Bits & Pieces: The nerd handbook

Finally, an accurate guide on understanding nerd behavior, it's creepy how a lot of what the article says describes me. Here's a snip :

Your nerd loves toys and puzzles. The joy your nerd finds in his project is one of problem solving and discovery. As each part of the project is completed, your nerd receives an adrenaline rush that we’re going to call The High. Every profession has this — the moment when you’ve moved significantly closer to done. In many jobs, it’s easy to discern when progress is being made: “Look, now we have a door”. But in nerds’ bit-based work, progress is measured mentally and invisibly in code, algorithms, efficiency, and small mental victories that don’t exist in a world of atoms.

And there's plenty more here.

Seeqpod

Seeqpod is a music (and video, haven't tried that yet) search engine that returns results that can be played back with their interface, very cool. click here to try it out.

The Thugs of India

Perennial favorite Damninteresting serves up an article about the Thuggee's of India, A secret cult of murderers whose kill count went into the millions :

Their extreme secrecy combined with their mastery of murder made the Thugs the deadliest secret society in all of history. In the early 19th century they were credited with 40,000 deaths annually, stretching back as far as anyone cared to count. Some estimates put the overall death toll as high as 2,000,000, but with the cult potentially operating for more than 500 years before formal records were kept, the true number is impossible to determine.

Read it here.