And now for something completely different.

A goofy Internet prank just might save the career of a once famed musician….at least that’s what Rick Astley is hoping for.

You may remember Astley as the popular English singer from the 1980’s, who rocked the world with his hits “Together Forever” and “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

Like most one-hit wonders from that era, Astley quickly faded into obscurity following his short-lived success.

That was until an unbelievable phenomenon struck the web - simply known as “Rickrolling”.

Rickroll - v. - [rik-rōl] - def ¹. The act of fooling a friend into watching the “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video by sending a link with descriptive text unrelated to Astley or the song (i.e. Check out the video of this crazy thunderstorm).

With over 15 million combined views on the top three Rickroll YouTube videos, this strange trend has absolutely exploded within recent months.

So much so that RickBlock filters have been developed for Web surfers hoping to avoid the painful song. Even Scientology protestors have begun blasting and singing along to “Never Gonna Give You Up” outside of church headquarters..

And you better believe that Mr. Astley is taking notice of his newfound success. In a recent interview with the new King on the Interweb, Astley said that he too had been Rickrolled and that he found the movement to be “spooky”.

Lucky for Astley, though, it looks as if he may begin to see a return on the revival of his #1 hit, announcing an upcoming 8-show arena reunion tour across England.

While intrusive and undoubtedly annoying to anyone who has fallen for the prank, you can’t help but chuckle at the way in which this song has made its way back into the mainstream.

And with the current state of the faltering music industry and musicians/record companies scavenging for alternate ways to generate revenue, it’s amazing to see a once renowned artist make his way right back into the limelight - without even having to lift a finger.

On another note, did you see that ridiculous video of the dog with 6 legs?!

Dear Kevin Rose,

I know that we only met for about 1 minute last week, but I felt compelled to write you this letter out of desperation.

There seem to be some rumors floating today around about a possible Microsoft acquisition of Digg. Something about a $200+ million deal. Listen: I love money as much as the next guy. But, selling Digg to the creator of the Zune would be a complete disaster.

The Digg community (as far as I can see) is about as anti-Microsoft as possible. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I saw a positive MS article or a MS-related comment that didn’t get immediately buried. Diggers simply do not respect the path in which Microsoft has taken (ref. Vista). They do like Apple. They do like Linux. Not big, bad MS.

A sale to Microsoft would effectively mean an end to what has made Digg so great - a supportive, independent community focused on sharing the most breaking news with one another. Not a corporate-driven, mega-site with alterna-goals. Upon sale to Bill Gates, you will see a mass exodus to sites like Mixx and Propeller, as diggers begin to feel betrayed and generally let down by the site that they love so much.

The Digg community has been good to you. And, for the most part, the majority of diggers (as much as they may complain) remain extremely loyal to you. Other social voting sites have come and gone, but everyone seems to return to Digg. We love it, and we don’t want it to change (for the worse).

So please, whatever you do, don’t sell to Microsoft.

Your pal,

Ryan

This letter was written on Windows XP.