Remember that video with the celebrities telling us "don't vote" and we all pretty much panned it as being stupid? Turns out they made a follow-up with all the actors not understanding why they're being asked to read lines that don't make sense. I'm only OK with it this time because it's Harrison Ford to sets things right. I'm still not particularly crazy about being nagged by celebrities. (Note: a couple tiny curses you'll barely hear.)

"The memorial reefs are known as "reef balls." They are constructed by mixing cremated remains with liquid concrete, which is put into mold in order to create the reef ball." Kinda a weird, but really, is it any more bizarre than scattering ashes?

A 3-minute fairy tale of mixed emoticons

Folks are describing the new Mtv site as having every music video ever (and therefore something of a YouTube killer). I don't know about that. They're pretty light on Jimi Hendrix footage compared with what you can find on YouTube but still, always nice to have another free music source.

Alien endorses McCain - The story is mostly stupid but I like the photos.

[YouTube:5iATyUqGlYE]

Also enjoying the related videos.

You may have thought we saw three debates, and maybe we saw three debates worth of questions but it looks like we only saw one debate worth of answers.

Utterly bizarre Japanese Obama music video. It actually gets weirder the longer you watch.

Ron Howard's get out the vote video is something you probably saw a clip of on TV. Here's the whole thing, from Opie to Fonzi.

Speaking of political ads and resurrecting old characters, the Whazzup guys reunited (did they ever break up?) for video supporting Obama. The best mashup version of that video (and the first one I think of when I hear the whazzup sound) is the Super Friends dub.

Really, the political videos have just been out of control so I'll just keep listing them. This one of Sarah Palin needs to be watched at least three times to really appreciate it. The content is just one of her Katie Couric answers but there's a piano making the most accurate melodic translation of her words that I've ever heard. Depending on my mood it either sounds like it's mocking her or celebrating her, I can't decide.

Still political, possibly the nerdiest thing on the Internet right now.

I'm pretty sure at some point in time I mused that I'd like to see one of these "impeach Bush" activists actually try to carry out the kind of citizen's arrest they threaten if a Bush administration official ever came to their campus/town/speaking event. Well here's what it looks like. About as awkward (and unsuccessful) as I imagined. At least the lady wasn't tazed.

McCain/Obama dance off - Their heads are a little floaty but for what it is the technology holds up pretty well.

Commuter Click: We have multiple personalities.

I couldn't get the AC/DC spreadsheet video to work. The new songs sound good though. (And as throwbacks go, definitely better than the new Guns n Roses.)

A tie fighter made of Starbucks cups. Doesn't seem like there's 50 cups worth of material there but this kind of thing always makes me wonder if I should be saving more junk.

I can't decide if Amazon's new window shop is the future or just an idea that seemed better on paper. Does the practice of literally browsing online really make sense? It feels really inefficient.

Law & Order done with chickens. Amazingly I totally understand every scene in this and I don't speak a word of chicken.

Solar saves the day headline of the day: New solar cell material achieves almost 100% efficiency, could solve world-wide energy problems

There's not a lot to this video of a bunch of shopping carts spilling out the back of a truck but I have some readers with personal histories in the field of shopping card herding, so here's to parking lot shepherds.

Wooden path killed my Saturday night. The more you play, the more you get the hang of it, but there are so damn many bridges it takes forever to work through.

Sexy Halloween costumes - a really funny take on the strange cultural requirement that women's Halloween costumes have to be a sexy version of whatever they're dressed as. (What's the deal with that?)

Speaking of worthy Halloween links, these are the sickest pumpkins ever. More like pumpkin sculptures than anything to do with cutting triangle eyes.

One guy records himself doing 64 different vocal parts in an a capella version of Thriller.

I recently found out that my IT guy had extra docking stations for my laptop but this hanger solution isn't a terrible idea if you're looking to get that hot laptop off your lap.

Nice audio photo series from Magnum on living conditions around the world.

Some fun sketchbook art to make you feel bad about your own doodling skills. (Reminds me of this grocery list.)

Here's that new Watchmen trailer in case you missed it on Spike.

(What I've been working on all this time: Rachel.msnbc.com)

Obama Would Be Our First Internet President - That's what they said about Howard Dean and John Kerry. Until I'm learning about the daily workings of the presidency through the first person blog of the president himself I'm not ready to award "first Internet president." If we're going to call "having a Web site and a staff that updates it" being an Internet president then Bill Clinton was probably the first, and George Bush after that for sure. When I hear that some world problem has been solved on instant messenger, then I'll be ready to talk about "First Internet President." When part of imposing sanctions on a country means defriending their diplomats, then I'll start thinking about "First Internet President." I don't deny that the Internet has played an important role in this election and I definitely don't deny that Obama supporters have put the Web to good (or at least, productive) use for their cause, but I haven't seen anything specifically from Obama yet that would indicate that he's particularly Internet inclined.

Speaking of Internet candidates, I wonder if John McCain would have gone the same way on the DMCA if he'd been a more active user of the Internet. This episode makes me wish even more that there'd been a tech/science themed debate.

The New York Times has a cool interactive graphic for seeing where political entities are spending their campaign ad money. I'd be interested to see a map of media companies and who's making how much money from all these millions being spent on advertising. Down in Daytona they say the stores make most of their year's money just during Bike Week. I wonder what percentage of media operating budgets are satisfied by campaign ad money.

Airport scanners will show genitals - I almost got a job as an airport scanner but it was the whole having-to-show-my-genitals thing that made me change my mind. (What, that's not how you read that headline?)

Dock your iPhone in this laptop peripheral frame and you have an instant laptop.

I remember once before seeing a popular video of a guy doing a lot of impressions in a short amount of time. I wanted to write that I like this clip better than that earlier one but when I went to find the old clip I ran into what could legitimately be described as a Web trend of high speed impersonation videos. I gotta say, it's not my favorite meme. Kind of annoying.

If she hadn't posted it herself it might be too mean to link to this but since she did post it herself, I recommend starting around 1:57 because the build-up is almost better than the actual event.

Tip of My Tongue helps you find that word you can't quite remember. It's cool that as soon as you start typing it starts searching and sorting. Now I just need a site to help remind me of this URL next time I can't think of a word.

Sci Fi illustration blog - specifically that of Bjorn Hurri. NOTE: If you go to the main Gorilla Artfare site you are likely to run into a some sketched or painted nudity.

Speaking of alternative Star Wars art, Star Wars ABCs 

Commuter Click: Why I blog - I see a lot of people linking to it so I feel obligated to check it out but I have to say the beginning doesn't make me hopeful. Do we still need to begin articles about blogging with an explanation of web + log = blog? That's only half a step away from "Webster's defines blogging as..."

Just to show how far behind I am, I'm finally getting around to watching that Ringo Starr clip.
Everyone I've seen linking to this characterizes it as him dissing fans or being a general prick but I have a feeling a lot of people send him stuff to sign and then promptly sell it on eBay or at conventions. I bet he figured out he was powering a Beatles memorabilia cottage industry and said screw it.

Oh yes, I can see upside down dogs sticking around for a while. Several readers sent it to me in the mail as well. I predict a series of wall calendars in 5, 4, 3, 2...

When I was a bartender long ago we had a bouncer at the door on weekend and a hostess to seat customers in the dining area. The bouncer was an African-American guy who was easily 350 pounds and probably 6'5" tall. He had a shaved head and a thick neck and a roll of fat and muscle at the base of his skull. The hostess was of Indian decent I think. She bleached her long hair so it was kind of orange looking. She wasn't quite 5 feet tall and would need a wet wool jacket to put her into triple digits in weight. When they stood together they were a wonder of the range of diversity of the human species. Anyway, that's what I thought of when I saw this photo.

"Little Javier, born this past Sunday, is the first "genetically engineered" baby in Spain to be both free of his family's hereditary disease and transplant-compatible with his older brother."
The transplant Javier is going to be counted on to provide is bone marrow. I'm sure this particular family has lots of love for their new son and doesn't see him as a box of spare parts for the first son and I'm sure if I was in their shoes I'd do exactly the same thing (or whatever else it took) to save my son too but I'm still not entirely comfortable with the concept.

Iran unveils plan for women's car - It's not quite as ridiculous as Homer Simpson's car but the possibility seems ripe.
 
"If houseplants could blog, what would they say? To find out, Kamakura-based IT company KAYAC Co., Ltd. has developed a sophisticated botanical interface system that lets plants post their thoughts online."

Hat-vertising for Indiana Jones
 
I've heard about catfish hunts with guys who dive into underwater holes where catfish hang out and drag them up in their bare hands, but even assuming that's how they find these suckers, how the heck do you reel them in??

I know that right now there's a stampede of media to Joe the Plumber's house so you won't need any links to see what that was all about in tonight's debate but until the satellite trucks arrive on his lawn, here are two links I found useful.

Video and transcript of the original exchange between Joe the Plumber and Obama on the Political Punch blog.

And here is a follow-up interview he did with a site called FamilySecurityMatters.org about his exchange with Obama.

With regard to my post earlier today, if Joe the Plumber didn't have a blog, the blog came to Joe.

Tonight's presidential debate is a good peg for looking at some of the online fallout from the last debate. While the Internet's influence on politics is no longer news, there are still some aspects that haven't presented themselves before. This week it was first person responses to being mentioned in a debate answer.

One of the "town hall" questioners has a Facebook account and had some follow-up remarks. Garnering particular attention is his reaction to McCain's assumption that he'd never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before the crisis.

And, sure proof that one man's pork is another man's priority, McCain's dismissal of a $3 million earmark for a planetarium projector did not go over well with... well, people who understand the value of a planetarium projector.

And McCain's reference to eBay having started with 12 people drew a somewhat perturbed Tweet from the sole founder who started the company himself.

Yes, I know they're all about McCain but those are the ones I saw. These aren't fact-check items, the point is that while the extent may not have been a true town hall, the nature of the Web is such that the town is in the hall regardless. (Got Obama examples? Send them to me and I'll add them. Does that woman who gave Obama the bracelet have a blog?)

Criggo is like segment on Leno when he reads the newspaper headlines.

I'm trying to decide if I agree with the music this site puts to different weather conditions. If not, they still win because they got me to listen to a bunch of their music and check out their main site.

Noodlr is a noodle soup idea generator.

TubeMaster Plus Grabs Video or Audio From Nearly Any Site - I haven't tried it yet, which is why I'm linking to this review and not the site itself, but how often have you wished for something that does this?

Kongregate, whose games we play routinely here, is offering help to teach you how to make your own video games.

That friendly fire Iraq war video that Salon.com has published is in their story here. Note the warnings. I'll advise that you should make sure to gird yourself emotionally as well.

Enough cool pictures of the sun to satisfy a decade's worth of classic rock album covers.
(Their Earth from above series is also quite good.)

Have you heard the new Weird Al?

Commuter Click: Late Bloomers, the Malcolm Gladwell piece in the New Yorker which appears to be at least in part about artists doing their best work later in life. I'll read through this for as long as it gives me the hope that my most brilliant days are still ahead of me.

I don't mind what names people give to their kids, and objectively, Sarah, McCain and Palin aren't too far into outer space but seriously, you have to tell your wife if you're going to change the name you agreed upon for your baby.

Tipd looks like a Digg for business news. It's interesting the mystique of online business tips. Does it really happen that people find secret tips online that score them big bucks?

WWII posters - I recommend using the slide show feature on this. NOTE: In case you're not familiar with WWII material, it's pretty stunningly racist by our current standards. That said, it provides a lot of insight into people who were alive then and some of the remnants of that era that are still around today.

Neat YouTube trick that I'll hopefully remember next time I link to a long video but only want to show something in the middle of it.

How I Make $2,000 Every Year Without Doing Very Much (Short version: Contribute to online stock photo and illustration services.)

I'm not sure how I never heard of Gas2.0.org but if you share my interest in how America is going to get itself off gas-powered cars, check it out.

Cancer cured headline of the day: Senecavirus Structure Revealed (Oh, And It Still Kills Cancer Cells 10,000 Times Better Than Traditional Chemotherapeutics)

When the market was crashing last week I remarked to a friend how ridiculous it was that pretty much any guy in Lower Manhattan in a suit who closed his eyes or touched his face could be photographed to represent the agony of the market turmoil. So it was perfect to come upon Sad guys on trading floors to illustrate that very point.

Email has turned us all into liars - Pork pies rise 50% when we communicate digitally, research finds

In no particular order today:

What I'll be doing tonight while I listen to the debate on TV: the eyeball game. My first try was a 4.08 but I had a couple of 11s that were just dumb mistakes so I know I can beat it.

If tonight's debate leaves you unfulfilled, consider trying out your own third party candidate.

Literal A-ha is actually better than original I think.

Dark Knight trailer by way of Toy Story.

Apparently Iceland is having a hard time with this credit market freeze. I thought Iceland had reached utopian status because they power the country with water and geothermal so they aren't saddled with heavy energy costs (or dirty energy)? Not to take pleasure in others' misfortune but that currency problem they're having may make it an actual affordable vacation for Americans who are priced out of Europe.

The Breathing Earth counts births, deaths and CO2 emissions while you watch. I was expecting the births and deaths to pop a little faster.

I confess I'm one of those people who eats peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon so the idea of peanut butter packaged in sheets like cheese singles offends my sense of propriety (as did that squeezable tube of peanut butter - do they still make that?).

Earth from above - Another winning series of photos from The Big Picture.

I see lots of folks enjoying these tilt-shift time-lapse videos. (Tilt-shift has a specific meaning but it also generally describes that blurry-on-the-edges compressed effect that makes things look miniature.)

The amazing bendy TV screen that folds up to fit in your pocket

The cool thing about a magnetic air car isn't that it is (or would be if they built it) air powered. It's cool because it's got a magnetic motor. I'm not sure what that means exactly but I read last week about free-piston engines that use magnets so that's where my head is going. UPDATE: I read more of the magnetic air car's press material and they insist it uses no fuel. There's some suggestion that the magnets produce electricity which produces heat to build air pressure but it seems like the company is being a bit cagey on the details.

The good news: Solar powered motorcycle. The bad news: U-G-L-Y. (Actual story: It's battery powered and the batteries are charged with attachable solar panels.)

As long as I'm getting jeeped about hot alternative cars, Lamborghini is considering a new hybrid.

Speaking of driving cars, the idea of photographing people while they're driving has occurred to me but frankly the results are kind of boring and overall it feels like a creepy thing to do. But this guy had real success putting together a gallery that actually made me laugh at how well he'd documented some classic car/driver combinations.

Speaking photos, if you can't bear to read another thing because you've been up to your eyeballs in political and economic analysis articles, let's take a bit of a visual detour:

Another one of those sites that is vital to share with your adolescent who may be developing a self image. Click on Portfolio in the top nav. "No dear, even the model in that picture doesn't look like the model in that picture." I wish I'd kept a folder of these as they come up.

It's funny that I'm grumpy about seeing these tricks done in the media but I'm always interested in seeing how to do them: 40 Cool Beauty Amplifying Photoshop Effects

Speaking of Photoshop, Sumo Paint, in beta still but looks like a promising Web based free Photoshop-lite.

30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)

I also found myself on Dripbook a few times last week. It's a place for creative types to display their portfolios and do some networking. NOTE: Contains some art/model portrait photography, some of which falls into the category of "some guy got a bunch of women to get naked and make pouty faces for the camera" so while it's interesting and good inspiration, pay attention to who's looking over your shoulder. UPDATE: Link fixed. Sorry 'bout that.

Celebration Of Smoke Photography and Smoke Art - Interesting similarity to these light trick photos.

OK, back to the headaches of politics and the economy:

The Web lately is full of "one of the best pieces I've read on the economic crisis" recommendations from bloggers. For a while I was trying to collect them but ultimately I had a lot of links and no new insight (that is to say, I never got around to reading all those links). Thankfully, TheMoneyMeltdown.com does a nice job of keeping it all organized.

I gotta say, even though I'm not a fool for that anti-celebrity line of political coercion, weird passive aggressive nagging from celebrities actually makes me want not to vote just to spite them. Tsk, Jennifer Aniston and that dude from the stoner movies telling me what do to. Please.

The "silence yourself" ad campaign, however, is just creepy.

I will say, Google's voter registration map is potentially handy. Enter your address and it tells you when your voter registration deadline is. Not surprisingly they plan to add voting locations as well.

Tina Brown launches a new online magazine, The Daily Beast.

100 Skills Every Man Should Know: The Instructions (With Videos!) (Yes, it does seem like there's a new one of these out every month. It's enough to make a man wonder if someone out there thinks we're not skilled enough.)

The atlas of the real world - Wow! 18 slides that redraw the world map based on stats other than simple land mass. Some pretty amazing insights here.

I don't hate the new James Bond theme but I have a feeling both of these performers (Jack White and Alicia Keys) will do better versions on their own when they're on tour. Not a very smooth mix.

Microsoft's Viral Video Adventure: Seinfeld/Gates vs. I'm a PC - They note that the Seinfeld/Gates commercials saw considerably more viral traffic than the "I'm a PC" ad. Not really too surprising if you think about it. Does that necessarily mean the Seinfeld/Gates commercials were better even if it seemed like more people didn't like them?

I noticed Yahoo has the first five minutes of that new Blindness movie available online. I thought that was unique but it turns out they have a whole list of opening scenes you can watch for free. I guess it's like offering a free chapter from a book. Pretty compelling actually.

How do bloggers make money?

And... Big blogger pay cuts - What's interesting to me about this item is the addition of press mentions of a blog as a measure of success. That's a pretty mainstream standard that doesn't fit the typical "link and be linked" blog strategy.

Search Google's 2001 database. The cool thing is that they partnered with the Web Archive so that some of the search results actually render to old Web pages. Go back to the days when Baja Picante was a new Dorito flavor.

Folks in New York City on Halloween may want to participate in a reenactment of the parade scene from Ferris Beuller's Day Off.

This might make you feel better if you're in some of the more weather stricken parts of the country. (Potentially NSFW finger gesture.)

Our old friend Desktop Tower Defense in a slightly different (and is it just me or is it also slightly harder?) whiteboard version.

A commonly held conception is that any problem can be solved if it's given enough thought. I admit to generally imagining future solutions in terms of how much time it'll take to think them out. Turns out, I'm being "thinkist" in holding that faith. Thought alone doesn't solve problems. (Though it may seem anti-intellectual at on its face, this is probably the opposite of anti-intellectualism. The point is that solutions require more rigor than just thought.)

Metal Gear Solid Rubber Band Gun Is the Most Badass Way to Take Someone's Eye Out - (If this feels familiar, it's because we met the Disintegrator back in January.)

I hope to have a real post up today, it's been a busy week, as you know. But I had to share this game that absolutely crippled any chance of post-work productivity for me last night.

Fantastic Contraption - I could not get past level 16 last night.

NOTE: On levels that took longer to complete I did see some browser lag. At first I closed the browser and it thankfull remembered me - even when I switched from Chrome to IE - but then I clicked the "light graphics" button and that worked too.