The origin of mass may not be in the postulated existance of the Higgs boson, a top quark condensate or any other alternate model. Two researchers suggest a theory pertaining to inertial mass can been extended to include gravitational mass, involving the non-relativistic zero-point field. more inside

Holy crap! Is that pretty neato-keen or what!?

Worst. Excuse. Evar. If one has a phobia of being in a car with someone else driving, why would one become an instructon/tester for the DMV? And how does groping underaged breasts help with said phobia?

CG: Jumping the gun Really getting ahead of myself here. In about 6 weeks, I'll be a father. I'd like my child to start learning a new language. But which? French may be the most useful within Canada, Spanish the most useful within the hemisphere, and Mandarin is likely the language of the future, but not necessarily within the next generation. If I'm going to start playing tapes and CDs while baby sleeps (and mommy lets me), which should I concentrate on? (I speak poor French, passable Spanish, and a wee smattering of Mandarin, if that helps)

Functionalism at Forty (PDF) A very engaging and accessible Reductionist critique of Functionalism as it enters its fifth decade. "What is Functionalism?" you ask? Well...

Balancing Point. "A short film that is played entirely in reverse and involves the "reverse destruction" of balanced rock sculptures. There is one character in the movie that appears to magically create these sculptures. Although the film is played in reverse it appears as the man who is doing his magic is going forwards in time." You can see stills from the film, as well as the full Quicktime movie.

Return of the London meetup Ah Summer, the season of Pimms and mellow hose-pipe bans, close bosom-friend of the maturing triumph over the Aussies in the cricket... It's getting to be that London meetup time of year again, don't you think? Of course you do! more inside

Liam's Pictures from Old Books Over 680 scanned images, engravings and pictures from old books, all public domain, most with multiple high-resolution versions.

Witchfinders - An examination of the legends surrounding Matthew Hopkins' vicious campaign against witches during the English Civil War era. From Fortean Times.

Peekaboom I know... I've posted already today.. but this is just too cool. Bascially, help a coupla algorithims learn hor to recognize things by "sight." You switch back and forth with a player a la a visual 25,000 Pyramid... and you reveal the portion of the picture that the site wants your partner to guess... i.e. Picture of a park... site wants "tree" so you reveal a tree. The only interaction is a noun/verb, related noun verb hint, and a hot or cold... This is just incredible..! Via BoingBoing...

Computer crashing? Maybe you're cursed... A little quirky post from our good friends up north. I can't believe someone's spent 26 years on this... weird if it were true more inside

Curious George: Who's Dumb to You? While taking a walk the other evening, I overheard some kids making "dumb jokes" (think "blonde jokes") about Canadians. Here in Washington state, the neighbors we tend to poke fun at for being supposedly daft are Canadians and sometimes Idahoians. more inside

Curious George-I have a lifesize cardboard cutout of myself ... wearing a tuxedo and striking a gameshow-host pose. It is cluttering up the flat, so I need suggestions as to what to do with it. I feel it needs a spectacular send-off. more inside

The Speech Nixon Didn't Give 31 years ago
"..I firmly believe that I have not committed any act of commission or omission that justifies removing a duly elected President from office. If I did believe that I had committed such an act, I would have resigned long ago.." [The actual speech. The Resignation Letter.]
[previous mofi]

Blood and Roses The Paston family were minor nobility who rose to prominence in 15th century Norfolk. The collection of their family correspondence that survives provides a unique perspective on life in a long lost era - illicit romance, violence with bonus Middle English sound file!, and card games at Christmas. Wikipedia

20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear War - 9 of them being from the Cuban Missle Crisis. Note that these are false alarms and do not include such frighteners as the Arkhipov incident, and are only the known ones, so we don't really know how many times we've been on the brink for other, perhaps as yet undisclosed events. more inside

Curious George... wifi I'm thinkin of putting in free wi-fi for my rental units... Just wondering if it's worth the $1,000 (labor included) to do.... more inside

The Dining Room is sort of an interactive flash puzzle horror story. Not very complicated (try clicking on things multiple times), but creepy and atmospheric, with nice sound effects. Turn off all the lights in your room before you start to make it really scary! more inside

Curious Screenwriting George: Has any monkey ever attended the Los Angeles Screenwriting Expo? I took a one year diploma program in scriptwriting and enjoyed it immensely. Me and a buddy of mine would like to learn more about the art of screenwriting. Is the expo worth going to? What have been your experiences? What other events like this have you attended and would recommend?

Cool Bikes. Some neat futuristical lookin bikes. more inside