Fiction Market Blog: An Obituary for Carl the Carpenter by C

“An Obituary for Carl the Carpenter” by Christopher Schmitz from The Abacot Journal is a plain spoke, fantastical, hilarious obituary set in Carltown, United Kingdom (a false setting). It is told in third person. We, the readers, learn that Carl was a leader in on-the-job safety but also loved to street surfing. He died in an accident. The truck he

read more | digg story

Governments across Europe tremble as effects of global reces

France paralysed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battlefield. The Hungarian currency sinks to its lowest level ever against the euro, as the unemployment figure rises. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. New figures from the biggest bank in the Baltic sho

read more | digg story

Bruce Springsteen calls Wal-Mart deal a mistake

In an interview with The New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest-hits CD.

read more | digg story

cockeyed.com: Cash4Gold offers 1/3rd of gold's value

Another great experiment from cockeyed.com "Cash4Gold is nice enough to admit when they were trying to rip you off."

read more | digg story

Illinois Senate Votes to Oust Gov. Blagojevich

CHICAGO, Jan. 29 -- The Illinois Senate voted unanimously Thursday to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) from office for abuse of power, ending a weeks-long impeachment ordeal that ranged between drama and farce.

read more | digg story

FreightTrain Magazine Quarterly: Winter 2009 v04 i01

There is a story and a play in this issue.The first, "The Button Burial" by Christine Stoddard, is a wonderful story about a woman coming to grips with a small problem. The play, Origin of Consciousness by Robert Castle, is historically funny.

read more | digg story

America’s Most Mysterious Places

From UFO hotspots on the West Coast to mystifying castles in Florida, weird and wonderful places await.

read more | digg story

World's oldest living tree over 9,000 years old - Telegraph

The world’s oldest living tree has been found in Sweden, a tenacious spruce which took root just after the end of the last ice age.

read more | digg story

Monty Python put free videos online, sells 23,000% more DVDs

"For 3 years you YouTubers have been ripping us off, taking tens of thousands of our videos and putting them on YouTube. Now the tables are turned. It's time for us to take matters into our own hands"

read more | digg story

Analysis: Abrupt end to 'war on terror'

President Obama yesterday eliminated the most controversial tools employed by his predecessor against terrorism suspects. With the stroke of his pen, he effectively declared an end to the "war on terror," as President George W. Bush had defined it.

read more | digg story

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.

read more | digg story

57 Free Image Gallery, Slideshow And Lightbox Solutions

Awesome tutorials or auto-generated slideshows to showcase your photos. And they're FREE btw..

read more | digg story

8 Stupid Gun Mistakes Most Movies (and every Writer) Makes

I made a partial list below (I'm sure Duane Thomas can add to it) of dumb things I see in novels and comics and movies in the area of firearms. A few of these (for dramatic license) I make myself. But they're still dumb.

read more | digg story

Why Nuclear Weapons Are (Still) Bad for Earth

In the 1980s, climate scientists in Russia & U.S. theorized that all-out nuclear war between the superpowers would result in a "nuclear winter," blackening the sky and sending temperatures plummeting below freezing, killing crops and eventually starving everybody. While there is no regional nuclear war, the climate effects are still sobering.

read more | digg story

Obama wants to know: Why open source?

President Barack Obama is a smart guy. Where others zig, he zags. It's perhaps not surprising, then, that he's been asking around about the benefits of open source, according to Sun Chairman Scott McNealy, who has been asked by President Obama to author a white paper on the benefits the U.S. government can derive from open source.

read more | digg story

A Secret in Plain View by Dane Cervine

“A Secret in Plain View” by Dane Cervine from Contrary is a plain spoken, realistic story set in the Midwest. It is told in first person. The man goes each year with his wife to family gatherings in the Midwest, but this year they are meeting the English side of the family. All the men are taken to a cousin’s “gentleman’s club.” The husbands enjoy

read more | digg story

Checklist by Dave Yakubik

Near the end of my high school days, just before I left Guernsey County for good, my friend Clint recommended we go see the Big Muskie before they dismantled it. He didn't know what it was, but his brother's friend had claimed it was pretty sweet. When I got home, my mother asked me if I'd made plans for the weekend. Although I could think of nothi

read more | digg story

17 Molecules That Changed the World

All molecules are not created equal. Some have saved billions of lives, wreaked environmental havoc or made the world a more colourful place. Here's our selection of those that have changed the course of human history.

read more | digg story

Superscraper nears date with destiny

For over 100 years, where there's been an economic boom and confidence, there have been skyscrapers."They're acts of optimism, they're dreams rendered in steel and concrete," says William Baker, the chief structural engineer behind what will soon be unveiled as the tallest building in the world.

read more | digg story

Mars Rovers are Celebrating Five Years on the Red Planet!

The first robot, named Spirit, landed on 3 January, 2004, followed by its twin, Opportunity, 21 days later.

read more | digg story

How To Run Linux From A USB Drive

Take Ubuntu or Fedora wherever you go. Nothing can beat having a great Linux distro installed on a super-fast hard drive, with all your favourite apps configured just how you like them and all your files at your fingertips.

read more | digg story

How Crabs Find Their Way Home

How animals keep their bearings on hunting trips is somewhat of a mystery. What is more puzzling is how animals measure distances. A new study has found the first direct evidence that fiddler crabs monitor their travels by tracking their strides.

read more | digg story

Japan auto sales plunge as young lose interest - Yahoo! Fina

To get around the city, Yutaka Makino hops on his skateboard or rides commuter trains. Does he dream of the day when he has his own car? Not a chance.

read more | digg story