Samurai-Sword Maker's Reactor Monopoly May Cool Nuclear Revival via and I couldn't disagree more inside

65th Pictures of the year. Some heartbreaking. Others...

Cloverfield in 15 minutes. And what they should have done. Remember, when rampaging beasties rampage, don't be a victim. *spoiler warning for, well, pretty much everything*

80 million tiny images. English language nouns. Sorted. via

Aviation Week - 2008 Person of the Year. Qian Xuesen (or Tsien) founded China's missile program after being kicked out of the US in 1955. McCarthy - the gift that keeps on giving. via. And may I say - that is one heck of a portrait. more inside

Sir Edmund Hillary has died.

Nanosolar - looks like some neat chemistry. There was quite a buzz around these guys last year; they won Popular Science's Innovation of the Year. And though Nanosolar isn't saying much about the technology, there are some worthwhile clues in their patents. more inside

Cook (almost) anything at least once. This is where I go when I'm not sure what to kick over the next week or three.

The 12 days of Kitschmas via more inside

Tact filters. Some words-in-a-line that have educated me (a little) about just how much Hard Work (TM) it is to keep a site such as Monkeyfilter chugging along. The linked post is the shortest so if you want to read one, well, it's the shortest. more inside

Meet Neville. Neville got a tattoo while on holiday. In Thailand. What could possibly go wrong?

Meet the case of Abdallah Higazy. Egyptian national. Confessed under FBI questioning to being involved with the 9/11 plot - they found a device used to communicate with pilots in his hotel room after all. Then a pilot turns up and asks for his radio back. more inside

Photography - it's about Light. Sometimes cliches exist for a reason.

World's smallest pancake recipe. Via

Maybe I can not buy them harder. Or something.

An Englishman and a Frenchman walk into THEIR GIANT DUELLING ROBOTS! Yeah Baby! Duel on.

The Unshelved Bookclub I have been randomly tickled this last few days by this webcomic. Went on a library reserve rampage because of it. more inside

Nature's Best Photography from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. more inside

Rice - it's not just for sushi. Much speculation (see here for instance) that these are photoshopped. But apparently not.

Lloyd Alexander died a few days ago. Washingon Post obituary, NY Times. The author of many books, I kept my (well thumbed) set of The Chronicles of Prydain alongside my Narnia series. more inside