After a Labor Day hiatus, Clever Deviations is back with the shiniest buzz-worthy links in technology and interactivity.

Loyal to the Core
Did everyone’s favorite stylish giant begin its fall into becoming another out of touch corporation? There is a lot of activity in the Apple community and not all of it is as fruitful as it may appear. Apple announced a 33% price cut to its iPhone as well as a “refund” for current owners. Mashable also has evidence of the long rumored network upgrade for future iPhones, begging the question - how early is too early when it comes to early adoption of Apple hardware? The answer is, “It’s never too early,” at least according to the 1 million iPhone owners that snatched up the sleek handset in its first 74 days on the street.

On Apple’s software front, iTunes’ upcoming changes may have been at the root of NBC leaving for Amazon. Apple wants to cut the current prices of all tv shows on their online store by 50%. Combine this with the possibility of movie rentals coming to the service and it seems like their iPod monopoly is only going to continue to grow. At least until the Macoholics wake up and realize Steve Jobs likes your money just as much as his old buddy, Bill Gates.

Passing on the Coolness Torch
Poised to secede Apple’s throne of the hippest tech company around, is Google. They’ve been hanging out with the new kid in class, Facebook, making it so your profile will show up in Google’s own search results. Don’t worry, your incriminating photos are safe and you can hide your profile if you change your security settings. However, there would be interesting implications if Facebook profiles tied into Google’s plan to incorporate video ads into search results. Before the paranoia sets in though, WikiHow has provided a nice guide showing you how to ungoogle yourself.

Never Leave Home, Ever
Online courses are a must at the collegiate level these days, and Wired is reporting that virtual schools are growing at a rapid rate for K-12 students as well. For the student who virtually graduated, he or she will feel right at home stepping into the work place with Read/Write Web’s Top 10 Online Office Applications. I’m guessing those eventual Google and Apple University grads won’t be stepping into a Microsoft Office anytime soon.

You Seem Different
Clever Deviations is an organic resource at this point, growing and changing with every iteration. If you care to peer into the methods behind the most recent changes, Copyblogger has a really interesting article on how to write a social media press release.

Enjoy the articles.