Some day, people will have a real reason to keep pet mice.

Digg Report: Today's #1 Digg, at 5440 Diggs, is about... a picture. "The Most Awesome Pic EVER!"

Um, okay.

And, more evidence that Ahmadinejad's a crazy bastard.

And I'm sure that this is just being taken out of context like all of Ahmadinejad's other comments.

It looks like the cozy relationship between the Iranian and Venezualen crazies is bearing some rotten fruit.

Is this the first step to Putin remaining in power? If so, I can't say I'd be surprised.

Celebrity Report 2: In a real bit of celebrity goodness (and, a bit of a shocker, as well), we have Jack Nicholson thanking the troops at the MTV Music Awards. (!) I'm surprised because I didn't think of Nicholson this way, and never expected this sort of thing at any event even marginally associated with MTV.

Good for him.

Celebrity Report: Bruce Willis seems to really embrace technology. Here he is in Second Life promoting Die Hard 4.

Is it just me, or is there a real surplus lately of loony national leaders?

Ama.. Amj... Ami... the guy from Iran. The little bastard from North Korea. Chavez in Venezuala. Putin. The list seems endless.

I'm not sure I completely understand this story, but whatever it's saying, the author says Ayn Rand predicted it. I think it's saying that regulations have driven the cost of producing tangible goods so far beyond the costs of producing intangible (and presumably less regulated) goods that we're facing a collapse of the "tangible goods" market.

I would agree with that, except I'm not sure it's true that "intangibles" are any less regulated. And, our economy continues to show remarkable resiliency, and I don't see Atlas Shrugged happening anytime soon. We're likely to continue limping into the foreseeable future.

Still, worth a quick glance.

I still say: if your toothpaste is made in China, toss it and buy another brand. I've been told by Crest that it's toothpaste is made in North America.

The juxtaposition of this Businessweek story, about learning to drive more slowly, as just preceding this one in my blog reader borders on ironic.

I want a BMW M5. And, it's not to drive slowly. 500 horses, an 8250 RPM redline, and 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. That's making my Infiniti G35 seem downright pedestrian.

Of course, my G35 didn't cost over $80K.

I'll take two! Seriously, though, a PC is a tool, and I wonder just how much one could accomplish with this model from Asus. Linux aside (and Linux is fine, for people who can use Linux), I wonder what else one gives up with something like this.

I've spent $189 for a notebook battery by itself. How long does this thing run on battery, 20 minutes?

Ironically, selling drugs is (by itself) a victimless crime. Stealing intellectual property isn't. And yet, some complain that the latter is being treated as seriously as the former.

If you want to steal video content, here's your tool: The Democracy Player! This isn't new, but it's coming out of beta and so presumably will be more widely accessible. I'll have to play with it and see how it stops me from stealing other people's property.

I'm sure it's ironclad. This is via the People's Republic of Boing Boing, of course.

If these were private ventures, the measure of success and failure would be clear and incontrovertible. They would also be moral, by requiring those who use such wireless Internet services to pay for them directly and by not providing an unearned benefit to those who don't.

And so it all continues: more content on YouTube. I don't understand the whole thing--YouTube has horrible quality, and it's not particularly convenient. But, at least it's by virtue of some sort of voluntary agreement.

I used to jones for one of these big-time. It wasn't until I was able to purchase a Timex Sinclair 1000, however, for $99, that I experienced computer ownership for the first time.

As I ponder the issue of racism, what sometimes strikes me is the historical gyrations that some go through to both make their own race look good, and another race look bad. For example, I remember a documentary from a few years back about Egypt, which included a black activist's complaint about Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra in the movie by the same name.

The complaint was centered around the fact that Egyptians were Africans, and thus presumably black. Casting white actors to represent Egyptians was therefore a form of white supremacism. It's not my point here to debate the true ethnicity of the Egyptians, nor the question of how historical figures should be represented.

Rather, my point is that this same activist, later in the documentary, could be heard lamenting white slaveowners as evil men. However, if the Egyptians were indeed black, then they were some of the most notorious slaveowners in history. Many blacks are religious, and so must be well aware of the story of Moses and the Jews--and, they must believe it, or renounce their faith.

And so, one must wonder at how people can so easily compartmentalize historical facts to support their own positions, even when these facts are contradictory and yet must be actively held at essentially the same time. Certainly, this isn't unique to the issue of racism, but it certainly applies in that context.