Teens Build Fully-Functional LEGO Record Player

Seeded on Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:25 AM EST (TechEBlog)

Mark and Ralph built this fully-functional record player using only LEGO pieces — aside from the "paper cone, tin foil in the cone, and the straight pin that rides the record." Though not very practical, it would make a great conversation piece. Video after the jump.

odd-news, legos, record-player

Bush Dodges Question on Overruling Military Brass

Seeded on Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:59 PM EST (tpmmuckraker.com)

In today's press conference, President Bush dodged a question as to whether he'll overrule top military brass if they oppose his reported plan for a "surge" of troops in Iraq.

politics, iraq-war, joint-chiefs, george-bush, bush, surge, military

California population growth slows

Seeded on Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:51 PM EST (The San Francisco Chronicle)

California's population growth rate slipped for a sixth year in a row as tens of thousands of residents left for other states, according to new estimates the state released Wednesday. Demographers said many of those who left probably were seeking a lower cost of living.

california, population, immigration, baby-boomers, demographics, us-news

US students believe the First Amendent guarantees too many rights

Seeded on Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:25 PM EST (USA Today)

The new survey finds that 45% of students, up from 35%, believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. Yet questions about specific freedoms show that support for some speech and press freedoms is essentially unchanged or up slightly:

politics, schools, highschool, constitution, first-amendment, education

Not So Fast: Why Barack Obama may not run

Seeded on Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:30 PM EST (OpinionJournal.com)

Just about everybody seems convinced that Sen. Barack Obama is going to run for president. The Chicago Sun-Times, his hometown paper, is writing as if his candidacy is an established fact.

politics, barack-obama, obama, election-2008, election

Why the Browser War Will Heat Up in 2007

Seeded on Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:35 PM EST (Read/WriteWeb)

We wrote recently about the renewed web browser war between Microsoft and Mozilla (and some other, smaller, usually very innovative players). Our theory is that in 2006 a lot of the ground work for a major battle was laid out.

technology, internet, microsoft, firefox, browser

DeLay: 'Hillary Will Be the Next President"

Seeded on Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:47 PM EST (humanevents.com)

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said today that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) would be elected president in 2008 and would probably tap Senate colleague Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) as her running mate.

politics, tom-delay, hillary-clinton, barack-obama, election, election-2008, republican, gop, congress, blog

Google Finance Overhaul

Seeded on Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:02 PM EST (TechCrunch)

As anticipated, Google Finance launched a fairly extensive redesign and feature changes today. There is much more information included on the home page v. the old layout. Comparison charts can now be created for multiple stocks.

technology, google, internet

Pelosi May Give Jefferson a Lesser Committee Assignment

Seeded on Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:06 PM EST (The Washington Post)

House Democratic leaders, who have vowed to run a more ethical Congress, are struggling with how to respond to the reelection of Rep. William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat whose Washington home freezer once held $90,000 in alleged bribe money.

politics, nancy-pelosi, william-jefferson, congress, elections, democrat

Google Pushing Branded IE7

Seeded on Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:41 PM EST (-)

When you search US-Google for IE7 (or Internet Explorer, IE, Internet Explorer 7*) you may see a Google-sponsored advertisement for "Free IE7 Download" on top, the snippet reading "Google recommends upgrading to the new, safer Internet Explorer 7".

technology, google, microsoft, internet, browser, ie6, internet-explorer, firefox

DNA Gatherers Hit Snag: Tribes Don't Trust Them

Seeded on Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:43 AM EST (The New York Times)

The National Geographic Society's multimillion-dollar research project to collect DNA from indigenous groups around the world in the hopes of reconstructing humanity's ancient migrations has come to a standstill on its home turf in North America.

us-news, aboriginal, native-american, tribal, dna, genographic, anthropology, national-geographic, migration, genetics

House Intelligence Committee Members Need a Crash Course on al Qaeda

Seeded on Sat Dec 9, 2006 5:40 PM EST (public.cq.com)

Forty years ago, Sgt. Silvestre Reyes was a helicopter crew chief flying dangerous combat missions in South Vietnam from the top of a soaring rocky outcrop near the sea called Marble Mountain.

politics, middle-east, iraq-study-group, al-qaeda, shiite, sunni, house-intelligence-committee, silvestre-reyes, congress, intelligence

Birth rate 'harms poverty goals'

Seeded on Sat Dec 9, 2006 9:23 AM EST (BBC News)

The UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are "difficult or impossible to meet" without curbing population growth, a UK parliamentary group says. It concludes that a high birth rate in poor nations contributes to poor health and education and environmental damage.

world-news, bbc-news, poverty, africa, birth-rate

Microsoft enters book search market

Seeded on Wed Dec 6, 2006 11:34 AM EST (CNET)

Microsoft is releasing Live Search Books, its competitor to Google Book Search, in beta on Wednesday.

technology, live-search-books, google-book-search, windows-live-search, microsoft, google, book-search, internet

Vatican Holocaust claim disputed

Seeded on Tue Dec 5, 2006 12:38 PM EST (BBC News)

New papers cast doubt on Vatican claims about when it learned of the atrocities at Auschwitz. The man who later became Pope John XXIII tried in vain to challenge the Vatican's perceived indifference to the Nazi Holocaust, a new study has found.

world-news, pope-john-xxiii, archbishop-giuseppe-roncalli, pope-pius-xii, vatican, holocaust, religion

Islamic Group Demands U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Appointee Be Ousted

Seeded on Tue Dec 5, 2006 8:13 AM EST (The New York Sun)

An Islamic group is demanding that a conservative talk show host and columnist, Dennis Prager, be ousted from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council because of his statement that a Muslim just elected to Congress should be required to be sworn in using a Bible, not a Koran.

us-news, islam, muslim, dennis-prager, congress, religion

Penis too Large for the Condom? We Have a Solution for you!

Seeded on Mon Dec 4, 2006 4:19 PM EST (ScienceBlogs)

Scientists in Germany say they are developing a spray-on condom. They are developing a spray can into which the man inserts his penis. Then, with the push of a button, the penis is coated with a rubber condom.

odd-news, condom

Is Bush the Worst President Ever? No.

Sun Dec 3, 2006 7:52 PM EST

In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, famed Columbia University historian Eric Foner suggests that George W. Bush is the worst president in U.S. history.

Continue reading this entry ...

politics, bush, worst-president-ever, history

Yahoo Pushing IE 7 on FireFox Users

Seeded on Sun Dec 3, 2006 7:34 PM EST (searchviews.com)

It appears that Yahoo is pushing downloads of the new IE 7 from Microsoft and including itself as the default search engine installed in the file menu area.

technology, yahoo, firefox, ie7, microsoft, google

The Faking Imams: Police Report, Passenger Reveals That Flying Imams Were Up to No Good

Seeded on Sat Dec 2, 2006 7:56 PM EST (Pajamas Media)

The case of U.S. Airways flight 300 gets stranger by the minute. When six traveling Muslim clerics were asked to deplane last week, it looked like another civil rights controversy against post-9-11 airport security.

us-news, islam, imams, religion

New rules compel firms to track e-mails

Seeded on Fri Dec 1, 2006 2:00 PM EST (Yahoo! News)

U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

technology, email, rules

Conservative Students to Display "ACLU Nativity Scene"

Seeded on Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:26 PM EST (-)

The Young Conservatives of Texas - University of Texas Chapter announced today that they will be displaying an "ACLU Nativity Scene" on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus on Monday and Tuesday, December 4th and 5th.

politics, aclu, christmas, religion