Governor Arnold outlined his plan for addressing California's deficit today.  As expected, the centerpiece is up to $15B in new borrowing.  "Mr. Schwarzenegger emphasized that there would be substantial budget cuts in addition to the borrowing, including at least $2 billion out of this year's budget."  So be it.

This is pretty cool; News-Images.com is a page which displays current news visually.  I think they're on to something here.  People respond to images...

X3D Fritz staged a comeback and nearly won game 4 of its match with Garry Kasparov, but Kasparov navigates through danger to draw game four and the match.  Experts regard the quality of chess in this match as very high; indeed, Kasparov's blunder in game 2 was the only big mistake.

Kevin Laws contemplates The Irony of Outsourcing.  "Question: Since 1995, two million American manufacturing jobs vanished.  How many manufacturing jobs did China add during the same period?  Answer: None."  There is no way to stop the market.

Random Bytes quotes Richard Feynman: "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."  Amen.

Epson reveals the world's teeniest flying robot.  "The mFR causes levitation by use of contra-rotating propellers powered by an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor with the world's highest power-weight ratio and can be balanced in mid-air by means of the world's first stabilizing mechanism using a linear actuator."  Another one for my Santa list :)

Philip Greenspun wonders should NASA send government employees into space?  And I say, NO!  It is time for the government to get out of the way and let private enterprise take over space exploration.  But you already knew that, didn't you?

Hey, guess what?  You know what this is?  It's Tivo's new HD DVR.  "The new design offers viewers the flexibility of a DVR that is equipped to record today’s analog broadcasts along with the capability for recording the rapidly expanding programming offerings in HDTV."  Excellent!

CNet opines Internet calling verges on mainstream.  "Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is racing toward mainstream acceptance, steered by attractive price points -- currently $200 to $500 per line -- proven cost savings in early-adopter deployments and significant improvements in voice quality and reliability."  Where do they get $200 per line?  Vonage is only $40/month.

Doors of Perception has an interesting article about the "clock of the long now".  "The idea was to build a monumental clock – the original inspiration was something that would tick once a year, bong once a century and the cuckoo would come out once a millennium."  The design of something that has to last that long is quite challenging.  [ via Ottmar Liebert ]

Vishal Joshi: The 10 commandments of .NET.  #10 is "Thou shall not underestimate the complexity of .NET."  Something I would never do :)

I'll leave you with the USB Christmas Tree light.  And no, I am not making this up.