Anonymous, George: Publishing Deal? I have been approached by a reader of my blog who is an acquisitions editor for a smallish but not academic press. She wants me to write a non-fiction book about a feminist topic (I don't want to get too much more detailed or it'd be relatively easy to search this). I could not have imagined this outcome in my wildest dreams and have been trying to find out a couple of things since then -- namely, how much money can I expect from a deal like this, considering that I'm a first-timer and that it's a well-respected, mid-size but not huge publisher (if it helps, it's an imprint of Avalon Publishing)? more inside

Curious George I guess anyone who owns or is owned by one knows that they run the household and anybody who has shared with a cat knows that reading a newspaper is impossible! You can only read the bits in the paper that the cat doesn't lie on - has anybody elses feline (or other pet) adapted to the computer thing - i mean my personal feline hell now knows exactly where to lie so the optical mouse doesn't work - oh or how to 'help' me type if she feels so inclined (and no distractions of favourite toy etc do not work!) more inside

Whilst not native to Australia, Gnomes are reportedly migrating from Europe and Britain to make a new start in “new lands” where the impact of pollution is less. Gnome numbers in Europe are on the decrease and drastic action was required. more inside

Canadian Election: Conservative victory? The latest poll results -- can they be relied on? Or are voters just giving Liberal Leader Martin a pre-poll scare? According to the story, the Conservatives may even be ready to take some seats in Quebec. How does this affect your voting strategy? I voted Green last time, this time I'm leaning Liberal. more inside

Curious George: Pranking. Me and some of my friends are planning to prank a friend by acting as if I had never existed, and we need to change some stuff on the prankee's computer to remove evidence of my existence. more inside

La Historia Del Mamut/The Story Of The Mammoth - A song in Spanish about a mammoth. A warning to college students. Even if you don't speak Spanish, it's worth seeing this. NSFW. (warning:embedded flash movie, sound required, addicting song). more inside

Obsessive... most obsessive... I give you, the Bag End dollhouse. more inside

News/Sexfilter: Colombian teenagers could be forced to carry condoms in an effort to stop unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. more inside

Cat under truck survives 100km ride underneath a truck. [vid] Will now go on to terrorize Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. more inside

Project Gutenberg has Audiobooks Previously mentioned here more inside

2 Kiwi Lions beat the pess out of Keeper - on fulm - Wellingten Zoo. A keeper gets attecked by two beg cets. A vesiter to the zoo ceptured the atteck on hendy cem. Mereculously, the keeper only sestained injuries to his nick und his side. Vesetors were nuver ut resk. And Carly Kirkwood is a hot little vixen. Warning: Contains footage of a guy being pounced on by two young lions and copious New Zealander accents which may disturb some people.

Captain Jackson is a real life Superhero. Superman has to deal with an Infinite Crisis and Marvel's mutants are down to 198, but real life Superhero Captain Jackson is being smeared by the locals he swore to protect. more inside

Curious George: OS wars. I want to start experimenting with new Operating Systems, but I don't know where to start. Seems like thousands of possibilities. What OSes are all the cool kids using? more inside

Necktie of the Gods... Introducing the world's first load-bearing necktie! Designed for the military professional! Includes beverage management device. Available in black and woodland camouflage. Adult supervision recommended.

Writers who illustrate This recent post prompted me to go look for one of my old favourites, Dutch SF writer Tais Teng (site in Dutch, but lots of pictures), who illustrates his own work. Does anyone know of other writers who do this? And does it add something or spoil the fun?

Suicide Pact Observed In a tale strangely reminiscent of Harold and Maude a 106 year old woman and her 30 year old caretaker died together in their apartment. "They left notes dated Dec. 27 indicating that Lund had strangled the widow when she decided she couldn't take her own life, then swallowed a fatal dose of antifreeze, police said."

Honda Monkey Limited Chrome Monkey... "Feels so cool." [via]

Hello monkeyfilter we are meeting up in London and we would like you to come too please. more inside

Judge Alito's Confirmation Hearings Live drama available via webcast on the linked site, or Here at NPR. More News at the NYT. more inside

Man sues over chatroom humiliation. If he wins, I'll see you all in court. more inside