If you’re looking to waste a little time (and possibly learn something in the process), the Discovery Channel has a new [game/promotional website][1] that enables you to track sharks. The cool part? While the boats may be virtual, the sharks and their positions are real, thanks to the wonders of GPS tracking and the internet. I just created my profile (I’m digivation if you’re looking for a rival), set some waypoints, and now I’m waiting for my first sighting.

About a week ago, I wrote a [brief note][1] on a new viral advertisement for the new [Simpsons Movie][2] (which premieres today). This website, called “[Simpsonize Me][3],” allows users to create a Simpsons-esque likeness of themselves by uploading a photograph and tweaking some settings.

While reading a most interesting article about [modern day pirates][1], I noticed that the Smithsonian’s CultureFest is currently featuring Louisiana! I had a blast while for Dave and Desiree’s wedding, and I hope to return in the near future. If you haven’t been to Louisiana, [head over][2] and [read ][3][about][4] it (try Cajun Country, I hear its a good place to be ), and if you’re feeling lucky enter the [sweepstakes][5] to win a trip at the end of October.

A few weeks ago [][1] proposed [a new amendment][2] that would require, at first, twenty-five colleges and universities to install “anti-P2P technology” on their internet connections. This outrageous bill would allow everyone’s favorite organizations (the RIAA and MPAA, please note thick sarcasm) to dictate what was considered “good” and “bad” (obviously immensely biased in their favor) and force the Universities to block this content.

Ars Technica has recently published a [great article][1] on current “deep packet filtering” technologies, some of their uses, and how this relates to the net neutrality debate. Excellent reading, and highly recommended.

While many of you have been busy attempting to [get][1] [to][2] [the][3] bottom of all this Harry Potter nonsense, I decided to catch up on the venerable [Mr. Sherlock Holmes][4]. And what better way to do this than with the wonderful free resource known as [Project Gutenberg][5]? If you’ve not yet heard of Gutenberg (or the new [Open Library][6]), you really need to stop by and check them out. Project Gutenberg is a much older project with many full-text copies of public domain works (you can read the complete text of great books) while the Open Library is a much newer project with less content and a broader aim – they wish to create a catalog of every book on the planet (with full text for public domain works).

In a clever move, [Facebook][1] has [taken it’s next step toward][2] world domination and acquired a small startup, [Parakey][3]. I am sure you are all familiar with Facebook, Parakey on the other hand, my not ring any bells. First, I must introduce [Blake Ross][4]. He’s the guy that helped pioneer the [Firefox][5] Browser that we all know and love. Well, his work recently has been focused on this little project called Parakey. Now, Parakey is a web-based operating system, but here’s the catch, all the actions you perform are seamless synchronized on both your local machine and the internet. No more uploading and downloading files, no more having a different program or account to share with friends and family, Parakey will integrate what you do on your home computer with the wide world of the Interweb. Of course this might raise some privacy concerns, but don’t worry, it only shares what you tell it to. It sounds like a very cool service, and combined with Facebook’s strong following, can possibly usher in a new era of life on the internet. [IEEE Spectrum][6] did an excellent article on Blake Ross and his Parakey project, I recommend you read it [here][7]. I’m very interested to see where this goes.

I have found what may be the [funniest Wikipedia article ever][1]. It makes me think of a stiff ninety year old man trying to sound “hip” and “cool.” Fo sho, homie…

One for the random bucket: in a promotion for the new Simpson’s movie, a new website, [Simsonize Me][1], has appeared.

Wanna find somewhere to snag a drink? Give [MappyHour][1] a spin! This new Google maps “mashup” lets you locate bars (and clubs and restaurants with bars) near a given location. The site also allows users to add new locations, revise locations, and rate their favorite (or least favorite) bars.

It seems that there’s some boring prison escape attempt every other day. However, one particular attempt caught my eye. It would seem that these inmates are quite a bit more brilliant than most.

This letter to a drug dealer, while being rather funny, leads me to question the mental stability of the writer, a certain Michael Polensek. Mr. Polensek happens to be a city councilman in Cleveland, Ohio. The letter reads as follows, though you can click the image to the left to read the original or you can find out more about it at [The Smoking Gun][1]. Yet another reason we don’t like politicians.

I was browsing through a certain collection of songs that I recently “received” and after listening to all of them, I must say: the most retarded song of the day is A Bay Bay by Hurricane Chris.

[Time online][1] has generated a short list (very short) of the [worst sites][2] infiltrating our beloved Interweb. I would have to greatly agree with the evaluation of these journalists as most of these sites just plain annoy me. The list is as follows:

You may might have missed the commotion, but a [few days ago][1] our good friends in Redmond filed away[ this little patent,][2] titled “Advertising services architecture.” This patent outlines a mechanism by which “targeted advertising” can be delivered using deep integration into the OS. The targeted part comes from analyzing your documents (basically anything on your hard drive), activities, and searches (even what’s on your screen at the moment).

Last night as I was showering, a brilliant idea dawned on me: What if I could combine Facebook’s social graph with my WordPress blog? Integrated commenting, latests posts showing up on my feed, etc etc etc. I was all set to write this spiffy post outlining some new ideas and proposing a new plugin when I ran across [this][1].

This video is crackin’ me up.

I love “networking” with my friends and I love reading their thoughts, ideas, and adventures. Therefore, in the spirit of networking and the internet, I want to read more of your blogs – my reading list is full of tech news and other interesting things but seriously lacking in the “people I know” department. Thus, I propose this: