Stop Motion Studies: "It is said that 90% of human communication is non-verbal. In these photographs, the body language of the subjects becomes the basic syntax for a series of Web-based animations exploring movement, gesture, and algorithmic montage. Many sequences document a person's reaction to being photographed by a stranger. Some smile, others snarl, still others perform. Some pretend not to notice. Underneath all of this are assumptions and unknowns unique to each situation."

Explore Mars Now: "An interactive, three-dimensional model of a possible base station and habitat for the first humans on Mars. It includes the base exterior, the layout, work and living spaces, greenhouse, Mars car, robot rovers, and, and other details."

The Civil War was not all about slavery: "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union."

The Lost Cosmonauts: "One day in early 1961, weeks before Yuri Gagarin's epic space flight, instead of the usual beeping tones which they had become accustomed to hear, they were startled by a sound which signaled a new chapter in the history of mankind: there, in the listening center of "Torre Bert", these two young students heard, clearly and unequivocally, the beat of a failing heart and the last gasping breaths of a dying cosmonaut."

How to get online access to the OED for $10 a year: "Welcome to Eat More Words. Our goal is to provide resources that enrich the experience of reading and writing to logophiles, writers, independent scholars and students of language and literature. We also intend to provide a forum for discussion, debate, news and events. Should membership revenue exceed the cost of providing these services -- and we hope that it will -- we will launch The Apicule Literary Award, and may even publish a book of poetry in cooperation with a small press. Future features may include a subscription to the xrefer plus reference library."

The Ten Second Films Competition: "The medium is digital video, the submission period lasts from February 3 to March 10, and first prize is a thousand bucks. What can you do in ten seconds?"

Growth of a nation: "A ten minute Flash presentation illustrates the growth of the United States from the original thirteen states in 1789."

Maps in Illustrator and Photoshop formats: "Layered, fully editable, royalty free. From $49.95 to $199.95."

How many Americans does it take to change a dim bulb? "Government isn't about justice, it isn't about national defense, it isn't about protecting Americans from poverty or a loss of dignity, or pit bulls, or assault rifles, or underarm odor, or secondhand smoke, or crime in general -- above all, it isn't about protecting Americans from crime -- on the contrary, it's about extracting as high a percentage as possible of the wealth that the productive class creates before the productive class begins to notice that the whole thing is a scam. And before the productive class can begin to do something about it."

Flies in the urinal: "They encourage, in a very subtle way, good aim."