No Rock And Roll Fun: DJobit: DJ AM (31 August 2009)

Adam Goldstein, who worked under the name DJ AM, has died of an apparent overdose.

Goldstein survived the plane crash that killed four others last September.

He had just made a series for MTV celebrating "eleven years sober" and helping others with addiction problems [...]

Should classroom books reflect the tough realities of life? | Education | The Guardian (2 September 2009)

Anne Fine's musings about the effects of the bleakness of some of today's children's books on vulnerable youngsters at the Edinburgh Book Festival last week caused a rash of sneering from the literati, and painful ““ and clearly unjust ““ comparisons between the former children's laureate and Enid Blyton. But Fine obviously touched on something of interest to many when she questioned whether realism "may have gone too far in children's literature".

Google Book Downloader (4 September 2009)

Google Book Downloader is a free utility that lets out download any book that's available in "full view" from Google Books. Of course, most of these books also feature download links right on the web page, but Google Books Downloader lets you queue up multiple jobs and convert all of the downloaded books to PDF files.

Startled Pigeons Whistle With Their Wings: Discovery News (4 September 2009)

Startled pigeons give off a shrill, rattling whistle when they take flight that signals the flock to scatter, according to a new study.

But it doesn't come from their mouths; a specially-evolved wing feather seems to be the noise-maker, vibrating to sound the alarm.

Blossa Glögg 09 (4 September 2009)

Designed by BVD (Blidholm Vagnemark Design) | Country: Sweden | Font: Bodoni

"For the seventh year since the premiere for Blossa annual edition mulled wine, BVD is now introducing this year's edition. The taste is of clementines

Shelfari: Neil Gaiman's Bookshelves (4 September 2009)

[...] Which is why we thought it would be fun to take a look at what's on the bookshelves of some of our favorite authors. What books do they love, or consider to have been particularly enlightening, informative or just plain fun? What books do they keep?

So we asked one of our all-time favorites, Neil Gaiman, if he'd be willing to give us a peek into his personal library, and he graciously agreed.

YouTube - Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration (4 September 2009)

A "5th-grader-friendly" collection of clips and making-of footage from notable visual effects films of the past century.

Anthony Bourdain's Guide to Disappearing New York -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog (4 September 2009)

Last night, finally “” the long-awaited "Disappearing Manhattan" episode of No Reservations. It was so great that we just had to share a list of Tonyisms about each institution he visited. Also available at YouTube here.