Florence Devouard is the new chair of the Wikimedia board. Jimbo will become Chairman Emeritus.

Communist Mutants from Space!

0.999...

The NYTimes has a comprehensive article on China's partial unblock.

List of Six Feet Under deaths. (Because episode guides are for pussies.)

From Jimbo, on the list:

Imagine there existed a budget of $100 million to purchase copyrights to be made available under a free license. What would you like to see purchased and released under a free license?

Photos libraries? textbooks? newspaper archives? Be bold, be specific, be general, brainstorm, have fun with it.

I was recently asked this question by someone who is potentially in a position to make this happen, and he wanted to know what we need, what we dream of, that we can't accomplish on our own, or that we would expect to take a long time to accomplish on our own.

If you've got ideas, add them.

The Austrailian: Editing wikipedia is a civic duty

Reporters Without Borders has the scoop on China's partial unblock.

Sure, there's Eastcoast / Westcoast hiphop. But for completists...

Report from the mailing list: Wikipedia is now only partially blocked in China. (Better that the chinese government censor wikipedia than the foundation. Though I think the spectre of partial blocks will keep editors on pins and needles.)

Despite urban legend, Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. However, Crapper put in much effort to popularise it and did come up with some related inventions.

Funny NYTimes piece on Articles for Deletion. (Diane Farrell's been restored, though.)

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz!

(Not to be confused with Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.)

List of comic book superpowers

List of historical elephants

Man, I used to love going on Spaceship Earth when I was a kid.

(See also: terrifyingly detailed coverage of Epcot. "EPCOT is also regarded today as the quintessential park of the 1980s. Many feel the park is severely outdated; a common insult is to call the park "the future as seen by Republicans." On the other hand, there are many who enjoy the nostalgia as there has been a growing trend toward interest in 1980s culture. To showcase this growing trend, EPCOT has a performance troupe in the Future World area perform many New Wave hits from the '80s on synthesizer instruments. The troupe dresses in Duran Duran and A Flock Of Seagulls-esque clothing and also peforms many Disney songs.")

Mamihlapinatapai is a word from the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego, listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the "most succinct word". It describes a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.

Saudade is a Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return. Few other languages in the world have a word with such meaning, making saudade a distinct mark of Portuguese culture.

Angel of the North

Category:Hoaxes

Professional farter