Attention, Earthlings! Emo is dangerous! Spread the word! (Yes, they're serious. This is hilarious. At least when we were young and gothy, we looked a little sinister.)

The big news in the spooky/spiritual world this week is the possible ossuary of Jesus and his family. More books and movies are sure to follow, don't you think?

If you're not busy debating the life of Jesus or defending your family from emo, there's dogsled racing going on in Maine this weekend, as well as the Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt in San Francisco. And it's not too late to prepare for SXSW coming up in Austin. Or you can rate the world's subways yourself through first-hand experience. (I've only been on two of the listed subways...but they're the top two! Woohoo!)

Huzzah, a woman has won the Turing Award for the first time!

Can your irises tell scientists about your personality? Cassandra and I went to an "iris reader" once. It was...interesting.

Kids + technology = a lack of boundaries and privacy. At least, that's what some people are saying. (I fully admit that I would have been one of those tortured teens posting angsty poetry, if the internet had been around during that time. Thank God it wasn't.)

Bad science news (the ice caps are melting) sometimes has a silver lining (new species discovered, including a psychedelic octopus!).

Myth busted: a lit cigarette doesn't automatically lead to a gasoline-soaked object going up in a giant fireball. Action films are ignoring this discovery.

And finally, the great geek boutique of Fractal Spin has some neato keen objects.

If you're near Baltimore tonight, the Dime Museum is auctioning off some items in preparation for its shutdown (sad). Go and get some prize bits of Americana if you can!

A follow-up to last Friday's story about chimpanzees making spears: apparently they're making pencils now as well, and marking leaves with them. Can Hamlet be far behind?

Speaking of updates, here's one on last week's story about Joyce Hatto and her possibly-doctored works: her husband has confessed to altering the recordings.

A new story about the theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has some interesting details. Who knew there were two separate paintings, for instance?

Spalding Gray may be gone, but a new production of his is underway.

Origami has gotten more and more detailed recently. There's almost nothing that's out of reach, to hear the masters talk.

And finally, it's philosophy/sociology discussion time: why do you like the bands you like? Is it just because the Man tells you what to do? Use both sides of the paper if necessary.

Links from others today, because it's Friday! Thanks, everyone.

From Tim: a very cool and very spooky BBC documentary on the Bermuda Triangle.

From the Library Underground mailing list: look, a cute little Japanese mascot for wartime!

From Bunny: chimpanzees are using spears to hunt. (Bunny's comment: "it's payback time for being made to run around in funny outfits and rollerskates in the 70s.")

Also from Bunny: The L Team! The last shot is hilarious.

From Satori: our alma mater is in the top 5 schools for most illegal downloads. We're so proud.

Also from Satori: " When you have the time, and can have your volume up, there is a really fantastic video that was made by a woman named Amanda Biggs. She’s 26 years old and Autistic. She makes such a strong statement with this video that it really makes you think about alternate ways to communicate and interact with your world.

The first part of the video is shot with no explanation. You just see how Amanda interacts with her surroundings, experiencing the world. In the second half she explains her behaviors and what her language means to her. She asks the question, why am I deficient because I haven’t mastered your spoken language and yet you are not deficient when you do not interact with your surroundings in the deep and meaningful way that I do?"

And finally, one last contribution from Bunny: the strangest, most useless mp3 accessory ever.

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

We start off with some fun links for stats geeks. Worldometers gives you birth/death/etc. info in real time! HealthMap shows you what diseases are spreading where! Longbets (found via Tim) lets you guess what's going to happen to all of us down the road!

Via the Pragmatic Librarian: this take on the New Information Professional is an interesting read, especially for academic librarians under 35. I'm neither at the moment (yikes), but Bunny is both, so it's relevant!

Frank Zappa fans will be happy to hear that a memorial fund in his name is supporting the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation. Woo!

And finally, if you're in or near Ohio, you might consider seeing the Mazza Museum in Findlay, which is devoted to the art of children's picture books. Sounds neat.

Tomorrow: links from others!

If we survive the predicted apocalypse of 2012, there's another one coming in 2036, and its name is Apophis. I'm just warning you ahead of time.

Also, the oceans are having issues. "Dead zones" are popping up around the globe. Yikes.

Following the Holy Blood, Holy Grail/Da Vinci Code craze, Bloodline: The Movie is underway. And speaking of movies, Kreating Karloff looks pretty interesting.

Happy spooky stuff: Haunted Dimensions takes you behind the scenes of the various Haunted Mansions!

And finally, for those of you not interested in spooky stuff: check out this grid map of the Eisenhower Interstate System. Pretty, and functional, too!

Can you imagine driving along a highway late at night in a remote area and then turning a curve to see a decotora truck careening toward you, lights blinking and twirling like a Vegas on wheels?

If you prefer your monsters in tinier, more manageable fashion, Readymech has some cute little paper creatures you can construct at home for free! Alternatively, you could stick some Space Invader wall decals up in a room and relive those heady Atari days.

Damn Interesting always has the best...well, damn interesting articles. A recent entry is all about the Wilhelm Scream, which has been used for many a Star Wars stormtrooper's demise.

If you can't have the Wilhelm Scream for a ringtone, why not John Cage's 4:33'? Ha!

A little something of everything today.

Literature: what do people read on the way to and from work? The Guardian investigates.

Art: Tiffany's stained glass was the work of more than just one man. The "glass women" speak out.

Theatre: how can we really pick out a best movie of the year, anyway?

Music: Joyce Hatto, piano virtuoso, was passing off the works of others as her own, apparently.

Architecture: what are America's most-loved landmarks? Now you know.

Today: links from others!

The Graveworm is looking into the sudden disappearance of honeybees. Apparently this has happened before, but it's still a little worrying.

Zazoo says this is an actual headline: "Is your car out of the closet? Does your ride reflect your pride? Introducing...gaywheels.com."

Apparently Batman has been spotted near a school in Arizona. Perhaps he's looking for a teenage sidekick.

The commenters at Scalzi's Whatever are currently debating unicorns vs. zombies (I think the zombie supporters are winning at the moment) and from that I found the great Intramural Zombie Hunter shirts.

And finally, if you'd like to do something for the people in Darfur but don't know how to begin, maybe you could start with a contribution to the Darfur Wall.

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. See you Monday!

Introducing...the book! This has been making the rounds for the past week, and it's worth watching.

Time for the "has anyone tried" portion of the weblog: has anyone experimented with Yahoo Pipes yet? How about Time to Meet? They both look pretty interesting.

Penguin Books is experimenting with the idea of a collaborative novel, and it's...well, it's kind of confusing right now.

The Seattle Public Library is beautiful and awesome. This is not really news, but it's nice to see a library get some good press.

Meanwhile, Designing Better Libraries is a brand new weblog which looks really promising.

Tomorrow: links from others!

Ice storm day! More photos over at our Flickr account. Enjoy! Updates may be coming later, depending on the weather and the power (there are a lot of outages right now).

Here's a current webcam shot. Looks like a black & white photo, doesn't it? We are currently experiencing sleet/ice/rain/snow outside, depending on where you're standing. It's pretty deserted outside, even downtown. Good times. You know what would totally brighten up this sort of day, though? A super-cute Japanese snowplow that chomps up the snow and turns it into snowblocks! They need to get this over to the States right quick.

If you're stuck inside, however, you can entertain yourself with the Speak & Spell Emulator, or the Stardoll site which lets you dress dozens of celebrities however you want (I put Kylie Minogue in a few outfits, but I think she has better fashion sense than I do), or test your hearing by clicking on the little ASCII cat and listening to increasingly higher pitches. Those early ear infections and subsequent loud clubs and concerts must have really done a number on my hearing; I could only hear up to 12,000 Hz. (On the bright side, I won't be bothered by any "teenager repellent" sound warfare, at least...)

Speaking of superhearing...look, we have a bionic woman! Well, a woman with a bionic arm, at least. It's the beginning of the future, I tells ya. Until we all get robotic parts, you can satisfy your mechanical tendencies with robot Valentine's Day cards. "Be mine, lust object" is my favorite.

The oldest newspaper in the world has just gone digital-only. Wow, maybe this newfangled technology's going to stick after all.

The Public Art Fund looks like a whole bunch of fun for people who live in New York City. I'd be thrilled if I lived somewhere that kept changing out art installations. (I especially like the current "2001" installation.) We are, however, about to have the Appalachian Festival here, which is pretty cool in and of itself.

Over in England, the church with Shakespeare's tomb desperately needs some preservation efforts. Judi Dench is on board; why not contribute a bit yourself?

Two great artist sites: the Etch-a-Sketchist blog and Darwin Bell's Sign Language gallery of Polaroid art.

And for some pop culture fun, take a look at the best rejected advertising out there!

Links from others! Thanks, everyone.

From Bunny: "African amputee cup to kick off." Yeah, there's really nothing I can say that beats the headline.

From the Graveworm: even more weird lights in the sky, this time in Phoenix.

Also from Mr. Graveworm: the doomsday vault design has been unveiled. Do you think that global warming will affect this at all?

If you've ever wanted to make Girl Scout cookies on your own, or recreate a restaurant favorite, Top Secret Recipes may just have what you need.

And lastly, are you an A-lister in the weblog world? Or are you on the D-list? Or are you not on the lists at all? This fun little widget will tell you where you stand. (I'm a C-lister. Wow! I'm moving up in the virtual world!)

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. See you Monday.

Psst, library people! There's a librarian blogroll in the making over at Cool Librarian!

Found via the Librarian in Black: behold, the Library Predict-o-Matic 3000!

Librarians and bookstore employees can get a free Star Wars informational kit if you ask before March 1. The SpookyLibrarians shall report back with our findings.

Dr. Saad Eskander, the Director of the Iraq National Library and Archives, is keeping an online journal via the British Library. It's fascinating, and also heartbreaking.

Most search engines have weblogs now, and Ask is no exception. But theirs is funnier and more interesting than the others, especially this take on the Google pen. (The comments are great.)

Tomorrow: links from others, hooray!

Hey, did you know that Thomas Edison would have been 160 this weekend? You can go to Louisville and help them celebrate. They're even going to have a lighbulb cake!

More UFO news from the Graveworm: lights in the sky have been spotted in the US and in England. Coincidence? Miltary maneuvers? Signs of an imminent apocalypse?

Yet another reason to visit the Museum of Elsewhere in Switzerland, which looks absolutely amazing: they're going to have a Lovecraft exhibit later this year. Monster Brains has all the details.

If you're spooky and like coffins, you will definitely appreciate the Colourful Coffins.

And finally, a world map website that's expansive, fascinating, and has a punny name: The World Processor.

The snow is coming! They're sending us home early today so we can avoid the white death! Aieeee! (Southern Ohio does not react calmly to snow. It's kind of hilarious.)

Therefore, the links are thrown out real fast today:

• Tracy sent in this great site where you can subscribe to news from NASA. She sent this before the big story about the astronaut, however, and I'm not sure how keen NASA is on reporting that particular incident.
• Jim Gray is missing, after going out to sea to scatter the ashes of his mother. It's all very sad.
• The Hungry Scientists have a bunch of projects up at Instructables, which is an all-around great site that you should be checking already.
• The idea of having a webcam for a satellite rocket launch turns out to be...not such a good one. (It's very dramatic, though.)
• Look, the Muppet Mobile Lab is on its way!
• In more fun bits, putting "LEGO" into YouTube garners all sorts of great little short films and videos.
• Start getting ready - MakerFaire 2007 is coming this spring. (I'm actually thinking that this would be a great long weekend trip. Anyone?)
• If you're stuck at work, at least you can be cool: Cyberoptix offers some truly great ties.

Drive safe and stay warm, everyone. See you tomorrow!

If you're not reading xkcd on a regular basis, you should be. I'm just saying.

The Lost Formats Preservation Society is a serious nostalgia trip. Why are most format objects round, anyway?

If you've ever wondered what goes into lighting an art exhibit, someone at the Smithsonian has detailed how they worked on one. Interesting stuff.

Ever noticed that if you sing poetry, you remember it more easily? Or is that just me? At any rate, respected poets are getting their musical due.

And to end the post, the history of applause.

Incidentally, the Steampunk Librarian is still alive, just in a new location, and posts have resumed. Huzzah!

If you're not reading xkcd on a regular basis, you should be. I'm just saying.

The Lost Formats Preservation Society is a serious nostalgia trip. Why are most formats objects round, anyway?

If you've ever wondered what goes into lighting an art exhibit, someone at the Smithsonian has detailed how they worked on one. Interesting stuff.

Ever noticed that if you sing poetry, you remember it more easily? Or is that just me? At any rate, respected poets are getting their musical due.

And to end the post, the history of applause.

Incidentally, the Steampunk Librarian is still alive, just in a new location, and posts have resumed. Huzzah!

Today is Friday, and that means links from others! Thanks, everyone.

From Bunny: Russia is dealing with smelly orange snow (their words).

From Satori: "Now that they are in a very unpopular war and need more people, top military officials want to o.k. gay/lesbian troops."

From Zazoo: the Eiffel Tower goes dark! Oh, but only for five minutes. Also from Zazoo: the Club Creatures Friday DJ night is publicized now for all you locals. Come out and dance! We're celebrating Satori's birthday tonight!

From Cassandra: wow, being a ghost worker is the way to go! Also from Cassandra: gender equity bills are making a comeback, hooray.

From my mom, via Brendan: more on Molly Ivins.

This one's for Jeff: the Pope Benedict quote generator!

And lastly, for all you children of the '80s: a video that re-enacts the Karate Kid with actual cameos by the actors. Who knew William Zabka had such a good sense of humor?

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

RIP, Molly Ivins. Damn.

Molly won't be around to offer her opinion on the presidential candidates, but the Washington Post has a running list of all the declared candidates so far. It's never too early to start the arguments, I suppose.

I missed the announcement of the winners of the Pimp My Bookcart contest, but if you haven't seen them yet, you should!

As seen on Library Stuff: here's a company that navigates the phone trees for you and then calls you when it's time to talk to a real live person. What a concept!

As seen on librarian.net: I love the concept of books:mapped. Can I volunteer?

The CBC reference library looks like all kinds of fun. I miss news libraries.

Meanwhile, the British Library is in trouble. Anyone have a few million spare pounds lying about?