Alan sez, "In today's XKCD comic, Randall Munroe notes that he's not doing so well and asks for fun distractions to be sent to sick@xkcd.com." Illness (Thanks, Alan!)

Last May, Kentucky's Harvey Westmoreland had a dispute with James Hill and Troy Holt over the sale of a tractor. Hill and Holt thought they were being cheated, so they… Read the rest of the article: Tractor sale gone bad ends with man eating own beard

Stung by accusations that his laser-engraved banana (featured here yesterday) was a fake, Wouter Walmink has assembled comprehensive documentation of the process that went into making art out of fruit… Read the rest of the article: Just look at this awesome proof of the existence of laser-engraved bananas!

Eli Horwatt's (York University, Canada) article "A Taxonomy of Digital Video Remixing: Contemporary Found Footage Practice on the Internet," in Cultural Borrowings makes a stab at cataloging all the different… Read the rest of the article: Catalog of digital remix video styles

Lazcraft has completed his continued work on his Minecraft CPU project (not to be confused with theInternetFTW's remarkable 8-bit Minecraft computer project). He now has a full, working 8-bit computer… Read the rest of the article: Working 8-bit CPU in Minecraft

Discover has a fascinating article on the scientific detectives working to uncover the causes of schizophrenia, trying to unravel genetic sequences from hundreds of people with schizophrenia, twin studies, a… Read the rest of the article: Retroviruses and schizophrenia: a scientific detective story

With their new "You choose: star in a porno shoot or let me squeeze your genitals" policy, it really feels like the TSA may have finally found the limit of… Read the rest of the article: More TSA "grope vs porno shoot" tees

On Tor.com, Jo Walton continues her highly entertaining series of posts analyzing all the past Hugo winners and nominees. She's just made it to 1955 and They'd Rather Be Right,… Read the rest of the article: Worst book ever to win a Hugo

Jesse sez, ""Growing up in Idaho Falls, Idaho was strange enough but I always wondered what was up with this collection of futuristic hippy homes in my neighborhood above I.F.… Read the rest of the article: Bonkers geodesic futuristic homes of Idaho Falls

Pascalvanhecke sez, "California Dreaming is a documentary broadcast on Dutch TV November 8. It portrays the consequences of a the subprime crisis and crumbling local government. You can download the… Read the rest of the article: CC licensed Dutch documentary on California and the subprime meltdown

Many jazz-fans in New Orleans were distraught to learn, back in July, that an incompetent contractor had botched the refurbishment of Louis Armstrong Park, including damaging the iconic statue of… Read the rest of the article: Tragically damaged Louis Armstrong statue as endangered Lenin monument

Here's a sweet little animation spelling out 23 years' worth of the complex interpersonal relationships on The Bold and the Beautiful, a soap-opera, visualized with artists' maquettes and liberal use… Read the rest of the article: 23 years' worth of soap opera romance condensed into 6 minutes

I just disappeared into a sweet and fully rocking memory for 45 minutes, and I'm still bopping. I recently discovered that Jerome Godboo, former frontman for 1980s Canadian blues/rock band… Read the rest of the article: Uptempo boogie-woogie blues that will get you moving: The Phantoms "Alive at the Diamond"

Artist Gwenn Seemel's post, "How I make sure my art doesn't get ripped off on the Internet" is a wonderfully calm, sensible and practical approach to living as a 21st… Read the rest of the article: HOWTO make art without getting "ripped off" online

The Serbian translation of my novel Little Brother has just been published by Profil Knjiga!

Core 77 reviews Fiskars' amazing Cuts+More multi-scissors that can be used as an awl, rope-cutter, wire-cutter, twine-cutter, tape-cutter, sharpener, bottle opener, and titanium knife. Fiskars has a deserved reputation as… Read the rest of the article: Fiskars multi-scissors

Brian Krebs reports on "bulletproof hosting" providers that offer malware/spyware creeps, spammers, rip-off artists and other Mos Eisley cantina-dwellers a place to park a website where takedown notices, search warrants,… Read the rest of the article: What it costs to host a malware site

Cracked.com member AceJustice is featured in the site's photoshopping contest that asks members to imagine, "If Other Industries Were As Evil as the RIAA." I love AceJustice's entry, as it… Read the rest of the article: If other industries were as evil as the record companies

This week, Rick Kleffel, one of my favorite book interviewers, talks to Kevin Kelly about his book What Technology Wants, one of the best books I've ever read about technology.… Read the rest of the article: Kevin Kelly talks "What Technology Wants"

Musician/filmmaker/mischievous imp Olga Nunes (creator of, among other things, the brilliant live action re-creation of XKCD's 'I Love the Internet' strip) has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $3,000 for… Read the rest of the article: Semi-fictional love stories and music project on Kickstarter