Curious George: paid surveys. The idea of earning a little extra cash just for answering questions seems tempting to all of us, I'm sure. Having seen sites like these recently, it seems easier than ever, too. Do any monkeys have success stories (or warnings!) they can share? Which sites are most lucrative? Which are scams? Which are simply raffle entries, not actually paying sites? Any and all information or experience you can share would be very helpful.

Maharishi Vedic City, the newest township in the state of Iowa. "The City is working to establish a permanent group of peace-creating experts whose daily practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation™ and Yogic Flying techniques will promote coherent national and world consciousness and thereby prevent any negativity from arising in America or in the family of nations." more inside

mofi mefi sea wa Hey, over in MeTa, cb asked about a PNW Mofi meetup, and I'm just passing it along. We're informally settled on Jan 3 at the Elysian in Seattle. I'll actually make a reservation this time. 7-ish?

Yet another IE only trojan... With all of these IE only bugs, why should someone ever use Internet Explorer?

Rainbow Dust Candy. Like, wow, man.

He's Just Not That Into You: eviscerated

The New Year is celebrated differently around the world - You don't say? Well I never. Here are a collection of New Year traditions from all around this wonderful little blue-green planet floating out here in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy. more inside

A woman gives a description of being sucked into the waves and mud in Sri Lanka In the comments section of this blog, a woman named Dalian recounts losing her husband (and then finding him)in this emotional comment to a blog.

Artie Shaw Dies at 94. "One of the giants of swing era jazz and a crusty, self-declared perfectionist, Shaw put down the clarinet in 1954 and never played it again, saying he could not reach the level of artistry he desired." more inside