Bush Declares: 'We Do Not Torture' "We do not torture!" But we need an exemption for the CIA.--> Over White House opposition, the Senate has passed legislation banning torture. With Vice President Dick Cheney as the point man, the administration is seeking an exemption for the

eBaum's World Sucks - NSFW requires FLASH and includes catchy ditty and harmonies. more inside

"Motherlode" of bull semen stolen from liquid nitrogen tanks at a farm in Frederick County, Maryland. It's estimated value is $75,000. A "nice, fat reward" is currently being offered.

Yale Music NEWSFILTER: Yale School of Music Receives $100 Million Gift - The Yale School of Music has received a gift of $100 million that will allow the school to subsidize fully the tuition for all students, Yale President Richard C. Levin has announced.

RASCAL and BEETLE. Speculative writing, and contorted tales.

XOR - strategy is everything more inside

WWII photos from the US National Archives. Great photos, and they are in nice, high resolution for your viewing pleasure.

Maywa Denki Japanese Nonsense Machines. This might be useful, but this? Here is some background. The perform live with the instruments they create like this one.

Curious George: Collecting video clips I like to collect video clips, such as the one petebest posted below. If I want to collect a hodgepodge of different .avi/.mpg/.qt/.wmv and later write them all to DVD (regular VOB format) for TV viewing, what format should I transcode them all into? And what authoring program is best for burning all these transcodes?

Yahoo Godwins Itself Yahoo has erected a statue in honor of the Yahoo Mail team. The plaque tells all and sundry Yahoo's goal. (Hint: the goal ain't improving its products for its users.)

Slot Car Racing Action!! Awesomeness defined. A small camera is strapped to a slot car for the ride you always wanted to take. Features excellent "deadman's curve" finish. via memepool

You are easy to be around. Diane Cluck is part of the antifolk scene in New York. Her music is utterly gorgeous (MP3). Some sounds for you to enjoy on these odd fall days. more inside

Kill Yourself With Caffeine Because You Know You Want To. Boing-Boinged more inside

Prions suspected in milk. If the thought of giving up cheese and ice cream is more than you can handle, don't worry too much. You should enjoy the time you have because you're probably infected already.

Best Publicity Stunt Ever or More Proof of Extreme Weirdness? Vincent Gallo has an offer up on his website to sell his sperm and the costs of in-vitro fertilization for $1 million. more inside

Copernicus' Image. Nicolaus Copernicus remains found in Poland. With computer generated reconstruction of face (from skull.) Wikepedia link on page has image of Copernicus as young man.

Amazon Mechanical Turk "HIT stands for Human Intelligence Task. These are tasks that people are willing to pay you to complete. For example a HIT might ask: "Is there a pizza parlour in this photograph?" Typically these tasks are extraordinarily difficult for computers, but simple for humans to answer." Amazon's selling people!

Hypnotizing blue ball factory! This site, along with some funky music, shows several blue balls going through a massive machine. It's oddly addicting.

Plot by religious fanatics to blow up Parliament foiled - 400 years ago today. more inside

Curious George: Photo Rates I've been contacted regarding one of my photographs on Flickr. A startup magazine would like to use the image in one of its issues. I'm not a professional photographer or anything, so I have no idea how to negotiate on something like this. My question is, what does someone ask for as compensation? If money, how much? Any advice would be appreciated.