Interesting stuff from Mike's List

Play the staring game, spot the differences between these 2 pictures game or Shoot Teddy Bears.

Extreme Pumpkin Carving

Count Sheep

Hold The Button for as long as you can (even more bo liao than the World Mouseclicking Competition)

Type upside down

WiFi - SM - device that shocks you whenever news of some tragedy is reported

CDs made from corn

Mouse that cleans your hand with light


Interesting stuff from Daypop and Stumbleupon

Vatican: condoms don't stop Aids

Music Label Cashes in by Sharing - A backlash against the evil RIAA

Teenager In Trouble In Inhaler Incident - Suspended for saving girlfriend's life by giving her a whiff of his asthma inhaler

Link to Ancient Rome

Agnosticism / Atheism - Skeptical Inquiry, Freethinking, & Religious Philosophy

Free Personality Tests

Calpundit: The New Model Republican Party - The true face of the Republicans (at least those in Texas). Among other things, their party platform for 2000 advocates striving till "abortion is completely outlawed, Social Security is abolished, the welfare state is completely rolled back, the book of Genesis is taught in science classes, and the federal income tax is abolished."

So what's their hang-up? - the American Teleservices Association, which opposes the National Do Not Call Registry, nonetheless itself dislikes getting unwanted calls from thousands of people. "The ATA received NO WARNING that it was going to get unwanted calls! Not only that, but these unwanted calls were an INCONVENIENCE for the ATA, and WASTED THE ATA'S TIME! I just hope nobody interrupted the ATA's dinner."

Opening a Window on North Korea's Horrors. Defectors Haunted by Guilt Over the Loved Ones Left Behind

Unintended Consequences: Five Years under the DMCA - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Chills Free Expression and Scientific Research, Jeopardizes Fair Use, Impedes Competition and Innovation and Becomes All-Purpose Ban on Access To Computer Networks.

Study: Wrong impressions helped support Iraq war - 60 percent of Americans held at least one of the following views in polls reported between January and September:

1. U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
2. There's clear evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein worked closely with the Sept. 11 terrorists.
3. People in foreign countries generally either backed the U.S.-led war or were evenly split between supporting and opposing it.

Extracts from Dude, Where's My Country, by Michael Moore

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae)

Students toil as Spyware Hunters

The fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge

2003 Rock Paper Scissors International Championships

Voice for Muslim women terrorised by their families

The Real Patriot Act - Imposing a tax of $1/gallon of petrol to finance Iraq's reconstruction, encourage conservation of oil, weaken OPEC and Wahhabi clerics and reduce the trade deficit? Simplistic, but some valid points are made.

Debunking Edward Said: Edward Said and the Saidists: or Third World Intellectual Terrorism by Ibn Warraq

Can use of Ecstacy cause fatal fever? - Apparently as of 2001, only 87 people had died due to Ecstacy, of the millions of who had used it. So much for mindless anti-drug propaganda.

Forbes.com: Is Sex Necessary? - So much for abstinence: Some studies seem to show that having sex even a few times a week is associated with or causes the following:

- Improved sense of smell
- Reduced risk of heart disease
- Weight loss, overall fitness
- Reduced depression
- Pain-relief
- Less-frequent colds and flu
- Better bladder control
- Better teeth: "Seminal plasma contains zinc, calcium and other minerals shown to retard tooth decay. Since this is a family Web site, we will omit discussion of the mineral delivery system. Suffice it to say that it could be a far richer, more complex and more satisfying experience than squeezing a tube of Crest"
- A happier prostate? : "A study recently published by the British Journal of Urology International asserts that men in their 20s can reduce by a third their chance of getting prostate cancer by ejaculating more than five times a week."

So much for old fashioned morality. Also in the article: gender specific benefits and disadvantages (for men only)


The Mind of A Chinese Man

Chinese walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to Taiwan on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the Chinese hands over the keys to a new Ferrari parked on the street in front of the bank. He produces the title and everything checks out.The loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.

The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the Chinese for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the Chinese returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi-millionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The Chinese replies: "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Ah, the mind of the Chinese...