Stratellite blimp, floating at 65,000 ft, may allow WiFi in cars and in rural areas that DSL doesn't reach. The first airship underwent trials a few months ago, according to press releases. Whether Sanswire can field the blimps remains sketchy, but with crowding and latency problems on satellites and telcos doing little to reach the boonies, this technology may hold promise.

Fantastic, Mysterious, and Adventurous Victoriana - Fiction and stuff from the Victorian Era. Sort of links with this MoFi post. more inside

The Desert and I: A Study in Affinity. The geographer Yi-Fu Tuan explains why "Of all the places I have lived in, without doubt the one for which I have the greatest affinity is the desert." (This is for desert-lovin' un- and comes to you courtesy of wood s lot.)

middleclas tool is making a movie and blogging the process. more inside

Digital George: Help with hard drives. I have ~100 GB of music to transfer from a Windows computer to an orphaned 160 GB HD. I want to get an enclosure for the 160 GB hard drive and use it as an external drive on an iBook that I plan to buy next time Apple updates the line. What are my options? more inside

Lost in the Sahara , the story of Captain Bill Lancaster. In 1933, Lancaster set out to make a record breaking solo flight from England to South Africa in a very small plane, his Avro Avian. Twenty-nine years later his journal of his last 8 days alive was found by a French army motorized desert patrol in an area of the Sahara the Bedouins call The Land of Thirst. more inside

Lost in Translation: a journey to Yezdinar village in Iraq. E.S. Drower traveled and wrote about Yezidi customs in 1941, producing the book Peacock Angel. Yezidis, worshippers of Melek Ta'us The Peacock Angel, have been persecuted as "satanists" because of the parallel between the fall of Melek Ta'us from grace and the fall of Lucifer. To the Yezidis Melek Ta'us repaired relations with God long ago, and is probably best described as a benevolent demiurge. more inside

Fragrance for your belly button. Jessica Simpson is concerned about how your navel smells. -- via Pop Culture Junk Mail more inside

All your parrot news in one place. Covering news on endangered, threatened, and feral parrots. more inside

Don't they teach kids ethics anymore? When I went through school, they taught us a little something about ethics. Between Tom Delay Jr here and our own experience with moooshy I'm starting to wonder if this was the exception rather than the rule.

Two TVs for the price of two. What a breakthrough. "Sharp Corp. has developed a liquid-crystal display that shows totally different images to people viewing the screen from the left and the right." more inside

Otto Dix

Pooooooofs! After such an exhausting week, here's a soft-and-fluffy visit with more of MoFi's favorite animal mascots. Apologies ahead of time for annoying Geocities URL

The zombie dots have evolved! "You're a citizen of Malton, a city that's in the process of being evacuated and quarantined to contain an unspecified contagion..." Like you don't already know that means 'brains on toast' is the hip new breakfast trend. (via robotwisdom.) more inside

Unborn babies carry pollutants Unborn babies in the United States are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides, according to a report released yesterday. . . "If ever we had proof that our nation's pollution laws aren't working, it's reading the list of industrial chemicals in the bodies of babies who have not yet lived outside the womb". . . more inside

Curious George: Traffic Tickets and Points I received two different traffic violations last year when I lived in NY and had a NY license. I live in CT and have a CT license now. If a NY driver gets a traffic ticket in other states and pleads guilty, the points that would go on an in-state license don't transfer. The driver can plead guilty, pay the fee, and go back home to NY. Since CT DMV is difficult to navigate, here are my questions: Does CT have a point penalty system for their in-state drivers? If so, what is CT's policy on transfer of points? How would the monkeys here approach this problem? Thanks in advance for any info!

Artefacts from the ancient kingdoms of Qataban, Himya, and Saba (biblical Sheba) Flash: click the picture on the right

After a tough week, heres some Friday Fun Launch gonzo from the cannon into the bucket o'water. 'tis fun me hearties!

Billy the Kid in Literature

Mashups! Something over 700 mashups available for your listening pleasure at goodblimey.com. Unfortunately, you can't leech 'em anymore, since the bandwidth was exceeded in a matter of days when they were available for download. Lots of good stuff here for a wide variety of tastes. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go dance around to Rockafeller Rocket Shack.