Statler & Waldorf

Watch Muppet cranks Statler & Waldorf as they review current movies on Movies.com.

Technology - canada.com

"Connecting the Dots
Steve Jobs looks back at his remarkable life and career and gives some advice to grads"

Google Logo Maker-Logogle

"The logo of the Google style is made.
Please input the character string to the text box and push the button. "

BBC Motion Gallery

"Welcome. Here you will find easy access to thousands of shots from the vast and diverse archives of the BBC and CBS News. Our library of motion imagery is one of the world's great living treasures.

Spanning over 70 years, BBC content encompasses more than 300,000 hours of footage, including a wealth of material covering natural history, wildlife, news, locations, art, music, celebrities, culture, performing arts and more."

WILLisms.com: Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 120 -- Economic Literacy.

"Wondering about your own economic literacy?

Take the quiz.

You can also download the .pdf of the entire quiz.

Some of the questions are pretty easy (while some are exceedingly difficult without a calculator or professional knowledge of how these things work), which makes America's embarrassingly low scores all the more astounding."

The Columnist Manifesto: Relationships 101: "Do I look fat?"

"Relationships 101: 'Do I look fat?'
A lesson in how to answer 'the question'

Here is a bit of human experience that seems to fall into the “things everyone has to learn for her- or him- self” category: how to handle the question from wife/girlfriend, etc., “Do I look fat?” And yet the pain of that relearning process seems so avoidable. We all know the question will be asked. Why wait around unprepared only to be caught like a deer in the headlights when it finally comes up:"

FrontPage magazine.com :: The Ugly Left by Tammy Bruce

"When you view the future with optimism, when you feel you are in charge of your destiny, you’re going to be kinder and take better care of yourself."

Virtual Street Reality

"Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. It's peculiarity? Beever gives his drawings an anamorphosis view, his images are drawn in such a way which gives them three dimensionality when viewing from the correct angle. It's amazing !!!"

Free Enterprise: Appreciating the Churn

"Free Enterprise
Appreciating the Churn

Dallas Fed Chief Economist W. Michael Cox explains the creative destruction of capitalism's growth process, also known as the churn."

Howard Dean Again Ratchets up Anti-Bush Rhetoric

"'The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is 'okay' to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is,' Dean said"

Captain's Quarters

: "Dafydd: ab Hugh's Universal Rules of Intelligence

Thinking about the terrible shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, shot to death in London by police who mistook him for a suicide bomber, recalls some rules of intelligence and analysis that we should always keep in mind:

1. The Law of Imperfect Precognition: Sometimes there is no 'right choice.' Throw the dice.

2. The Law of Imperfect Postcognition: Not even hindsight is ever really 20-20.

3. The Law of Colliding Interests: Five different people can each make a rational decision and still wind up in a melee.

4. The Law of the Rational Onion: There is always another layer of analysis that contradicts everything you've already concluded. At some point, you just have to stop.

5. The Law of Models: There is a real reality out there, whether you can see it or not. And it bites."

HYDROFOAM

"HYDROFOAM

Documents r�cup�r�s sur le net pour faciliter la consultation voir origine plus bas"

Yvan Cartwright's Lecturing Notices

"FSDD extra tutorial on 6th March 2002. Powerpoint slides - Java Syntax & Classes"

The Poverty Diet

"What to buy, what to cook, without starving"

Pizmo Games : Sugar Crash

"Sugar Crash Beta"

demonstrate rss tech

what is rss?

go2net | deep magic

"Deep Magic was once a glorious and magnificent forum where every week (slightly less often towards the end) the programmers at go2net would grace us all with their ascerbic wit, keen insight and general propensity to talk about cool stuff. In all honesty, they probably weren't that witty or insightful but dangit if the topics were the toppest notch o' cool.

Unfortunately, as all tradgedies go, their collective time ran short and their collective todo lists ran long and in the interest of there continuing to be a go2net for which to program, they opted to stop spending a lot of time trying to write prose and start spend more time writing code.

What remains here are the results of 6 months of laughter, sorrow, blood, sweat, tears and a whole lot of source code. We hope that you enjoy reading our articles as much as we enjoyed writing them (and we really mean that)."

Exam failure equals deferred success

"THE concept of 'failure' should be removed from the British education system and be replaced with 'deferred success', according to a motion being considered by a teaching union.

The proposal has been tabled for the forthcoming annual conference of the Professional Association of Teachers in Buxton on July 25."

Leszek Kolakowski & the anatomy of totalitarianism by Roger Kimball

"No academic is more distinguished than Leszek Kolakowski. He boasts a string of glittering honors and prizes that includes—I confine myself to a few A-list American awards—a MacArthur Fellowship (the so-called “genius” award, justified for once), the Jefferson Award, and, in 2003, the first Kluge Prize for “lifetime achievement in the humanities,” a commendation that carries a purse of $1 million."

The Syllogisms of Seinfeld: The Connections Between Logic and Humor

"There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth. -- Victor Borge"

Philosophy Now

"A Logical Vacation

Julia Nefsky on the curiously strong connections between logic and humour."

Xmail Hard Drive.com :::::::: turn gmail™into a portable hard drive for FREE

Xmail Hard Drive.com :::::::: turn gmail™into a portable hard drive for FREE: "Login to add files to your Xmail HardDrive"

William Girdler: Blobfest 2002

"It's impossible to describe how heartwarming it was to see an entire town rally around the success of a B-movie. Granted, The Blob is no ordinary B-movie. The film is a b-movie benchmark that has entertained three generations of moviegoers. Like a Wagnerian epic, the tale will never grow old. It doesn't matter if it costs 80 cents or eight dollars, The Blob will always be worth the price of admission"

When It's Time to Turn the Page - New York Times

"WHERE do you house 10,000 books? In an apartment with plenty of shelf space, of course.

So that's what Thomas and Katherine Cole needed when they moved to New York.

Mr. Cole, 71, who retired five years ago as a classics professor at Yale University, likes working from home, which means having on hand the thousands of reference works he might need. (He is writing a literary study of Ovid.)"

courant.com | Flip-Flops At White House Cause Stir

"Before visiting the White House, Kate Darmody carefully planned her outfit. She bought a sundress from Ann Taylor. She put on a strand of white pearls.

And then she slipped on flip-flops to meet the president. So did about half of her teammates from the national championship Northwestern University women's lacrosse team, invited to the White House last Tuesday after a 21-0 season. "

ReadyMade: Feature - Sprout a Couch

"How much oxygen did your furniture produce today? In our version of the future, the things we loaf about on indoors will be as beneficial as the stuff that grows out back. In the meantime, sculpt lawn furniture from the lawn itself. Unlike your standard-issue sofa, this lush greenery is totally organic, requires no synthetic finishes, and can be brought to life, Golem-style, from salvaged dirt. St. Augustine tiles create a seamless, living upholstery, or try wheatgrass for a durable alternative. Ask your nursery about planting tips unique to your sod. Note: Couch may require mowing."

Nigeria jails woman in $242 mln email fraud case - Yahoo! News

"Amaka Anajemba, one of three suspects in a $242 million fraud involving a Brazilian bank, would return $48.5 million to the bank, hand over $5 million to the government and pay a fine of 2 million naira ($15,000), the agency said."

Optimus keyboard

"Every key of the Optimus keyboard is a stand-alone display showing exactly what it is controlling at this very moment."

Planarity

"Planarity Flash Game
Instructions: Arrange the vertices such that no edges overlap."

Audio & Video from Vortex Technology

"Some Featured Items:
'Professor Neon's TV & Movie Mania' Radio Show Sampler
PRIVACY Forum Radio
Cold War Air Defense
Orson Welles' Voiceover Session
'Bride of the Monster' Trailer
Boris Karloff's 'Thriller'
JAY WARD Animation Special!
Computer 'Daisy' from 1961"

Debunking 8 Anti-War Myths About The Conflict In Iraq

"Debunking 8 Anti-War Myths About The Conflict In Iraq
by John Hawkins"

IRR Soldier: Kentucky Rides Again, and How to Fix an Iraqi Hose

"but I do know that the hose must have been too short because as of yesterday it's now twice as long. How did they mend the two hoses together you ask? Simple, they nailed it together."

Grand Illusions

"Dragon Optical Illusion

This little dragon appears to be looking at you. But if you rotate the base this way or that the dragon's head appears to turn the other way...

Or if you stand the dragon on a shelf and walk about, the dragon's head follows you around the room. And yet it is simply a sheet of paper, cut and folded in a certain way. How does it work?"

Civilization Watch - June 26, 2005 - Brain Training - The Ornery American

"Maybe computer games don't rot your brain after all."

LILEKS (James) :: The Bleat

"I took some solace in editing the family movie, which contains all sorts of heartstring-yanking moments. Last day of school. Last day of playroom. Last day of swim class! Get out the fargin’ hankies, son. It’s bad enough to cry at movies, but to cry at your own? Embarrassing. And it has nothing to do with the brilliance of my cinematography; it’s just the fatally cute combination of slo-mo and acoustic guitar that unmans me. For three years I’ve managed to get the “end of school” shot with Gnat walking away ito sunlight, and if you edit out the ambient noise, airplane racket, screechy kids, and boost the Pat Metheny, you get boo-hoo moments so powerful they could be used in a heartwarming local TV news segment. Yes, that heartwarming. The maximum amount of ventricle-enflaming Federal regs permit. My hands slip off the keyboard, because they are soaked with tears. Of joy! And regret.

What made this year’s effort even more unbearably emotional than usual was the dreaded Photo Montage, complete with pan-and-zoom effects for 37% more poignancy. I do it in the hopes that one day she’ll watch this an adult and realize that daddy loved her so much he took extra time to lock the audio clip to the playhead so it faded out just at the right moment, regardless of how much he edited out of the overlong swingset segment.

And if she doesn’t realize that right away, well, I’m sure iDVD 6.0 will allow me to add commentary tracks, so I can remind everyone. "

Print - SPIEGEL Interview with African Economics Expert: "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!" - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

"The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem."

EFF: Bloggers

"EFF's goal is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger, to let you know you have rights, and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected.

To that end, we have created the Legal Guide for Bloggers, a collection of blogger-specific FAQs addressing everything from fair use to defamation law to workplace whistle-blowing."

Test for Security Efforts: Next Harry Potter Book - New York Times

"The security plans are in place, the delivery efforts are under way and lawyers are standing by in case any copies of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' go astray before 12:01 a.m. on July 16, the official time of release for the latest installment in the J. K. Rowling series."

Profits, Not Jobs, on the Rebound in Silicon Valley - New York Times

"In the last three years, profits at the seven largest companies in Silicon Valley by market value have increased by an average of more than 500 percent while Santa Clara County employment has declined to 767,600, from 787,200. During the previous economic recovery, between 1995 and 1997, the county, which is the heart of Silicon Valley, added more than 82,800 jobs.

Changes in technology and business strategy are raising fundamental questions about the future of the valley, the nation's high technology heartland. In part, the change is driven by the very automation that Silicon Valley has largely made possible, allowing companies to create more value with fewer workers."

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

Alexander the Great
Hamilton saved America from the Founding Fathers' economic ignorance.

Decision '08: The Top Ten Liberal Reactions to the Retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor

"The Top Ten Liberal Reactions to the Retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor"

G8 summit at Gleneagles Times Online The Times

"In person Mr Bush is so far removed from the caricature of the dim, war-mongering Texas cowboy of global popular repute that it shakes one’s faith in the reliability of the modern media.

"

Objective Justice: Legos Explain The Hearsay Exception

"Energy Spatula at Will Work For Favorable Dicta had an exceptionally talented producer in her evidence class. He created this video that explains the hearsay exceptions through the amazing acting of Lego characters. So cool, that guy deserves an A."

School lunch

School lunch: "School Lunch"

Fish whopper: 646 pounds a freshwater record - Environment - MSNBC.com

"Thai fishermen netted a catfish as big as a grizzly bear, setting a world record for the largest freshwater fish ever found, according to researchers who studied the 646-pound Mekong giant catfish as part of a project to protect large freshwater fish."

CollegeHumor.com : "how you resuscitate a drowning cat"

"how you resuscitate a drowning cat"

Beyond Relational Databases - There is more to data access than SQL.

"by MARGO SELTZER, SLEEPYCAT "

FedexFurniture.Com

"FedEx Furniture is furniture put together by empty FedEx Boxes, and held together by fedex packaging supplies. All of the furniture seen here is 100% functional. The couch is standing/sleeping approved, I sleep on the bed every night, I eat at the dining table, and I work at the desk almost 20 hours a day."

WSJ.com - Real Time

"The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection, consisting of 1,082 books. List price: $13,317.74. Discount price: $7,989.99. Never has a 40% discount seemed quite so weighty."

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Why does the moon look so big now?

"For the past few nights the moon has appeared larger than many people have seen it for almost 20 years. It is the world's largest optical illusion, and one of its most enduring mysteries."

Shanties and Sea Songs

"...I soon got used to this singing, for the sailors never touched a rope without it. Sometimes, when no one happened to strike up, and the pulling, whatever it might be, did not seem to be getting forward very well, the mate would always say, 'Come men, can't any of you sing? Sing now and raise the dead.' And then some one of them would begin, and if every man's arms were as much relieved as mine by the song, and he could pull as much better as I did, with such a cheering accompaniment, I am sure the song was well worth the breath expended on it. It is a great thing in a sailor to know how to sing well, for he gets a great name by it from the officers, and a good deal of popularity among his shipmates. Some sea captains, before shipping a man, always ask him whether he can sing out at a rope."

WSJ.com - Threatening eBay's Dominance, More Online Sellers Go It Alone

"In 2002, John Wieber started worrying about his business, which sold refurbished computers through Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. Although he was earning $1 million a year in revenue, profits had started to slip as competitors flocked to the site. EBay also raised its fees, further cutting margins, and fraud was becoming a problem.

So Mr. Wieber revamped his Web site and began selling through other online companies, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Last year, his sales neared $5 million, but his eBay revenue grew at a much slower pace, making up only a quarter of the total. It will likely fall still lower. Of the auction site, where he got his start, Mr. Wieber says: 'Too many sellers, not enough buyers.'"

Details for xoc - SMW

"The complete soundtrack to Super Mario World, covered by one man using dozens of instruments. Roughly in game order, faithful to the originals, with some bizarre artistic license thrown around. A private hobby made public."

CBC Arts: After 100 years, Sartre's being drifts closer to nothingness

"'I have no recollection,' 22-year-old Jean-Francois Vergnoux admitted to the Associated Press. 'It's terrible – it's total emptiness when I think about him.'"

Salon.com People | How to say you're sorry: A refresher course

"Just say you're sorry. Never say you're sorry 'if.' Say you're sorry.

'I'm sorry I was rude' is good.

'I'm sorry if I was rude' is not. It weasels. It implies that maybe you weren't rude. It implies that the person being apologized to has a twisted little worldview if they think 'Oh, shut up, frog-lips' is rude.

An apology should give the sense that you actually feel some form of regret. 'Sorry if' is a conditional apology. Conditional apologies make things worse, not better."

How to help someone use a computer

"Computer people are fine human beings, but they do a lot of harm in the ways they 'help' other people with their computer problems. Now that we're trying to get everyone online, I thought it might be helpful to write down everything I've been taught about helping people use computers."

Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100 :: AO

"Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100
Want to break the lock on mainstream media? So do these folks, and they are inviting us to blow the business wide open."

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films - Yahoo! News

"The American Film Institute's list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies, with film title and year of release"

Polaroid-o-nizer™

"Polaroid-o-nize™ an image"

Ardalambion

Ardalambion: "The most comprehensive site about Tolkien's invented languages that you are likely to find on the net."

Holiday Snowglobe

Holiday Snowglobe

The New Yorker: PRINTABLES

"CAPTURING THE UNICORN
by RICHARD PRESTON
How two mathematicians came to the aid of the Met."

Comedy Central - Media Player

"Daily Show: Stewart - A Relatively Closer Look: Hitler References
Someone disagrees with you? Compare 'em to a Nazi. Works like a charm. A Hitler charm."

No Left Turns Archive

"This, by the way, is an example of a move I often encounter in people who object to the mere possibility of 'moral absolutes.' If I believe that something is 'absolutely wrong,' I’m told, I must want to suppress it and ban it legislatively. Freedom, it seems to these folks, demands that we be non-judgmental and indeed relativistic. But I can regard something as morally wrong without thinking that it is the role of government to prevent or prohibit it. Consider, in this connection, this passage from that noted latitudinarian St. Thomas Aquinas:

Now human law is framed for a number of human beings, the majority of whom are not perfect in virtue. Wherefore human laws do not forbid all vices, from which the virtuous abstain, but only the more grievous vices, from which it is possible for the majority to abstain; and chiefly those that are to the hurt of others, without the prohibition of which human society could not be maintained: thus human law prohibits murder, theft and such like."

Mark Harden's Artchive: "Artchive"

Mark Harden's Artchive: "Artchive"

Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena

"55 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena"

We Are Our History -- Don't Forget It

"Not knowing history is worse than ignorance of math, literature or almost anything else. Ignorance of history is undermining Western society's ability to talk straight and think straight. Parents must attack the problem by teaching their own children the facts. Only fools would rely on the schools."

PodcastAlley.com -- The place to find Podcasts

"Podcast Alley is the podcast lovers portal. Featuring the best Podcast Directory and the Top 10 podcasts (as voted on by the listeners). You will also find podcast software, the podcast forum and great podcasting info. "

freesound :: home page

"The Freesound Project - a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds."

zipdecode | ben fry

"This project began a very short sketch (a few hours) that I created because I was curious about how the numbering works for zip codes in the states.

This version adds several features over the original, including zoom, some new colors (thanks to Eugene Kuo for suggestions), and a better zip code database (because of all the people who emailed and were sad that they couldn't find themselves)."

AAAHHH!!!! [wmv]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! [wmv]"

Ian's Shoelace Site - Shoe Lacing Methods

"How many possible ways are there to lace an average shoe? This simple question, when answered with mathematics, results in some surprisingly big numbers - on an average shoe with six pairs of eyelets, there are 1,961,990,553,600 ways to feed a shoelace though those 12 eyelets."

Next Generation of Conservatives (By the Dormful) - New York Times

"The summer interns of the Heritage Foundation have arrived, forming an elite corps inside the capital's premier conservative research group. The 64 interns are each paid a 10-week stipend of $2,500, and about half are housed in a subsidized dorm at the group's headquarters, complete with a fitness room."

Star Trekkin'

"Did anyone mention Star Trekkin'?"

California Voters Get “F” in Education ~ Issue June 10, 05

"As a wonderfully sneaky test of awareness, PPIC asked Californians in a recent survey how much of the state budget is spent on public schools. They were clueless. Only one in three knew that public education is by far the biggest item, sucking up half the budget--very roughly, $50 billion of $100 billion."

Figure This! Math Challenges for Families - About Figure This!

"Helping families enjoy mathematics outside school through a series of fun and engaging, high-quality challenges"

Internet Archive: Details: Tom Lehrer

"Tom Lehrer performing at a Maths lecture, some of the only footage of him anywhere on the internet.
"

AtomFilms - Anakin Dynamite

"An awkward apprentice struggles with older Jedis, school elections and idiots!"

BLACKFIVE: The Third Rule of War

"The first rule of war is that young men and women die. The second rule of war is that surgeons cannot change the first rule. I think the third rule of war should be that those who have given their all for our freedom are never forgotten, and they are always honored."

The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town: Cookie Master

"As a vice-president at Wonton Food, Inc., in Long Island City, Donald Lau manages the company’s accounts payable and receivable, negotiates with insurers, and, somewhat incidentally, composes the fortunes that go inside the fortune cookies, of which Wonton is the world’s largest manufacturer."

Athenians and Visigoths: Neil Postman’s Graduation Speech

"Although he had been forced to sit through dozen of such speeches, the late communications theorist Neil Postman was never invited to provide a commencement address. He did prepare some remarks, though, that he planned to use if ever given the opportunity. In typical Postman fashion he even provides it as a true “open source” document: “If you think my graduation speech is good, I hereby grant you permission to use it, without further approval from or credit to me, should you be in an appropriate situation.”"

BBC NEWS | Magazine | A step-by-step guide to charisma

"A charismatic person has three attributes, says the professor:

* they feel emotions themselves quite strongly;
* they induce them in others;
* and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people."

qwantz.com - poster child mario question blocks!

"How to Make Your Own Totally Sweet Mario Question Blocks and Put Them Up Around Town

Because It's Really Awesome"

MilkandCookies - Shatner Does Seven

"Soon after the movie Seven came out, the MTV Movie Awards got William Shatner to do this parody. He plays the lead roles as each of his more famous characters: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, and himself as the host of Rescue 911."

★ The Joy of Tech! ★

"What stage of Intel Mac are you in?
Denial.
Anger.
Bargaining.
Depression.
Acceptance.
Bewilderment.
Geek Glee."

Press Pop Gallery

Press Pop Gallery: "50 YEARS OF ELECTRONIC GENIUS!
This is the official Bob Moog doll authorized by Moog Music Inc. Bob Moog is the genius inventor of many electronical musical instrument including the Moog synthesizer respected by many musicians. This doll was made to celebrate the 50 years of his electronic genius."

Friedman's 'heresy' hits mainstream / Private Social Security accounts were his idea

"San Francisco seems an unlikely home for the man who in 1962 first proposed the privatization of Social Security.

Asked why he dwells in liberalism's den, Milton Friedman, 92, the Nobel laureate economist and father of modern conservatism, didn't skip a beat.

'Not much competition here,' he quipped."

Rapid afterimage

"The illusion illustrates Troxler fading, complementary colours, negative after-effects, and is capable of showing colours outside the display gamut."

Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government

"AAPC Accounting and Auditing Policy Committee
ABMC American Battle Monuments Commission
ACC Air Combat Command
ACDA United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
..."

GotUsed - POOM! | State University of New York at Buffalo

GotUsed - POOM! | State University of New York at Buffalo

The Adventures of ACTION ITEM!

"Welcome to the official home of the Adventures of Action Item comic strip!"

How Well Do You Know: Monsters, Inc.

"If the earlier films hadn't already done so, Monsters, Inc. solidified Pixar offerings as critical and popular darlings. Great vocal talent, superb CGI and substance behind the plot and characters makes MI a modern classic. You may or may no longer be afraid of whatever it is creeping around behind your closet door, but how well do you know Monsters, Inc.? "

ACM Queue - Beyond Relational Databases - There is more to data access than SQL.

"As soon as the discussion turns to data storage and retrieval, relational databases come to mind. Relational databases have been tremendously successful over the past three decades, and SQL has become the lingua franca for data access. While data management has become almost synonymous with RDBMS, however, there are an increasing number of applications for which lighter-weight alternatives are more appropriate."

Pirate Ballerina » CNews 4June05

"The Rocky Mountain News kicks off a week of investigative reports on Ward Churchill"

Batman Quotes

"Robin: 'You can't get away from Batman that easy!'
Batman: 'Easily.'
Robin: 'Easily.'
Batman: 'Good grammar is essential, Robin.'
Robin: 'Thank you.'
Batman: 'You're welcome.'"

MercuryNews.com | 05/31/2005 | Assembly sticks nose into textbooks

"For instance, who knew that making a textbook longer than 200 pages was such a bad idea that there needs to be a law against it?

Well, 42 Assembly Democrats knew. On Thursday they approved AB 756, a bill by Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, that says: Neither the State Board of Education nor a local school district ``may adopt instructional materials that exceed 200 pages in length.''"

Trebuchet

"The Trebuchet was a medieval siege weapon that hurled rocks at castle walls.
This machine will hurl a grape 30 feet.
Look at the instructions.
Build time 1 hour."

IRAQ THE MODEL: Salafis talk on TV...

"The clerics said that they clarified to Jafari that their groups are trying hard to raise the voice of reason among the extreme mosque preachers and that they're leading an educational campaign to counteract the 'takfiri' ideology (takfiri means considering anyone who disagrees with your view of religion an infidel)."

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: A Fork in the Road

"Dohuk, Northern Iraq

Approaching Dohuk, a short drive north of Mosul, brings to mind the countryside in Italy. The war is over in Dohuk. After suffering perhaps a half century of fighting, the people have finally gotten the peace they wanted long ago. With the old Iraqi government vanquished, Dohuk is thriving. In fact, this Iraqi city appears to be doing at least as well as--perhaps remarkably better than--many comparably-sized towns in Italy. A visit to this place affords more than a break from the rugged routine of war; it also provides a postcard of a possible future for all of Iraq."

Tiny ninjas minimize Shakespeare's Hamlet

"Whatever it was, New York-based Tiny Ninja Theater's production of Hamlet is not your average Shakespeare play. Performed by only one man, mastermind Dov Weinstein, the play is put on with miniscule materials, all the while remaining authentic and true to the author's work. Every character is represented by a different action figure, usually but not always an inch-and-a-half-tall ninja. Fortinbras' character is a Transformer."