More Sex Is Safer Sex : The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics. By Steven E. Landsburg. more inside

Fundamental physics in 2010 (low-quality flash video): a talk by notable theoretical physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed, professor at Harvard, as delivered to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in February 2007. He gives a great introduction to the status and crises in the Standard Model of Particles and Interactions, together with his impression of how the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with its unprecedented ability to make observations in the 10^-19m range will change the model. The talk should be accessible to a general audience.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell found dead in university office. Cause uncertain. DEVELOPING... [newsfilter]

A dog and a monkey: BFF. Let the healing light of whimsy shine, even for a second, on a day wrought with horror. (Flash video.)

Curious George: les ordibqteurs portqvles eb Frqbxe (French laptops) more inside

BBC takes a look at 11^th September 2001 controversies. [NewsFilter] more inside

Citizendium pilot opens. Sometime last week, with not much fanfare, the first open pilot for Larry Sanger's Citizendium project (think: Wikipedia with standards) commenced. Unlike the earlier closed pilot, anyone can now register as an "author" at Citizendium without having to petition the cabal (subject to certain conditions, of course). more inside

Central Asia travelogues. Forget about the fictional home of Borat (no links, find your own), this is about the real countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as seen through the eyes of random web people. more inside

"Your words are lies, Sir. They are lies that imperil us all." -- Keith Olbermann. (Crooks and Liars link; content available as txt, WMV and MOV.) more inside

The breakup conversation — imagine you've been dating someone for a few weeks, but it's not really working out - so you decided you're going to break up with them over IM. The role of your clingy soon-to-be-ex is played by the computer. (WinXP/2k only) more inside

Now I'm thirsty.

Chicken chicken chicken [pdf]. Chicken chicken, chicken chicken chicken chicken? Chicken chicken chicken! Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken, chicken chicken chicken. Chicken chicken. more inside

Application of the Socratic Method to elementary school — primary school children gain a theoretical understanding of alien cultures by discovering that they knew it all along. more inside

AsiaSource interviews Anatol Lieven. The most illuminating fifteen minutes I've ever spent reading about the Middle East, China, wars of choice, oil, radical AmericoFascism, and much more. If you didn't know, Anatol Lieven recently wrote America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism, which I'll head out to buy this morning if I can find an open book-store. more inside

Bit Torment? So we have all heard about the MPAA's recent offensive that appears to have claimed Suprnova and TorrentBits and many other popular aggregators. Does this mean they have won the War On Torrentism? Mark Pesce doesn't think so. Or rather, he thinks that the MPAA have won this round--not an extraordinary win given the nature of BitTorrent--only to guarantee their complete loss in the future, like with the RIAA. A natural reaction, but how likely is it? more inside

The infinite cat project. If you are catted and have a camera, you can help the ICP. more inside

HIV testing to become mandatory for couples in Singapore. more inside

Card throwing — course on how to throw ordinary playing cards by a master of the art. Once you are past the basics, try some advanced throws.

Presidential race ends in tie, leaving final result uncertain. In the midst of election irregularities (blamed on the incumbent), results show a deeply divided nation. The challenger, running on a platform of withdrawing troops from Iraq and strengthening foreign relations with Europe, opposed an incumbent government that has put the country on a path away from European alliances and towards stronger ties with Russia. more inside

Ornery Boy — a perfect comic strip for the Hallowe'en season. more inside