It's a boy.... Princess Kiko of the Japanese Royal household gave birth by Caesarean section this morning. It is likely that he will be named as the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. But the debate continues... more inside

Toronto Meetup!! Bump the Toronto Meetup this weekend. More inside-->

Everyday. (youtube-video with sound) more inside

Celebrity worship. Is it programmed into your DNA? Is it addictive? Is it good for you -- especially if you're a teen? Is it a savage new religion? What's the psychology behind it? Is it a screwing up the academic world? Does it signify cultural decline and confusion?

A hundred dead elephants were recently spotted by Mike Fay on an aerial survey just outside the borders of Zakouma National Park in southeastern Chad. Fueled in part by an upswing in ivory demand from China and the crisis in nearby Dafur. See also, homunculus' fine post. more inside

Banksy does Paris... He's at it again. Previously mentioned here, here, and here, his latest project has been to abduct, remix (m4a audio) and reissue (embedded YT video) Paris Hilton's new CD. (Some images/content may be NSFW).

School Superintendent appears semi-nude in calendar, said to be in bad form. ""It was done to raise some money, and he was asked to do it," Irlbeck said. "We have told him as a board that he needs to do things in the community." Oh, the jokes, they write themselves. [via obscurestore]

How It Works...The Computer Thanks, dng!

Traumatic eclipse of the heart Thus proving that there is nothing wrong with Belgian taste. more inside

We have developed a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy. So claims Dublin-based Steorn Ltd., issuing a challenge to physicists to test the technology. more inside

Pics and descriptions of the World's greatest SuperDuper Heros Superheroes from around the world. Down with Spidey, up with Super Lopez!

Crikey! A stingray finishes the job for the crocs The Age is reporting that Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been fatally bested by a stingray. more inside

The Blogofractal - From the makers of the Blogosphere, Blogocube, and Blogodrome.

Jeffs's cultists debate Warren Jeffs's defenders and apostates discuss his capture and what that means for the cult he heads.

Chengdu. I stumbled on this when searching for pandas, and found it to be a bleak, intimate look at scenes in the remote Sichuan province of south central China, adjacent to Tibet and away from the booming eastern districts that manufacture everything in your house. Yes, I found the pandas, but the other stuff was more compelling.

ART WORKS! This man's work is nothing short of brilliance, and very beautiful.

When design meets food. People have been concerned with the design of food for quite some time. But usually it's just about making something look good. Now the Dutch tradition of conceptual design is coming to the world of food. Not that it doesn't look nice, though.

"We’re still open to the idea of a letter [to the editor], .... but we will not publish a letter that implies any sort of misbehavior by [our reporter] Ms. Flanagan." After the New Yorker published an article on P.K. Travers (the author of Mary Poppins), Victoria Lawson wrote to them pointing out how their reporter had relied heavily on her biography of Travers (and on documentaries based on that biography), and yet made almost no acknowledgement of that fact within her article. more inside

The Royalist Former royal butler Paul Burrell reveals a secret Princess Diana told him two days before she died.

MuppetWiki. Read about everything Jim Henson- and Muppet-related, like The Muppet Show's musical legacy (Alice Cooper, Dizzy Gillespie, and Diana Ross, among others, all hosted episodes), or how Prairie Dawn was one of many "Little Anything Muppets," or the evolution of "Mahna Mahna," or the many international incarnations of Sesame Street. more inside