This Week's Weirdest Technology: Chocolate Maggots and Pet Costumes

Halloween is right around the corner, evidenced by all the aisles in our local department stores and even supermarkets. Spend just 5 minutes anywhere near costumes and you'll start saying it yourself - "I want to be..." - in excited tones that suggest you might really believe you could be that monster, zombie, fairy or ghost if you just spend the money to get the right costume.

Holidays are big money. For Halloween alone, most parents can expect to spend anywhere between $25-80 on a single child according to some statistics. Think about it; the average costume is (I've looked) $20 for a 6-yr-old child. Add to the costume face paint, a flashlight, the all-important trick-or-treat basket, and any other Halloween must-haves and your pocketbook can start looking suspiciously deflated. All of this just in time for you to save up for Thanksgiving goodies ... right on the heels of Christmas spending.

And don't forget dentist bills. Technology lets us produce some pretty weird stuff, and the weirder it is the more kids will eat it up - literally. Sugary sweets have taken the place of old-religion rituals and our kids love it.

The first of my weird technology pieces this week feeds into the whole Halloween theme. Imagine this: After all the trick-or-treat fun, you sit down at the kitchen table with a sugar-eager kid to sort through the bounty of booty. Out spills a colorful array of candies - the Nerds in snack-size boxes, lots of chocolate (which you might have your eye on), and then this strange tin falls on top of the pile. Intrigued, you take a closer look. Then you recoil in horror as in bright yellow text you read the word "Maggots".