Until we meet again in 2006, here are a few thoughts and trends for your consideration.

Time Warner's decision this week to sell a stake in AOL to Google potentially catalyzes a host of changes for the online ad industry--and, quite possibly, the traditional ad market as well.

There are four more days to shop for Christmas, Hanukkah, (the 8-day festival of lights starts at sundown Dec. 25), "Chrismukah," and Kwanza (the 7-day holiday starts on Dec. 26). But you have more time if you're celebrating Russian Orthodox or Greek Orthodox Christmas.

Online shopping revenues this season continue to surpass those of last year, according to all accounts. While the precise numbers differ---comScore reports gains of around 23 percent, while Nielsen//NetRatings estimates a more conservative 16 percent gain--researchers are in agreement that consumers are spending more on the Web than in the past.

Here are a few things to think about today while you're not thinking about wrapping presents, or wrapping up business in this busy-as-hell week before the holidays.

Last night, while a phalanx of VIPs, Yahoo! executives, advertisers, and others gathered at Avery Fisher Hall to observe "The Apprentice" finale, we watched from our couch, a distinctly non-VIP locale.

Next year, 3 million U.S. consumers will watch TV shows on their cell phones and, by 2009, that number will balloon to 15 million. That's one of the conclusions of a new eMarketer report about mobile entertainment.

In case you still haven't gotten to your online holiday shopping, we decided to do a little reconnaissance on the top search terms being typed into search engines even as we speak. So we asked Hitwise to help out with it.

Way back when, when the Minute was growing up, the connection between Web search and advertising was simple. Everyone used Google, and we liked it! Alas, it was only a matter of time before Google's floundering rivals began rocking the boat, unnecessarily complicating a system that, well, did the job just fine.

Have you done your holiday shopping yet? Come on. You need to get started. Start now. Start anytime. Start at 3 a.m. We don't care. The Web's open.