Unbelievable.

Is nothing sacred? The Next Web reports that Gandalf--an absolutely critical figure in most nerds' adolescences, the motherfucking Merlin of the 20th century--has been pimped out to promote Microsoft's line of Windows Phones:

Microsoft has partnered with Wunderman to create new digital, press and outdoor materials, featuring Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and other characters from first film of trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.

Warner Bros. has agreed to license the use of the characters in the UK, US, France and Germany — perhaps the most popular markets for devices running Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 operating system.

All those years of careful brand management and painstaking assembly of arcane deep cuts like the Silmarillion, and now this.

Galadriel would shit herself.

(Photo: The Weather Channel)

Winter is coming, at least according to every Game of Thrones fan on Reddit. This year, the witty folks at the Weather Channel have decided to name every winter storm. As it turns out, whoever was tasked with writing these names is kind of a huge sci fi nerd.

D is for Draco--perhaps as a nod to Mr. Malfoy in the Harry Potter series? Lord of the Rings fans will recognize the G name--it's Gandolf; for Star Trek fans, there's Khan for K and "Q," the devious God character who drives Captain Picard insane, for the letter Q.

The best part is that the Weather Channel refuses to cop to the fact that the names are ripped out of sci fi/fantasy lore. For each name, they provide context to demonstrate where it's from. Gandolf is "a character in a 1896 fantasy novel in a pseudo-medieval countryside," they reason. Q is "the Broadway Express subway line in New York City."

We hope this season's biggest Nor'easter comes in time for the letter K so that we have an excuse to clench our fists and scream KHAAAAAN at the angry sky.