n00bz 1337!!!111!! This guide is designed to give you a better understanding of what a noob is, how to recognize them, some details about them, and how to avoid or get rid of them. It mostly applies to online forums, which are the main targets of migrating noobs. w00t!!11!!

Cheer me up. I've had a crap day -- a surprise, after last night's Cardinals victory, but true. A really. Crap. Day. I asked Google to "cheer me up." more inside

Bush's tax cuts are monumentally unfair... to the rich.

Quite possible the best (something)awful movie review ever. Without question. It's a few pages, but this had me literally snarfing over my cereal.

Curious George: Anyone connected to Clear Channel? This MeFi posts suggests... more inside

Guess whose birthday it is today... more inside

Friday Flash! I conducted a search for "Bush" and "brain" in the same thread and, astonishingly, received no results. So here's a short little diversion for you: Give Bush a brain and be rewarded with a display of the U.S. President's amazing intellect!

Circuits discover... each other (May not be safe for work unless you have rubber shoes on)

D'you know what I have? - I got some Gmail invites with me. They are from a place of light. more inside

Diebold Voting Machine: Windows Media or QuickTime Last election post, I promise.

Religion can be fun. In an era of fundamentalism, martyrs, and most religious folks having no sense of humor whatsoever, this magazine is a breath of fresh air. I especially like the Mystery Worship section where people visit churches and surrepticiously review the services for the website.

A blood-red moon will appear in the USA on 27 October. Or possibly orange. Clearly a portent, anyway.

Political Sim fun I'm a big fan of the Sims series and was overwhelmed with amusement at this fantastic group of neighbors - enjoy!

Burma's/Myanmar's Prime Minister has been ousted by military hardliner Soe Win. This doesn't look good for Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement, since Soe Win takes a hard line against them. The political situation still looks bleak in Burma (Flash.) I wonder if Burma's power play leaves India smiling.

Calendars through the Ages - Myriads of variant calendars have seen use in human civilization since the beginning of our ability to measure time. This site lists some of those in use today, and major ones used in ancient times.

Curious George: Who is John Stewart? OK, I've tried to ignore it all for a few days now, but it just keeps clogging up all my favorite blogs. Who is John Stewart? Who is Tucker Carlson? What is "The Daily Show"? What is "Crossfire"? My curiosity is all these guys fault!

Space Mushrooms

Curious George: Cat Scratch Fever My cats are waging war against my furniture. more inside

Curious George - The Vote Van. I'm planning to, on Nov. 2nd, paint my vanagon red white and blue (it's already white), build and mount a barcalounger on the roof, and drive around the city blasting patriotic music with someone on top with a megafone yelling at people to vote. My question is this: I also would like to be able to pick up ballots as we drive along, sort of like the political ice cream van. What is the legality of this?(1) And how could this become a legitimate polling station?(2) more inside

A-carving we shall go... more inside