Browse a Censored Web Through the China Channel FireFox Plugin

It's no secret that the Chinese government censors web content, but what's it like to actually be a citizen trapped inside the Great Firewall of China? A new FireFox plugin called China Channel can show you.

It reroutes your IP through China, allowing you to look like any other digital Chinese citizen from anywhere in the world. Click on a banned site and BAM! You lose your browsing privileges for 15 minutes. But luckily, in this version, you can just reopen the browser with a newly assigned IP.

Dubai's Newest Insane Skyscraper to House a Restaurant in a Glass Pod at 2,150 Feet

Oh look, another insane tower planned for Dubai! This one is dubbed the Anara Tower, and while it's not going to be the tallest in the world (it'll be about 500 feet shorter than the Burj Dubai at 2,150 feet), it's still incredible all on its own.

The defining element of the Anara Tower has got to be the massive propeller-like structure at the very top, at the center of which will be a glass-ceiling hub containing one of the world's most luxe restaurants. Unfortunately, the propeller doesn't rotate, but I guess we'll let that slide.

In the tower itself there will be 300 insanely-expensive apartments, a 250-room luxury hotel and gardens every 27 floors. Construction is due to start by the end of next year.

Goodbye, Productivity: MTV Music Site Posts Every Music Video Ever

We hope you've got some time to kill, because the new MTV Music website is pretty much the coolest thing ever for music fans. At long last, the MTV name is being associated with music videos again, because the "music" channel has gone and put its entire archive of music videos online, all embeddable and in high quality. It's like Hulu for music videos, only with less ads (for now). And it's awesome.

The site's still very young, but just poking around shows the amazing amount of content on there. There aren't just music videos on here, but also songs played on shows like VH1 Storytellers and MTV Unplugged.

Mengapa Pada Selasa, 4 November 2008?

Hari Selasa setelah Senin pertama pada bulan November selalu menjadi hari pemilu presiden AS. Hari Selasa setelah Senin pertama tahun 2008 jatuh pada tanggal 4 November.

Awal penentuan soal hari Selasa ini diputuskan pada tahun 1845. Kemudian pada tahun 1875, hari Selasa juga sekaligus diputuskan sebagai hari pemilihan DPR AS. Pada tahun 1914, hari Selasa juga ditetapkan pemilu Senat AS.

Pertanyaan selanjutnya, mengapa pemilu dilakukan pada awal November? Pada awalnya, komposisi warga AS didominasi para petani. Karena itu, politisi AS menilai bahwa bulan November adalah bulan paling senggang bagi para petani untuk beramai-ramai memberikan suara.

Waktu senggang ini perlu agar para petani memiliki masa santai berjalan dari pelosok pedesaan ke sentra-sentra pemilu. Masalah, bulan November adalah bulan di mana masa panenan sudah usai, atau masa musim gugur yang ditandai dengan musim panen sudah usai.

Masa tanam terjadi pada musim semi dan musim panas adalah masa mengelola tanaman, menyiangi dan memupuki, serta seterusnya. Nah, masa musim gugur, cuaca masih dianggap bersahabat bagi warga bepergian menuju kotak-kotak pemilu yang dulunya harus melalui jalanan rusak dan becek.

Pertanyaan selanjutnya, mengapa harinya jatuh di setiap hari Selasa itu. Dulu kala, warga AS harus menempuh jarak yang relatif jauh untuk memilih. Hari Senin dianggap kurang tepat karena warga harus mulai berangkat untuk memilih sejak hari Minggu. Padahal, hari Minggu adalah saat berbakti di gereja-gereja.

Ada juga alasan lain mengapa pemilu selalu dilakukan hari Selasa setelah Senin pertama. Politisi AS ingin menghindari agar hari pemilu tidak jatuh pada tanggal 1 November. Ada dua alasan untuk ini.

Pertama, setiap 1 November adalah Hari Semua Orang Kudus (All Saints Day), hari libur bagi pemeluk Katolik. Jadi, jika 1 November jatuh pada hari Selasa, maka pemilu tidak akan dilakukan karena hari Selasa pada tanggal ini bukanlah hari Selasa setelah hari Senin pertama di bulan November.

Alasan kedua, hampir semua pedagang umumnya sibuk melihat rekening pembukuan setiap tanggal 1 setiap bulannya. Politisi AS khawatir bahwa sukses atau kegagalan bisnis pada bulan sebelumnya akan memengaruhi pilihan para pedagang.

Palin Takes Prank Call From Fake French President

TORONTO – Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday.

"Maybe in eight years," replies a laughing Palin.

The Republican vice presidential nominee discusses politics, the perils of hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney, and Sarkozy's "beautiful wife," in a recording of the six-minute call released Saturday and set to air Monday on a Quebec radio station.

Palin campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt confirmed she had received the prank call.

"Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy and other celebrities, in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie," she said.

The call was made by a well-known Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel. Known as the Masked Avengers, the two are notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state.

Audette, posing as Sarkozy, speaks in an exaggerated French accent and drops ample hints that the conversation is a joke. But Palin seemingly does not pick up on them.

He tells Palin one of his favorite pastimes is hunting, also a passion of the 44-year-old Alaska governor.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," the fake Sarkozy says.

He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

"Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done," Palin counters. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

The comedian jokes that they shouldn't bring Cheney along on the hunt, referring to the 2006 incident in which the vice-president shot and injured a friend while hunting quail.

"I'll be a careful shot," responds Palin.

Playing off the governor's much-mocked comment in an early television interview that she had insights into foreign policy because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," the caller tells her: "You know we have a lot in common also, because ... from my house I can see Belgium."

She replies: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

When Audette refers to Canadian singer Steph Carse as Canada's prime minister, Palin replies: "Well, he's doing fine and yeah, when you come into a position underestimated it gives you an opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder." Canada's prime minister is Stephen Harper.

Palin praises Sarkozy throughout the call and also mentions his wife Carla Bruni, a model-turned-songwriter.

"You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife," Palin says. "Oh my goodness, you've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours."

The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is "so hot in bed" and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled "Du rouge a levres sur une cochonne" — which translates as "Lipstick on a Pig."

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama derided his Republican challenger John McCain's call for change in Washington as "lipstick on a pig," days after Palin made a lipstick joke at the Republican convention. The McCain-Palin campaign then released an ad implying Obama was calling Palin a pig with that remark.

The caller asks Palin if Joe the Plumber is her husband and adds: "We have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit."

He also tells the Alaska governor that he loved the "documentary" made about her and referred to a pornographic film with a Palin look-alike made by Hustler founder Larry Flynt.

She answers tentatively, "Ohh, good, thank you, yes."

The callers then reveal the prank and identify themselves and their radio station.

"Ohhh, have we been pranked?" Palin asks before handing the phone to an aide who ends the call.

Obama's campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs, commenting on the prank, said: "I'm glad we check out our calls before we hand the phone to Barack Obama."

Watch the video

Palin as President

USB Floppy Drive Concept

Designer Thomas O'Connor has come up with a concept to join the legions of goofy USB flash drives with this charming USB Floppy Drive. Take one of those floppy disks granpappy's always going on about, hollow it out, stuff it with some flash storage and a USB dongle and you've got a "sustainable" and nostalgic USB drive. It looks to be a mere concept right now, but I bet an enterprising modder could whip one of these up in no time.

World Record Sandwich?

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran failed Friday to register what it said would be the world's largest sandwich in the Guinness book of World Records after people rushed forward and began eating it -- before it was measured.

Event organizers had planned to stuff the 1,500-meter-long sandwich with 700 kg of ostrich meat and 700 kg of chicken, and display it in a park in the capital Tehran.

But as the sandwich was being measured, chaos ensued. The giant snack was gone in minutes, a Reuters witness said, leaving the three Guinness representatives present with a dilemma.

One of the event's organizers said video footage of the sandwich would be sent to Guinness officials.

"We still think the sandwich will be recorded in the Guinness book because of all the evidence and footage that we will send them," Parvin Shariati said.