Plurib.us

This is a very early color photo of a pretty building.  It appears somewhere in wikipedia.  If this much thought went into every picture on the internet, the internet would be amazing.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia...

I'm trying my hand at making some toolbar icons, and I came across this corporately detailed document for designing Windows icons.  Skim at your own risk.

msdn.microsoft.com/library/defaul...

Microsoft's Zune won't play many DRMed Windows Media files.

This is a stark example of DRM under the DMCA giving customers a raw deal. Buying DRMed media means you're locked into the limited array of devices that vendors say you can use. You have to rebuy your preexisting DRMed media collection if you want to use it on the Zune. And you'll have to do that over and over again whenever a new, incompatible device with innovative features blows existing players out of the water.

eff.org/deeplinks/arch...

On my wish list: A lamp that terrifies the elderly.

anglepoise.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id...

A bunch of strange watches.

zorigami.free.fr/odd_watches/

I would say, "The future is now," but with some of these watches, there's no way to tell.

Ok, Browsar was cool because it was tiny, didn't install, and didn't leave footprints on the inside.

Enter Torpark.  It's not as tiny, but otherwise has the same advantages.  But that's nothing.  This hides your communication from local network snoopers (making short work of corporate firewalls?), and makes you [relatively] anonymous to the web server from which you're getting pages.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technolog...
torpark.nfshost.com/
tor.eff.org/

Oldest example of writing in the Americas found in Mexico, from 900 BC.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/n...

Consider this headline:

abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2...

Interesting examples of the use of tags in websites.
themulife.com/?p=155

Holy Cats!  Until the end of the year, the Royal Society is opening up its archives for free.  This access usually costs over $9000/year.  Read some science journals from 1665!

pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/index.cfm?page...

If you need a replacement for your now-recalled Segway, consider this list:

diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/s...

Every Segway ever made is being recalled.
startribune.com/484/story/6765...

And, Garrison Keillor is opening a book store in St. Paul.
twincities.com/mld/pioneerpre...

An erudelicious legal discussion of copyright:

Vaidhyanathan observes, “copyright in the American tradition was not meant to be a “property right” as the public generally understands property. It was originally a narrow federal policy that granted a limited trade monopoly in exchange for universal use and access”. This paper explores the ways in which “property talk” has infiltrated copyright discourse and endangered the utility of the law in fostering free and diverse forms of creative expression. The possessiveness and exclusion that accompany “property talk” are difficult to reconcile with the utilitarian foundations of copyright.

Information is weird—I can give you my idea, and I can still keep my idea.  In fact, everyone can have my idea.  (The article is citation-heavy and informationally dense, but it’s not very long.)

journal.media-culture.org.au/0609/5-collins...

Flash site made by Leo Burnett ad agency, about itself and its founder.  It's very inviting, and fun to play with.

leoburnett.ca/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Burne...

A huge group of visual representations of information.  Awesome.

visualcomplexity.com/vc/index.cfm

An old-skool handset for today's new-skool cellphones.  Someone should buy this for me immediately.

novophone.com/

Long story on the somewhat-reclusive art collector Charles Saatchi:

"I don't travel. I'm very, very, very lazy. I'm going to be like one of those people who get fatter and fatter and become one with the chair, and they're found years later."

arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story...

Not huge, but elegant categorized directory of "websites you can trust", edited by various librarians.
lii.org/

Is your child assailed by demons in the night?  Protect them with Armor of God PJs!

armorofgodpjs.com/

Geeky Math and Physics jokes ahead:
scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscien...
scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscien...

Very pretty false-color image of the moon, indicating different regions' chemical compositions.
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060907....

Neat feature (despite its questionable utility) of wunderground.com, you can save animated gifs of weather loops.  This is what the weather was doing where I was typing, when I was typing.
plurib.us/1shot/2006/WUN...

(I always thought this site would eventually be the only weather site in town back in the 90s.  I was wrong, but it remains my favorite weather site.)

Recent image of Saturn's moon Dione
spaceref.com/news/viewsr.ht...

Also, SMART-1 Moon mission ends by design in Lunar impact:
esa.int/esaCP/SEM7A76L...
esa.int/esaCP/SEM2N58Z...

I am about to have a new favorite web browser.  (Just one file!  Doesn't install!  Doesn't save any settings, nor does it have any!)  Its sole limitation is that it doesn't have tabs, but that appears first on their to-do list.

browzar.com/

Interesting story of how bilingual children learn language.
physorg.com/news75993523.h...

Nice article about the planet-definition rollercoaster, (which seems to be over now).
startribune.com/789/story/6331...

Keeping the definitions straight:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_pla...

Update on SMART-1 spacecraft, orbiting the Moon.  (Analyzing surface chemistry.)
spaceref.com/news/viewsr.ht...

Weird Al's Don't Download This Song:
dontdownloadthissong.com/DDTSecard.html

Thorough moon exploration timeline
kokogiak.com/luna/

Also from the same site (same person?) a curated collection of the prettier Cassini photos of Saturn and its moons
flickr.com/photos/kokogia...

Interesting story and findings on the evolution of whales.

scienceblogs.com/loom/2006/08/1...