In a move that pushes Europe closer to becoming a real states as opposed to a loose federation, the new constitutional convention has released its proposed constitution. An article in the BBC News today discusses some of the issues (from the viewpoint of the UK).

It's not just for repairing aging tool boxes and backpacks, anymore. Now, the folks at Ducti have come out with a line of handbags, wallets and other products that are intentionally made of duct tape. I first found out about this alarming trend from an article on SunSpot.Net.

This one is fun and possibly interesting. It is very much in the form of a personality test and asks a lot of similar questions. If you like personality tests, and are familiar with Star Wars, you should give it a try.

It's nice to know that some CEOs can keep their sense of humor, despite taking on on the chin (or in this case, the butt) for the company. The CEO was bitten in the bum by a Rottweiler, which he humorously states is part of a plot by dogs against …

An article carried by Wired originating from Reuters says that the Chinese now believe that the SARS virus crossed over to humans from civet cats. The cats are considered a delicacy in certain parts of China (yes, that's delicacy, as in food, not pets). They are believed to be a …

In honor of (and possibly in reference to) my grandfather and my brother (known collectively as the Doctors Paulsen), here is an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education about the habits of our fine professors.

This story from BBC News is absolutely amazing. The fetus grew outside of the uterus, inside of the liver. Needless to say, the child was not born vaginally. However, mother and child appear to be doing well.

Apparently, they're just better than the rest of us... this story from Yahoo! tells us that neither of these two big wigs managed to pay the bill on the way out of the coffee shop they had sat in for their interview. At least this story gave the owners some …

In a story that may redeem some of the people who have made fun of the "Star Wars boy", a story from the Ottawa Citizen (at Canada.com) reports that the campaign to get the kid an Apple iPod for his trouble has turned into a booty of over $4000 …

I was reading an blog entry where William Gibson has posted a copy of his speech to the DGA (Director's Guild of America) about music, film, technology and the possible future of mass media and was pleased, although not surprised, to find it hitting the same notes about the future …

This great site allows you to predict economists' reactions to just about any trend. Well worth the time.

In a highly anticipated move reported by CNN, the Governor of Washington state has signed into law a bill that will prevent the sale of video games depicting violence against law enforcement officials. The bill was discussed extensively at E3, both because it largely ignores the existing ESRB standards and …

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. It took me a bit of work to memorize the technical term for Mad Cow disease, and unfortunately I'm am now able to share it with you. The reason is this report from BBC News that a cow in Alberta, Canada appears to have had the disease …

A story on BBC News relates that researchers have found a small group of Ugandans who seem to posses some kind of natural immunity to AIDS. It appears that their immune systems actually fight off the disease and keep it at bay. So, perhaps this is an indicator that a …

In an article as fascinating for its location (Business 2.0) as its content, the author suggests that Intuit's act of contrition (dropping their cumbersome activation codes) may be an indicator to Microsoft and the studios in Hollywood that they should be thinking about user's rights if they want …

An article in Rolling Stone brings up some interesting points about the Apple's new music service. Among them: at the current rate of sales, more money is made at retail selling Vinyl records than Apple will give to the music companies (although the stats are interesting, because I can't …

A school in the UK has sent a letter to parents telling them that they are not welcome at the upcoming Sports Day at the school. An article from BBC News indicates that the headmistress claims that having the parents standing by can be embarrassing for the students and may …

Only on the internet... An article on Wired this morning needs to be read to be thoroughly understood.

According to a story on BBC News, the group drafting the new EU constitution is not including the idea of an elected president. Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing told the BBC it wasn't practical for now, but maybe in 50 years.

As an odd follow-up to this morning's story about too much salt in children's food comes this story from the BBC News. A woman is accused of attempting to kill an eight-year-old by giving the child solutions laden with large amounts of salt.