Friday Links: December 24

The history of drills. How did people drill holes before metal? [link]

A cure for AIDS? At least for one guy. [link]

Mold covered scale models of homes. I thought they were gingerbread houses at first. They're not. [link]

More of these signs are needed. [link]

Part 1 of a 5 part talk about the health hazards, or lack thereof, from cell phones. 

You're more likely to be shot by a gun taken from you than use it for protection. Apparently this is true for thieves as well. [link]

Japanese multiplication trick. 

Egyptian multiplication.
 

One of the RadioLab hosts has a column called "Krulwich Wonders", and he recently got a letter from Neil Armstrong who had read it and could answer some of the questions posted. [link]

32 ways to send a geek into a tantrum. [link]

The makers of the TV show "Fringe" knows how to deal with being rescheduled to the Death Night. 

Daniel Radcliffe actually knows the oldest trick in the book. 

I before E especially after C. 

Kitty plays Duck Hunt.
 
My cat once searched the ground for Mario after he fell down a hole.

11 strange questions from the D&D advice column. [link]

A dog shaped vacuum cleaner that was, alas, never made. [link]

Bag monsters!


This week's Dr Who fan service is just the reminder that America will be getting the Christmas Special at the same time as England. Check BBC America for the time. Hopefully the hotel will have that channel.

Ok, fine, here's a picture of Steven Moffat with the leads from his two big shows, Doctor Who and Sherlock. I'm hoping to get "Sherlock" on DVD for Christmas" [link]

The bill providing free health care for police and firefighters who got illnesses from responding to the September 11th disaster has finally passed. Those who normally pose with the rescue crews and claim to support them spent month blocking the bill. Only a recent publicity push made opposing the bill too embarrassing.  It cleared the Senate by unanimous voice vote. The House wasn't so easy. 59 Republicans and 1 Democrat opposed the bill. 168 others skipped the vote completely. The link takes you to see the breakdown of who voted how and who chickened out. [link]

John Scalzi interviews the Christmas Bunny [link] and the Nativity Innkeeper [link]

I almost missed that Don't Ask, Don't Tell will be signed into oblivion next week. [link]