picture this: Bill gates on a podium presenting his latest product. The crowd anxiously awaits the first glance at truly revolutionary software, he points, he clicks, and then...THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH! he he he

Subservient Blair - First there was subservient Chicken, then there was uh.. that subservient bit of totty, then there was subservient President. Now Tony B.Liar gets the treatment. Tell him to be honest.

Most popular names of 2004 (pdf) in England and Wales. 'Mohammed' is now in the top 20. Informal or abbreviated versions - 'Jack', 'Charlie' - are ever more popular. And while a great name like, say 'Peter' doesn't feature, the top 50 includes names like 'Toby' - surely best suited to dogs (or jugs). As for the girls...

Work Poopers of the World, Unite! Stand up (eh, I mean sit down) for your right to take a magazine to the employee's restroom!

The Periodic Table of Comic Books

The Command Line in 2004: An updated and reader-annotated version of the original essay, "In the Beginning...was the Command Line" by author Neal Stephenson. Full text of the original essay, with extra notes applicable to today's world added by reader, Garrett Birkel. more inside

Polish Jazz

CNN fires Tucker Carlson and kills their regular Crossfire program. Jon Stewart's ruckus appears to have won him converts at the highest executive levels at CNN. Dare one hope for the US cable media again, or is President Jonathan Klein merely flipping his flops? Fans of the Bowtied Wonder need not worry: Carlson has a new show on the ultra right-wing PBS (wait, WHAT?!) and there are rumors that he'll land a sweet gig at MSNBC.

Nineteenth Century German Stories
I'm especially taken with the work of Busch and Hoffmann.

Soothly we live in mighty years! A recent post in Language Hat links to an online version of Poul Anderson's "Atomic Theory", but it leaves out all non-germanic loan words that English has imported since (I think) pre-Anglo-Saxon days. Uncleftish Beholding "shows what English would look like if it were purged of its non-Germanic words, and used German-style compounds instead of borrowings to express new concepts." more inside

Dude! Duuude...Awww

Curious George: high mobility from laptop / notebook I'm wondering if the Monkeys have any suggestions for a high-end laptop / notebook with excellent 'use-it-any-damn-where-you-like-pal' features? more inside

Dialecticly/Phonetically Challenged? Check out these flash charts of any orally producable part of speech imaginable! more inside

The Old Farmer's Almanac I was intrigued by the calendar marking special "red letter" days - there are a few of them right off the bat here in 2005 . . . Also i hear it's good for predicting eclipses, should you ever get thrown back in time and captured by angry natives. more inside

The iBod: Portable pics for your iPod (Potentially NSFW, mentions the bunny rabbit pr0n company) more inside

Meet Pontifex vonHummer, musician, lobster headgear aficionado, and host of The vonHummer Hour. "Describing the vonHummer Hour is like performing a strip tease for a roomful of blind eunuchs: it's not a total waste of time, but it might as well be." You can listen to the theme song, the songs of the month, or catch clips of the show on the downloads page. Live in or near Portland, OR? Watch the show. Better yet, come see vonHummer live on February 5th. more inside

First National Kettlebell Competition. In Vegas, baby. Featuring Best Paint-Your-Own Kettlebell (don't forget, must be a Dragon Door manufactured kettlebell), Best Kettlebell Desissification Story, The US Secret Service Kettlebell Snatch 10-Minute Gut Check ("When You Only Have 10 Minutes, a Few Good Snatches will Do Ya

As if Google wasn't awesome enough... As if Google wasn't awesome enough - now it provides voyeurism! eheh Search Google with this string: inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode=" You'll find hundreds and hundreds of "unsecured" webcams, many of which are security cameras. You can control a lot of them, too. (snagged from several places)

Buddhist monks use art to teach compassion about HIV/AIDS. Laotion monks have developed a series of posters aimed at spreading love and compassion for people living with HIV and AIDS, while addressing the stigma and discrimination surrounding the disease. more inside

So you want to mow through a sea of zombies? You'll need a suitable controller. more inside