Donate to the Red Cross:

Apologies for being off topic: after Hurricane Katrina thousands need your help. Please visit redcross.org or call 1-800-HELP-NOW, and donate now.

Dust Devils Roam the Suface of Mars

Family-friendly fun from another world (from NASA).

Nice Gas Station Bathroom?!

When a friend's car broke down, and was pushed to a Mobil brand gas station in Calabasas,
I used their restroom; it was unnaturally well decorated... and clean:



(photos taken by David Lawrence).

Flash: Cake - Comfort Eagle

A music video for the Cake song. The audio is the highlight of this video. It's family-friendly (from Albino Blacksheep).

Meme Fight:

I think it's possible that violent Islamic fundamentalism is a set of memes that are not evolutionarily stable strategies. It's possible that people who subscribe to that set of memes not only can experience Western (e.g., US and EU) culture as a threat, but may resort to violence because they can't beat the Western memes with their own memes.

Amazon Shorts

Amazon is now selling downloadable short stories.

Fake News: Grieving Bush Protester Has No Exit Strategy

Cindy Sheehan, the protester whose son died fighting for freedom in Iraq, today acknowledged that she has no exit strategy for getting out of what some have called the quagmire in Crawford outside of the Texas ranch of President George Bush

(from ScrappleFace).

Summer Moon Illusion

Step outside any evening at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant moon rising in the east. It looks like Earth's moon, round and cratered; the Man in the Moon is in his usual place. But something's wrong. This full moon is strangely inflated. It's huge! You've just experienced the Moon Illusion

(from NASA).

Cool Video: Balancing Point

Danny Brown employs reverse destruction of rock sculptures and dazzles the eye in this magical short film

Family Friendly (from ifilm.com).

Discovery Has Landed

Safely back on Earth, STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins called the flight a fantastic mission, noting we brought Discovery back in great shape.

(from NASA.gov).

Dog Cloned

Scientists for the first time have cloned a dog.

Researchers nicknamed their cloned pal Snuppy, which is shorthand for Seoul National University puppy. One of the dog's co-creators, Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, describes their creation, now 14 weeks old, as a frisky, healthy, normal, rambunctious puppy

(from Associated Press, via CNN.com).

Deliberate Imperfection

As a boy I learned that the creators of Navajo blankets purposely weave a flaw into each of their creations

(from metacool). This reminds me of a Persian Flaw. The legend goes that back in the day (though I'm not sure what day it was), Persian rug makers were deeply religious and believed that only God could make something perfect. Therefore, in their humility before God, they would deliberately incorporate a small error, a flaw, into each rug. Thus a Persian Flaw revealed the rug maker's devotion to God. I imagine the rug buyer could/might share this sentiment. It also works as a hat tip to how we are all human and imperfect.

Fun Flash: Colour Perception

Family Friendly color perception flash thingy. A little mind blowing.