An article in the new issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases suggests that Shakespeare may have suffered from VD. Inhaling mercury vapor, one of the treatments for syphilis of the time, could have caused the tremor revealed in Shakespeare's signature, his hermit-like behavior later in life, and possibly even the Bard's baldness. Then there are the references in his writings. From a press release about the article:

Mentions of the “pox,” the “malady of France,” the “infinite malady,” and the “hoar leprosy” in his writings seem to indicate that the Bard knew--perhaps from personal experience--how torturous venereal disease could be. “Shakespeare’s knowledge of syphilis is clinically precise,” said John Ross, MD, author of the study. A line in Sonnet 154, “Love’s fire heats water,” apparently refers to an STD causing burning urination.

Of course, Shakespeare could have just been writing about the concerns of the day, not his own. Link

Shooting on the set of the new Doctor Who series apparently has been held up due to a shortage of little people to act as extraterrestrials in the show. From The Mirror:

Dr Who executive producer Russell T Davies said: "It's very difficult to employ persons of restricted growth when, as our producer Phil Collinson says, `Bloody Gringotts and the Chocolate Factory are filming at the same time'."

Link

When you drop a chunk of sodium in water, it will explode. This guy has posted videos of his "experiments" with large chunks of the unstable metal.

The first step was the procurement, through eBay, of three and half pounds of solid sodium metal for about a hundred dollars. This is a decent price for a small quantity like this. Small being a relative term: It's used by the ton in industry, but anything more than a few grams is a dangerous quantity if found in your home. Three and a half pounds is enough, for example, to blow your home to bits under the right conditions.

Link (Thanks, Chris!)

The "Guardian Angel" bag is embossed with the outline of a handgun, so it looks like you're packing heat. The same designed has made a laptop bag with the outlines of groceries embossed into the sides, disguising the computer within as foodstuffs. The bags are sold to women in Rotterdam to assuage fears of muggings. Link (via Waxy)

Bob sez, "Artists House is a 501(c)(3) record label that actually gets it. Their albums bear the motto 'Information wants to be free,' and true to this, each CD comes with the MP3s on a data track which you are encouraged to email to your friends. On top of that, you also get a DVD with all sorts of goodies including high resolution mixes, sheet music, and music lessons." Link (Thanks, Bob!

Steve sez, "In this month's mocking toast To Evil! Danny O'Brien laments the holiday habit of trying to hide one's evilness from Father Christmas, but finds those evil proprietary software people can't help being who they are. '...let's see whose been evil and not so evil down there in the chained world of proprietary software. That sorry place, where slipshod users cannot hide their sin, distracted as they are by demons only the unfree suffer: the draconian wiles of restrictively-licensed media companies, the constant hammer of pop-up ads and malware, and - most dread of all - closed-source software with hard-coded integer limits, running on AIX.'"

It's kind of intriguing, isn't it, when the MPAA and RIAA is to scaring us into believing that the world of unauthorized copying is filled of dodgy-dealers stuffing the files with all kinds of polluted malware and pop-ups, that they're also paying the people who do the stuffing?

I'm really hoping that in their next batch of cinema adverts, the MPAA addresses this, and shows a grumbling adware developer instead of a Hollywood set-painter. "The piracy issue, it affects us all: the construction guy, the lighting guy. And me, the guy who installed all that crap on your mum's computer. And also an awful lot of Los Angeles-based cocaine dealers. Why doesn't anyone think of them?"

Link (Thanks, Steve!)