The TSA confiscated a clown’s makeup kit, despite that it did not contain liquids or gels, and had less than 3 oz. of greasepaint. It’s good to know that they are doing their best to eliminate the horrible threat that clowns pose to aviation. [h/t BoingBoing]

On a Le Boulanger bakery van:
Driver carries no dough
On Armadillo Willy’s van:
Driver does not carry cash…
but has plenty of BBQ sauce

I really enjoy reading Josef Conrad. I faked my way through the classic Conrad novels we were force-fed in high school, Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, getting by with Cliff’s Notes. However, as and adult I have actually read and enjoyed both novels: so much so that I have gone on to slowly [...]

I’m about halfway through reading Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education by David F. Noble, a book recommended to me by a fellow student. It is a scathing critique of the trend of universities viewing education as a commodity product rather than a service.
I went out to a fast food joint for [...]

Many people on the Internet have derided British high court judge Peter Openshaw for stating that he did not know what a web site is.  I thought it was great that Judge Openshaw admitted that and sought assistance; that’s what I’d hope that any judge would do when faced with a case involving concepts with [...]

Timmy: “Are we gonna discover the secret of life, Mr. Wizard?”
Mr. Wizard: “We will if we’re not careful, Timmy!”
—”Mr. Wizard and Timmy” parody by Stevens & Grdnic
I’m not old enough to have seen the original “Watch Mr. Wizard” show, and I hadn’t even heard of Don Herbert’s more recent Nickelodeon series “Mr. Wizard’s [...]

Raquel Maria Dillon of Associated Press reports that the parents of Paris Hilton were able to bypass the line that other visitors waited in for hours.
County Supervisor Don Knabe said he and his colleagues had received many angry e-mails from people who believed [Sheriff Lee] Baca was treating the heiress better than other sick and [...]

I was flying from San Jose to Denver. The plane looked like an ordinary 737. But after we were airborne, and the pilot turned off the seatbelt sign, the plane expanded quite a bit. There were multiple restaurants, a library, a garden with a fountain, and all kinds of neat stuff.
However, the [...]

On Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow writes about the novel The Execution Channel by Ken Macleod, a thriller that includes as a plot element an internet video feed of people being tortured and killed. No one knows where the signal originates. Sound familiar?  Long live the new flesh!

A beer thief quotes a Beetles [sic] song to Montana District Court Judge Gregory Todd, and the Judge issues a sentencing memorandum citing 42 Beatles songs.
[h/t Dr. Sanity]