"Worst day of my life, wuttduhya THINK?" "Picture Max from "Rushmore" with absolutely no talent". That's how one reviewer describes the main character in the recently released film "Napoleon Dynamite". It was a big hit at the Sundance film festival. Short synopsis here. Out for over a week and no mention from the monkeys??? more inside

Border crossings in Brooklyn. "The post-9/11 sweeps left many immigrant families without friends or money. A Pakistani Muslim and an Indian Hindu worked together to help them." Part 3 of Salon's Heroes of Freedom series.

South Korean hostage killed in Iraq (via NY Times.) Response from Bush: "The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal action of these barbaric people." Too late.

It's just a jump to the left...

Appeals Board Upholds R Rating for 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Michael Moore and his distributors lost their appeal today to lower the R rating for "Fahrenheit 9/11," his scathing assault on President Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 attacks. Huh? I haven't seen the movie yet, but aren't we being just a bit squeemish here? I mean, I have seen the very same material (burnt corpses, dead babies, and beheadings) on CNN and other mainstream news outlets. What gives? sign in name: slashdot password: slashdot

Like war: lots of boring stuff, with a few snippets of interesting or shocking images. The 30 (selectable) most recent image posts to LiveJournal. Got broadband? Fighting voyeuristic urges? Afraid of the ocassional NSFW pic? Then don't get near the URL. more inside

Aeroplastics. Products for modern living

Dressed to the nines: a history of the baseball uniform. "There is something special about the baseball uniform, a mystique that is hard to pin down. Whether we are looking at someone in a uniform or we are trying it on ourselves, it is the feeling of the fabric, the design on the cap and jersey, the colors, cut, and history of the outfit, that all lend meaning to our relationship with the game." A link for any lover of baseball. (Via the magnificent Plep.)

Attndnt : Excuse me sir, there's been a little problem in the cockpit ... Striker : The cockpit ... what is it? Attndnt : It's the little room in the front of the plane where the pilots sit, but that's not important now.

Curious George: Trolls Why is it that f8xmulder can get away with calling fellow monkeys "asswipes" (twice)? more inside

The real meat about Spam. Dutch anti-SPAM activist Rejo Zenger had a conversation with a Spammer. The spammer does confession and reports about his methods and profitability.

Don't have enough games featuring Yeti? For shame! What better way to waste the boss' money than by abusing penguins? 5 games.

What do you do if a rape defendant is an identical twin, and he's accusing his brother of the crime? DNA evidence won't save the day, as monozygotic twins share identical DNA. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is bound to be skewed. Wouldn't want to be a juror on this one.

"Just to put your minds all at ease, I have four words for you that I know will relieve you greatly," Kerry told the fund-raiser. "How does this sound

Lollapalooza cancelled. Excuse me while I go over here and cry. That was probably like my only chance ever to see the pixies.

One of the greats! Jacques Tati was (for his day) a modern day Chaplin. If you have a fast connection you can get a vague idea of his charm here. Enjoy.

HMO's protected by Supreme Court ruling. Americans who get health insurance through their employer are no longer entitled to damages for any harm they suffer when their HMO improperly denies coverage for recommended medical care, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday. A boon for cutting down on rampant litigation or a removal of checks and balances on HMOs?

Tunes create context like language : "musical notes are strung together in the same patterns as words in a piece of literature". Full paper. On a related note, hone your musical comprehension by playing with Impromptu. Better yet, co-ordinate it with this MIT OpenCourse - Developing Musical Structures.

Naked As We Came
Beautiful but slow loading QT music video by Iron and Wine, one of my new favorites.

RIP David Huffman David Huffman, a mathematician who died in 1999, developed a fascinating method of geometric paper folding which emphasizes curves rather than straight lines. (He also did some nifty work involving data compression.) [3rd link NY Times, reg reqd]