News Classification System. From the creators of the OpenDirectory Project comes their new effort: a classifying news crawler : Topix.net. They've got some cool text processing that allows them to classify each story in terms of content and geographic location. Very cool ideas in agreggation! [MetaFilter] —– great stuff

The Trafficking of Women. Guardian Weekly | UK Trafficker Jailed for 10 years A former asylum seeker in the UK, who is now a UK citizen, has been handed a 10 year jail term for trafficking women to the UK for the purposes of… [Flailing in the Surf] ——- it wasn't that long ago, maybe […]

Stringing Along. Remember Cats Cradle? No, you literate devil you, not Kurt Vonnegut's Cats Cradle. Cats Cradle the game – the two-player version of the activity more properly known as String Figures. As in those described in the Arctic String Figure Project – The Diamond [Bernie DeKoven's Blog o'Fun]

Now It's On!. The Tina/Lane Drive to Keep Everyone We Know From Ever Shopping At Wal-Mart is on. More to come…. [Eat Your Vegetables]

Will IPv6 conversion fail in the US?. Simson Garfinkel has a cautionary article about IPv6 in the latest issue of MIT's Technology Review: “The Net Effect.” He points out that while packet-level encryption will be the norm in IPv6, transmission through today's routers is likely to be… [InternetPolicy.net]

Got a science-y person in your life? Can't figure out a good gift? If you're willing to spend a bit (ie: the person is family, best friend, or partner) I'd highly recommend a subscription to New Scientist (www.newscientist.com). Sharp, challenging, endlessly interesting, and with good broad appeal to anyone who likes science, technology, and science […]

Flat. I left the office, late last night, to find I had a flat tire. In fact, I had two flat tires. One of the flat tires is less than a week old. [Mark Bernstein]

“US loses its tourism allure”. Fewer and fewer Norwegians are opting to spend their holidays in the United States. A new survey indicates that half of all questioned view the US as an unattractive travel destination. (Aftenposten) Travel bureau Berg-Hansen commissioned the survey and was… [The Practical Nomad] ——- this just figures…. it figures to […]

is this article on attrition in graduate school or is it a subtle argument for removing money from graduate education? He also calculated that Notre Dame would save $1-million a year in stipends alone if attrition went down by 10 percent, because programs would not over-enroll students to compensate for attrition. “We don't mind spending […]

]Cheaper Segway scooter clone proves a big hit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From BBC News | TECHNOLOGY. It's $1000 vs. $4500 for a Segway, but it doesn't self-balance… [www.gulker.com – words and pictures from Silicon Valley] ——- 3 wheels would have been better, but everyone knew this would happen.