Curious George: Collecting video clips I like to collect video clips, such as the one petebest posted below. If I want to collect a hodgepodge of different .avi/.mpg/.qt/.wmv and later write them all to DVD (regular VOB format) for TV viewing, what format should I transcode them all into? And what authoring program is best for burning all these transcodes?

Yahoo Godwins Itself Yahoo has erected a statue in honor of the Yahoo Mail team. The plaque tells all and sundry Yahoo's goal. (Hint: the goal ain't improving its products for its users.)

Slot Car Racing Action!! Awesomeness defined. A small camera is strapped to a slot car for the ride you always wanted to take. Features excellent "deadman's curve" finish. via memepool

You are easy to be around. Diane Cluck is part of the antifolk scene in New York. Her music is utterly gorgeous (MP3). Some sounds for you to enjoy on these odd fall days. more inside

Kill Yourself With Caffeine Because You Know You Want To. Boing-Boinged more inside

Prions suspected in milk. If the thought of giving up cheese and ice cream is more than you can handle, don't worry too much. You should enjoy the time you have because you're probably infected already.

Best Publicity Stunt Ever or More Proof of Extreme Weirdness? Vincent Gallo has an offer up on his website to sell his sperm and the costs of in-vitro fertilization for $1 million. more inside

Copernicus' Image. Nicolaus Copernicus remains found in Poland. With computer generated reconstruction of face (from skull.) Wikepedia link on page has image of Copernicus as young man.

Amazon Mechanical Turk "HIT stands for Human Intelligence Task. These are tasks that people are willing to pay you to complete. For example a HIT might ask: "Is there a pizza parlour in this photograph?" Typically these tasks are extraordinarily difficult for computers, but simple for humans to answer." Amazon's selling people!

Hypnotizing blue ball factory! This site, along with some funky music, shows several blue balls going through a massive machine. It's oddly addicting.

Plot by religious fanatics to blow up Parliament foiled - 400 years ago today. more inside

Curious George: Photo Rates I've been contacted regarding one of my photographs on Flickr. A startup magazine would like to use the image in one of its issues. I'm not a professional photographer or anything, so I have no idea how to negotiate on something like this. My question is, what does someone ask for as compensation? If money, how much? Any advice would be appreciated.

The Monkey Quiz Can you beat the monkeys?

Feline Friday Flash Foolishness

It's all wrong - Some good - some bad

Head Like a Hat Rack Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman thinks graffiti artists' thumbs should be amputated on live TV. Street art blog Wooster Collective suggests that thumb photos with appropriate messages should be sent to them to be forwarded to hizzonner.

Shame On You, Sony After Criticism, Sony Issues Fix for Hidden Rootkits.

Senate OK's Oil Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The American media is all over this story, which is why the only link I could find is from The Guardian, but the hotbutton issue over Oil Drilling in the Arctic Reserve has hit the proverbial fan. The vote was 57-42, with five Republicans voting "Nay" and two Democrats voting "Yea" Shamelessly cribbed from MeFi

The Secret of the Hidden Hummers. Wherein our blog-writing super sleuths make a startling discovery. via mefi

Teflon has worn off the Moron For the first time in his presidency, a majority of Americans questioned President George W. Bush's personal integrity as his approval ratings on key issues fell to new lows in an ABC News/Washington Post Poll published on Thursday