Communication, George Without realizing I was being offensive, I accidentally insulted an on-line buddy of mine (who is gay) by calling a member of the opposing team a "fag" for hoarding weapons and hiding. During our subsequent discussion, I noted that he had used the term "raped" (as in: "We sure raped those jerks") to describe a particularly spectacular victory over another team. On-line communication is informal, but are we going too far in speaking without thinking? Or is the non-PC, speak first, think later formula fine for most. more inside

Blue America: The land of the easily offended Dennis Prager argues that blue people (i.e., liberal Democrats) are more easily offended than red people (i.e., conservative Republicans), and more readily take umbrage at any comment about women, African Americans, Jews, American Indians, gays, etc. than others. more inside

Kodomo no kuni Children's books in 1920's Japan. A gallery of illustrations and songs. more inside

Guardian article on Christian Marclay, avant-garde turntablist, in advance of his upcoming Barbican retrospective. "You could say that Marclay is obsessed with records.... But it would be more accurate to say he is obsessed with examining the way mass-produced objects act as filters, intercepting the signal as it travels from a source to the organs of sense. 'For me the record is this strange object that has completely transformed the way we think about sound. First of all it turned sound into something material that you can hold in your hand, and it turned it into a commodity you can make money with, which pretty much changes everything.'"

The Craig's List Experiment I guess this is the risk you run when answering anonymous ads. Pretty harsh, though.

In what year was your first name most popular? What percentage of people had it? I just killed an hour playing with this thing.

Godzilla thinks of the children. Photos from a stone-cutting shop in Japan. A bit of fun for a bleak day [via boingboing]. more inside

twexus (21743 images)

Care to try your hand at a caption for this picture? As part of our occasional feature "Captioning Mirth and Jocularity", we bring you this gem. Or perhaps a caption would be superfluous.

Geek George: Inkjet printer that doesn't suck. We have to replace our inkjet printer, and it needs to be a dual Win/Mac printer. However I'm kinda lost on how to select a good one (read on)... more inside

Curious George: Papa needs a brand new bag Just picked up a new laptop, need a new carrying case to go with it. more inside

Curious George, Westminster! Any dog lovers out there watch the Academy Awards of the canine world Monday and Tuesday nights? Sweetie and I flew up to see it in person. Coolest detail: They hawk champagne in the stands! Guys come around yelling, CHAMPAGNE! CHAMPAGNE! and offer up little plastic glassesful. Heh. How very... Westminster.

Camion cartoons a kind of follow-up to the interesting images posted by dj a couple of days ago: letters home (with cartoons) from Kirkland H Day, a member of an American camion unit in 1918. A bit of a contrast with the postcards my own grandad sent home, which generally read: "Hoping this finds you as it leaves me, in the pink". Occasionally (at times of special emotional stress?) he would add "Send fags."

Straight Outta Compton (mp3) by Nina Gordon Just the best gangsta cover I've ever heard. That is all.

They Fight Crime , Arab style. Jalila, Zein, Aya and Rakan are superheroes from the land that invented comics 4000 years ago (well, hieroglyphs, anyway.) (Top link to WashPost, reg. req.) more inside

Schmuck Interviews Putz Warning: NSFWIYBUYBHNSOH (Not Safe For Work If Your Boss Understands Yiddish But Has No Sense Of Humor)

Who elected the Pentagon as Mayor of CRAZYTOWN ? NY Times reg req'd, so bugmenot will help. more inside

Discover the network. David Horowitz's "Guide to the Political Left. It identifies the individuals and organizations that make up the left and also the institutions that fund and sustain it." more inside

Are you a spy? Poles have been logging on to the internet in record numbers this week after a journalist accidentally posted the names of tens of thousands of Communist-era police informers on a website.