A satellite's eye view of the earth Or, for those of you who can never remember whether it's nighttime over there, and always wind up waking your distant friends/family/lizard alien overlords there's this. more inside

A man, a plan, the pentagon, a 757 (flash) A short flash film raising some unanswered questions. There are lots of sites out there that refute this movie's claim. What is a conspiracy theorist to think?

Got books? Don't want 'em? Others do! Adopt a library!

Anti-Monkey Butt Powder For all your bowlegged, sweaty, rash-ey needs.... Via blogdex

Ook! is a programming language designed for orang-utans. Since the word "ook" can convey entire ideas, emotions, and abstract thoughts depending on the nuances of inflection, Ook! has no need of comments.

ligeti; more inside

Something Fishy. Consider the case of the Tangerine Rodeo Fish, a creature that has evolved the ability to encircle other fish in gaseous byproducts of its internal systems -- bubbles -- thereby making the other fish disappear and scoring the points it needs to survive. By capturing more fish of the same type in the bubbles, it scores exponentially more points, allowing it to survive longer. This is just one of the species you'll learn about in the new IMAX production, Oh No, More Damn Fish.
[Via Little Fluffy]

Juan the Bear attempts Zoo escape - with a bicycle. Yes, there's a photo, thank the Lord. Following on from the tragic tale of Nina, the lovelorn Komodo Dragon who died trying to find happiness, and the scary Gorilla thing from March, is this some kind of co-ordinated plot we're seeing emerge? And how does the recent spate of Monkey Thefts tie into it all? Does this provide a clue? Does it? more inside

RNC Protest Photos Taz at Loaded Mouth took some shots of the protests at the convention. Personally, I'm with Matt Yglesias on this. more inside

Unusual Museums of the Internet: Ranging from Bandaids to Superhero food to Zippo lighters and 105 others in betweens.

Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite's lost valley. It's time to bring it back.

Long Bets: Accountable predictions. The purpose of the Long Bets Foundation is to improve long-term thinking. There is real money involved, at least to participate, and along with bets there are predictions, some optimistic, some pessimistic and some that are just plain fanciful. And so I predict... more inside

Paul Krugman interview on WFMU. Paul Krugman is on The Speakeasy with Dorian right now - 6pm to 7pm EST - talking about the Rebublican Convention and his new book. You'll likely be able to get the archive at one of those two links when it's over as well.

You have bad taste in music! Who says soapbox oratory is dead? Hooray for this guy! His appearance at Christina Aguilera / Justin Timberlake is classic. He even tries to reason with fans of Linkin Park. (QuickTime) more inside

Why haven't they retired? Four years ago, the U.S. elections were said to be about much more than choosing a President. They were to be about choosing one, two, or possible even three new Supreme Court justices. Much was speculated about retirements once Republicans took full control of Congress. more inside

Batman Sucks Forever Read the whole thing. more inside

60MPH in a what? Giuseppe Cannella had a big surprise for his mother-in-law when he put a jet engine on the back of her wheelchair...

Curious George: What do you do with a stray pet? A very young kitten got trapped inside my car engine this weekend while trying to escape a rainstorm. We got him out, but can't find his mom. None of the shelters will take him because he's too little. And my other 2 cats have already voted "no" on keeping him. more inside

Banana Power!

V ideogame Music (midi files) - More found at the Video Game Music Archive