Even as a long time Google user, I hadn't seen this site before. It's the Google Zeitgeist, a ranking of different categories of Google searches for different countries. I stumbled across it after reading a story about Google in the NY Times. There's lots of fascinating tidbits listed.

In Italy, searches for pinocchio are way ahead of berlusconi. They're still interested in Marylyn Manson in France (He's the new Jerry Lewis!) and Germans have gone for Halloween big time.

I'd never heard of British comedian Peter Kay until noticing that he was the sixth most popular search in the UK. And in the US, at least Thanksgiving is currently beating out Celebrity Big Brother in the rankings (although not The Bachelor.)

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This guy did a nice job of using Flash to animate a Billy Joel song. Subliminal messages and everything!

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Don't miss Andrew Sullivan's Thanksgiving column. Here's a starter:

..."The country that has a genuine public ethic of classlessness also has the most extreme economic inequality in the developed world. The country that is most obsessed with pressing the edge of modernity also has the oldest intact constitution in the world. The country that still contains a powerful religious right has also pushed the equality of homosexuals further than ever before in history. A country that cannot officially celebrate Christmas (it would erase the boundary between church and state) is also one of the most deeply religious nations on the planet. Americans have learnt how to reconcile the necessary contradictions not simply because their country is physically big enough to contain them, but because it is spiritually big enough to contain them. Americans have learnt how to reconcile the necessary contradictions of modern life with a verve and a serenity few others can muster. It is a deeply reassuring achievement."

I just really like that kind of writing.

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Best line of the week, from Lileks, of course: "I don’t trust anyone who wants to save the world, unless they’re the people who want to save the world from the people who want to save the world."

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Don't miss Sam Allis's column on the Big Game between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. He makes the Braveheart connection. And thankfully, the Whalers prevailed.

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This is the photo site of the week. It belongs to Dawn M. Mikulich, and is Chicagouncommon.com.

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Slate has an article on photoblogs. They link to some great sites, as does Photoblogs.com. Of course, my favorite photoblog is this one.

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In light of the upcoming Democratic Convention, HubLog has an idea about branding Boston. (The Blogger archive link isn’t working, so go to the main page and scroll.)

Let’s start referring to Boston as the ‘Third City’ within the powerful East Coast triumvirate of New York (with its awesome financial and cultural clout), Washington (political) and Boston (technology and academic). First of all, it’s true. Second, it’ll shut up the whining elites and remind them of the reality of Boston’s status, which I’m quite content with and always will be. Third, we can rule the world!

And the Universe.

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As seen in last week’s New Yorker, here is the site for Found Magazine. Check out the Find of the Week archives. Odd but interesting.

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Bored with regular pong? Try this circular version. Once you stop trying to play the walls, you’ll do all right.

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Imus, this morning, was all worked up about this. And he’s right to be. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to a copy of the latest Johnny Cash tribute album. There’s a version of Folsom Prison Blues by Keb Mo on the CD.

The song is a long time favorite, and, I think, one of the best songs ever written. The original Cash version was recorded live, before an audience of inmates at the prison, and it featured the line, “I shot a man in Reno… just to watch him die.” It’s a story about taking stock, taking responsibility, and living with the consequences and regrets of one's life.

But apparently, Keb Mo didn’t want to sing that line, so the producers told him, feel free to change it. His line is, “They say I shot a man in Reno, but that was just a lie.” In this version the narrator is a victim of a vague conspiracy, not even a participant in his own story.

I’m surprised that someone connected with the making of this record didn’t make a stand on this. Obviously, it must be difficult to manage the egos of different artists when putting one of these projects together, but some things should be non-negotiable.

By the way, Johnny Cash has a new album out. Haven’t heard it, but will soon.

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Here's the proclamation. And a few links:
VFW
Soldier's stories
World War I
World War II
Korea
Vietnam
Gulf War

And this is something that you should read today. (the link should work now.)

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The Waypath Project looks interesting. It’s in beta, but it seems to work pretty well. Reminds me of early Google. The idea is to spider out sites to look for connections “to network the weblog community, connecting weblogs that share common themes, ideas, and topics.”

Here’s what they came up with for this site. And these are the sites that match up with my other site, Guardroom.

There's also Blogchalking, which takes a different approach to cataloging sites. I think I like Waypath better, though.

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If you are putting a blog template together, here are some box templates. And of course, there's all sorts of good stuff at the CSS Coloring BOok.

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Want to write a deconstructionist manifesto, but just can’t find the right words? Try the Buzz Phraser, set to ColloboLatin, and your first chapter (“Occasionally Meta-Defined Sense Bulletin Strategy Boundaries Model”) already has it’s title. Next chapter: Virtually Cross-Graphic Leadership Membership Level Curriculum Touchpoints. I could go on.

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This is a well done and enthusiastic hoax. People are going to eat this up. They already are.

UPDATE: Here are more opinions on what the site is about, including this one:

"I know what it is, and I know why they're trying to stop him: naked pictures of Rosie O'Donnell."

I hope not, but if he's right, I hope the black helicopters win this one.

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From New Scientist, an article on why CD copy protection schemes are doomed to failure.

And Professor Reynolds says that the Bush Administration should take on Big Business in the form of the Recording Industry:

By taking on this big business that everyone has come to hate, the Bush Administration can position itself as a tribune of the people against greedy corporate interests. (And make media assaults on the Administration easy to discount as a self-interested response to its efforts to enforce the law). That they happen to be greedy corporate interests that give generously to Democrats will only make it more appealing.

Who can argue with that.

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Eric Raymond has a very interesting post-election observation on how the Democrats have become a "post-modern" political party.

The Democrats show no sign of developing a foreign-policy doctrine that can cope with the post-9/11 world, and their domestic-policy agenda is tired and retrogressive. Their voter base is aging, and their national leadership couldn't rummage up a better Wellstone replacement than Walter "What decade is this, anyway?" Mondale. The Democratic party could end up disintegrating within the decade.

I think he's right on the money, and it’s not a good thing for a two party system.

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Boston.com has early MA results up, with about 1% in. So far Romney has a lead. The breakdown by town gives an idea how preliminary the numbers are at this point.

Here are the Mondale / Coleman numbers as they come in.

UPDATE: It's still close, but at least before the larger cities come in it looks like Romney. (O'Brien did win the town of Monroe, with all precincts in, 21 to 12 votes.)

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PoliticaObscura is blogging on the Massachusetts election results. Daily Pundit has compiled a list of other blog based race coverage from around the country. Also the WSJ has ongoing coverage.

To pass the time while waiting for the latest results, check out this browser based breakout game. Best I've seen in a while.

Or, if you're really bored, you could ponder the intricacies of election theory.

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Today Lileks looks at what Mondale stands for, or not, in the best political opinion piece I’ve ever seen. Well recently anyway.

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