to get underway again, I though we should take a quick look at the standings.

The outlook? More of the same.

So Facebook has flinched and is tweaking its new redesign.

Why did everyone see this coming? And more importantly, why did Facebook do it?

It was bound to happen eventually, and no one wanted to see it happen. But today, Videoport Jones and I must finally confront "Twilight."

Well, that and this week's other new DVD releases.

While I was lost in college basketball and the Battlestar Galactica finale over the weekend (I'm still trying to sort it out...humans, cyclons, Siena losing, Missouri winning), there was plenty happening on the Interwebs.

Let's take a look at what you may have missed in the last 72 hours.

I was thumbing through my notebook looking over what I had written about South by Southwest Interactive and came across this:

"What the hell just happened?"

Good question.

We're just hours away from the beginning of what I hope will some day be recognized as a national holiday.

Yes, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is about to start. And there's still time to enter the NXT Bracketstravaganza!

AUSTIN - If there is something South by Southwest has in common with run-of-the-mill conferences and trade shows it's the mounting piles of free stuff you get. Schwag, tchotchkes, trinkets...and outright crap.
It's free. So what is it's value?

The answer is...it depends.

I'm working on wrapping up a few thoughts on SXSW, including the Chris Anderson/Guy Kawasaki discussion on free (which went FUBAR thanks to some technical issues on my part yesterday).

In the meantime, here's a short collection of photos from around South by Southwest Interactive and Austin.

There was plenty more to see than what I captured here, but here's a taste. Watch out for the BBQ.

AUSTIN - If there seems to be one overriding theme I'm picking up on at South by Southwest Interactive, it's the idea that technology and the sheer untapped potential of the new frontier that is the Internet can solve some of society's biggest problems.

So what about racism?

Just because a guy is away in Texas drowning in internet trends, BBQ and general geekery doesn't mean he's forgotten about what really matters in this world:

College Basketball.

It's time to fill out the brackets again.

AUSTIN - If someone proposed putting Halo 3 besides civics and gym class in elementary school, it would produce epic meltdowns at school boards across the country.

AUSTIN - Oddly enough, I'm not the only person blogging, taking photos and reporting from SXSW Interactive.

I know. I'm shocked too.

AUSTIN - When people talk about building communities online, it's not as simple as cut and dry as building condos. Largely because the fate of online communities is shaped by the people in it. And that's a good news/bad news proposition.

AUSTIN - I am not much of a shoes guy. I have shoes. I like certain pairs more than others, but they're more of a utility than a fashion accessory.

AUSTIN - You need the internet, you love the internet, you hate the internet.

It's a complicated relationship.

AUSTIN - I woke up at 3:45 a.m. Saturday morning. That is not a time of day I have been familiar with since college (or maybe that last time I had to make a pre-dawn flight out of the Portland International Jetport.*)

It's a busy day here on the NXT Desk, and as you already know, my weekend plans are in flux.

So here's the Weekend Blog - Express version. But don't worry, it's worth it. (It's got some Jon Hamm.)

My weekend plans got thrown out the window the other day. Why?

I found out I would be going to South By Southwest Interactive.

So much for college basketball...time to pack the multimedia jump kit again.

You know, when I first started up the Scanner a few years back, I really wasn't sure what to make of it. All I knew is I needed some place to collect and run down all the hilarious/awesome/bizarre/amazing stuff that pops up on the Internets.

There really is no other way to explain how Tom Brady's wife, a cover of Rush's "Limelight," Dr. Mario and more Facebook shame fit together.

It's been a wild year for Portland Greendrinks, shooting out of nowhere to now becoming one of the biggest social events in the city.

How'd that happen?

It's a big, big bill of new DVD releases today, including some comedy from alums of "The State," more vampires, Academy Award winners and "Princess Diaries."

Here to sort things out, Dr. Videoport Jones, resident cinematologist.

With RestaurantWeekME almost wrapped up, it's time to see what some of the buzz is online.

Busy, busy weekend on deck. The First Friday Art Walk, Restaurant Week, Watchmen and, oh yeah, a bunch of great shows around town.

No excuses to stay in the next few days.

Let's just cut to the chase: cats in bongs, McNugget emergencies, and attacks on Chuck E. Cheese? It's been a busy week for The Scanner.

Facebook just keeps getting itself in the news lately. Today they've announced some changes that will have an immediate impact on how members use the social networking site.

For the LONGEST time, I've always wanted to do regular reader mailbag blogs, but sometimes the e-mails I get are straightforward questions or simply comments. But in the last few months, things have stepped up. Don't know if the blog has gotten better or having my face on the front page helps. Who knows.

Regardless, I got a really good question mailed in the other day.

What's new on the shelves of your favorite movie store? Excellent question. How about a little Hugh Jackman, some kung fu and a talking chihuahua.

As always Videoport Jones is here to guide us.

I'll take it as a given that plenty of you are home today, either thanks to the mercy of your boss, your school administrators, or just the smarts to stay off the road.
A captive audience. How wonderful. Let's look over some of the news you may have missed in the last 72 hours ... while you were shoveling.