This is pretty cool...Do you have a question that you can't find an answer to? Google Answers hires researchers to search everywhere for an answer for you; for a price. The price is set by the questioner, but a higher price usually means a faster answer. Researchers get to keep 75% of the money. And the answer is usually returned within twenty-four hours. There are some restrictions on what can be researched (no illegal stuff, porn, Google secrets), but it can be quite a handy tool when you can't seem to find that answer you need.

This is a great site for submitting all of those broken things in the world. This Is Broken is a collection of various things like signs, warnings, maps, etc that don't quite mean what they say or don't mean anything at all. Very funny.

For those of you tired of trying to get these ridiculously long URLs to work in emails, on your blogs, or in Instant Messages, try using TinyURL.com. TinyURL will give you a short URL that you can paste into emails, etc. This means you can turn this:

http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults.py?
Pyt=Typ&csz=Mountain+View+CA+94043&ed=
aga35K1v1CwYvqAvLXb6455xObkLn5g.72bBl
UbHHkCv2xwq5uaNbWtixTiWAiqTVQECX53
_YoIy7FE_FFIOiukX.nafQ3AW1v3TEofifr
QF78I-&country=us&tcsz=Mountain+View+CA+94043&
tcountry=us&tcs=9&tname=
City+Of+Flowers&tdesc=(650)+965-4055

Into this:

tinyurl.com/t39k

This story I found on BoingBoing is amazing! Myths over Miami are being told by homeless children all over Miami. It is a mix of all folklore, but is something new. Really very interesting...and haunting.

Alabama has it's own great fossil site! Too bad that they are about to bulldoze it. That's right. The largest fossil area of its kind is about to be bulldozed because federal law requires that all strip mines, where the fossil site was found, be reclaimed no matter what. Here's the story: Rare fossil discovery threatened by federal law. The only thing that can stop this is an act of Congress. "U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, who represents Walker County in Congress, has introduced a bill that would give the Interior Department $500,000 to buy the site and turn it into a scientific park. But the House has taken no action on the measure and its supporters have yet to find a sponsor in the Senate." Here are links to Senator Shelby and Senator Sessions. Let them know that you would like to see them sponsor Robert Aderholt's bill in the Senate. If I've ever seen a non-partisan issue, this is it.

This is just weird...Woman Charged in Vampire Babies Biting Baby Assault

...via kevin kelly's cool tools... Ever had trouble finding titanium washers, polyethylene tubing or fish paper? Well Small Parts, Inc. carries a full line of items for the researcher, developer or even the garage tinkerer. Just remember Small Parts, Inc. when you are looking for your next Brass Hexagonal Telescoping Tubing.

...via slashdot...The 2nd Annual Dilbert.com - Weasel Awards winners have been posted! Congrats to our local HealthSouth that made the list of Weaseliest Company!

This is pretty crazy...I've been a fan of JEFF K. for a while and have recently become very interested in board games again. Well, check this picture out! Jeff K. is a master gamer!!! LOL!!! He's even wearing the same shirt!

What do you get when you mix 19 year old soldiers, bulldozers, acres of fruit trees and bad foreign policy? Fun for the whole family! A touching story to help kids understand why everyone else in the world hates America. Gee, I wonder why all those people over there have time to protest and build bombs? Maybe because they don't have a farm to work on anymore?

OMG! As if the monkeys weren't bad enough! Now they are teaching robots martial arts! Don't these people ever watch the SciFi Channel?!? AHHHGH!!! The sad sad tale of humanities end...

Great! Just what the world needs...Cyborg three-armed monkeys rampaging our cities and stealing our precious bananas! Hey, let's give sharks legs and alligators wings and mix it up even more! Here's the New Scientist story.

This story on Slashdot Can You Sue Over Loss of Personal Information? is exactly the reason I never apply for a credit card or a prize or anything in a public place. This is also why my wife and I have a crosscut shredder and never throw anything out with our name on it --even if it's not filled out. I'm not worried about the NSA. I'm worried about some sleazy spammer or credit card company that will sell my valuable data to the highest bidder. To protect you personal data from those that want to fill your inbox with penis enlargement ads, always try to:

1. Avoid giving your information to anyone for any unneeded reason.
2. Never give more personal information than is needed. If the box is marked optional on the form, leave it blank.
3. Never give out your Social Security number to anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. Also, don't carry your SS card in your wallet or purse. Keep it in a safe place.
4. Don't sign up for anything you don't want or need so that you can get a "free" prize or gift. That prize is worth so little compared to your privacy and peace of mind.
5. NEVER buy anything from telemarketers (even if they say they are a charity) or spammers EVER!
6. Shread everything that has ANY personal information on it; preferably in a crosscut shreader. Once you are done using it or archiving it, get rid of it. This includes; old bills, bank statements, credit card offers, junkmail offers for things like insurance, old receipts, deposit slips and even old grocery lists.
7. Have a seperate "hotmail" address for those websites that require an email address.
8. If you start getting a lot of spam for no apparant reason, change your email address to something a bit harder to guess. It's a lot easier to send random emails to jsmith@aol.com than say j0hnsm1th@aol.com.
9. Install personal firewall software and preferably a hardware firewall between you and the Internet.
10. Keep your antivirus software up to date.

From the..."I always wondered department"...the story behind Ctrl-Alt-Del. From Slashdot.

In the future...cars will not run on hydrogen, but on PLA (plain-old-air). Here's the story of one frustrated designer trying to get the capital to build the ultimate in pollution free vehicles. Wired News: Air Car Caught in Turbulence

In what might be the largest lawsuit ever, Wal-mart is getting sued by 1.6 million female employees for unequal pay. Here's the link...Wal-Mart battles huge sexism claim. Discovered on BoingBoing.

Here's the rest of Orson Scott Card's essay...MP3s Are Not the Devil - Part 2.

I know what I want for my birthday...Whee!!!

Orson Scott Card of Ender's Game fame has written the essay MP3s Are Not the Devil about the RIAA suing everybody and their grandfather. Part one is out this week.

The big story today out thar in the Internets is about letter scrambling. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, olny taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pcleas. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by ilstef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
If that's not enough, and it never is when a bored programmer gets an idea, here's The Word Scrambler Thing to do the scrambling for you. Wheee!!! That should keep you going for at least the time it takes for the next meme to rise; which should be about fifteen seconds after I post this.