Bruce Sterling discusses the Modern Cafe, spimes, and shoes in this videoblog interview taped during his visit to Minneapolis last week.

In this Washington Post column, E. J. Dionne explains why John McCain's plan to run for president in 2008 has ended his career as the Senate's maverick politician:

"The prevailing view among McCain's lieutenants -- it's also the conventional political view -- is that since the main obstacle to his nomination in 2008 comes from the right and from Bush partisans, McCain's main task is to appease the right and make nice with Bush on issues (such as Iraq) where McCain actually agrees with the president. Liberal attacks can be ignored, since most liberals will eventually vote against McCain anyway. There will be plenty of time after he's nominated for McCain to don his maverick apparel again for the benefit of moderates and independents."

Diserio.com selects the 15 Best Skylines in the World.

Guinea Worm is an infectious disease in which yardlong worms grow under a victim's skin and then force "their way out by exuding acid under the skin."

According to this New York Times article, "Now, thanks to a relentless 20-year campaign led by former President Jimmy Carter, Guinea worm is poised to become the first disease since smallpox to be pushed into oblivion. Fewer than 12,000 cases were found last year, down from 3 million in 1986."

As reported on tonight's Daily Show, The Smoking Gun has obtained Vice President Dick Cheney's Suite Demands.

"The document is provided to hotels where Cheney will be bunking and lists how the Republican pol's "Downtime Suite" needs to be outfitted. While the vice president's requests are pretty modest (no extract-the-brown-M&M demands here), Cheney does like his suite at a comfy 68 degrees. And, of course, all the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel."

According to this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, "Wisconsin is at the epicenter of a linguistic collision."

"The unusual vowel sounds are hallmarks of a change coming at us from the Southeast, the so-called Northern Cities Shift in which "aa" and "eh" sounds are being reversed.

This change, however, is moving head-on toward another vowel change coming from the West, the so-called Low-Back Merger. In this second change, words such as caught are being pronounced increasingly like the word cot."

"The writers of the Online Film Critics Society recall the half- and completely-forgotten treasures of the past decade cinematic canon with its list of the Top 100 Overlooked Films of the 1990s."

As this Star-Telegram article explains, the Landmark Tower, a 30-story skyscraper in downtown Fort Worth, was blown-up last Saturday. The paper also provides video of the implosion.

This Grasshopper Enterprises article explains How to Stop Time.

Cockeyed.com presents the results of an experiment to determine whether you can get a new credit card with a torn up credit card application. I won't give away the ending, but their advice is:

"You should probably buy a shredder today."

The Uber-Review presents the Top Ten Most Annoying Alarm Clocks.

Monty Python's Silly Walks Generator

In this Smithsonian Magazine article Christine Dell'Amore explains why coyotes have begun appearing in American cities like Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.

The Real Life Simpsons Introduction

According to this Associated Press article, Hummer has been trying to find an indie rock song to use in a commercial. Unfortunately for Hummer, when asked, most indie rock bands respond, "We'll do anything BUT Hummer."

"The Thermals, a rambunctious rock band from Portland, Ore., were en route between gigs last year when they got a phone call from their label, Sub Pop. Hummer wanted to pay them $50,000 for the right to use their song "It's Trivia" in a commercial. "We thought about it for about 15 seconds, maybe," lead singer Hutch Harris said.

They said no...

"It had to be the worst product you could give a song to," Harris said. "It was a really easy decision. How could we go on after soundtracking Hummer? It's just so evil."

Here's a link to a video of what can only be described as an Amazing Curling Shot.