So, you've got yourself a Cockmonkey - now what? Congratulations! You've chosen a pet that will give you years of fun and pleasure if properly cared for and maintained. Good for you! more inside

"In other words, just about everything you heard and read about the Iowa caucuses in November and December was wrong." - The ethics of campaign coverage and how it's manipulating our view of the 2004 election. Who's checking up on the press?

We're drunk MeFiMoFiFum = MeFi/Mofi meetup update more inside

http://www.monkeyfilter.com works now. I've just forwarded the domain to the juju address until it officially gets transferred to tracicle.

MeFiSoCalWenCom '04 - LA Mefi Meetup is on for this Saturday.

Bioresonant clothing seeks to exploit an astonishing new theory in bio-physics: that the information exchange in human consciousness can be directly influenced and enhanced by vibrations of Light, that we call colors. Isn't color stimulation safer for us than the water we drink?

History of the internet - Progress: Since its inception almost 30 years ago, the internet has been transformed from a primitive device for sharing thoughts and ideas, into a massive network where people pay to connect and read advertisements they don't want, while calling each other "asshats". more inside

PETA has plans to terrorize children this Christmas - Animal rights advocates will single out small children at performances of ``The Nutcracker'' in the next few weeks by handing out fliers saying ``Your Mommy Kills Animals'' to youngsters whose mothers are wearing fur. more inside

Which dictionary is the best? - A comprehensive look at seven popular dictionaries. [via kottke.org]

Retired Generals 'come out' against Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy - Three retired military officers, two generals and an admiral who have been among the most senior uniformed officers to criticize the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for homosexuals in the military, disclosed on Tuesday that they are gay. (NY Times link)

MetaFilter has been nominated for Best Group Blog in Wizbang's 2003 Weblog Awards.

Photoshop exists because of Star Wars - An interesting article about the promotion and development of Photoshop. more inside

Defective Yeti's annual list of fun party games - I've never heard of any of them and they sound great.

Building Online Communities - This was posted at the bottom of an older thread and I thought that it was worth a FPP. It's a little more formal than we are, but I think these ideas are good to think about earlier rather than later.

Which embryo is human? - Since all vertebrates evolved from a common ancestor, the genetic information that guides their development is nearly the same. [via Presurfer]

Mr. Picassohead - I guess I'm not actually going to get any work done today. [flash]

How many forum members does it takes to change a light bulb?   1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs 1 to move it to the Lighting section [via Many to Many]

Pirate Riddles for Sophisticates - Q: What's a pirate's favorite aspect of computational linguistics? A: PARRRsing sentences. I know this is too late for Talk Like a Pirate day, but it made me laugh all the same.

1.800.201.7575 - That's the number for Amazon.com customer service, in case you've been as frustrated as I am that the only way to get in touch with them is to email them. Why is phone support lacking from their business plan? Once word spreads will they change it?

Apparently, it's time for member authentication thanks to Mr. I-need-to-spoil-the-party.