The Linkage for Jan. 22nd

Here’s a quick look at what I was reading online from Jan. 16th to Jan. 22nd:

Sunspot activity expected to disrupt GPS, cell phones
Tags: technology space sun
Don’t be too proud of that technological gizmo you’ve purchased; the ability to call anyone on the planet is insignificant next to the power of the Sun.

Bubble bursts for Thai soap opera
Tags: television funny thailand
The makers of a sexy Thai television soap opera have apologised to aircrew who say it demeans them, and have promised to tone it down.

Touch-screen voting machines draw mistrust nationwide
Tags: politics 2008election technology texas
Neo-Luddites in various states continue to circle their wagons against electronic voting machines and fight progress in general. I hate to break it to them, but paper ballot elections weren’t the bastions of security they seem to remember.

Bruce faces possible censure for kicking incident
Tags: colorado government media funny
In what has to be worst first day of work ever, a Colorado state rep made headlines on his first day in office – for kicking a photographer three hours before his swearing-in ceremony.

CNN discovers that people don’t like being typecast
Tags: media politics democrats 2008election
Within minutes of posting a story on CNN’s homepage called “Gender or race: Black women voters face tough choices in South Carolina,” readers reacted quickly and angrily.

Mercury’s unseen side is revealed
Tags: space mercury nasa
The first pictures taken by the Messenger probe as it passed Mercury have started to arrive, showing that dark side is pretty much the same as what Mariner 10 found on the light side three decades ago.

NASA looks at recruiting through video game
Tags: nasa space technology computer
NASA is reportedly looking at developing a space exploration-based MMO to encourage and identify potential future scientists and engineers.

Chess legend Fischer dies at 64
Tags: deaths
Controversial former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has died in Iceland at the age of 64.

Colbert earns ‘appropriate place’ at Smithsonian
Tags: television funny
For the next six weeks, you can see Stephen Colbert’s portrait in the National Portrait Gallery – just head for the bathrooms on the second floor.

Selig’s term extended through 2012
Tags: baseball
The owner-without-a-team has pulled a Palpatine, getting his buddies to extend his term for another three years. How long will it be before baseball has a real commissioner again?

Video: Cadburys Dairy Milk Ad
Tags: video uk music funny
What happens when you put Phil Collins in a gorilla suit to advertise a chocolate bar? Sheer genius.

Photos from The Library of Congress
Tags: technology flickr government history
The Library of Congress has started sharing some of its vast photo collections on Flickr! Even though there’s only two galleries up so far, it’s fascinating to browse through.

Facebook asked to pull Scrabulous
Tags: technology facebook
Surprise, surprise – major corporations don’t like it when you blatantly ignore copyrights and create a free version of what they’ve been selling for years. There’s a bunch of Facebook apps like this that will probably come under the hammer pretty soon.

Gigantic fossil rodent discovered
Tags: animals history nature science
A real-life R.O.U.S.!