There are some things in life that no book, no parent, no mentor can teach you. You just have to get out there and do it and see what happens when you do.

When my daughter was wee we lived a lot further north (of course, nearly everything is the U.S. is further north than Florida, but stay with me) and during the winter we often used a kerosene space heater. I was always nervous about using one especially with my curious little girl around.

When we brought the heater home I made a big show of unpacking it in front of my daughter. The whole time I kept telling her that it was a dangerous thing and that she should never get close to it, never touch it. I knew my little girl, and I knew that my warnings were heard, but would likely not be heeded. Sure enough, no sooner than I had filled the heater, turned it on, and left the room my sweet little one came nosing around. She waited until I was out of sight, but I peeked around the corner and watched.

She inched closer to the heater and got within arm’s length, then stuck out a finger and touched the side. I was about to run in and grab her, but she quickly withdrew the finger and clutched the singed digit as she ran from the room, tears streaming, saying, "Never, never, no more! Never, never, no more!"

I caught up to her and she held the finger up to me, sniffing, but not screaming in pain as I thought she might. There was a little red spot on her index finger, it was burned, but not enough to even swell. I soothed it with butter and didn’t say a word. The lesson was learned.

Some things you’ve just gotta try, no matter who tells you, or how much sense it makes not to.

Such is the premise of the new podcast, Dang! Billy Manson does not pretend to know everything, but he, like my daughter, isn’t afraid to try stuff out and then uses the podcast to tell us about it. And sometimes, when he gets a good idea or knows something that the average person may not, he clues us in on that too. (Like how to make those cool volcanos you often see at school science fairs! Sweet!)

Billy shows us how in Dang!

This is a new podcast so there are only three episodes, but each is chock full of the useful useless information designed to fill the void between your headsets.

Grab Dang!, Dang it!

Speaking of useless: What do you do with an invisible friend that winds up dead?

That’s a tough question for me since I’ve never been good at hiding bodies, invisible or otherwise.

Gabe is far more astute at taking care of dead things than I am. He wisely calls in a corporeal friend to help him get rid of his incorporeal buddy. I should mention that the buddy is female. You may now let your imaginations off the chain.

Invisible Friend is weird, funny, and about four degrees off center, which is to say that it is worth a watch.

If anything, it may teach you a lesson on the evils of binge drinking, but you won’t listen. You’ll wish you had when your invisible friend winds up dead. Of course, then it’s too late for, "never, never, no more." Too late!

Again, only three episodes of Invisible Friend, but more are on the way. Or maybe they are already here, just invisible.

There are some folks that want to be invisible. Hitmen, for instance, make a living by killing without being seen or caught. After all, there’s no fun in getting caught. It’s even better if you kill for a good cause.

Natalie Cross kills for a good cause. The people she targets are the evil refuge of our society. For her, a little wet-work is akin to social dusting, it’s necessary and it’s best done by a woman who knows how.

But Natalie is a woman and it’s hard to turn off her maternal instincts. She wants to nest, which means she needs a husband. But who?

Such is the premise of Pink: The Series, a made-for-Net series that is on par with one of my favorite shows, Burn Notice.

This, in my never-so-humble opinion, is a good example of the potential of the Internet and podcasts. The quality of this show is first rate. I just wish the episodes were longer than four minutes or so.

Grab Pink: The Series.

That it for this week.

For those of you who missed them I just want to alert you to the fact that all three presidential debates and the single vice presidential debate are available for free downloading at the iTunes Store. There’s also all sorts of political commentary by pundits from both parties as well as (supposedly) independent views and analysis.

I don’t care which way you decide to vote, but you should vote, and you should do so after understanding the views on important issues and policies the candidates have.

Learn. Understand, Vote. It’s your country. It’s your right. Don’t waste it.
(paid for by the Committee for Trying to Get You Off Your Butt and Vote)

More free stuff at the iTunes Store below, with direct links...

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.