Rape Is Not A Compliment Melissa McEwan (Shakes) received this comment at her blog. "No one wants to rape you, Shakes. Sorry to inform you." I have my reservations about giving nutcases a platform, but Shakes has several good points about warped perceptions about rape. Some men think it's only the pretty girls. Someone should tell that to the men raped in prison, elderly women or children who are raped each year.

50 Pages of Neat Lots of cool stuff, which is apparently some design-minded person's blog, and is perfectly designed for wasting lots of time. There's some excellent stuff there though, and something on the linked page looks familiar . . . Oh, and via BunnyCorp

Danger Will Robinson! Someone has mass-produced the robot from Lost in Space. more inside

Baka Pygmies Culture, music and rites of initiation in the Central African rainforest.

Curious George: Tokyo Meetup 24/25/26 January? Don't make me go to metafilter.

100 things we didn't know this time last year more inside

Maury Povich helps a guest overcome her fear of pickles. [ifilm video I found via this]

StumbleUpon (previously) has been the single biggest threat I've ever seen to any chance I had at being a productive human. They have now launched the second biggest threat. I think I have to unplug my computer now.

Honor and Modernity. Is honor an antiquated concept in the modern world? An interesting essay by a Norwegian anthropologist addressing how cultural misunderstanding can lead to tragedy.

'New Organics' found on 'strange' comet, Wild 2. More evidence for comets as the origin of life on earth.

Yay cornstarch! Spanish TV show El Hormiguero fills a pool with a cornstarch-water slurry (also known as "oobleck" — make your own) and has fun with it. Previous weird cornstarchy goodness here. more inside

Thank God our perception of beauty is distorted. Remember the Dove ad (previously here)? Don't know if this is a counter-point or just a well made spoof, but it may just stop you from slow down your drinking and smoking. [flash video]

Your surname - its origins. Its distribution in the UK , or US.

The strange story of Myriam Bédard. An arrest warrant has been issued for the former Olympian, alleging she has abducted her own daughter during a trip to the U.S. to defend her partner against allegations of stealing art by Ghitta Caiserman. more inside

Curious George: online encyclopedia for kids My Kids are driving me crazy with their homework! What they need is a good (free) online knowledge base aka. encylopedia. History, maths and science espcially for 12-16 year olds. F'rinstance - "Daddy, was the Roman empire cruel and civilisied at the same time? If so can you give me 10 examples of each?" Tempted not to quote the Life of Brian's immortal "What have the Romans ever done for us?" I decided to turn to the interweb thingy for ideas. Aaaargh! Where do you start? Help from simians greatly appreciated

The Mefi Compilation Album (wot, no monkey album?)

Every click a coalition death in Iraq.

Language podcasts. Remember that language you were always going to learn? Try it with podcasts. Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian and English.

Rubes So we've talked a little about Rube Goldberg [flash] and his cartoons which have inspired the young, and older, the French, and the Japanese. They've even been used in advertising, but I think this one most exemplifies Rube's style.

Curious George: Xmas cookie recipes Any tried-and-true Xmas cookie and candy recipe recommendations to share? I fill Xmas tins for gifts every year and I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. I'd like some personally-tested and Monkey-approved recipes - what cookies do your family traditionally make/associate with Xmas? more inside