Iraq War Has Helped Spread bin Laden's Message more inside

Colleges begin offering blogging classes to freshmen. A unique approach to getting college students to write expressive, self-biographical papers, My Blog, Myself is a Live Journal based intro course offered by Haverford College from Doug Davis who created the course and posted about it in his blog.

Letter grades for all the flags of the world. "Some countries have clearly taken care in the choice of colours, layout, and design." more inside

A work of art or a harbinger of violence? (SF Gate) A student is expelled and his teacher fired over a story he wrote for her class detailing the grisly adventures of a serial killer. Reminds me tangentially of this adventure involving horror author Gary Braunbeck and his nephew's elementary school. more inside

Get rid of ignorance This site's been linked before, but never featured. For getting educated on anything under the sun. Don't know something, go ahead, ask a question.

"Bremer has destroyed my country" Guardian article about how not to occupy a country. Shut down the newspapers. Enfore the law arbitrarily or in a half-assed way. Allow corruption. Don't supply the hospitals. You get the picture. more inside

Shroud of Turin: More fodder for the debate. I thought this seemed like a good Sunday post. Apparently the sewing style "belongs firmly to a style seen in the first century AD or before." Your call.

Algiers: The Right Bank. A taste of a historic New Orleans neighbourhood through old photographs.

Curious, George: What is a papasan? Does the term "papasan" refer to the style of rattan/wicker furniture, or just the familiar round chair with padded cushion? more inside

Metal Baby. (Flash, needs sound).

Whose Mind is it Anyway? more inside

Curious, George: CafePress and Cousins CafePress and cousins; I'm interested in any monkey experience with CafePress or any of the workalikes, since I'm trying to get a good idea of whether it's a useful option. more inside

The Height Gap: Why Europeans are getting taller and taller This fascinating article seems to be just the tip of the ice-berg for uses of the height to understand history and health. [via A&L Daily] more inside

Tidepooling...what an amazing adventure For a different adventure, try tidepooling. Point Reyes National Seashore in No. California has some beautiful viewing areas for seeing amazing sea creatures... anemones, starfish, crab & the like... more inside

My tortured quest for a real life Transformer continues. Learn more about the Tmsuk over here.

Terror in Thailand: 'Ghosts' and jihadis.

MAVs for fun and profit UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have been in the news quite a bit lately, but the micro versions of these craft, or MAVs represent the bleeding edge of technology. Their small sizes almost make them seem like mere toys. While they are used for serious business, the home hobbiest is quickly catching up. more inside

Amazon's revenge? Apparently deforestation is causing rabid vampire bats to descend on Brazil. more inside

Miss Digital World: "The first online beauty competition, for the most beautiful and glamerous models made using the most advanced 3D graphic tools. Miss Digital World will take place on the internet in a three-dimensional environment. All the contestants will parade along a virtual catwalk, and - of course - there will be a virtual presenter and guests who will help to create the atmosphere of a beauty contest. The model who, at the end of the preliminary rounds, has the highest number of votes from net users, will be crowned on the site in a breathtaking, tear-jerking ceremony." (Teaser)

Burma's military government is waffling again on whether they will release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest for talks on May 17 the pro-democracy party, the NLD. Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 has been under arrest again since her motorcade was attacked last summer.