New John Lennon songs — from the Afterlife. Channeled via Viewropa

Although the MSN Search isn't as good as the old standby, Google it can do one thing Google can't: Algebra. (via digg.com)

Couple seeking donations to build their own hobbit-hole. Combining Lord of the Rings fandom, ambivalence about other human beings and bean-stockpiling survivalism for a furry-toed century. more inside

I am shocked, SHOCKED, that nobody has posted this here before. (Via MeFi) more inside

But what about the celebrities? It's not that at least 75,000 people were killed by the quake and tsunami... it's that some precious D-list celebrities were affected by the tragedy. This sort of reporting pisses me off... much like "DISASTER! 1 US citizen breaks a nail; tens of thousands die." Am I the only one who doesn't care about where people come from in a tragedy, only that hundreds of thousands of PEOPLE were affected?

RIP Detective Briscoe Jerry Orbach dies at 69, after a bout with prostate cancer. We'll miss your witty retort even more now. second link a mywebpages link

Curious George: When do you want to have the next CD exchange? more inside

RoboMaid, the robotic sweeping machine from Europe! The most amusing European robotic sweeping machine ever! And only US$10!

The Golden Jubilee of Tiddlywinks is here! January 2005 will be the 50th Anniversary of Modern "Winks", and will be celebrated by a range of Golden Jubilee Events. Learn the language at the first link, and then plan to attend the "squidge-off", scheduled for 10:30 on January 8th, per http://www.etwa.org/. Should be a hootenanny...

Tavis Smiley has left the building and NPR is the reason why. If you remember the Bob Edwards flap, you may be interested to read these. more inside

Tsunami Relief: Charity Efficiency and Transparency Ratings It seems everyone wants to help with victims of the recent tsunami. But does your assistance get where it needs to? I know a lot of charitable organizations have ridiculous "overhead," meaning a lot of your money doesn't help as much as it should...and of course, there are shady organizations. With that in mind, someone else decided to rate the various charities, noting problematic or troublesome issues, as well as links to pretty reputable sites that tell you how you best can help. link. Check it out, if interested. Help add to the list of organizations too, to help others. If you want to help but aren't interested in personally researching things, my recommendation would be to use the Red Cross, based on experience with them.

Alien Hominid (Flash Game)

Neologistastic! What word would you like to be in the English language? more inside

Project Steve In honour of the late Stephen J Gould, the NCSE's "Project Steve" is a "tongue-in-cheek parody of a long-standing creationist tradition of amassing lists of "scientists who doubt evolution". Here's the FAQ, here are the Steves. (warning: All links on site seem to open in separate windows. Damn annoying)

DC Meetup Wiki As Sooz previously posted, we're still thinking about having a meetup on Wednesday (today) in DC at Tryst in Adams Morgan. Can you come?

The Art of War by Sun Tzu - and in another form with commentary & annotation by Lionel Giles in the same text. Brought to you by the Nostrildamus bookmark cleaning club

Curious George: What's the consensus on posting the same link at both Monkeyfilter and Metafilter? more inside

The Human Genome.

The Brill Building, located at 1619 Broadway in the heart of New York's music district, is a name synonymous with an approach to songwriting that changed the course of music. Housing legendary songwriters like Carole King, Jerry Leiber, Neil Sedaka, and Burt Bacharach, the Brill Building created some of the greatest hits of the rock'n'roll era. [more inside] more inside

Need to poo? First, read the review!