Some unsolicited plugs:

• Ottmar Liebert.  Watch for La Semana, his new album coming out soon.  It is just excellent.
• X1.  This fast search tool for Outlook folders and hard drives is wonderful.
• pickem, a PictureMail replacement for the Treo 600.  Among other things, it fixes the "blue dots of death" problem.  (And if you're a Treo 600 user, you know what I mean.)  [ via Gizmodo ]

Slate considers Election Time in the World's Largest Democracy.  That would be India, of course, and yeah, the recent election was quite an upset.  Fascinating.

Looks like the Indian stock market is upset, too.  Down 16% in one day.  Wow.

60 Minutes ran an interesting story: The New French Revolution.  Muslim women fight back against their unbelievably oppressive culture.  Excellent.  [ via GNXP ]

David Weinberger notes What I look Like I'm Doing (when working at home).  "Apparently, worklife means clicking on a keyboard for 10-14 hours a day."  I have the same exact thing.  My family jokes that they only know what I look like from the back.  Well, at least they get to see me.

ExtremeTech has an interesting review: Longhorn In-Depth.  ("Longhorn" is the next version of Windows.)  They have a bunch of screenshots, including one of a new 3D-Expose-like feature.  "Hit Alt-Tab and all open windows align into a 3D stack."  Cool, one of the things I like best about OS X is Expose.  [ via Cult of Mac ]

This is awesome - NewScientist reports on metal velcro.  "Early tests show that these joints will last far longer than current composite-metal joints, which are held together by adhesives."  Very cool.  First shoelaces get replaced by velcro, now metal welds?

Arsenal make history by having the first undefeated season in English Premier League [soccer] history - 38 matches without a defeat.  Kind of like if the 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated in 1973, too :)  [ via Marc Cantor ]

Is a Giant Panda a bear?  Yes, it is.  The Panda's Thumb ran an interesting reader survey on this issue (the readers were wrong!) which features a cool diagram of the bear family tree.  Did you know Walruses are closer to Raccoons than Dogs?

Matt Webb with another amazing ramble.  Definitely not like any other blog.  Interconnected.

John Gruber opines on the mistakes Six Apart made with their Moveable Type announcement.  He links Brad Choate's good overview.  John nails it: "People will not pay for upgrades without features.", and "Pre-announcements are almost always regretted."  In both cases expectations were missed, and that's why people are upset.

Vonage is really hitting mass adoption; now RadioShack is selling their service.  Wow.