Curious George: Tax writeoff?? It seems like every month I hear someone use that timeless phrase, "Yeah, I guess I'll buy it. I'll just write it off on my taxes." I have a question about this. more inside

Leonard Nimoy Music Video The video is in quicktime.

Google Suggest Beta This is just too cool not to post. Start typing a search and Google will begin to narrow it down for you, along with telling how many search results it would give. more inside

"There is no doubt about the fact that the disease has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," Following on from this post, it turns out that Victor Yushchenko was poisoned before Ukraine's general election. Check out the BBC's before and after photographs, and timeline, as the Chestnut Revolution continues. Of course, we'll need a theme tune (mp3), and shadowy help from the US. This, my monkey chums, is a proper election.

Tim Burton's Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - teaser - Our first look, I guess. I don't see how anybody could do better than Gene Wilder's manic, slightly disturbing performance as Wonka, but Burton certainly has the sensibilities to do more justice to the story. I suppose one can't have the best of both worlds. But this actually looks.. intriguing. Via Boing Boing more inside

Vodka Pipeline running from Belarussia to Lithuania uncovered. The thin three kilometere long plastic pipe, buried a few centimeters underground, ran under several roads, along a riverbed and ended next to the home of a Lithuanian citizen.

Museum of Soviet Synths. Some of these are pretty innovative like the "synth squeezebox" but I think most of these are just knock-offs of US synths. via nerdfilter

On March 1st, 2002 the results of this study was released. Sodium pentobarbital was found in at least half of the dry dog foods On March 1st, 2002 the results of this study was released. Sodium pentobarbital was found in at least half of the dry dog foods they had tested.

Toronto Meetup? jb and I are in Toronto for the holidays, and thought it might be nice to meet some monkeys while we are there. Possible days are between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 or early January (2-7).

Curious George: Games for Xmas gifts. Specifically, I'm looking for personal opinions/recommendations on: two-player games; 2-4 or more player games; and large (4-8 or more) family-friendly games. Must be easy and quick to learn. Must not be long, drawn-out, strategy-type thingies. Must be newer or lesser-known; something you can purchase for a gift, not something you'd do yourself with a standard card deck, pen, paper, or dice. more inside

War Is a Racket. After decades in the Marine Corps, Major General Smedley Butler wrote a brief book explaining his views of the whole enterprise. (The entire text is online.) He went on to claim that he was a gangster for capitalism.