Great NPR commentary from Douglas Rushkoff on the perception shear between tech-kids, VCs, and the collapse of the dotcoms. Requires RealPlayer. Link (Thanks, Pat!)

I keep sayin' it and sayin' it: Nothing important is ever communicated via PowerPoint slides. Okay, I was wrong. Link (Thanks, lagoon!)

Fun page about the first video games, including 1958's "Tennis for Two." Link

David Pescovitz says: "Archive of radio shows by the guy who also puts out 'Secret Museum of Mankind.' Audio CD compilations of some of the first 78 recordings of music from all over the globe. Link

From The Industry Standard: "Around Valentine's Day, a spacecraft will land on Eros, an asteroid named after the Greek god of love, to snap photos of the terrain that can be seen online." Link

Now patent-protected: the orgasmatron. Link (Thanks, Michael!)

EFF co-founder John Gilmore explains What's Wrong With Copy Protection, and why CPRM is evil. Link

Billyclubs, lexan shields and burning cars: Yahoo! news photos of the riots of the world. Link

This just in: BellSouth isn't making money off of its payphones anymore -- between 1-800-COLLECT and cellular phones, the only people using payphones anymore are crack-dealers with stolen calling-cards. They're getting rid of all 143,000 of them! (Er, the phones, not the crack-dealers) Link (Thanks, ronks!)

Lots of interesting Disney news popping up. Looks like they've found some unexploded, WWII-era bombs in the area they're dredging for Disneyland Hong Kong. They're gonna leave them there:

McWhirter said it's likely some artillery shells will end up buried there but added they would pose no risk to Disneyland or the public. Six-inch artillery shells have been the most common finds, he said. "Once it goes into the landfill, that's about it, unless you're tossing it around," McWhirter said. "Once it goes into the landfill, it's not really an issue." Link (Thanks, Amanda!)

My obsession with the Haunted Mansion started when I was 6 years old, in 1977, and my folks took me to Walt Disney World. It was our last night, we had three E-Tickets left, and decided to go the Mansion just before closing. It was dark, the wolves were baying, and there was a small group in the queue area. The castmember who opened the door was perfect: "Master Gracey requests more bodies," and the ride-through was amazing. Afterward, we went to the now-defunct gift-stand at the front of the queue area. I spent every cent of my birthday and Christmas money on junque from the shop, and best of all were the glowing cards.

We got in our rental car and headed back to my grandparents' place in Lauderdale. I fell asleep in the back seat, and the next thing I knew, I was being carried into a new car. The rental had broken down, and the company sent out a new one. My dad carried me into the replacement, and my favorite souveniers, the glowing cards, were left behind.

The rental company never found them. When I returned a few years later and hunted for replacements, no one at any of the shops or Guest Relations knew what I was talking about. Ever since then, I've been trying to find someone, anyone, who'd heard of these things.

I was halfway convinced I'd imagined them when I stumbled across the listing for them on Jeff Baham's amazing Haunted Mansion site. Obsessive Web-searching and eBay scouring have failed to turn up any for sale. I would kill to own them again. Someone, somewhere, must have a set they're willing to part with. I sure hope so, anyway. Link, Link