Apple's little iPod is an amazing bit of gee-whizardry, it can do all sorts of things, from helping your learn French to helping you lose a few pounds, and it plays music as well. There are more than 100 million of the devices that I once thought of as just a music player, it seems there's nothing the little box can't do. So what does the iPod do for an encore?

How about helping us save the planet?

OK, playing your iPod video won't magically suck greenhouse gases from the air or reforest jungles, but you can watch an episode of Big Ideas For A Small Planet, available as a free download on the iTunes Store. Afterwards you may feel so gung-ho about going green that you'll start thinking about what you can do to help improve our world, or at least reduce the causes of the problems our planet currently faces.

The free episode is on fuel alternatives and show several enterprising and resourceful folks who are the possible vanguard of a movement to ween ourselves from fossil fuels.

Did you know that the first diesel engine ran on peanut oil? So what, you say?

Well, as opposed to diesel made from petroleum crude oil, bio-diesel is a renewable fuel source; it can be grown. Prepared properly, bio-diesel can burn cleaner than petroleum diesel, thus reducing gases thought to cause global warming.

That and other tidbits and facts, as well as some rather quirky individuals are featured during the 25 minute episode, and it's worth a watch just for the entertainment value; it's really a well done show.

For a city boy I sure do love me some nature, I can watch it all day long.

When I was a kid I use to spend hours at the Baltimore City Zoo watching the animals watch me. I felt sorry for many of them because they were caged, not free to roam whatever wilderness they belonged to.

One of my favorite shows back then was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I don't know why, but I got a kick out of watching Marlin Perkins direct Jim Fowler to wrestle that snake or net that pissed-off elephant. (Of course, that was in Mr. Perkins' later years, early shows had him up to his elbows in the action. Check out the vintage clips of the show.)

I also loved the National Geographic Specials (and not for the glimpses of the bare breasted native women either, though that was always a plus), nature was fascinating to me then and it still is today, which is why I was so happy to find a series of National Geographic Shorts videos available for free on the iTunes Store.

This is absolutely stellar stuff folks; everything from killer whales chowing down on sea lions to belly dancers.

Check out the big (and I mean BIG) South American centipede that eats its own skin, or the six foot wing span of flying foxes, or maybe you'll want to see an octopus go one on one with a shark. They're there, 77 episodes in all, each about 3 minutes long so download several.

One final note: I'm a huge fan of monster movies. Not the ones with oozing, nasty looking creeps where the theme is to see how many scantily clad co-eds can be dispatched in the shortest amount of time and the gruesomest (not a real word, I know, but it should be) way. I'm talking about real monster movies that feature werewolves, Godzilla, freaky aliens, or my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Newsome.

(She was evil incarnate in support hose and a tight salt and pepper bun. To be fair, Mrs. Newsome likely thought of me as a little monster too; I had a quick temper and was not intimidated by authority figures, except for my mother, whom Mrs. Newsome knew. And now you know my pain.)

It is hard these days to be a monster movie fan, they really don't make them like they use to. I did see one movie several years ago that was a really good monster flick, it was called Deep Rising and it starred Treat Williams as the lead monster killer.

What was great about that movie was that it followed the tried and true monster movie formula:

• Only hint at the monster in the beginning then reveal more and more as the show progresses
• The monster seemed to be unstoppable
• The monster has some weakness that the good guy discovers and exploits
• The monster is destroyed and the good guy gets the girl

Don't worry, I didn't ruin anything for you, that's how all good monster movie work. Beside, it's not so much the destination, it's the journey that's the fun part, and Deep Rising takes you on a wild ride. I had hoped there would be a sequel, but it never happened. Ah well.

Anyway, I mention Deep Rising not because it is free on iTunes, it's not, but it is available now on iTunes for just US$9.99. In my never-so-humble opinion, Deep Rising is the ideal addition to any monster movie fan's collection.

Really good stuff!

Good stuff there.

More free downloads at the iTunes Store: