... I was half as cool as this guy. (thanks to Ars Technica)

Meteor streaking across Canadian sky caught on video -- Scientific America

Hundreds of people witnessed a meteor lighting up the evening sky over Edmonton, Alberta, last week, and the spectacular fireball was even caught on tape by unsuspecting videographers. Around 5:30 P.M. MST Thursday, a brilliant streak of light shot across the western Canadian sky, setting meteorite hunters on a chase to find any surviving fragments of the object.

more (including the video) ...

Who needs fossil fuels? 3 green power ideas escape the lab -- Ars Technica

Last week, Greentech Media hosted a conference focused on generating and delivering power in efficient and environmentally-friendly ways. Most of those presenting were involved in private companies that had received enough venture capital to develop a functioning product, but they weren't ready to start widespread sales or deployments of that product. Their presentations should be viewed with a degree of caution -- there was no shortage of self-promotion involved -- but the fact that these companies generally had working demonstrations of their technology suggests that the self-promotion wasn't pure hype.

more ...

Photos: A vast zeppelin over the Valley -- CNET

CNET News' Daniel Terdiman takes a ride in Airship Ventures' 246-foot Zeppelin NT as it gets officially dedicated. Will passengers scream "Eureka" to the loo with a view?

more ...

Schools, Fools and the Tools of Ignorance -- PC World

If not for help from a handful of geeks, Connecticut school teacher Julie Amero would be in prison right now for crimes she didn't commit. What's wrong with this picture?

more ...

Slate Video has put together a videos about the stupidest bike lanes in the US and around the world.

Linux "The Super Villan"

http://ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54

Still lol just thinking about it.

"Switch to... uh... what ever the hell you want"

NBC Nightly News highlights New Belbium Brewery for NBCs America Goes Green segment.

http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability_nbc.php

Bob Marley Interview Circa 1978 Surfaces - Fox31 News

In this never-before-seen interview from 1978, Marley talks with FOX 31 reporter Jon Bowman about topics ranging from the meaning of reggae music to his Rastafarian faith, to his use of marijuana. The interview also includes video of Marley's live performances.

Check out this video on youtube from Bills 2007 CES keynote. It is a funny look at his retirement coming this summer.

WTF? Johnny Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, on Judge Judy?

Check it out on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2CnwYPhcQk

A deputy on patrol in Missouri has a close call with a deer after the animal comes out of nowhere on a dark road.

Watch it here

From PC World: The Greatest Hits of Viral Video - From crooning politicians to a grocery store manager who can crush windpipes with his mind, these are the greatest hits of the YouTube Age.

Some of these where new to me and some where old hat and classic such as Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager.

CNN's Jeanne Moos contends the Hollywood writers can be a little more creative on the picket lines.

http://www.theindychannel.com/video/14531589/index.html 

Frank Caliendo on Letterman during Impressionists Week - youtube

David Lettermans "Top Ten Favorite George Bush Moments" - youtube

Aye, Spy

Snuggly the Security Bear reminds Americans that the government is watching us because it loves us.

A political animation by Mark Fiore

Watch it ...

Tom and the smoothy button take on the iPhone.

http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=iphone 

~ Life, Liberty and the Pursute on Happiness ~

Schoolhouse Rock! - 'There are going to be fireworks' on YouTube

~ Quotes ~

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it - Mark Twain

... how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! - Thomas Jefferson

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it. - Edward R. Murrow

"My country, right or wrong" is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying "My mother, drunk or sober." - G. K. Chesterton

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair. - H. L. Mencken

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy

The government is merely a servant - merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. - Mark Twain

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. - Theodore Roosevelt

Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us. - William O. Douglas

~ Almost Nation Anthem ~

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimm'd by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

- Katharine Lee Bates

~ The Written Word ~

Unfree Speech - By Robert J. Samuelson - The Washington Post

The Fourth of July is an apt moment to reflect on one of the great underreported stories of our time: the rise of speech regulation. Glance at the First Amendment, but do not think it still applies. Large bodies of political speech are now governed by laws, agency regulations, court decisions and lawyerly interpretations. Speech has become unfree.

This does not mean that we don't have vigorous debate or that most points of view aren't represented. But in and around elections, what can be said, by whom and under what circumstances, is now a tangled web of legal qualifications -- all justified as campaign finance "reform."

Read on ...

~ Editorial Cartoons ~

Cagle Cartoons collection for Independence Day

What really happened after the Death Star blew up.

http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=0fd921112e08096673a1100050fb4df1

Yet another side of Mr. Zimmerman as envisioned by NYC's Post Show ensemble. Bob Dylan, the omnipresent Top-40 songwriting god, has never seemed more lucid.

~ update ~

I tried embeding the video, but those with IE7 couldn't see it or anything else on this page. So, instead, here is a link the the video. Just another day of MS not playing fair again.

Life is hard for Chad Vader, the younger, less charismatic brother of Darth Vader, who is the day shift manager of Empire Market.

http://splu.net/chadvader.htm

With the Military Commissions Act waiting for Presdident Bush to sign, a few people have spoken up.

Senator Barack Obama - Remarks on the Military Commission Legislation

Global Politician - Scrapping the Geneva Conventions

The Washington Times - Habeas Corpus Sellout

Keith Olbermann - Why does habeas corpus hate America

The Village Voice - Congress Bows To Bush

Keith Olbermann is certainly on a role talking about the Bush Administration:

09.18: Bush Owes Us an Apology - Watch it / Read it

09.25: A Textbook Definition of Cowardice - Watch it / Read it

10.06: A Special Comment About Lying - Watch it / Read it

You might not agree with him, but he is putting what he feels into words and speaking them. Not many other people are out there doing that these days.

As for me, he is putting what I feel into words and I thank him for that.

© Nick Anderson - 08.13.2006

This is a great video on YouTube.

Google has quite a bit on info on the whole craze (along with tons more video)

Bush is a Speechalist? A video on Veoh Networks by tommyuki

http://www.veoh.com/videoDetails.html?v=e105745ssDkBTjj

Thanks Mark