Harry Shearer’s first novel, Not Enough Indians, will be published next year. You bet I’ll be reading it!

A combo lock with letters instead of numbers is now available, but it can’t spell everything.

Via BoingBoing, some historical images of Nevada nuclear testing.

Adfreak! The sad/glad thing is, I watch so few TV ads that I am entirely unfamiliar with the ads people mention at the theoretical water cooler (actually the sign in desk at headquarters).

Later note: it is the trades, and I’m just easily led.

As with many NYT articles (or even news in general?) the premise is more interesting than the article itself: cheap paintings from China, cranked out in bulk. My favortite bits: 1. The idea of thousands of artists, painting away for export (so very Bruce Sterling!), but they seem to do it as piecework in their own homes or businesses rather than in a massive warehouse or cube farm. 2. “Artist groups in the United States are starting to express concern, questioning the originality of some Chinese paintings and whether they comply with American copyright laws.” I’m entertained that anyone’s surprised about the possiblility of China violating copyright (gasp!) and that the issue of originality is a separate issue. (One of the dealers comments that “the copies are inherently different because they are handmade, and so do not violate copyrights.” An interesting concept! A rep for a gallery trade group disagrees, naturally. In his rebuttal, it is mentioned that “vast majority of paintings produced before the 20th century were in the public domain.” Vast majority? Doesn’t it seem like all of the art produced before 1900 should be PD by now? Yeesh.) Unoriginal art produced in bulk for hotels and condos? Heaven forfend! 3. This is not a new industry, it is in fact the export of a business formerly common in northern New Jersey! I’m betting these are the same sort of outfits that Daniel Pinkwater wrote about in his essays on his early artistic life in Hoboken.

One of the retailers of such products is online and offers custom paintings! I think I need a custom oil of Alfred E. Neuman.

Neat! Alberta history available to all– digitized newspapers, airphotos, and more. They say they are renovating, so I hope this means more to come.

94 year old Red Cross volunteer and WWII ambulance driver, Marilyn Benemen, walked down to the hospital to help out those injured in the recent London bombing:
“Oh, when you’re Red Cross, you’re expected to do it. Oh, yes, if you’re in walking distance, I think you should turn up. And long as you can just soothe people down and an extra cup of tea, a spot of tea, yes–it’s a wicked, wicked thing, though. You say, `Well, the world’s got to go on. Everything’s got to go on. You can’t give in to these things.’ And so one presses on.”

The CDC has a Public Health Image Library (it was mentioned in some of the flu coverage that Craig linked to), and if they have to warn you about the content, you know it’s good!

If only the purchase of this shirt somehow credited Joss with a beer or other tasty beverage of his choice.

The LoC has a “web magazine” to guide you to cool stuff in their collections. Which I suppose I could do, too, were I not so busy goofing off with Corbis.