Google Goggles This site uses maps from Google Earth and allows you to fly an animated plan around some major cities of the world using the arrow keys. You can even bomb these cities using the spacebar!

CuriousGeorge: What happened to phone etiquette? I remember it being usual say "goodbye" at the conclusion of a telephone conversation. more inside

Rum punch A new bar in eastern China is offering customers an unusual outlet for anger - by allowing them to use the staff as punching bags, state media said today.

Amazon Grocery Reviews Via Metafilter more inside

Wank like there's no tomorrow The record, apparently, is seven-and-a-half hours. This must require rigorous training. Go to it, lads and lasses.

Film Director in Trouble Over Swastika T-Shirt A German film director (of Turkish descent) is being investigated for wearing a "Bush" t-shirt with a swastika instead of an "s". In Germany, the swastika symbol is illegal even as an intended insult. Apparently, it's even illegal for Der Spiegel to show a picture of the T-shirt! more inside

He was almost the first... .....but he got beat out..... more inside

Curious Conglomerating George: Antiques? Stamps? Fine art? Matchbooks? Pez dispensers? Is there something in your monkey habitat that is beginning to look suspiciously like a collection without your realizing it?

Hidden Pictures There are nine dolphins in this picture. At least that's what they say. Where? (I can only find six.)

Bay Area (Berkeley?) Meetup Plans are afoot for some kind of meeting of the monkeys and monkey-like people this coming Saturday (8/12). Nothing definite yet, but it seems like it maybe something in the 7 o'clock range, location as yet to be determined. more inside

Curious George: What, think you're an expert or something? What are you a bona fide expert in? more inside

If we allow gloryholes in Nyack, the terrorists will win. Or so Stephen Baldwin says. more inside

Being a loner reduces immunity and heart health. Which is too bad, given that, in the U.S. in any case, we've become a society of loners. (The article in the second link was expanded into a recent noteworthy book.) more inside

Curious George: Blacklight photography with a digital camera I need some help with digital photography. This is the problem: I take a photograph at night with a blacklight only to get an image that is okay, but basically purple and missing the detail I'm looking for. more inside

Who's the boss? He said, she said. I have no idea if "Liz Jones" and "Nirpal Dhaliwal" are real people. I rather hope they are not and this is all to help sell a book, but either way, why not read about their marriage from each perspective? more inside

Half of U.S. still believes Iraq had WMD. Ay caramba, that's depressing.

Dubai does it again! And again! Most of us have probably read about their housing developments, but this is the first I'd heard of ski resorts in the desert.

"The vision was that people should not have to deal with the technology stuff." The BBC marks the 15th anniversary of the World Wide Web. Except... more inside

The story of an imaginary weapon. Hafnium-178 was touted as the foundation for the next great wonder weapon. more inside

Houses overgrown with kudzu. Kudzu is native to southern Japan, introduced to the US in 1876 and now a dreaded weed that grows up to a foot a day in the southern summer, the perfect climate. It's often referred to as "The vine that ate the South". Southerners, the best solution to your kudzu-related problems may be...goats! more inside